The Engineer Called It Safe. 12 Hours Later, Over 400 Were Dead

At midnight on March 12, 1928, the massive St. Francis Dam suddenly collapsed, unleashing a twelve-story wall of water that tore through southern California canyons toward the Pacific Ocean. Just twelve hours earlier, its legendary builder had inspected the dam and declared it entirely safe. Over four hundred people vanished in the pitch black as entire communities, ranches, and work camps were erased from existence. This is the forgotten story of William Mulholland's greatest triumph and his catastrophic fall. #AmericanHistory #CaliforniaDisaster #StFrancisDam #HistoricalMystery #ForgottenHistory Chapters: 0:00 The Midnight Wave 1:17 Water for the Desert 2:56 Cracks in the Canyon 4:54 The Final Inspection 6:33 Collapse in the Dark 8:34 A Fifty-Mile Path 9:37 The Weight of Guilt Footage and photos: Pixabay, Wikimedia Commons, Prelinger Archives (Internet Archive). Music: "Mysterious Emotional Piano" by tyops (CC BY 4.0) - https://freesound.org/people/tyops/so... Image credits: The St. Francis Dam.jpg - Stearns, H.T. USGS (Public domain) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... William Mulholland, 1924.jpg - Los Angeles Herald-Examiner (Public domain) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Portrait of William Mulholland with a surveyor's scope on a tripod, ca.1908-1913 (CHS-14459).jpg - Bledsoe, James W. (Public domain) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... [Twin Peaks Tunnel Construction and Opening] - Prelinger Archives / Internet Archive (public domain) - https://archive.org/details/TwinPeak1917 Nation at Your Fingertips, The - Prelinger Archives / Internet Archive (public domain) - https://archive.org/details/Nationat1951 Los Angeles Aqueduct route, 1927.jpg - Charles Hamilton Owens (Public domain) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Topographic map of the Los Angeles aqueduct and adjacent territory.jpg - City of Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners (Public domain) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley CA1.jpg - Acroterion (CC BY-SA 4.0) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Albert Bierstadt - Owens Valley, California.jpg - Albert Bierstadt (Public domain) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... San Francisquito Canyon2015.jpg - Chevy111 (CC BY-SA 4.0) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Open Road A - Prelinger Archives / Internet Archive (public domain) - https://archive.org/details/OpenRoadA Biotite Schist - Pelona Schist Series (54783229671).jpg - Kevin M. Gill (CC BY 4.0) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... SespeOutcrop.jpg - Antandrus at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... SespeConglomerate1.jpg - Antandrus at English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Have I Told You Lately That I Love You? - Prelinger Archives / Internet Archive (public domain) - https://archive.org/details/HaveITol1958 [Reno Flood] - Prelinger Archives / Internet Archive (public domain) - https://archive.org/details/RenoFloo1927 Folsom Powerhouse (3095520269).jpg - Nick Ares from Auburn, CA, United States (CC BY-SA 2.0) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Communication: A Film Lesson in General Science / Development of Communication - Prelinger Archives / Internet Archive (public domain) - https://archive.org/details/Communic1927