Three minutes before midnight on the night of March 12, 1928, the St. Francis Dam collapsed, sending over twelve billion gallons of water and debris the length of the Santa Clara River Valley from San Francisquito Canyon through Piru, Fillmore, and Bardsdale to the Pacific Ocean fifty-four miles away. In six hours, more than 450 people were swept away and drowned in the dark, murky, debris-filled water. Though some of the dead are buried here, many were never found. It was the worst man-made disaster of the 20th century.
