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A Hundred Years After the Fall: Recollections of the 1906
San Francisco Earthquake
Time and again nature wreaks havoc in unfathomable ways. Across
the globe and throughout history we have witnessed tremendous
suffering as natural tragedies, such as the 2004 Tsunami and
Hurricane Katrina, continue to strike humanity in an unpredictable
manner. This April marks the 100th anniversary of San Francisco’s
Great Quake of 1906. This newly discovered account of the
earthquake written by U.S. Commissioner Silas W. Mack still
vividly speaks of the approximately 700 lives lost and efforts
to rebuild a city left in shambles (GLC 08697). Accompanying
Mack’s solemn letter is a proclamation stating that
law enforcement was “authorized [by the city] to KILL
any and all persons found engaged in Looting or in the Commission
of Any Other Crime.” This broadside, issued by San Francisco
Mayor E. E. Schmitz, exemplifies the mass hysteria that occurred
following the quake (GLC 04967.01). Both documents illustrate
the way in which random disasters continue to capture human
curiosity and remind us that, even with the technological
advances of the twentieth century, we still have no control
over nature’s wrath.
The 1906 quake is the most destructive earthquake on record
in North America. The earthquake and the fire that followed
left approximately 250,000 people homeless, destroyed 25,000
buildings and resulted in an estimated $350 million in damages.
Today that would amount to over $32 billion in reconstruction
costs [1].
Krista Rupe, Special Projects Manager
The Gilder Lehrman Collection
1. Amount of damages today was calculated using the unskilled
wage index developed by Samuel H. Williamson, "What is
the Relative Value?" Economic History Services
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Clara W. Mack
Ayers Cliff, P.Q., Canada.
Dear Mother:- |
Silas W. Mack to Clara W. Mack
Monterey City, California, 20 April 1906.
Typed letter signed, 3 pages.
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I sent you a telegram yesterday worded “no damage whatever
at Pacific Grove nor Monterey. All Well”. Most likely
it is still in the office at Salinas and, for all I know a
letter may reach you first. I might have written before but
no mail has yet gone out since the 17th. And I do not know
when it will go.
Wednesday, April 18th. Will go down in history as the day
of the most terrible calamity the United States, and particularly
California, has ever known. I do not feel much like writing
about it. Would feel better if I could cry but I cannot.
We were awakened at 5:15 A.M. by the shock of the earthquake.
There have been several since I have been in California but
only two before this were sufficiently pronounced so that
I remember them. They did no damage. This one was much more
violent even here and was accompanied by a dreadful rumbling
noise and roaring, not particularly loud but coming as it
were from mighty forces at war in the distance. The house
swayed back and forth, it seemed quite a while but I think
not more than 25 seconds, then with a sudden wrench stopped.
I had gotten out of bed and rushed to the front door but it
was so foggy outside that I could see nothing, the first fog
of the season. The shocks continued throughout the day but
were so light frequently as to be hardly noticeable. There
was not the least damage done in the house and no dishes,
vases or anything breakable hurled to the floor. And this
was the general experience in Monterey and Pacific Grove.
At the Hotel Del Monte it was different. This establishment
had some 40 chimneys, very large and since the introduction
of steam for heating, useless but still retained, though there
had been talk of removing them, to give the appearance of
some baronial castle. These swayed back and forth and when
the final wrench came at least one-half of them came toppling
over onto the roof and fell with deafening roar to the ground,
and the remaining half were so damaged that all of since been
removed. Unfortunately there was one chimney towering far
above the rest from the tower over the main entrance. This
struck the roof and went through into one of the chambers
where a bridal couple were sleeping carrying them bedstead
and all into the chamber below. He was instantly killed and
she has since died. No one else was hurt here.
None of us, for a moment, realized what was going on elsewhere.
But as the day wore on we found that we were isolated from
the rest of the world. Then parties got through from Salinas
and reported over a $1,000,000.00 damage there but all communication
from the rest of [2] world still cut off. The enterprise of
the great San Francisco newspapers is such that we knew in
the afternoon, as the hours sped by and no boats put into
port for news, that San Francisco must be having troubles
of her own. The papers will tell you the rest.
350,000 people homeless and the number of killed will never
be known as they were mostly cremated, or will be when the
fire is finally extinguished. The earthquake shattered the
watermains and although building after building was blown
up by dynamite nothing could stop the progress of the flames.
I have talked with several Pacific Grove people who were there
and they say that the sight was terrible though the direct
effect of the shock was not so noticeable. It was the fire.
The great skyscrapers stood the earthquake quite well but
fires at once broke out in twenty places, mostly caused by
electric wires.
San Francisco is under martial law. As I write the troops
are marching out from the Presidio of Monterey to re-inforce
those on duty there and also to guard San Jose. The State
militia, including Troop “C” of Salinas with Daisy’s
brother either first or second in command is also marching
North. Thieves and criminals of all descriptions are bent
on crime and are being shot on the spot if caught at their
work.
The captain of the torpedo-boat destroyer Paul Jones which
brought orders here for the troops this morning from Mare
Island stated that as he passed out of the Golden Gate S.F.
was a wall of fire. The residence portion is now burning.
Dr. Goodell and wife were in S.F. and thus far no word from
them. She was in a precarious condition anyway and I fear
she will not pull through.
We all have many friends, and many of us relatives, in the
city and, as you may imagine, the suspense is dreadful. We
have not yet scarcely begun to realize the extent of the disaster.
Thousands upon thousands of destitute people are headed this
way and we must help take care of them. Congress has voted
$1,000,000.00 for relief of S.F. but what is that among so
many? San Jose, Palo Alto, and other wealthy cities in the
line of march, are themselves damaged to a great extent. It
is said that Stanford University buildings are nearly all
wrecked and $5,000,000.00 will not replace them.
What the effect will be on Monterey and Pacific Grove it
is very difficult to say. It may be even beneficial or it
may be very injurious. These two towns stand on a peninsula
of granite formation and no earthquake is likely to damage
them to any great extent..S.F. was build up on sand dunes,
or eroded land, which is worse.
[3] There is no doubt, however, that San Francisco will
be rebuilt and in a far grander style than before. Building
materials of all kinds will go away up in price and labor
as well.
Some people are beginning to draw their deposits from local
banks and as a good deal of their cash is locked up in safes
which are still red hot, they may create a money panic but
I trust that this will be prevented by getting in gold from
Los Angeles. We have many thousands of dollars in New York
but even N.Y. exchange is regarded with suspicion by some
of these characters. It is a pity that they could not be shut
up a while in the U.S. Mint at San Francisco with millions,
millions everywhere but not a drop to drink.
Well, I must close. It will be strange of this letter is
very well written as I do not feel at all like writing. The
air is very hot and at night we can see the glare of the fire
reflected in the northern sky.
The morning of the earthquake I intended to leave on the
7:55 A.M. train to attend the meeting of the Congregational
Association of the Santa Clara District and was at the train.
The latter is still in the Grove and may be for a long time
to come. Miss Clara L. Ewalt, Primary Field Worker of the
Ohio State S.S. Association, who as been helping us in the
State for three months, was going with me to San Francisco,
to get things in readiness for the State S.S. Convention at
Santa Rosa next week. She is much distracted as her parents
will think she is killed. Santa Rosa, by the way, is reported
as wiped out of existence. I hope not.
Now, do not worry as we are no more apt to get killed by
earthquake than you are by lightning. Mt. Vesuvius is now
repeating the scenes of Pompeii and Herculaneum and in 2000
years San Francisco may be again destroyed. But I expect to
move before then.
We are having the upper part of the house finished off so
as to get two more fine bedrooms. Daisy is doing her own work
for a time until we can get a girl as the one we had was called
back to New York State by the illness of her father. Uncle
Charlie and family are well and it may be a long time before
his enemies get him out of the Post Office.
From your affectionate son,
Silas W. Mack
Notes: The letter is written on stationary of the law office
of Silas W. Mack in Pacific Grove and Monterey.
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Bronson, William, The Earth Shook,
The Sky Burned : A Photographic Record of the 1906 San Francisco
Earthquake and Fire. San Francisco: Chronicle Books LLC,
1996.
Burkhart, David, Earthquake Days: The 1906 San Francisco
Earthquake & Fire in 3-D. San Francisco: Faultline
Books, 2005.
Fradkin, Philip L., The Great Earthquake and Firestorms
of 1906 : How San Francisco Nearly Destroyed Itself.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005.
Fradkin, Philip L. et al, After the Ruins, 1906 and 2006
: Rephotographing the San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 2006.
Hansen, Gladys and Condonm, Emmet, Denial of Disaster:
The Untold Story and Photographs of the San Francisco Earthquake
and Fire or 1906. California: Cameron & Company,
1989.
Nolte, Carl, The San Francisco Century
: A City Rises from the Ruins of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.
San Francisco: San Francisco Chronicle, 2005.
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