header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
March 18
1919 - Fire destroys abandoned second Southern Hotel, built 1878 in Newhall (corner Main & Market) [story]
Second Southern Hotel


Shortly before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam in northern Los Angeles County collapsed, sending a wall of water 120-feet high hurtling west to the ocean, leaving a path of death and destruction in its wake.

While much has been written about the dam — the role it played in the completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct and the mistakes, if any, its engineer William Mulholland may have made in its construction — very little is known about the 476 people who were killed in the flood that followed its collapse. California State University, Northridge anthropology professor James Snead, an archaeologist, hopes to change that on this 100th anniversary of the aqueduct.

"Forgotten Casualties" team members at the dam memorial at the Angeles National Forest Fire Station. From left, Krystal Kissinger, Julee Licon, James E. Snead, Efren Martinez and Ann Stansell. Photo courtesy of James E. Snead/CSUN.

“Forgotten Casualties” team members at the dam memorial at the Angeles National Forest Fire Station. From left, Krystal Kissinger, Julee Licon, James E. Snead, Efren Martinez and Ann Stansell. Photo courtesy of James E. Snead/CSUN.

Snead and a team of CSUN anthropology graduate and undergraduate students have spent more than a year combing through governmental records and surveying sites along the flood’s route to learn just who those victims were and to tell their stories.

“The St. Francis Dam disaster — within the broader ‘water wars’ theme that we’re all familiar with from the movie ‘Chinatown’ and that accompanies the story of the construction of the Los Angeles Aqueduct — has been treated in relatively broad historical terms, focusing on engineering, policy and anecdote,” Snead said. “Ironically, there has never been a full accounting of the dead; no reckoning of their lives, their possessions or of the full discovery and disposal of their remains.

“They were people with families and jobs who had the misfortune of living in the path of a disaster,” he said. “There’s a huge gap that people clearly don’t know, including their family members. It’s hard to obtain closure, with so much unknown.”

Snead and his students are working with a diverse group — from local aficionados and historical societies to rangers in the Los Angeles National Forest — on the “Forgotten Casualties Project.” Snead said a key resource has been the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The project’s team scanned thousands of pages of LADWP claim forms associated with death and loss from the disaster.

“These were records that no one had ever looked at before,” he said. “The people at LADWP were incredibly helpful. They had 40 boxes of claim forms with information that told a whole lot about the people in the water’s path. We got to know about them as individuals, their ethnicities, their economic status.”

CSUN students mapping San Francisquito Canyon. From left, Amir Douma, Krystal Kissinger,kl Jacob Deubner, Efren Martinez and Julee Licon. Photo courtesy of James E. Snead/CSUN.

CSUN students mapping San Francisquito Canyon. From left, Amir Douma, Krystal Kissinger,kl Jacob Deubner, Efren Martinez and Julee Licon. Photo courtesy of James E. Snead/CSUN.

The team is also surveying a site in San Francisquito Canyon about two miles downstream from the dam itself in the Angeles National Forest. The students are uncovering artifacts — pieces of cars, of equipment from a powerhouse that was destroyed in the flood, iron beds, crockery, etc. — that give insights into the lives of the people who lived and worked in the area.

What they have learned so far is that the communities impacted by the dam’s collapse were “very, very diverse,” Snead said.

“There were people from everywhere,” he continued. “Descendants of old ranchers, agricultural immigrants and there were work camps in the valley, members of work teams for Southern California Edison who were putting in electrical lines.”

One thing that surprised Snead and his team was the compensation pattern for the survivors of the disaster. The refugee camps and support systems set up at the time were divided along ethnic lines — one set for Anglos and another for Latinos and other non-Anglos — with disparities that reflected the norms of the time.

“When it came to compensation, we expected to find that the Anglo community would be better compensated because of latent discrimination,” Snead said.

Instead, he said, graduate student Ann Stansell found that oftentimes, members of the Latino community got equal or greater amounts in compensation because they hired attorneys to represent them. “They probably assumed they would be treated unfairly,” he said.

But when it came to other matters, people were left to the “mercy of the process,” Snead said, pointing to one case in which a Latino man was the sole survivor of his family. He believed family members’ bodies were amidst the debris on a neighboring farm but that farmer refused to let him search. The man even appealed to the Mexican consulate for help, but he was never given permission to look for the bodies.

“When people think of archaeology, they tend to think it’s ‘Indiana Jones’ and people excavating pyramids in faraway, exotic locations,” Snead said, noting that October was declared “Archaeology Month” by the California State Parks’ Office of Historic Preservation. “True, there are digs in faraway places about ancient people. But archaeology is also learning about people in our more recent history. It’s a way to learn about ourselves, who we are, in more complex ways.”

Snead and his team are continuing their work on the Forgotten Casualties Project and hope to start making presentations about what they’ve learned at area libraries and historical societies soon.

Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

3 Comments

  1. Ryan Orona Ryan Orona says:

    Jeff Dean here is something you might like.

Leave a Comment


HIGHER EDUCATION LINKS
LOCAL COLLEGE HEADLINES
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
California State University, Northridge’s Spring 2024 Cinematheque series will pay tribute to Hollywood casting director and producer Deborah Aquila, executive vice president and head of casting at Paramount Television Studios and CBS Studios, to mark the end of Women’s History Month on Wednesday, March 27.
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
On Friday, March 22, the Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA) at College of the Canyons will host a graduation ceremony for nine students who have completed the UAA’s pilot robotics training program.
Friday, Mar 15, 2024
The College of the Canyons Alumni Hall of Fame 2024 is seeking nominations for alumni who have achieved outstanding professional/personal accomplishments, serve their community and serve College of the Canyons.
Thursday, Mar 14, 2024
Tax season often brings stress and anxiety, with concerns about correctly filling out forms, but did you know that California State University, Northridge’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Clinic can help smooth out the process?
Wednesday, Mar 13, 2024
California State University, Northridge has received a $1.25 million federal grant to develop an interdisciplinary program to bridge the divide between those who work with young children with disabilities, educators, behavior interventionists and speech-language pathologists.
Keep Up With Our Facebook

Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
College of the Canyons notched its first victory at the newly named Mike Gillespie Field on Saturday, winning its second straight conference series, this time over visiting Bakersfield College, by a 6-4 final score. 
Cougars Notch First Win at Mike Gillespie Field
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- The Master's University hit 20 3-pointers, one shy of the program record in a game, to defeat the St. Thomas Bobcats 122-91 in the second round of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Men's Basketball National Championship tournament.
Mustangs Advance to NAIA Sweet 16
The Master's University baseball team lost a pair of 1-run games Saturday against the Menlo Oaks in Atherton, Calif.
Mustangs Drop Three Games to Menlo
The Los Angeles County Development Authority is excited to announce that its executive director, Emilio Salas, has been appointed to a two-year term to serve as a member of the national Strategic Planning Advisory Committee for the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO).
LACDA’s Emilio Salas Appointed to National Planning Advisory Committee
The 28th Annual Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival is back with your favorite musical performers and an exciting lineup of new acts.
Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival Live Music Performers Announced
REDLANDS — College of the Canyons track and field recorded a dozen top-10 finishes and established 30 new personal records while competing at the University of Redlands Invitational on March 15. 
Cougars Earn Top-10 Finishes at Redlands Invitational
There is so much to learn from different customs and cultures and you don’t need a plane ticket to experience it all.
City’s 2024 ‘Celebrate’ Lineup Released
Big Chicken, the star-powered fast casual chicken concept, which has a location in Santa Clarita, is fueling the mania for the Big Tournament with a nationwide Big Bracket Challenge.
Compete for Chance to Open Shaquille O’Neal Chicken Restaurant
California State University, Northridge’s Spring 2024 Cinematheque series will pay tribute to Hollywood casting director and producer Deborah Aquila, executive vice president and head of casting at Paramount Television Studios and CBS Studios, to mark the end of Women’s History Month on Wednesday, March 27.
Legendary Casting Director Deborah Aquila to Speak at CSUN
On Friday, March 22, the Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA) at College of the Canyons will host a graduation ceremony for nine students who have completed the UAA’s pilot robotics training program.
March 22: COC’s Uniquely Abled Academy Robotics Graduation
The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation is excited to announce spring has sprung at its local parks, including those in the Santa Clarita Valley.
L.A. County Parks Releases Spring Jubilee Dates
The city of Santa Clarita’s Film Office released the list of six productions currently filming in the Santa Clarita Valley for the week of Monday, March 18 - Sunday, March 24.
‘Bosch Legacy,’ ‘CSI Vegas’ Among Six Productions Filming in SCV
Unlike our children who enjoy a week-long spring break, we adults no longer have that luxury.
Ken Striplin | Register Now for Spring Break Camp 2024
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions residents who are planning to visit the following Los Angeles County beaches to avoid swimming, surfing and playing in ocean waters due to bacterial levels exceeding health standards when last tested.
Ocean Water Advisory Continues for L.A. County Beaches
The California Department of Motor Vehicles now offers a faster way for businesses to check that their employees have clean driving records using the new online Employee Pull Notice (EPN) Service.
DMV Launches Enhanced Digital Employer Pull Notice Service
1919 - Fire destroys abandoned second Southern Hotel, built 1878 in Newhall (corner Main & Market) [story]
Second Southern Hotel
1927 - Newhall telephone exchange, est. 1900, now serves 100 phones [story]
telephone
2003 - Lifesize sculpture honoring heroes of St. Francis Dam disaster unveiled in Santa Paula [video]
The Warning
In the first of three matches on consecutive nights in Arizona, The Master's men's volleyball team defeated Benedictine-Mesa in three sets 27-25, 28-26, 25-19.
TMU Men’s Volleyball Sweeps Benu in Arizona
Greg Herrick, the former longtime College of the Canyons women's basketball head coach who recorded 611 career wins while winning 16 conference titles, was inducted into the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association (CCCWBCA) Hall of Fame during the organization's annual Banquet of Champions at Mt. San Antonio College on March 13.
Longtime COC Women’s Basketball Coach Herrick Enshrined in Hall of Fame
The Santa Clarita Planning Commission will hold its regular meeting Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd. 1st Floor, Santa Clarita, CA 91355.
March 19: Planning Commission to Discuss Wiley Canyon Mixed Use Project
Attend the city of Santa Clarita's most unique egg hunt, the Splash N’ Dash at the Santa Clarita Aquatics Center, presented by Kaiser Permanente.
March 30: Dive into Spring at Splash n’ Dash Egg Hunt
String orchestras and concert bands from around the Santa Clarita Valley and Southern California will participate in the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association concert festival hosted by West Ranch High School on Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27, 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
March 26-27: SoCal School Band, Orchestra Concert Festival
SCVNews.com