Today in Labor History March 12, 1928: The St. Francis Dam failed in Los Angeles, California, killing 431 people. It is the second deadliest disaster in California, after the 1906 earthquake, and one of the worst U.S. civil engineering disasters ever. A defective foundation and design flaws caused the failure. Yet, the inquest absolved chief engineer, William Mulholland, of all criminal responsibility, and he continued to earn a salary from the Bureau of Public Works (though his career was effectively ended). The authorities continued to find the remains of victims of the flood until the mid-1950s. Many of the victims were washed out to sea. Some washed ashore as far south as Mexico. Mulholland was also the designer of the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct, which sucks water from the Owens Valley and is a major cause of the depletion of the fragile Mono Lake. As its water levels continues to decline, it threatens the world’s second largest gull rookery, home to up to 50,000 birds. The aqueduct’s construction, and the shady methods Mulholland used to acquire the water rights, led to the California Water Wars between L.A. County and Owens Valley farmers. Many of those same Anglo farmers (or their predecessors) usurped the land from Piute people during the 1863 Owens Valley Indian War, which was precipitated, in part, by the vast loss of human and cattle lives, and the displacements, caused by the Megaflood of 1861, which inundated much of the West, from Idaho and Oregon, down to northern Baja California. The corruption related to the construction of the aqueduct has been portrayed in the film Chinatown, and in the nonfiction book, “Cadillac Desert.”

For more on the Megaflood of 1861, please read my article, “Worse Than the Big One”: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2023/01/04/worse-than-the-big-one-californias-coming-megaflood-2/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #flood #dam #mulholland #monolake #owensvalley #disaster #nativeamerican #indigenous #piute #ecology #chinatown #indianwar #habitatdestruction #books #nonfiction #author #writer #losangeles @bookstadon

This is the bald eagle that lives out in Round Valley, and fishes most afternoons out behind the house, in Pmeasant Valley reservoir. It was still several hundred yards above me, so it’s not a sharp photo, but the low afternoon sun did light it well. #owensvalley #sierranevada #california #bishopcalifornia #photography #baldeagle

Sunset over Mt. Tom. #owensvalley #sierranevada #california #bishopcalifornia #bishop #photography #landscapes #subset #sierrasunset

Just tonight’s sunset. That is all #owensvalley #sierranevada #california #bishopcalifornia #bishop #photography #landscapes #iphoneography #sunset

Today in Labor History March 12, 1928: The St. Francis Dam failed in Los Angeles, California, killing 431 people. It is the second deadliest disaster in California, after the 1906 earthquake, and one of the worst U.S. civil engineering disasters ever. A defective foundation and design flaws caused the failure. Yet, the inquest absolved chief engineer, William Mulholland, of all criminal responsibility, and he continued to earn a salary from the Bureau of Public Works (though his career was effectively ended). The authorities continued to find the remains of victims of the flood until the mid-1950s. Many of the victims were washed out to sea. Some washed ashore as far south as Mexico. Mulholland was also the designer of the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct, which sucks water from the Owens Valley and is a major cause of the depletion of the fragile Mono Lake. As its water levels continues to decline, it threatens the world’s second largest gull rookery, home to up to 50,000 birds. The aqueduct’s construction, and the shady methods Mulholland used to acquire the water rights, led to the California Water Wars between L.A. County and Owens Valley farmers. Many of those same Anglo farmers (or their predecessors) usurped the land from Piute people during the 1863 Owens Valley Indian War, which was precipitated, in part, by the vast loss of human and cattle lives, and the displacements, caused by the Megaflood of 1861, which inundated much of the West, from Idaho and Oregon, down to northern Baja California. The corruption related to the construction of the aqueduct has been portrayed in the film Chinatown, and in the nonfiction book, “Cadillac Desert.”

For more on the Megaflood of 1861, please read my article, “Worse Than the Big One”: https://michaeldunnauthor.com/2023/01/04/worse-than-the-big-one-californias-coming-megaflood-2/

#workingclass #LaborHistory #flood #dam #mulholland #monolake #owensvalley #disaster #nativeamerican #indigenous #piute #ecology #chinatown #indianwar #habitatdestruction #books #nonfiction #author #writer #losangeles @bookstadon

The full moon setting behind the Sierra Nevada and a Caltech radio telescope, at Owens Valley Radio Observatory

by Ross Stone
https://earthsky.org/earthsky-community-photos/entry/65386/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C3y3XhNrF9H

Rainbow over Round Valley this morning, as seen from my driveway. Bishop, CA. #roundvalley #rainbow #owensvalley #easternsierra #california #bishop #bishopcalifornia

I was walking our dog Yoshi a little later a couple days ago, and was treated to another great Sierra Nevada sunset. I think the composition turned out well. #sierranevada #owensvalley #bishopcalifornia #sunset #sunsetphoto #canonr5

I’m staycationing this week, using up as much vacation leave I accrued during the pandemic as I can, before I lose it at the end of June. It was such a nice morning, so I took the Vespa into town to grab some lunch. It’s super busy in Bishop for Mule Days, but the best part of living here is that in about two minutes, I can be all by myself and out of town again. Just another great day in California. #vespa #vespagtv #scootering #bishopcalifornia #owensvalley #ilovecalifornia #californa

Pretty good Sierra Wave on the evening walk. Here’s what Wikipedia says about it: “The Sierra Wave is a type of air current created by winds that lift off the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. Known as lee waves, Sierra Waves form as winds hit the Sierra Nevada and are forced to rise, causing water vapor to condense as it cools and forming lenticular clouds on the leeward side of the mountain range.” #sierrawave #sierranevada #owensvalley #bishopcalifornia #ilovecalifornia #california

From the Los Angeles Times: “Indigenous tribes warned of a buried kingdom in Owens Valley. Now, Caltrans bulldozers are unearthing bones”

#OwensValley #CalTrans #Indigenous

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-22/caltrans-indigenous-burial-site