Deaths

Incomplete list of those who lost their lives while working on Hetch Hetchy project, before and during 1930 (including tunnel workers):

• Mike Aracic

  Knocked off dam, February 24, 1923

• James Bailey

  Fell from cable, April 17, 1923

• K. Bondarinka

  Crushed by locomotive, April 5, 1924

• Erick Boyd

  Crushed by avalanche, February 9, 1922

• Martin Brett

  Killed by dynamite in work on South Fork Tunnel, March 24, 1920

• George A. Carlson

  Fell from dam, January 28, 1923

• Pat Carroll

  Died in collision on Hetch Hetchy Railroad, February 11, 1922

• Ed. Castraine

  Caught in belt and pulley system, November 29, 1921

• C. R. Cavanaugh

  Killed in Mitchell explosion in Coast Range Tunnel, July 17, 1930

• Claudio Cendon

  Crushed by boulder during road work at Hog Ranch, January 9, 1915

• Mike Cheski

  Fell at dam site, December 1, 1921

• J. Coler

  Killed in Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• S. Cotter

  Struck by rolling rock at Hetch Hetchy, September 12, 1921

• Lee R. Crowley

  Killed in Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• William Davis

  Run over by tram at Moccasin, February 19, 1925

• Amico De Iullo

  Fell from dam, April 7, 1923

• Ed. Donming

  Died in tunnel cave-in, April 28, 1921

• Joe Dower

  Fell from dam, February 22, 1923

• Arthur Everart

  Fell from steel tower, December 23, 1929

• Michael A. Fitzgerald

  Dynamite explosion at Hetch Hetchy, no date

• Thomas P. Fleming

  Killed by runaway train at Six Bit Gulch, September 12, 1922

• Roy Ford

  Killed by falling rock, July 26, 1924

• Thomas Ford

  Explosion at Priest Tunnel, January 9, 1922

• F. Foster

  Suffocated in gravel bin at Moccasin, July 14, 1929

• Pat Gallagher

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• Felice Gastaldo

  Pipe shifted on train, January 19, 1924

• Charles Goodwin

  Died by falling blocks at Early Intake’s rock crusher, January 17, 1925

• Mike Haley

  Explosion at Priest Tunnel, June 15, 1922

• Telesphore Jannard

  Fell down chute, August 22, 1926

• E. W. Jennings

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• George A. Jones

  Autostage accident near Groveland, no date

• A. Juiz

  Struck and killed by derrick boom, July 7, 1922

• Arley Kellam

  Drowned in accident at Hetch Hetchy, May 3, 1921

• Pat Kelly

  Thrown from speeder on Hetch Hetchy Railroad, March 4. 1922

• P. H. Kilker

  Accident at dam, August 4, 1921

• Con McBride

  Foothill Tunnel accident at Hetch Hetchy Junction, February 12, 1928

• Pat McCarthy

  Struck on head by concrete bucket at dam site, May 8, 1921

• Joseph McGowan

  Fell from train, August 29, 1917

• Patrick H. McGuire

  Fell from freight car, October 11, 1921

• J. M. McMaster

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• John McNichols

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• Tony Marich

  Head crushed working at Hog Ranch, January 7, 1915

• John J. Marshall

  Killed by falling rock at South Fork Camp, November 11, 1922

• J. E. Maybin

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• Frank Miller

  Priest Tunnel explosion, January 9, 1922

• Ethel Earl Moyer

  Nurse - Hospital fire at Groveland, July 27, 1922

• G. Nations

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• H. K. Nickals

  Fell from dam, February 10, 1923

• Henry Niemi

  Tram accident between Priest and Moccasin, February 20, 1925

• Joe Norak

  Killed by dynamite explosion, South Fork Tunnel, March 24, 1920

• George A. Parker

  Struck by rolling log, April 13, 1923

• Leonardo Ramiero

  Drowned at Hetch Hetchy, July 16, 1922

• Tony Redka

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• D. O. Robinson

  Struck by cable, May 3, 1920

• John A. Sandahl

  Struck by lightning at Hetch Hetchy, May 23, 1921

• Angelo T. Seghale

  Priest Tunnel explosion, June 15, 1922

• Dick Sladden

  Priest Tunnel explosion, January 9, 1922

• Harry M. Snail

  Fell off truck at Moccasin, September 20, 1926

• Horace C. Thompson

  Fell from concrete tower at dam site, September 11, 1922

• C. Urich

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• Edward Whelan

  Fatal injuries from cable car derailment, February 23, 1925

• N. Yaworski

  Mitchell explosion, July 17, 1930

• Jose Zurano

  Killed by rolling rock at Hetch Hetchy, April 25, 1920

Chief Engineer O’Shaughnessy, in a 1924 speech, stated that 17 Utah Construction Company men had lost their lives in the dam’s construction. In 1934, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 89 deaths were “ticked off” as a price of the project’s completion. Even O’Shaughnessy himself could be considered a casualty of Hetch Hetchy; he died of a heart attack, just days before the final completion ceremony in October of 1934.

Scalers on the north abutment of the dam drilling and blasting for a broader foundation for new cement. Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library.

Scaler scales granite cliffs to clean off loose rock and debris. Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library.

Workers in the Tuolumne River. Courtesy of the University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library.