Twenty miles up Conemaugh creek, beyond the workingmen's villages of
South Fork and Mineral Point, was Conemaugh lake. It was a part of the
old and long disused Pennsylvania Canal system. At the head of Conemaugh
creek, back among the hills, three hundred feet or more above the level
of Johnstown streets, was a small, natural lake. When the canal was
building, the engineers took this lake to supply the western division of
the canal which ran from there to Pittsburgh. The Eastern division ended
at Hollidaysburgh east of the summit of the Alleghanies, where there was
a similar reservoir. Between the two was the old Portage road, one of
the first railroads constructed in the State. The canal was abandoned
some years ago, as the Pennsylvania road destroyed its traffic. The
Pennsylvania Company got a grant of the canal from the State. Some years
after the canal was abandoned the Hollidaysburgh reservoir was torn
down, the water gradually escaping into the Frankstown branch of the
Juniata river. The people of the neighborhood objected to the existence
of the reservoir after the canal was abandoned, as little attention was
paid to the structure, and the farmers in the valley below feared that
the dam would break and drown them. The water was all let out of that
reservoir about three years ago.
The dam above Johnstown greatly increased the small natural lake there.
It was a pleasant drive from Johnstown to the reservoir. Boating and
fishing parties often went out there. Near the reservoir is Cresson, a
summer resort owned by the Pennsylvania road. Excursion parties are made
up in the summer time by the Pennsylvania Company, and special trains
are run for them from various points to Cresson. A club called the South
Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was organized some years ago, and got the
use of the lake from the Pennsylvania Company. Most of the members of
the club live in Pittsburgh, and are prominent iron and coal men.
Besides them there are some of the officials of the Pennsylvania road
among the members. They increased the size of the dam until it was not
far from a hundred feet in height, and its entire length, from side to
side at the top, was not far from nine hundred feet. This increased the
size of the lake to three miles in length and a mile and a quarter in
width. It was an irregular oval in shape. The volume of water in it
depended on the time of the year.
Some of the people of Johnstown had thought for years that the dam might
break, but they did not think that its breaking would do more than flood
the flats and damage the works of the Cambria Company.
When the Hunting and Fishing Club bought the site of the old reservoir a
section of 150 feet had been washed out of the middle. This was rebuilt
at an expense of $17,000 and the work was thought to be very strong. At
the base it was 380 feet thick and gradually tapered until at the top it
was about 35 feet thick. It was considered amply secure, and such faith
had the members of the club in its stability that the top of the dam was
utilized as a driveway. It took two years to complete the work, men
being engaged from '79 to '81. While it was under process of
construction the residents of Johnstown expressed some fears as to the
solidity of the work, and requested that it be examined by experts. An
engineer of the Cambria Iron Works, secured through Mr. Morrell, of that
institution, one provided by Mr. Pitcairn, of the Pennsylvania Railroad,
and Nathan McDowell, chosen by the club itself, made a thorough
examination. They pronounced the structure perfectly safe, but suggested
some precautionary measures as to the stopping of leaks, that were
faithfully carried out. The members of the club themselves discovered
that the sewer that carried away the surplus or overflow from the lake
was not large enough in times of storm. So five feet of solid rock were
cut away in order to increase the mouth of the lake. Usually the surface
of the water was 15 feet below the top of the dam, and never in recent
years did it rise to more than eight feet. In 1881, when work was going
on, a sudden rise occurred, and then the water threatened to do what it
did on this occasion. The workmen hastened to the scene and piled débris
of all sorts on the top and thus prevented a washout.
For more than a year there had been fears of a disaster. The foundations
of the dam at South Fork were considered shaky early in 1888, and many
increasing leakages were reported from time to time.
"We were afraid of that lake," said a gentleman who had lived in
Johnstown for years; "We were afraid of that lake seven years ago. No
one could see the immense height to which that artificial dam had been
built without fearing the tremendous power of the water behind it. The
dam must have had a sheer height of 100 feet, thus forcing the water
that high above its natural bed, and making a lake at least three miles
long and a mile wide, out of what could scarcely be called a pond. I
doubt if there is a man or woman in Johnstown who at some time or other
had not feared and spoken of the terrible disaster that has now come.
"People wondered, and asked why the dam was not strengthened, as it
certainly had become weak; but nothing was done, and by and by they
talked less and less about it, as nothing happened, though now and then
some would shake their heads as if conscious the fearful day would come
some time when their worst fears would be transcended by the horror of
the actual occurrence."
There is not a shadow of doubt but that the citizens of Cambria County
frequently complained, and that at the time the dam was constructed a
vigorous effort was made to put a stop to the work. It is true that the
leader in this movement was not a citizen of Johnstown, but he was and
is a large mine owner in Cambria County. His mine adjoins the reservoir
property. He was frequently on the spot, and his own engineer inspected
the work. He says the embankment was principally of shale and clay, and
that straw was used to stop the leaking of water while the work was
going on. He called on the sheriff of Cambria County and told him it was
his duty to apply to the court for an injunction. The sheriff promised
to give the matter his attention, but, instead of going before court,
went to the Cambria Company for consultation. An employee was sent up
to make an inspection, and as his report was favorable to the reservoir
work the sheriff went no further. But the gentleman referred to said
that he had not failed to make public his protest at the time and to
renew it frequently. This recommendation for an injunction and protest
were spoken of by citizens of Altoona as a hackneyed subject.
Confirmation has certainly been had at South Fork, Conemaugh, Millvale
and Johnstown. The rumor of an expected break was prevalent at these
places, but citizens remarked that the rumor was a familiar incident of
the annual freshets. It was the old classic story of "Wolf, wolf." They
gave up the first floors to the water and retired upstairs to wait until
the river should recede, as they had done often before, scouting the
oft-told story of the breaking of the reservoir.
[Illustration: RUINS OF JOHNSTOWN, VIEWED FROM PROSPECT HILL.]
An interesting story, involving the construction and history of the
Conemaugh lake dam, was related by J. B. Montgomery, who formerly lived
in Western Pennsylvania, and is now well known in the West as a railroad
contractor. "The dam," said he, "was built about thirty-five years ago
by the State of Pennsylvania, as a feeder for the western division of
the Pennsylvania Canal. The plans and specifications for the dam were
furnished by the Chief Engineer of the State. I am not sure, but it is
my impression, that Colonel William Milnor Roberts held the office at
the time. Colonel Roberts was one of the most famous engineers in the
country. He died several years ago in Chili. The contractors for the
construction of the dam were General J. K. Moorhead and Judge H. B.
Packer, of Williamsport, a brother of Governor Packer. General Moorhead
had built many dams before this on the rivers of Pennsylvania, and his
work was always known to be of the very best. In this case, however, all
that he had to do was to build the dam according to the specifications
furnished by the State. The dam was built of stone and wood throughout,
and was of particularly solid construction. There is no significance in
the discovery of straw and dirt among the ruins of the dam. Both are
freely used when dams are being built, to stop the numerous leaks.
"The dam had three waste-gates at the bottom, so arranged that they
could be raised when there was too much water in the lake, and permit
the escape of the surplus. These gates were in big stone arches, through
which the water passed to the canal when the lake was used as a feeder.
"In 1859 the Pennsylvania Railroad Company purchased the canal from the
State, and the dam and lake went into the possession of that company.
Shortly afterward the Pennsylvania Company abandoned the western
division of the canal, and the dam became useless as a feeder. For
twenty-five years the lake was used only as a fish-pond, and the dam
and the gates were forgotten. Five years ago the lake was leased to a
number of Pittsburgh men, who stocked it with bass, trout, and other
game fish. I have heard it said that the waste-gates had not been opened
for a great many years. If this is so, no wonder the dam broke.
Naturally the fishermen did not want to open the gates after the lake
was stocked, for the fish would have run out. A sluiceway should have
been built on the side of the dam, so that when the water reached a
certain height the surplus could escape. The dam was not built with the
intention that the water should flow over the top of it under any
circumstances, and if allowed to escape in that way the water was bound
to undermine it in a short time. With a dam the height of this the
pressure of a quantity of water great enough to overflow it must be
something tremendous.
"If it is true that the waste-gates were never opened after the
Pittsburgh men had leased the lake, the explanation of the bursting of
the dam is to be found right there. It may be that the dam had not been
looked after and strengthened of late years, and it was undoubtedly
weakened in the period of twenty-five years during which the lake was
not used. After the construction of the dam the lake was called the
Western Reservoir. The south fork of the Conemaugh, which fed the lake,
is a little stream not over ten feet wide, but even when there were no
unusual storms it carried enough water to fill the lake full within a
year, showing how important it was that the gates should be opened
occasionally to run off the surplus."
Mr. Montgomery was one of a party of engineers who inspected the dam
when it was leased by the Pennsylvania Company, five years ago. It then
needed repairs, but was in a perfectly safe condition if the water was
not allowed to flow over it.