Before the Next Flood: Songs about the
Johnstown Flood and Global Warming

John Henry: The Rebel Versions
by Jim Hauser Contact: jphauser2000 (at) yahoo.com

All the horrors that hell could wish
Such was the price that was paid for--fish!
--Isaac Reed

INTRODUCTION:

This webpage deals with the Great Johnstown Flood of 1889, songs abut it or related to it, and how it serves as an example for and warning about global warming's potential for disaster.

Most Americans know very little about the devastating Johnstown Flood even though it killed over 2200 people. At best, most history textbooks in schools only mention it in passing. A silent movie was made about the flood in 1926, but it is quite obscure--very few people alive today have actually seen it. And there are no well-known songs about the flood. The closest thing we have to that is Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman," a song which is not actually about the flood itself but which contains lyrics with the line "as the band played Night of the Johnstown Flood". Springsteen's lyric inspired a number of musicians to write and record songs about the Johnstown Flood. I have included links to their recordings on this webpage.

It has been said that if we don't learn from the mistakes of the past, we are bound to repeat them in the future. The story of the Johnstown Flood--man's role in causing it, what actions could have been taken to prevent it, and why those actions were not taken--makes for a very important lesson when you consider what's going on in today's world. Specifically, I'm thinking of global warming. Many scientists believe that global warming will lead to environmental disaster.

I'm not a musician, but I've written a song about the Johnstown Flood which I hope will help spread the word about what happened in Johnstown over a century ago, and what may happen today in our not too distant future. I titled it "Before the Next Flood." It's a protest song--a protest over a terrible disaster that could have been avoided. It's also a protest against those who deny the reality of global warming, a disaster which is in our future and which we may be able to avoid if we learn from the mistakes of the past. The lyrics are included on this webpage. If you're a musician, feel free to set my lyrics to your own music and perform it to help spread the word.

This webpage includes some basic information about the flood. To learn more about it, read David McCullough's excellent book "The Johnstown Flood."

Jim Hauser

______________________

THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD:

At about 3:00 PM on May 31, 1889, after a large amount of rainfall, the South Fork Dam located in the mountains outside the steel-making town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania broke, releasing 20 million tons of water--about the same amount of water which goes over Niagara falls in 35 minutes--into the Conemaugh Valley. The resulting wave of water wiped out several small towns on its way to Johnstown. It's been estimated that, at times, the wave reached a height of 40 feet or more and a speed of 40 miles per hour, pushing the bodies of dead people and animals and a mountain of debris along with it which included boulders, trees, houses, steel cables, glass, chemical solvents, railroad cars, and miles of barbed wire from a wire factory. The force of the water mowed down everything in its path, crushing houses and other structures like eggshells. It was so powerful that several locomotives weighing 170,000 pounds were swept as far as 4800 feet, almost a full mile. A massive amount of floating debris accumulated and caught fire at a bridge, creating an inferno that killed 80 people. Overall, more than 2200 people were drowned, burned or crushed to death, more than Hurricane Katrina's death toll of 1833.

While living the first 25 years of my life in the town of Latrobe, PA which is located only 25 miles from Johnstown, I knew very little about the details of the flood, including the fact that the broken dam was an old earthen dam which had been poorly rebuilt by the South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club to create an artificial lake for fishing and boating. The club was a Pennsylvania corporation which operated as an exclusive resort for its owners, a group of over 50 wealthy and powerful industrialists which included steel magnate Andrew Carnegie, his right hand man Henry Clay Frick, and banker Andrew Mellon. The club made inadequate repairs and dangerous alterations to the dam. Repeated warnings about the dam's defects were refuted by the club and nothing was done to correct the deficiencies.

None of the wealthy members of the club took personal responsibility for the disaster that befell Johnstown and the surrounding area. It is not known whether Carnegie, Frick, Mellon, and the other members had personal knowledge of the warnings made to the club's representatives about the dam, but even if they knew nothing about the dam's defects, they should have owned up to their responsibility for creating a hazard which took so many lives. Instead, the club members gathered together for a meeting and decided that their best course of action would be to make donations to a relief fund and avoid talking publicly about the club and the dam. Carnegie donated $10,000. Frick--a founding member of the club--contributed $5000. Mellon gave $1000. Their contributions were mere pocket change in comparison to their vast fortunes. Survivors sued the club over the loss of their loved ones and property, but the club's high-powered attorneys successfully defended it and its members from having to make any payment to the survivors. One of the lead attorneys for the defense was Philander Knox who was also a club member; in the name of his firm Knox and Reed, he made a relief fund donation of just $50.

Public outrage over the flood and the perceived injustice of the unfavorable outcomes in the courts for Johnstown's survivors led to a major shift in liability law in America. Prior to the flood, it was difficult for an individual to successfully sue a company to recover losses caused by its unnatural use of land. The courts held a laissez-faire, pro-industry attitude. For example, in The Pennsylvania Coal Company v. Sanderson, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled against a farmer whose property and livelihood were severely damaged as a result of a coal mining company's polluting the stream which traversed his farm. In its ruling, the court referred to mine water run-off and mining in general as "natural" twenty-six times (see note 1 for source). And it characterized the farmer's losses as a trifling inconvenience stating, "The plaintiff’s grievance, is for a mere personal inconvenience, and we are of opinion that mere private personal inconveniences, arising in this way and under such circumstances, must yield to the necessities of a great public industry, which although in the hands of a private corporation, subserves a great public interest. To encourage the development of the great natural resources of a country, trifling inconveniences to particular persons must sometimes give way to the necessities of a great community." (see note 1 for source). This case took place in 1886, just 3 years prior to the flood. But soon after the flood, the courts began to abandon that pro-business, hands-off attitude and were much more likely to hold companies responsible for damages resulting from their unnatural use of land or from engaging in hazardous activities.

Note 1. Source: page 365 of the article "The Floodgates of Strict Liability: Bursting Reservoirs and the Adoption of Fletcher v. Rylands in the Gilded Age" by Jed H. Shugerman published in the Yale Law Journal, volume 110, issue 2 pages 333-377. Link to article

THE GILDED AGE:

The Johnstown Flood was a disaster which took place during America's Gilded Age, and it helped expose some of the inequities and injustices of that era. The Gilded Age was a period of time which took place roughly between the end of the Civil War and the early 1900s. It was a time when a small group of industrialists built vast business empires in steel, railroads, shipping, banking, and other fields. They created business monopolies, amassed enormous fortunes, exploited consumers and workers, and used their money and power to influence or bribe politicians into doing their bidding and to prevent any reforms to the way they did business. Mark Twain coined the term "Gilded Age" and wrote a book titled The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today which satirized and denounced the graft, materialism, and corruption which existed in America in the late 19th century.

Despite the success of big business during this era, it was also a time of great economic and social problems including extreme income inequality. While businesses boomed, ordinary working men and women put in extremely long hours for low wages and often labored under hazardous or poor working conditions. The formation of labor unions to protect workers was vehemently opposed by the industrialists. Labor protests and strikes sometimes led to violent clashes between labor and big business, including Carnegie and Frick's infamous bloody crackdown on Pittsburgh steel workers during the 1892 Homestead Strike. While life during the Gilded Age was a struggle for the common man, those who were very, very rich flaunted their wealth, including building enormous mansions such as the 250-room Biltmore Estate which was constructed between 1889--the year of the Johnstown Flood--and 1895. The ostentatious lifestyles of the rich were considered by many to be vulgar and un-American; ordinary citizens just trying to get by looked with suspicion upon those who conspicuously put their riches on display.

GLOBAL WARMING: A NEW GILDED AGE AND A GIGANTIC NEW FLOOD

It is important that people learn about the Johnstown Flood and the time during which it took place because, in a certain sense, history is repeating itself. Today's world has many of the same conditions and circumstances which existed during the Gilded Age, including great economic inequality, business and political scandals and corruption, and a ruling class which ignores the problems and needs of the common man. But the most important similarity between the Gilded Age and today is one associated with the Great Johnstown Flood itself. Through the poorly repaired and reconstructed South Fork Dam, a group of rich and powerful men changed the natural order of things on a very large scale and endangered the lives of those living in the valley below. And when warnings were issued about the safety of the dam, the warnings were cast aside by those who had the power to do something to avoid the disaster which eventually took place. Similarly, in today's world, the natural order of things is being changed, putting the lives of many people at risk. And the warnings about the consequences are going largely unheeded. Specifically, increased greenhouse gases caused by certain human activities are warming the planet, and warnings about global warming and its consequences are being ignored and cast aside by many politicians and businessmen who have the power and responsibility to take the steps necessary to avoid a disaster. Unfortunately, the disaster which lies ahead of us has the potential to bring death and destruction on a much, much larger scale than the Johnstown Flood. The Johnstown Flood would just be a drop in the ocean of chaos, pain, and loss that awaits us through global warming.

BEFORE THE NEXT FLOOD (BORN IN THE VALLEY): A SONG ABOUT THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD AND GLOBAL WARMING

One day, as I was thinking about the Johnstown Flood and the bigger "flood" which may be ahead of us caused by global warming, I was inspired to write the lyrics below. In them, you'll see nods to Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, and John Fogerty's "Born on the Bayou." I'm not a musician, so I have not set the lyrics to music, but sometimes I sing my song's verses to myself to a tune based loosely on the minor key melody that John Prine used in the verses to his song "Caravan of Fools." If you're a musician and you like my lyrics, feel free to set them to your own music and create your own song. Feel free to put the folk process to work: change the lyrics, drop some of the verses, create and add your own verses, etc. If you make a recording of your song and post it to Youtube, I'll seriously consider adding a link to it from this webpage. You can reach me by email at jphauser2000 (at) yahoo.com.

Before the Next Flood

Well, when Poppa was just a little boy
Sittin' down on his daddy's knee
His daddy said "Son, I break my back at the mill
I'm hard workin' and proud and free."

Poppa's daddy was born in the valley
The son of a steel workin' man
When the rich folks built a fishin' club
Up in the hills by the dam.

Born in the valley
Born in this valley of steel
Born in the valley
Where steel was king of the land

Poppa saw the wall of water comin'
But all he could do was cry and moan
When the flood swept away his momma and his brother
Made death the king of his home

Over 2,000 dead, on a spring day
Iron horses were tossed into the sky
An obscene price paid for nothin' but fish
Made Lucifer laugh and God cry.

Born in the valley
Born in this valley of tears
Born in the valley
Where the flood was king of the land

When I had a little boy of my own
And he was sittin' down on my knee
The mill let go three hundred men
And one of those men was me.

Well, I was born in the valley
And I’m the father of a fine young son
I raised him up to be strong and do some good
And I pray that he shall overcome

Born in the valley
Born in this valley of rust
Born in the valley
Town’s dyin’ and it's turnin' to dust.

Today a dam's near overflowin'
With confusion, hatred, and pain
Proud men say that they can save us
But I fear they’ll bring more of the same.

A man crows and he laughs and he talks so tough
He points his crooked finger of blame
The roar of the crowd makes me tremble
And I wonder who'll stop the rain.

Oh, I pray that dam won't be breakin'
'Cause it will rain down fire and blood
Will there be any calls for justice
When the whole world's lost in the flood?

When the Koch-heads and their deniers
Hide in the hills with their hired guns
They'll let us pay for each of their sins
While they feast with their fortunate sons.

Can the valley in the golden west save us?
Our prophets and our kings debate
Well, Mister-r-r-r,
I was born down here in Johnstown
Where I can see the whole damn world's fate.

I was born down here in Johnstown
I’m the father of a Johnstown son
I’ve raised him up to be strong and do some good
And I pray that we shall overcome

Flood in the valley
Questions blowin' in the wind
Flood in the valley
Oh, won't you sing sweet robin sing
Please sing sweet robin sing

--written by Jim Hauser

SONGS ABOUT THE JOHNSTOWN FLOOD:

There is not a well-known song about the Johnstown Flood, but over the last 40 years or so, a number of songs have been written which either about the flood or reference it in some way. The links at the bottom of this section will take you to musical recordings of a number of those songs. Some of them are titled "Night of the Johnstown Flood," and they were probably written by individuals who were familiar with Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman" which contains the line "as they danced to the Night of the Johnstown Flood." In his reference to a song about the flood, Springsteen may have had in mind an old obscure song, but it seems more likely that the song which his lyrics refer to was simply an imaginary song.

Regarding the title "Night of the Johnstown Flood," the flood actually took place during the day, but it's devastating effects continued throughout the night. It's hard to say what was worse for those who experienced it: the terrifying flood as it quickly descended upon them in the afternoon or the extended horror of the night that followed it. As the rain continued to pour down that night, many people were injured or trapped in their homes or on floating debris. Some people spent the night after having seen their loved ones die. Others did not know whether their family members were alive or dead. People crying out for help could be heard throughout the night. Dogs and other animals cried out in unearthly sounds and howls. Buildings and houses collapsed; others caught fire.

The worst of it took place at a bridge known as Stone Bridge where a large mass of debris was trapped and on fire. Floating houses were swept one after another into the debris and quickly began to burn. Men, women, and children emerged from the houses crawling on their hands and knees, desperately looking for an escape route. The scene was overwhelming; some eyewitnesses reported that thousands of people were caught in the burning debris. However, a study of the evidence has suggested that 500 to 600 people were driven into the massive pileup and about 80 of them died. The fire was still blazing when the morning arrived.

LINKS TO THE SONGS:

The Johnstown Flood / Richard Bennett

The Night of the Johnstown Flood / The Rock Creek Jug Band

Night of the Johnstown Flood / Nolan Patton

Ballad of Johnstown / Stephen Kerns

Night of the Johnstown Flood / The Delta Generators

The Night of the Johnstown Flood / Chicken Little

Johnstown Flood Took Em Away from Me / Dan Williams

Johnstown / Thomas Eckert

LOSS OF LIFE AND DAMAGES CAUSED BY THE FLOOD:

(source: Johnstown Area Heritage Association website: jaha.org)

1. The human death toll was 2209 people, including 396 children.

2. 99 entire families were killed.

3. 124 women and 198 men were left widowed.

4. 1600 homes were destroyed.

5. The property damage cost was $17 million which is equivalent to about $500 million today.

6. Four square miles of the city of Johnstown were completely destroyed.

7. The debris which collected and burned at the stone bridge covered a total of 30 acres.

Link to poem by Isaac Reed as quoted in David McCullough's book about the flood

Link to images of the damage caused by the Great Johnstown Flood