The Johnstown Flood of 1889 ~ Searching for History

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[@thewanderingwoodsman7227]

This channel sticker has been found!

[@dustin2dust351]

I’ve been here. I love route 219. Route 219 is a great car ride.

[@lindseysmail2849]

I went this morning and it was gone! Still a nice hike!

[@susankerr9521]

Welcome back to our area. The Path of the Flood is sobering, isn't it? I volunteered at a sister park, the Allegheny Portage NHS, when I was in grad school. The rangers are absolutely national treasures. A note on pronunciation: It is Cah-nuh-mah.

[@carolhenderson1156]

For more information I highly recommend David McCullough's book "The Johnstown Flood". Also Cliff, be sure to go to Allegheny Portoage NHS and Staple Bend Tunnel next time in area!

[@bradtipton986]

Cliff, you were in my neck of the woods for this video. I lived in Johnstown, near the top of the mountain from ages 4 to 13. Your facts were well researched and accurate. A couple of points: The main wall of water actually carried along a couple of steam locomotives and many railroad cars when it hit Johnstown that were devastating to some of the stronger buildings that may have weathered the onslaught without those "battering rams". A fair portion of the graves and Grandview have only main body parts like torsos or half a body. the tearing and forces from the barbed wire, large chunks of debris and the force of the water tore bodies apart, in addition to some being partially incinerated by the fire. I had read where debris packed tightly against the viaduct downstream from the Point and allowed air pockets to extend below water level, people were trapped and burned to death up to 20 feet under nearby water level. Not officially documented, was friends of my family had a kerosene lantern that washed up in their ancestor's yard, right at the edge of the high water mark. It is labeled and kept as a family keepsake. Close to the cemetery is the Johnstown Inclined Plane. Following the 1889 flood, the Inclined Plane was built to help move people from the valley in the event of another flood. It was put into service 1891. I rode on it many times, having bicycled down the mountain into the City, and took the Inclined Plane back up the mountain. (I wanted to avoid all that uphill peddling.) The Inclined Plane has a good lookout structure where much of the valley can be viewed, including The Point, the railroad viaduct and other landmarks. The Point, as you pointed out, is the confluence of the Conemaugh and Stony Creek Rivers. A bit of personal trivia is that the source of the Stony Creek River is in the middle of Berlin, Somerset County, PA at a place named Pius Spring. So named by the original settlers of Berlin. I am proud to tell you that Berlin is my home town. My family lived there until I was age 4. Keep up your excellent work, Cliff.

[@bradtipton986]

@Grizz Having descended from one immigrant, all Caucasian Tiptons in North America are related. I do not know her personally.

[@Trish30]

That's so awesome that you did this video...I live in Johnstown...My grandparents are buried in Grandview Cemetery.

[@frankmyers1257]

My great-great-grandfather, Jacob Myers, was a railroad stone-arch bridge contractor (headquartered at New Florence, not far downstream from Johnstown) whose crews bridged the Conemaugh and other streams before bringing his family west to Iowa. So I really appreciated this. One of his sisters was living in Johnstown at the time of the flood, but survived. Other relations lived in the Conemaugh valley near New Florence and reported mountains of debris and many bodies there, too. Thank you!

[@carolhenderson1156]

Lived my whole life in New Florence!

[@Marsha0364]

My family is from Johnstown and I have relatives buried in Grandview Cemetery. One place to really get a sense of the magnitude of it all it looking down from on top of the Inclined Plane. Thank you for this video!

[@brucesheehe6305]

BRAVO! You summed it up in excellent fashion. The Pennsylvania Railroad open up the rail lines from the West (Pittsburgh) and East (Altoona) in just three days. All supplies arrived by rail from all over the country. There was no FEMA or other federal agencies at that time. Clara Barton and Red Cross was in Johnstown for a long time.

[@littlebooks4760]

Really enjoy your channel greetings from the UK new subscriber, I love America so this is a real treat seeing the houses and landscape, so sorry for the people who were devastated bye the flood back then.

[@leonardgordon1748]

It’s interesting how water can be so calming and refreshing watching it tumble down a country stream but can become so awful and terrible when it becomes a destructive flood. So unfortunate when it occurs. Thank you again for an interesting video.

[@petegregory517]

No one appreciates the power of water until they’re caught up in it, then it’s (obviously) too late.

[@ruthgoebel723]

I must say this is one of your top videos! Very informative. I like how you took us along the path of the flood waters. I seem to think there is a museum on the flood? Thanks so much for educating us!

[@wondergirl367]

Thanks so much for making and posting this. I can't walk the path, so I appreciate you doing it for me!

[@kateclark7250]

Thank you for all the research you did and for telling this story so realistically. The flood was terrifying.

[@davidcouch6514]

Really enjoyed your Professionally-Casual Presentation. (You seem like a growed-up child star.)

[@Faroutamazingadventures]

I’ve been there twice! This place was definitely a unique place! I too did a video of Johnstown flood.

[@kathyphilmurphy5517]

What a horrible event in such a scenic location. Thank you for your research. You presented it very well. And God bless all the people that buried flood victims back then and raised a huge momument and donated headstones for each and every one. God bless all the hands today that landscape that cemetary and keep it beautiful. Gravesites and tombstones aren't cheap. May everyone who died in this flood rest in peace.

[@bobh6398]

Thank you for for accurately presenting the tradgic stoy of what happend to the unsepecting people of Johnstown Pa, on May 31, 1889. A sad and completely preventable tragady. Whole Family's were erased from existence due to negrlect and a breakdown of comunication. God Bless those poor people. No one from The South Fork Hunting and Fishing Club were ever held accountable for the deaths of 2,209. {sad} I also want to express my thanks to you for your respectful visit to pay respect and condolences to the 777 unidentefied flood victims at their plot at Granview Cemitary. Thank you. Bob, Johnstown Pa.

[@carolynmyers2222]

So glad you are there. Great history.

[@WilliamWeicht]

Another great video. If you go over to the Johnstown Incline which is close to the cemetery there is an awesome view of Johnstown.

[@randysheetz690]

One of the best documentaries is available from PBS on dvd. I don't know if they still carry it or if you have to find it second hand but it is very well done and very informative.

[@citizenmikeyone]

The PBS doc is incredible and you can view it here: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHWVamykrKmGiMk

[@mikeseier4449]

Cliff, This was a dam good video!!

[@stewartthompson72]

Interesting story Cliff. I did some reading, and it appears that no one was held responsible for the disaster. Mostly because the Fish and Game Club was made up of prominent Millionaires. It seems the Engineering report was whitewashed as well, and has been disputed for quite some time. Thanks for the great content!

[@robertganther3695]

Andrew Carnegie was one of them! He alone could have made that dam right.

[@julianne2saw]

The land is so beautiful now.

[@katrinascreationscrafting]

My husband went to college for construction management. The Johnstown Flood was the casebook example of what NOT to do.

[@brookeshaffer4377]

Great job telling this story Cliff 🌟What a horrifically sad time in our history😢

[@susanpetit6964]

My grandmother was there as a small child and remembered being in the woods. Her twin baby brothers died there but I am not sure when. Harbottle was the family name. After the family returned to England.

[@docpalazola491]

Cliff...this by far is the best video you've made to date.

[@brendashaw2035]

Love your videos!

[@SueGirling68]

Hi Cliff, a very well researched and narrated video of the Johnstown Flood, R.I.P to all the victims. Thank you for sharing, much love. xx 💞

[@dannysgirl1549]

Just an fyi…The club was not responsible for the removal of the pipes. Those were removed many years before the dam was purchased. They did lower the top and they did have the grates put in to keep the fish from escaping. Both of which contributed to the dam failure.

[@susanpetit6964]

Wow, my great grandparents and external fed family were all there.

[@robertgallagher2484]

Very interesting video. Many years ago my wife, son and I travelled to Johnstown Pa. My son was a student at WVU and there was a hockey game in Johnstown. We drove around there and you could see how narrow the walls of stone were there. It is a spooky place to visit during a snow and rain storm.

[@kathleenhannigan2487]

My father would talk about the flood as if he was there.....because it was such a part of the family history he heard about all the time while growing up....much the way I would hear about The War.

[@user-David-Alan]

Thanks for sharing. What a terrible disaster. Will you be doing video on the second Johnstown flood of 1977? Stay well and be safe.

[@southerncross3638]

Good job, best video I have seen on the flood, very detailed 👍.

[@one2869]

After watching this, my wife and I decided to take the hour drive down to see if the sticker was still there and to enjoy the beautiful day and history of an area we both know well. My wife did find the sticker and is working on sending you the pics. Had to get back on because I forgot to hit the like button earlier when you posted it. Thanks for another great video and thanks for giving us something to do and enjoy today!

[@pameladonnelson2093]

So sad for each one of them and their families

[@davidmiklos741]

Good job. Two books worth reading, Johnstown Flood, by David MaCallem. Or Ruthless Tide, by A Rocker. Ken Burns did a documentary on it go PBS. Amazing and tragic piece of history.

[@randomvintagefilm273]

You are right, history IS sobering!

[@johnnytoobad7785]

I believe PBS has a "doco" on this. I watched it a few years ago. Very well done with some old movie footage and interviews with survivors and their heirs. I remember reading about that event in an old book also (as a young child). Scared the hell out me.

[@citizenmikeyone]

Here’s the PBS doc: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHWVamykrKmGiMk

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Oh wow what a video. That was so sad. Seems wrong that I enjoyed it. Such a huge loss of life. That cemetery felt so very safe. I broke out in goosepimples and my hair prickled. I could really feel the doom and gloom. Loved the history tho. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care

[@aprilrichards762]

In Western Pennsylvania, May 31st is a horrible day for severe weather. Other bad May 31sts in recent times: -1985 had a tornado outbreak that spawned the only E.F.-5 tornado so far in PA. -1986 severe flooding around Westmoreland County. -1998 from May 31st to June 2nd there was an extended severe weather outbreak that ended in a tornado outbreak. -2002 a micro downburst hit Kennywood and killed a woman. These are just ones I remember.

[@dscobellusa]

It would be quite terrifying to be downstream of a dam break. Many states are delinquent or bribed to ignore needed repairs because the funds allocated for repairs are spent on other things. Some states don't even require periodic maintenance checks on their dams. Our past dictates it is a wise person who avoids buying property downstream of any dam.

[@jerelpledger4168]

In Mineral Port the old lady that died in 1889 at the age of 85 was born in 1804 the same year Lewis and Clark first set out on their expedition and she was alive during the war of 1812 and the civil war. Just kind of putting things into perspective

[@TheGroover72]

Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"

[@nickthestampede2160]

I know of a very old tree by the swatti in that area with a very big/old chain consumed by new tree growth and potential treasure trail markings carved into the tree

[@millerinthemountains769]

I was also recently involved in an archeological dig with the park service beneath the spill way we metal detected and dug test holes all around

[@rreuss9277]

Fascinating video Cliff. The You tube Documentary narrated by Richard Dreyfuss is really good for those who want to know more.

[@bekleidungu.ausrustung7068]

Funny, While I watched your Hurricane Ida video, I was thinking you should go do the Johnstown flood!! Thanks for including the train video too, Norfolk Southern along the river, nice!!

[@heden1460]

I remember watching a documentary about this. It was sad. It is such a pretty place there.

[@petegregory517]

As I recall from my visit some years ago; a lot of people burned to death. Wooden structures, manufacturing plant coal furnaces, home coal furnaces, fire places, pot belly stoves were prominent in that era. That revelation caught me off guard, but makes sense. If I’m not recollecting correctly maybe someone has more information. Ah, ok, at 31:54 he mentions fire.

[@phillipkrise9042]

Having been up at Flood National Park in St. Michaels they have a very realistic movie that was made for them portraying the flood. It's a must see if you ever go back. Thanks for being in my back yard sort of speaking. The Portage Tunnel is a cool place to hike to and through it's about a mile or so hike from the parking lot located across the river and under the railroad tracks up on the right hand side in Mineral Point.

[@RamblinJer]

In memory of Bopp, Jacob, 32, Broad Street, LYC Bopp, son of Jacob, Broad Street, GC-PP Bopp, Katie, 9, Broad Street, GC-PP Bopp, Naomi, 7, Broad Street, missing

[@davidtwigg7189]

If you had just drove a few blocks over you could have stopped at the inclined plane they have a nice Overlook that overlooks the whole entire town of Johnstown plus there's a gift shop a restaurant excetera excetera and you can even put your vehicle on the inclined plane for a small fee and ride up or down the mountain but the view is extraordinary, you weren't very far from The Overlook when you were at the cemetery.

[@graceamerican3558]

I've read a book on this Johnstown Flood. They had notice of it... they just ignored the signs.

[@2ndchildhood404]

I haven't been there in some time. I remember the inclined plane there over looking johnstown. Alot of history there

[@nickmad887]

thanks

[@lynfl9814]

We visited the Johnstown area and the Johnstown Flood Museum many years ago. In 1989 a documentary was made about the Flood. It won an academy award. I think they showed the movie either at the museum or in town somewhere. It is a great movie to view about what happened that horrible day and the days following. It is also on KZbin to view. Here's a link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poHLqoCFnbOWapo

[@jenniferbutcher8393]

It's one thing to read about his in a book, but when we went and visited in person, it was shocking how huge the old lake was, even more so that such a huge lake had such a mismanaged dam system. Money talks....so the rich guys could do whatever they wanted and people died for something as stupid as gamefish. Totally recommend a visit there! Thanks!

[@millerinthemountains769]

I grew up in the town that rose out of the lakebed, St. Michael,I have found lots of history there let me know when you come back through here I can show you some beautiful spots

[@lindseysmail2849]

You need to check out the staple bend tunnel next time!

[@sheilaregister1646]

LOL! "You have a dam failure." Yes, you damn sure do!

[@NurseSue425]

Thank you for this. I grew up in Johnstown. Drove past this a million times but never went there. Sorry One little thing. It’s con -emaugh as in con man

[@rrich52806]

Dam good history.

[@Darren2269]

I live not far from where you was. You should have visited Staple Bend Tunnel. Built in 1833, the US first railroad tunnel. I remember the flood of 1977, it also has a bad effect on Johnstown. Around 77 people died.. the flood you are filming, until 9/11 was our Countries worst disaster, over 2,000 lives lost in that flood.

[@julianne2saw]

do one on the calico indians of delaware county ny, you are terrific.

[@steel90912]

Today is 5.31.2024. 135 years later. 🌧️☔

[@vincelaytonlayton1420]

I heard they raised fish for stocking of the lake in a dam less then a mile away, I wonder if that's still there.

[@vincelaytonlayton1420]

Another thing is that instead of trying to fix the spillway during the storm, if they would have dug some out it would have helped more. But the one video of the maintenance crew trying to patch the spillway with shovels during the heavy rainfall is kind of comical. I guess the video was the real deal. I didn't know they had video cameras back then. It's been a while since I seen the documentary with that video recording. Only the richest people in the state would have had access to the location and can modify the video in recent times

[@lambo58]

Thanks for coming to western pa. By the way, it's pronounced con-a-maw.

[@mikechristasmysteries7383]

I'll be looking for your sticker tomorrow

[@thewanderingwoodsman7227]

It's already been found.

[@mikechristasmysteries7383]

It's ok we payed for some stickers to help u out

[@hiworldstephensonultranate290]

hi Woodsman like this very interesting video gt Exploring n railway too conemaugh river sounds originally irish when i was kid 'south fork' was dallas tv show anyone remember?

[@julianne2saw]

Catherine Marshall wrote a book called Christy about all this. historical fiction but true enough. The hungarians were just piled in big wholes marked man, woman, child some of the time. the rich guys didn't ever care and just sent for some more but no hungarians were interested , but poor Polish folks came in about 1900 hoping to get rich and go home to poland rich but that didn't happen but many did very well with education in this country, my cousins are all drs and lawyers and indian chiefs due to the free education of nyc if you had the brains and we did.

[@bozojoe197]

Born and raised in Johnstown. I am going to be 34 years old and never knew my family history until more recently when I started piecing together my ancestry online. I knew most of my family came to the USA in the 1920's, but I thought "someone had to have been here before that in some way"... I came across something weird which was a change of surname spelling from my great grand father and his father (my great great grandfather)... Which was probably why it was so hard for my family to trace back this far (I heard it was common to do this because some Europeans felt closed out by society and wanted to be more "American"... Later, I learned that my great great grandfather who was born in Slovakia in the 1850's had come to America right before the flood and settled in Johnstown. I thought "this was awesome, surely he had to have been around for the flood"... So I started digging through census records and so on and seen that during a later census his children and wife's name were different from an earlier census (pre flood)... At first, I thought this had probably been because of divorce or something like that, so I kept digging. I eventually opened up a book which listed all of the victims of the Johnstown Flood of 1889... I seen a name in the book which looked like my ancestor's last name but was spelled WAY OFF... It turns out, the book which was written and published using records which were hand written, had been mistranscribed because the surname that was in the book literally doesn't exist throughout Google or Ancestry records... But when you use the correct letters (which the record had 3 or 4 letters off) you get all of the hits. At this point I was pretty excited to find the actual record of my ancestor, but now I was pretty saddened to hear that he had lost his family. His 3 year old daughter, his 6 year old daughter, and his wife were taken from him that day. He had to have been so strong to continue throughout life with those horrible memories... In total, 99 families were wiped from existence during the flood.

[@hiworldstephensonultranate290]

human life is/was cheap

[@raygamrat1466]

Listen carefully, at 21:53 there is an EVP, it sounds like a male voice is saying brother? It was just after Cliff finished a sentence. What do you think?

[@sharonbilling2648]

Q right

[@richardbutterfoss2353]

God knows! RWB

[@alj6956]

Too bad you didn't know that the Johnstown inclined plane was only about six blocks from the entrance to Grandview Cemetery. From the top you get a par

[@alj6956]

get a great view of downtown Johnstown including the stone bridge. Video from there would have been perfect ending to your video.

[@julianne2saw]

f this flood hadn't killed the hungarian community, my moms folks would've never moved there and she wouldn't have run away to nyc and met my dad and well, i wouldn't be here. it was a huge event.

[@paulrichards4215]

You pronounce it Con-A- Maugh---not CONE a maugh

[@1GirlieGirl]

Good morning! Pennsylvania is so beautiful!

[@peachesb-georgia1125]

Yes ma'am...I moved to Pennsylvania in 1997...I really like it here... live close enough to the city to visit once in awhile... but pa... is now my home... come and visit us... it's even more beautiful in person...

[@1GirlieGirl]

@@peachesb-georgia1125 LOL I’ve lived in Pennsylvania my entire life.

[@peachesb-georgia1125]

@@1GirlieGirl lol is right... good for you 👍...it is a beautiful place...I live up in the mountains...near Bushkill Falls...

[@willmears1111]

One of your best video's. My wife and I went to Johnstown (from Pittsburgh) three days (Saturday) after the 1977 Johnstown flood. The stench of death of bodies in the water and air was very bad, physical destruction was everywhere, and the water in the streets was about 2 feet high, part way up the car door, but still drivable. The PA National Guard was directing traffic from inside the city to one of the Catholic church halls on the top of one of the surrounding hills where we were going. Something you never forget.

[@pattieann8673]

Then Clara Barton came to Johnstown to help with all the injured, she then suggested that Johnstown start Conemaugh Hospital. I work there now. 🙂

[@floridadollnstitch7961]

How could those GREEDY ring thieves👿 live with themselves ❗❗ The area and the train tracks and train are so beautiful! You would never know such a tragedy happened there. The happening is so Very Tragic, sobering, heartbreaking. You did such an excellent job on telling this story, so impressed. The shirt your wearing looks so good on you to. Extremely well done video ! AAA+++

[@karenanddogs6645]

Thank you for presenting this video. I too read the book in my teens. The devastation and suffering was immense and tragic. Felt traumatized reading it. And in spite of it, the developers and aristocrats never got the message and continue to amass their fortunes and ignore all else. So sad. Maybe global warming will awaken some of them.

[@julianne2saw]

i may kill us all tho.

[@57Banjoman]

What an interesting but tragic story-very heart wrenching-thank you, Cliff!

[@Carolbearce]

I’m impressed that they gave each of the unknown a separate grave and marker. It would have been so much easier to dig one huge hole and place one marker. They didn’t do that. Shows how much they cared for each one even if they didn’t know who they were.

[@julianne2saw]

no , the rich folks didn't care about their workers at all and then when the polish came, they were not allowed to go to public school on pain of beatings so they made their own polish schools, my mommy had to learn english in nyc at about 15 years old but she was very good with languages.

[@patriciaschuster1371]

Johnstown has always had a caring heart. Glad I am a native.

[@mikechristasmysteries7383]

Good job on the video to bad we didn't meet up

[@bunny_smith]

Very interesting.

[@hiworldstephensonultranate290]

Cliff outstanding video gruesome about people's lives being treated so glib I Love this moving around 3/4 videos gt variety Cheers Brian Ireland 18/September here 18 degrees tdy

[@nobillclinton]

Godspeed Woodsman.

[@frankforrest1597]

Excellent historic trail narrative Cliff. The power of water is amazing; calming and enjoyable to terrifying and destructive. Thanks 👍

[@Capnblinski]

As far as the viaduct goes, there is a spot on that trail (that used to be an old dirt road clinging to the hillside) where a short walk through the trees and on down towards the river brings you out on a cliff-point with a spectacular view of the river going around the hill and coming back to almost meet itself, and then to your right, the 'Viaduct' railroad bridge itself. Gots to get myself back out there.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Thank you for your more recent investigation and look at the horrendous catastrophic Jonestown flood. For some reason I want to make a pilgrimage perhaps due to your honest coverage.

[@ronboring1673]

Cliff your in my neck of the woods I live about 20 miles from there in Indiana PA great vedio

[@ronboring1673]

You need to do one on the 77 flood also

[@patriciaschuster1371]

Good job here! Thank you. I am a native Johnstowner. It is always in my heart.

[@robertvirtue8070]

Not only people died from the flood, but from the clean up efforts afterward. Like you said bodies were everywhere, some people got sick and died. from the decaying bodies/

[@richardduncan7924]

That whole tragedy is another lesson about how human arrogance mixed ignorance can lead to disasters like this one.

[@Ppurk]

My grandmother, Mertal Robins, and her siblings were orphaned by that flood.