Theme Perks Press
 

St. Francis Dam



The events upon which this book is based are true.

Around midnight on the morning of March 13, 1928, the recently constructed St. Francis Dam gave way, releasing a 160-foot-high wall of water down San Francisquito Canyon.

 

For four hours the water thundered toward the Pacific Ocean, erasing nearly everything in its 50-mile path. It was the worst American civil engineering disaster of the twentieth century.


William Mulholland, the man who brought water to Los Angeles, was a superb self-taught engineer, but he was not a trained geologist. In designing the St. Francis dam he failed to recognize the layer of schist upon which the dam was constructed was actually the remnant of an ancient landslide, and was fundamentally unstable.


On the witness stand at the inquest he broke down and wept. "Don't blame anybody else, you just fasten it on me," he said. "If there is an error of human judgment, I was the human."


Everything In Its Path

  1. -Themeperks

  2. -166 Pages

  3. -2003

 
 

Everything In Its Path tells the story of Santa Paula archaeologist Randall Thompson and his daughter Kate, who are excavating a Chumash Indian site in San Francisquito Canyon. As the dig progresses Randall is puzzled by remains buried beneath a layer of silt. Meanwhile Kate explores the town of Castaic Junction and the dam’s powerhouse, getting to know the real-life residents. Then she makes an alarming discovery: the dam is leaking!


Intertwined with Kate and Randall’s story is that of the prehistoric Chumash settlement they are unearthing. Tribe member Singing Bird is tormented by dreams of water and her village being swept away. But leader Lone Wolf belittles her premonitions and threatens her if she speaks out. As storm clouds gather, Singing Bird must decide whether to submit to Lone Wolf or try to save the tribe from the awful event she foresees.


Across the centuries the two girls’ fates are drawn together, culminating in a remarkable discovery as they struggle to save their loved ones from a force that will sweep away Everything In Its Path.



"Steve Alcorn is one of those writers who deserves success. His books for young readers have a nice flair."
– Piers Anthony, New York Times Best Selling Author


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Everything In Its Path