My Dad (James Beach) is a retired Lockheed aircraft engineer. After he retired, he took up several fabulous artistic hobbies, one of which was videography. In this film, he decided to briefly depict the many successes and the one colossal failure in the life of William Mulholland - a man whose endeavors have contributed to our California life as we know it today. Essentially, Mulholland's vision and leadership brought water to Southern California without which the southern part of the state couldn't grow and thrive. The California aqueduct was his baby and his crews built a series of dams and reservoirs. The many wars over water have continued ever since.
One of those dams in Mulholland's chain was the St. Francis Dam which was built in 1926 in San Francisquito Canyon near Canyon Country north of Los Angeles. It catastrophically collapsed in 1928 killing over 450 people as the huge wave scoured the canyon and rushed over 50 miles to the sea.
I decided to explore and paint the area beneath the dam now almost 80 years after the tragedy. The painting above was painted there. It is now a rather pretty canyon area without too many inhabitants. My only worry while painting there was hearing constant gunshots. I was afraid some hunter might shoot me while I was painting until I figured out that the gunshots were coming from a nearby target shooting range.
I think the whole lesson to remember is that when man does things to change the environment... even though we might think it is for the good... We really don't know all of the possible outcomes.
My Dad (James Beach) is a retired Lockheed aircraft engineer. After he retired, he took up several fabulous artistic hobbies, one of which was videography. In this film, he decided to briefly depict the many successes and the one colossal failure in the life of William Mulholland - a man whose endeavors have contributed to our California life as we know it today. Essentially, Mulholland's vision and leadership brought water to Southern California without which the southern part of the state couldn't grow and thrive. The California aqueduct was his baby and his crews built a series of dams and reservoirs. The many wars over water have continued ever since.
One of those dams in Mulholland's chain was the St. Francis Dam which was built in 1926 in San Francisquito Canyon near Canyon Country north of Los Angeles. It catastrophically collapsed in 1928 killing over 450 people as the huge wave scoured the canyon and rushed over 50 miles to the sea.
I decided to explore and paint the area beneath the dam now almost 80 years after the tragedy. The painting above was painted there. It is now a rather pretty canyon area without too many inhabitants. My only worry while painting there was hearing constant gunshots. I was afraid some hunter might shoot me while I was painting until I figured out that the gunshots were coming from a nearby target shooting range.
I think the whole lesson to remember is that when man does things to change the environment... even though we might think it is for the good... We really don't know all of the possible outcomes.