Just before midnight on March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed and sent billions of gallons of water down San Francisquito Canyon, eventually meeting the Santa Clara River on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Many local families who worked and lived near the river on the ranches of Newhall and Camulos, along with residents from Piru and Buckhorn, were swept away. Some survived, most perished, and some were never found, left forever entombed in the mud of the river.
