The Johnstown Flood

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1968

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-3

Chapters 4-6

Chapters 7-9

Key Figures

Themes

Index of Terms

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary: Rush of the Torrent

The destruction about to be unleashed on the way down the mountain was nothing that anyone could have been prepared for. Civil engineers investigating the event would later be convinced that the water rushing down the mountain that day “charged into the valley at a velocity and depth comparable to that of the Niagara River as it reaches Niagara Falls” (119). The hill on the opposite side of the dam was stripped of trees almost 50 feet up into the hillside, and the men who had rushed to the dam when they sensed trouble could only watch as the water sunk lower and lower “until there was nothing to see but hundreds of acres of dark ooze” (120) that had once been the bottom of the lake.

As this happened, H.M. Bennet, down at the South Fork telegraph office chatting with a woman named Emma Ehrenfield, looked out the window to see people sprinting over the hills. Almost immediately, they also saw the water coming fast “like a mountain” (122), and they all dashed out of the office as the water destroyed the mill and ripped the bridge off its foundation in the Little Conemaugh river. While South Fork was hit fast and hard, “remarkably little damage had been done” (124) to the town before the water was passed and gone. Once the flood had ripped by South Fork, however, the damage began to increase exponentially. It “ripped the railroad to shreds” (125) and, about a mile past the town, “smashed into its first major obstacle, a tremendous stone viaduct” (125) that had stood for more than 50 years to accommodate the railroad passage across the river. Mineral Point as well was wiped off the map.

On board the Day Express train, which had stopped between the river and the town, the passengers had begun to get restless. The Reverend Robinson, who was on the train, saw the wave of water about 300 yards away from his spot on the train. Many passengers were able to get off the train and escape. The flood scattered 30 locomotives and several hundred freight cars across the plain, some up to a mile away from where the incoming water had initially hit them. Once the water had passed East Conemaugh, “it began to gather speed” (149) and shot straight for the Stony Creek River on its way to Johnstown. Woodvale, which lay in the water’s path, received absolutely no warning and was razed to the ground in less than five minutes, cutting down over 250 homes and killing 314 people (almost a third of the town’s population). At this point, the water had been released from the dam for about an hour, and the people of Johnstown were thus far unaware of their impending fate that was only minutes away.

Chapter 5 Summary: “Run for Your Lives”

At first, except for the deafening sound, most people were unaware of what was happening. The water entered the town at approximately 4:07 in the afternoon and swelled to a height of “at least thirty-six feet at the center” (154). It was now at its quickest and most powerful since flowing out of the lake and over the dam. Due to the power of the water at this point, the “drowning and devastation of the city took just about ten minutes” (155). Many people in homes higher up on the surrounding hillsides and out of the way of the incoming wave “just stood stone-still and watched in dumb horror” (155).

The incoming flood had begun to drive massive amounts of debris into the nearby Conemaugh River and up against the bridge that spanned either side. Once darkness began to fall, the debris that had begun to collect against the bridge caught fire and burned through the night, and “by six o’clock the whole monstrous pile had become a funeral pyre for perhaps as many as eighty people trapped inside” (157). The Heiser general store was flooded, and the barn was swept away as the proprietors and their son watched helplessly. The Hulbert House, “the finest hotel in town” (165), collapsed almost immediately upon getting hit with the oncoming wave, and only nine of the 60 occupants made it out alive.

On the morning of May 31, James Quinn, owner of a local dry goods store, was one of the few people who had expressed concern over the state of the dam. By noon, the water had begun to run over the curb and was rising in the streets, and that afternoon, he, fortunately, happened to be outside smoking when “he saw the dark mist and heard the sound of the wave coming” (171). He turned back to the house, shouting for everyone to get out and run for the hill, and he helped his family to safety. Realizing only a portion of his family had made it to the hill, he turned back to run toward them, only to watch as the house was ripped off the foundation and disappeared beneath the waves.

On Main Street stood Alma Hall, the largest building in town, where hundreds of survivors had congregated. Once night had fallen on the town, the only light available was the “eerie glow from the fires outside” (182). Fortunately, the hall was well built so as to survive the night, but those in the hall and any surrounding ruins and hills had to endure the terror of hearing the flood victims who were trapped on the bridge. There were “perhaps 500 to 600 people” who had been “driven into the burning heap,” (186) and while less than 100 seemed to have perished, the horror of the experience was one that none of the townspeople would ever forget.

Chapter 6 Summary: A Message from Mr. Pitcairn

Just a few hours before the flood hit Johnstown, Mr. Robert Pitcairn—head of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the Pittsburgh area—was on the train eastbound to survey the damage that recent storms had done in the area. Decades before, in 1862, Pitcairn became interested in the dam in Johnstown when it had broken and caused damage to the railroads in South Fork. Once his train reached a point about four miles outside the town, the train had to stop at just a few minutes past four o’clock. The nearest telegraph operator declared that the lines had all gone dead, and they began to notice debris floating down the river, with people trapped on floating debris “being swept along and trying desperately and futilely to swim” (192). Unable to go anywhere, Pitcairn ordered the train to head toward the town of New Florence and was eventually able to discover that the South Fork dam had failed and that Johnstown had been devastated by the resulting flood. By this point, newspapermen and journalists had begun to make their way toward the locus of events, and Pitcairn, sensing the uselessness of staying in New Florence, set off for Pittsburgh himself.

Chapters 4-6 Analysis

Chapters 4 through 6 narrate the actual experience of Johnstown as the flood swept through town. The flood was caused, ultimately, by a complete Disregard for Public Safety by the Powerful. John Parke had ventured back up the mountain more than once to observe the dam, and each time decided not to take any drastic measures that could injure the dam, instead hoping against hope that things would be fine and that disaster would be averted. That, however, was not to be, and as the tidal wave of rushing water tore its way down the mountain, it knocked out several smaller towns and killed hundreds of people before reaching Johnstown, where it would do the most damage. On its way to town, it cut down hundreds of houses and businesses and scattered dozens of locomotives. The wave rushing down the mountain was not just water (as devastating as that would be) but was filled with dangerous debris, including wood, steel, trees, and scores of dead bodies. McCullough reports the trajectory of the flood from several vantage points and locations while providing background on the towns in the flood path, making clear that the Johnstown Flood affected much more than Johnstown. Whether he is recounting the story of those who survived in Mineral Point, detailing the survival choices made by those on the Day Express train, or describing the destroyed town of Woodvale, his narrative reminds the reader on every page that this was a human tragedy caused by neglect, arrogance, and dereliction of duty.

In Chapter 5, the reader is introduced to the experience of Johnstown as the flood hit. With the residents staring in awe and disbelief at a wall of water over 30 feet high rushing toward them at the speed of a freight train, hundreds were killed in the first moments alone. What proved to be particularly horrific—especially as the afternoon wound along into evening and nightfall—was the enormous collection of debris that piled up against the great stone bridge spanning the river and eventually caught fire, burning all through the night and taking dozens to their graves. Many who had narrowly escaped the wave, but whose homes had been immediately destroyed, managed to make their way to Alma Hall, which sheltered hundreds of people as the water swept through town. The author’s details vividly depict how people will fight to survive, despite incredible odds.

In this section, McCullough’s in-depth research and interviews with survivors greatly enrich the narrative, making it read at times like an action-adventure story, as in the case of Victor Heiser’s hair-raising ride on a barn roof through the flood waters. Another hallmark of this chapter is the diversity of resident perspectives and locales he offers—a child watching his neighbors crushed under debris, the parson’s wife describing the destruction outside the window of her home, a resident sheltering at a hotel that is falling apart around them, a baby being thrown across ten feet of water into a stranger’s protective arms. The thoroughness of his descriptions and the immediacy of his recounting give the narrative an almost cinematic quality.

As devastating as the flood was and as many lives as were lost, many more people would suffer in the aftermath. The flood experience would be devastatingly traumatic for the survivors. Watching one’s family and friends drown or seeing one’s home and property destroyed was understandably traumatic. The disaster at the bridge, where many people had been trapped on the bridge and in the debris and where many slowly burned to death, added to the collective trauma experienced by those who witnessed the scene or heard the screams from the bridge. The people in town who survived recounted the experience of hearing the cries of the victims throughout the night, an experience none would ever forget.

Chapter 6 recounts the experience of Robert Pitcairn, who had been on a train to survey the damage the previous night’s storm had done to several towns in the region, including Johnstown. While on his way, however, the train had to stop to avoid any remains of the flood, and Pitcairn was able to observe quite a lot of debris sweep down the river alongside the train tracks. Pitcairn would be the first to observe the devastation of the flood outside of those who had experienced it firsthand, but he would not be the last. Pitcairn is a reminder of the industrial progress—in this case, the railroad—that brought South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club to the area and whose members’ negligence exacerbated the flood.