General Information
Welcome
The Dam
The Club
Colonel Unger
Details
Dam Building
Start of Club
Club Members
Bibliography
The Victims
Eye Witnesses
US Disasters
Last Updated:
November 27, 1998
http://www.nps.gov/jofl
Park eMail:
Johnstown Flood NM
Author:
Jason Earnest
Editor:
Diane Garcia
General Information
Welcome
The Dam
The Club
Colonel Unger
Details
Dam Building
Start of Club
Club Members
Bibliography
The Victims
Eye Witnesses
US Disasters
Last Updated:
November 27, 1998
http://www.nps.gov/jofl
Park eMail:
Johnstown Flood NM
Author:
Jason Earnest
Editor:
Diane Garcia
Daniel Sibert
Q. Where were you employed the time of the big flood in May ?
A. I was employed by Mr. Wilson, driving team for him.
Q. How long had you been driving team for him?
A. Well, about a year and eight months, I guess.
Q. Can you tell me what kind of a rain you had there at South Fork that brought that flood on/
A. We had a pretty heavy rain; I couldn't tell you just when it commenced to rain. It rained that morning of the flood all forenoon.
Q. Had it not been raining [sic] for 48 hours before the dam gave way?
A. That is more than I can tell you.
Q. What time was it that you were sent by Mr. Wilson up to the dam to see what condition it was in?
A. It was about 20 minutes after 12 when I left for the dam.
Q. Did you go on foot or on horseback?
A. I went on horseback, and I was back inside of 23 minutes after I left.
Q. How far is it from South Fork up to the dam?
A. Two miles.
Q. What did you see when you got to the dam?
A. The water was running over the center of the dam between fifty and sixty feet wide, and also on the far side, just like a creek.
Q. Did you see any men at work?
A. No, sir.
Q. Who did you see?
A. Well, there were a good many there; I don't know just who they were.
Q. Was there any work going on while you was there?
A. No, sir, not while I was there.
Q. How long did you stay there?
A. I didn't stay more than ten or fifteen minutes; maybe not that long. I just staid long enough to see the shape of the dam, and I went right back to report it.
Q. Did you go back again?
A. No, sir, just that one time.
Q. What time was it, as near as you can tell, when you got to the dam?
A. Well, it might have been---it [sic] was between 12 and 1 o'clock that I went there and back; I was back before 1 o'clock at South Fork again.
Q. Was the water out over the bottom of South Fork creek in the morning of Friday?
A. No, sir, not much in the morning; it got out pretty well over towards dinner time.
Q. How was the Conemaugh, was it over its banks?
A. No, not before dinner. We had a bridge across there, and my wagons that I haul with were right on the other side, and just before dinner, we had to move them up on the old Portage road. It was still rising then.
Q. Did it carry that bridge away?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was that before or after the flood?
A. Before the flood.
Q. Was that bridge over the South Fork or the Conemaugh?
A. Over the Conemaugh.
Q. A we on (?) bridge?
A. Yes, sir, a road bridge.
Q. Did you see a flood anything like that during the time you have lived there?
A. No, sir, I never saw anything like that in all my life before anywhere, and I was raised along the water.
Q. What waters were you raised along?
A. Along the Susquehanna.
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