Again Heather Cox Richardson probes more deeply into a well-known story: In 1852, the South Fork Dam on Pennsylvania's Little Conemaugh River was built to create a reservoir to support a canal system. Railroads soon replaced canals, so the state sold the obsolete reservoir and dam, and by 1880, they were owned by a wealthy industrialist who sold coke (a powerful fuel for making steel), built railroad tunnels, and traded real estate. That man was Benjamin Franklin Ruff. Ruff proposed to his wealthy friends, including Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon, that they create a secret and exclusive club on his reservoir in the mountains. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club took control of the dam and the reservoir, renaming it Lake Conemaugh. Its sixteen members built large "cottages" on the shore and relaxed on the club's two steam yachts. Prior owners had already changed the lake and the dam, removing sluice pipes to sell them for scrap, making it impossible to release excess water. The club made more changes, screening the dam's spillway to retain their stocked black bass. It was an idyllic life for nine years. Then one night, heavy rain began. By the next morning, it was clear the dam was in danger. The fish screens were blocked with debris, the sluice pipes long gone. Emergency efforts to lower the water failed. At 3 p.m. on this date in 1889, the dam broke. Twenty million tons of water spilled downstream toward Johnstown, where lived the workers who had built the fortunes of the club's members, and the workers' families. Two thousand, two hundred and eight people died in the Johnstown Flood. Entire families were wiped out. Lawsuits filed against the club failed. Club members James Hay Reed and Philander Knox defended the club in court, claiming the flood was an act of God. Reed later became a federal judge, and Knox a U.S. attorney general. As I read this story, it made me think of the AI billionaire who spoke alongside the pope. And the other tech billionaires who are taking over the news media and rising to public office. I wasn't taught in school: There have always been robber barons, and there always will be. All we can do is resist. Credit: https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-30-2026 Photo: Circa 2012, Wikipedia User Niagra, Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike https://w.wiki/QUCH I've been getting familiar with my new gravel bike, but on pavement. Today, I wanted to ride some dirt. A friend shared some trails along the bluffs up the coast. The Straggler handled everything just fine, except about 40 yards of soft sand that made me dismount and walk. (Would the stock 41 mm tires get through that sand, where my 35 mm tires didn't?) There was even quite a lot of single track, with tall grass brushing my legs, so I did a careful tick check when I finished. Then I rode a bunch of the paved Coastal Rail Trail, and the semi-paved section that's gated and signed "closed," but lots of people were riding it. I soon tired of the 12-knot headwind and headed back on PCH and the rail trail. I'm looking forward to riding the Straggler on the unpaved sections of the Erie Canal and Hudson Valley trails later this summer!