Three Rivers Rising (19 page)

Then there’s the real-life story of six-year-old Gertrude Quinn, who rode out the flood on a mattress. A man jumped in to help and literally threw her to rescuers in a saloon at the water’s edge. This event inspired Celestia’s ride and rescue.

So, as it turned out, I didn’t place many real people in this novel, only events and situations inspired by them.

Amazing rescues, unlikely deaths, fascinating survival stories, and tales of the fickle nature of the wave—I wanted to squeeze every one into my story. But you can find them all in David McCullough’s book
The Johnstown Flood
. I have read it many times by now and my respect for it increases with each pass. McCullough makes an enormous amount of information accessible and enjoyable to read. If you want to sit down with a book to learn more about the flood, this is the one. If you want to travel to Pennsylvania and get a firsthand look at the site, visit

• the Johnstown Flood Museum (
  www.jaha.org/FloodMuseum/history.html
  ) and
  

• the Johnstown Flood National Memorial (
  www.nps.gov/jofl
  ).
  

The remaining buildings of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club are in the village of St. Michael.

This is not a book
about
the flood. My intention was to tell a fictional story set against the backdrop of the flood. Time and geography are sometimes condensed to facilitate storytelling.

—J.R.

South Fork Dam Chronology

1830s
: A reservoir of water is needed for the Johnstown-to-Pittsburgh section of Pennsylvania’s river-fed canal system so that it does not run dry in the summer. A dam will hold back South Fork Creek, and its pipe valves will be controlled to allow a steady flow into the Johnstown basin by way of the Little Conemaugh River.

In preparation for the reservoir, 400 acres are cleared.

1838:
Work begins on an earthen dam.

An earthen dam has three requirements:

1. A spillway must be cut through rock.

2. Discharge pipes must be provided.

3. Water must never be allowed to flow over the top.

A spillway is an outlet for excess water; this one is cut 72 feet wide through solid rock. Its purpose is to prevent overflow, but its appearance is that of a picturesque waterfall.

1852:
Work is complete. The dam is over 900 feet across, 72 feet high, and 270 feet thick at its base.
South Fork Reservoir
begins to fill.

Progress by the Pennsylvania Railroad quickly puts the canals out of business.

1857:
The Pennsylvania Railroad buys the canal system, including the dam, for rights-of-way.

The reservoir is unused, largely forgotten.

1862:
The dam breaks due to a defect in the foundation. Little damage is caused because the lake is at less than half capacity and a watchman in the tower opens the valves immediately, reducing pressure on the dam and releasing the water in a controlled fashion.

The watchtower burns down soon after.

The reservoir is barely a pond, again forgotten.

1875:
Congressman John Reilly purchases the property, removes the discharge pipes, and sells them for scrap.

1879:
The dam changes hands again, this time purchased by Benjamin Ruff on behalf of a private sportsmen’s club. Membership list (revealed years later) includes:

Andrew Carnegie
, iron and steel magnate, Carnegie, Phipps & Company;

Henry Clay Frick
, the “Coke King,” H. C. Frick Coke Company and chairman of Carnegie, Phipps & Company;

Philander C. Knox
, lawyer for all Carnegie business;

Andrew Mellon
, banker, T. Mellon & Sons;

Henry Phipps Jr.
, partner in Carnegie, Phipps & Company; and

Robert Pitcairn
, head of the Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Ruff repairs the dam with rocks, brush, and even horse manure. The discharge pipes are not replaced. No one on-site has engineering credentials.
One month later, rain washes away most of the repairs.

1880:
Engineer John Fulton is sent by Daniel J. Morrell, head of the Cambria Iron Works in Johnstown, to examine the dam. Fulton reports a leak at the location of the repairs. He recommends “a thorough overhauling” and “the construction of an ample discharge pipe.”

Club president Ruff responds: “… you and your people are in no danger from our enterprise.”

Cambria Iron offers to help
pay
for an overhaul. The club declines.

1881:
More damage by rain.

Lake Conemaugh
, estimated at 200 million tons, is stocked with one thousand black bass. Screens are installed over the spillway to prevent fish from escaping.

At some point, the height of the dam is lowered to widen the road for carriage traffic. Besides bringing the top of the dam that much closer to the water level, this reduces the capacity of the spillway.
Water is 2 feet from the breast of the dam.

June 10:
First rumor of the dam breaking.
Rumor repeats every year with heavy rains. It quickly becomes a running joke.

1885:
Morrell dies.

1887:
Ruff dies.

1889:

May 30:

11:00 p.m.:
Heavy rain begins.

May 31:

6:00 a.m.:
Rivers are rising 1 foot per hour.

10:00 a.m.:
Workers find they cannot remove the debris-clogged screens from the main spillway. They try cutting an emergency spillway through the opposite hill, but with little success.

11:00 a.m.:
Lake water is level with the top of the dam.
The club sends a warning to the valley by telegraph. Lines are down and messages are delayed.

12:00 noon:
Rising river water in Johnstown is 2–10 feet deep.

Decision is made
not
to cut another spillway through the dam itself.

Telegraph operators in East Conemaugh and Johnstown receive messages from up the line warning that the dam might be breaking, like other messages in other years. They ignore them.

12:30 p.m.:
Water, 50–60 feet wide, starts over the center of the dam. Workers tear up the bridge over the spillway.

2:45 p.m.:
Another telegraph warning is received by East Conemaugh and Johnstown.

A 10-by-4-foot hole appears in the top of the dam.

3:00 p.m.:
First break.

3:10 p.m.:
Dam is gone.

South Fork:
population 1,500 approximately.

Town is built mostly on the hillside.

Total deaths: 4.

Mineral Point:
population 200 approximately.

Due to rising water, many residents had already moved to higher ground.

Total deaths: 16.

3:46 p.m.:
Reservoir is empty.

Later studies suggest it would have been like turning on Niagara Falls for 36 minutes.

East Conemaugh
and the train yards.

Warning came from John Hess’s train whistle.

Total deaths of residents, including those of Franklin across the tracks: 28.

Total deaths of train passengers: 22.

Woodvale:
population 1,000.

No warning. Because the valley straightens out, the flood picked up speed.

Total deaths: 314 (close to one in three people).

4:07 p.m.:
Flood hits Johnstown.

Johnstown
and boroughs: population 30,000.

Most damage is done in ten minutes.

Debris collects at the stone bridge; by nightfall it catches fire.

Many bodies were never found, but the generally accepted total of deaths is 2,209. Many of those found were unidentifiable.

June:
Survivors organize quickly. Rescue efforts. Morgues.

Neighbors in the hills and surrounding towns are generous, opening their homes, sharing food.

Sightseers arrive with picnic baskets. Others arrive to help, but with no food or water or housing, they only increase the burden.

The American Red Cross with Miss Clara Barton arrives from Washington.

The Army arrives to help keep the peace.

June 10:
First case of typhoid fever. Total deaths: 40.

Relief efforts all over the world bring in money, food, blankets, and clothes, anything people can spare.

July:
First lawsuit filed against South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club. Individual negligence could not be proved.

September:
Andrew Carnegie visits the flood site and offers to build a new library.

Source:
The Johnstown Flood
by David McCullough

Further Reading

Want to read more about the flood? Here are just some of the books you might enjoy. The Johnstown Area Heritage Association (
www.jaha.org
) online bookstore has additional titles. Except for the 1889 book from my family’s personal collection, all the titles listed below should be available through local libraries.

Young Readers
Fiction:

Dahlstedt, Marden.
The Terrible Wave
. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1972.

Gross, Virginia T.
The Day It Rained Forever: A Story of the Johnstown Flood
. Once upon America series. New York: Viking, 1991.

Nonfiction:

Nobleman, Marc Tyler.
The Johnstown Flood
. We the People series. Minneapolis: Compass Point Books, 2006.

Stein, R. Conrad.
The Story of the Johnstown Flood
. Cornerstones of Freedom series. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1984.

Adult Readers
Fiction:

Cambor, Kathleen.
In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden: A Novel
. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2001; Harper Perennial, 2002.

Nonfiction:

Johnson, Willis Fletcher.
History of the Johnstown Flood
. Philadelphia: J. W. Keeler, 1889.

McCullough, David.
The Johnstown Flood
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968.

Acknowledgments

Enormous thanks to Patricia Reilly Giff, patient teacher, gentle critic, wise mentor, and gracious lady. Your beautiful Nory Ryan books gave me courage to start on my own journey to find a home with young readers. And your faith in my writing has been a miracle in my life. Thanks and love and blessings, Pat.

Thank you to my agent, George Nicholson, for sharing my vision of this book and for making a perfect match with the right editor, and to everyone involved at Sterling Lord Literistic. Many thanks go to Emily Hazel, formerly of SLL, for help in boiling down some early feedback on this book.

To my amazing editor, Joan Slattery: thank you, first of all, for taking on a big story crafted at the word level. Thank you for your guidance and support, and for your enthusiasm for my work. And thanks to everyone involved at Knopf.

Thanks go to the PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus for choosing
Three Rivers Rising
as the Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award Winner for 2008: Susan P. Bloom, Pat Lowery Collins, Susan Goodman, Robie H. Harris, Lisa Jahn-Clough, Liza Ketchum, Lois Lowry, Leslie Sills, and Kim Ablon Whitney.

Readers of early versions of the manuscript: Dean Defino and Whitney Lok-Defino, Christine Peter, Penny Piva, Jennifer
Richards, Patricia Richards, Linda Richter, and Lisa Santiana. Thank you for the feedback and encouragement. And love. And snacks.

Thank you to my supportive group of fellow writers who watched this manuscript grow from its first baby steps to holding it in our hands right now: Pam Farley, Ann Haywood Leal, Gael Lynch, Christine Peter, Penny Piva, Patricia Richards, Bette Anne Rieth, MaryJo Scott, Laura Toffler-Corrie, and Margaret Welch; and to our Master of Ceremonies at The Dinosaur’s Paw, Jimmy Giff.

Thank you to Sean Diamond for saving my life a little bit at a time.

Thank you to my parents for filling my head with history and books and ideas and dreams, the bricks and mortar of a book like this. Thanks for listening to my endless “what if” scenarios, then holding my feet to the fire when I just needed to “write it already.” Your faith has never wavered.

Thank you to my daughters for never failing to repeat yourselves when I’m far away in the world of my story. Your love of books keeps me going, trusting that there
will
be a next generation of readers, and a next …

To my husband: only you truly know the extent of your sacrifices, to this book and to my dream of a writing life. Thank you for these gifts, as well as for your optimism and your love.

About the Author

Jame Richards’s interest in history began with reluctance in childhood, when every school vacation involved a family trip in the paneled station wagon to museums, presidential tombs, and historical monuments. She bided her time until reaching the gift shop, wondering why she couldn’t go to an amusement park or the beach like everyone else. During those long car trips, she learned to write and revise stories in her head. Twenty years of creative writing (sometimes even on paper) and her knowledge of history come together in
Three Rivers Rising
, her first novel. Prior to publication,
Three Rivers Rising
won the PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus Susan P. Bloom Discovery Award, given to an unpublished work.