Los Angeles, CA | How does a city surrounded mostly by desert secure enough water to sustain millions of people? With lies and deception. Through a combination of aggressive strategies, including lobbying and manipulation, several of LA’s leaders acquired the access and infrastructure to bring water from over 200 miles away to the city back in the early 1900s. It’s not quite like the 1974 movie Chinatown, but it’s close. LA’s quest to secure enough water for its ever-growing population is filled with tragedy, including the collapse of the St. Francis Dam, one of the greatest American civil engineering failures of the 20th century. In this episode, we will delve into the history, covering names you may have heard of before, like William Mulholland of the famed Mulholland Drive, and the history you might not have heard of, like that of the Paiute people, who originally lived in and flourished in the Owens Valley, where LA sourced its water before it dried up and became the largest source of dust pollution in the US.

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🐇 Go ahead, down the rabbit hole you go… Here’s the complete list of sources for this episode:
-Gary Crist. The Mirage Factory. Crown. 2018
-Jackson, D. C., & Hundley, N., Jr. (2004). Privilege and responsibility: William Mulholland and the St. Francis Dam disaster. California History, 82(3), 8–47.
-Nichols, J. (2002). St. Francis Dam Disaster (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing Inc. Kindle Edition.
-Standiford, L. (2015). Water to the Angels: William Mulholland, His Monumental Aqueduct, and the Rise of Los Angeles. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
-https://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/proof/pdfs/arf023-003.pdf
-https://laist.com/shows/airtalk/from-desert-to-megalopolis-william-mulholland-and-the-rise-of-los-angeles
-https://www.lapl.org/books-emedia/podcasts/aloud/catastrophe-california-reappraisal-st-francis-dam
-https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/california-owens-mono-lake-comebacks-rcna86908
-https://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/173463688/owens-valley-salty-as-los-angeles-water-battle-flows-into-court
-https://www.pbs.org/video/when-the-st-francis-dam-collapsed-wj8esw/
-https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flood-desert-california-water-wars-violent/
-https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flood-desert-soledad-luna-st-francis-dam-disaster/#:~:text=In%20years%20to%20come%2C%20residents,failure%20of%20the%2020th%20century
-https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/lost-la/paiute-la-aqueduct-owens-valley
-https://www.pbssocal.org/shows/tending-the-wild/how-the-owens-valley-paiute-made-the-desert-bloom
-https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/california-scheming-69592006/
-https://stfrancisdammemorial.org/about-us/?v=7516fd43adaa
-Los Angeles Evening Express. (March 13, 1928). st francis dam headlines. Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/los-angeles-evening-express-st-francis-d/107598540/
-The Los Angeles Times. (October 7, 1937). Henry Griffin Eaton obituary. Newspapers.com. Retrieved April 29, 2024, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-henry-griffin-eato/135942879/

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