On a recent hike around the ruins of the St. Francis Dam disaster site about 40 miles from Downtown Los Angeles, with my archaeologist friend, John, we discussed the tarnished life of its builder and the age of the “Gentlemen Scientist.”
The St. Francis Dam was built between 1924 and 1926 to create a large storage reservoir for the city of Los Angeles, California, by the Bureau of Water Works and Supply, now the Department of Water and Power. The department was under the direction of its general manager and chief engineer, William Mulholland. If you’ve ever seen the classic movie, “Chinatown”, William Mulholland was such a significant part of Los Angeles history they had to break him into two characters.
While he was a legend in his own time, Mulholland wasn’t a civil engineer by today’s standards. He was self-taught during his early days as a “ditch tender” for the Water Department. After a hard day’s work, Mulholland would study textbooks on mathematics, engineering, hydraulics, and geology. This origin story is the foundation of the “Gentlemen Scientist” persona – devouring all the material available on a subject and then claiming an understanding that would allow them to oversee a massive undertaking, despite any form of testing or certification.