William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles

Rating:
Summary: A history of Los Angeles and the men that created it.
Review: Catherine Mulholland sets the tone of the book in the preface, where she focuses on putting previous publications in their place, and states her reliance on newspapers of the time. As pointed out in an earlier publication (Water and Power by W. Kahrl) newspapers are an unreliable source of information because they tend to reflect the bias of the publisher at the time. Mr. Kahrl relied on official records and documents whereas Ms. Mulholland relied more on newspaper accounts and less on official documents.

In large part the book covers the life and times of William Mulholland, but it certainly leaves the reader with the impression that he did only good in his lifetime. Unfortunately the book ignores or does not respond to much of the criticism heaped upon Mr. Mulholland by more contemporary publications, and instead focuses on his positive contributions. In this respect the book is not entirely well balanced. Although well written I fear that this book is an attempt by the family to have the final word on the history of a complex man who was more dimensional than the author allows.

Rating:
Summary: Dana Willis
Review: Catherine Mulholland sets the tone of the book in the preface, where she focuses on putting previous publications in their place, and states her reliance on newspapers of the time. As pointed out in an earlier publication (Water and Power by W. Kahrl) newspapers are an unreliable source of information because they tend to reflect the bias of the publisher at the time. Mr. Kahrl relied on official records and documents whereas Ms. Mulholland relied more on newspaper accounts and less on official documents.

In large part the book covers the life and times of William Mulholland, but it certainly leaves the reader with the impression that he did only good in his lifetime. Unfortunately the book ignores or does not respond to much of the criticism heaped upon Mr. Mulholland by more contemporary publications, and instead focuses on his positive contributions. In this respect the book is not entirely well balanced. Although well written I fear that this book is an attempt by the family to have the final word on the history of a complex man who was more dimensional than the author allows.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Story Lost in the Details
Review: One of the great stories in American history was the transformation of Los Angeles from a sleepy, anarchic California town into the megalopolis of today. And in any history of this transformation, the figure of William Mulholland looms large, for it was he who almost single-handedly brought about this transformation by providing Los Angeles with the one thing it needed to grow: an abundant water supply. This was accomplished by building an aqueduct to divert water from the Owens River to L.A. But this was no peaceful project; residents of Owens Valley, farmers and ranchers, felt the water had been appropriated from them through cronyism and legal bullying. They retaliated by blowing up sections of the aqueduct in 1924 and 1927. Mulholland himself met his own downfall with the collapse of the St. Francis Dam in 1928, a disaster that killed over 500 people and destroyed Mulholland's career.

These are but parts of a great story in American history, but one would never know it from reading his granddaughter's tome, for the vivacity of the times is thoroughly lost in needless detail; almost a year by year survey of her grandfather's accomplishments. Instead she is more intent on refuting the critics' charges, painting Mulholland as a pragmatist guided by a progressive vision of what Los Angeles could become. Because of this stand, her arguments are not altogether convincing; the Owens Valley residents tend to be painted as villains exploited by villains on the press that seek Mulholland's downfall. In the Preface we are given warning of this bias when she takes previous books on the subject to task. Her attempt at exonerating her grandfather for the St. Francis Dam disaster is also unconvincing, almost as if she were attempting to refute the movie "Chinatown", itself a piece of fictionalized history.

If by reading the above paragraph one thinks this biography is lively, think again. The best way to obfuscate an issue is to bury it in details, and the book covers its subject almost year by year, which is a shame given the subject matter and the presence of Mulholland, a mover and shaker who, unfortunately, became a prisoner of his own vision. Mulholland's life is akin to a Greek tragedy, and this is the stuff of which history is made, not the mere recitation of facts. The tragedy is that, given the subject matter, this book could have been so much more than it turned out to be.


Rating:
Summary: A history of Los Angeles and the men that created it.
Review: This book follows the entire sequence of events that lead the city of Los Angeles from a small agricultural town with a population of 10,000 in 1880 to become one of the major cities in North Americia. I thought that I knew about Mulholland before I read this book. Even today he is a minor legend in southern California. The real story is presented here. This book is well organized, well written, and very objective.

Rating:
Summary: The history of Los Angeles is the history of it's water
Review: You would think a biography by a grand-daughter may tend to the less objective side. Catherine Mulholland's work is a referenced account of the fight for municipal control of water, and subsequently power, in the early 1900's in Los Angeles. Mulholland takes you by the hand, almost as if you were on an tour with "The Chief", through Willaim Mulhollands childhood, departure from Ireland, to eventual settlement in Los Angeles. From there she cronicles the water needs of the pueblo (pop. 10,000); Mulhollands rise from digger to the designer of the Los Angeles Aquaduct; his management of the political arena to the St. Francis Dam. It was the 'over success' of Bill Mulholland to bring water to a desert that allowed the expotential growth of Los Angeles in area and character. Discriptions of the water works are fascinating - some surviving parts of it still are in use. If you have ever wondered what the real story was behind the film "Chinatown", this is it.