"Old Coast Guard Station and Golden Gate Bridge" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
Presidio of San Francisco1906 Earthquake |
Brochure 1906 Earthquake - The U.S. Army’s Role - at Presidio of San Francisco at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (NRA) in California. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
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1906 Earthquake
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
The U.S. Army’s Role
Presidio of San Francisco
Golden Gate
National Recreation Area
Bob Bowen Collection
View looking north from the largest Presidio refugee camp near the site of Letterman Hospital
SF Public Library
On Wednesday, April 18, 1906, at 5:12 a.m., the ground under San Francisco shook
violently for 65 seconds. Earthquake damage was severe, but the ensuing fires were
truly catastrophic. Burning for three days, they destroyed over 500 city blocks in the
heart of the city. Overcome by shock, panic, and confusion, over half of the city’s
400,000 people ended up homeless. Army troops stationed at the Presidio, now
part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, responded within hours. They
maintained order, fought fires, established communications, gave medical treatment,
and provided food, shelter and sanitation. The military response is a story of
heroism and valor, order and organization, but also controversy as much of the
initial Army response was improvised due to the lack of clear guidelines.
Many fires broke out within minutes of
the earthquake. They raged through the
city for three days, destroying thousands
of buildings. Contributing to the fires’
intensity were tinder box dry wooden
buildings, leaking gas mains, and the lack
of water due to broken pipes. With few
alternatives, Army Artillery Captain Le
Vert Coleman and General Frederick
Funston outlined plans to create
firebreaks by using dynamite. Their
strategy was risky, but with the expanding
fire, city officials agreed to let them
proceed. Neither the San Francisco Fire
Department nor the Army artillerymen
were experienced with dynamite, and
the explosions often spread the fires,
rather than stopping them. The debate
continues today regarding the damage
caused or prevented by the dynamiting.
Bob Bowen Collection
As crowds took to the streets in the
chaos that followed the earthquake,
San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz
delivered a controversial edict: “The
Federal Troops, the members of the
Regular Police Force and all Special Police
Officers have been authorized by me to
KILL any and all persons found engaged
in Looting or in the Commission of Any
Other Crime.” Within two hours, Army
troops marched in to help city authorities
maintain order, enforce the mayor’s edict,
and initiate civilian evacuations as the fires
approached. Looters were shot, and by
some accounts, poor people and minorities
were preferentially targeted. Some citizens
also complained that the evacuations were
too rash, and that they were not given
adequate time to collect their belongings.
General Funston
GGNRA Park Archives
Bob Bowen Collection
A Call to Action
On the day of the earthquake, General Frederick Funston immediately ordered the mobilization of troops, took command of local relief and law enforcement, and directed the dynamiting
of buildings to create firebreaks. Acting without state or national authority, Funston was later
criticized for many of his actions. He was, however, instrumental in the establishment of
communications, sanitation, medical facilities, housing and reestablishing general order to a
destroyed city, and afterwards was generally regarded as a local and national hero.
Establishing
Communications
GGNRA Park Archives
San Francisco was cut off from the rest
of the world by the earthquake. All telephone and telegraph lines were severed,
making communication with loved ones
impossible, and impeding fire fighting
and relief efforts. The U.S. Army Signal
Corps at the Presidio were put in charge
of re-establishing communications. They
quickly began mending and stringing
communication cables through the
burning city. Within a day they had a direct
line between Army headquarters at Fort
Mason and the Secretary of War in
Washington. The new communication lines,
40 telegraph offices, and 79 phone offices set
up by the Signal Corps provided crucial links
between the city’s seven relief districts, the
Mayor’s office, Federal offices, and key transportation points. The city depended entirely
on military telegraph lines until May 10th.
Even as Army troops marched into the city,
Quartermaster Major Carroll A. Devol sent a
telegram to the War Department requesting
relief aid. Almost immediately, trains loaded
with supplies began heading toward San
Francisco. In the first three days, the Presidio
issued 3,000 tents, 13,000 ponchos, 58,000
pairs of shoes, 24,000 shirts. Its on-site bakery distributed large quantities of bread. In
addition to distributing food and clothing,
the Army ran 21 official refugee camps. These
camps were organized and maintained in
military fashion, and were among the safest
and cleanest of the refugee shelters.
National Archives& Records Administration
Providing for
the refugees
Treating the
wounded and
preventing disease
With the city’s hospitals badly damaged,
the Presidio’s Army General Hospital
and an Army Field hospital sent from
the East opened their doors to thousands of civilian patients. As the tens of
thousands of newly homeless formed
tent camps across the city, sanitation
issues arose; an outbreak of typhoid or
Life Returns
to Normal
The 250,000 left homeless after the
earthquake established camps in parks,
on military reservations, and amidst the
ruins. The army helped organize these
other infectious diseases was a genuine fear.
Enforcement of sanitation standards fell under the jurisdiction of the Army’s Lt. Colonel
George H. Torney. His inspectors investigated
sanitation concerns and strictly enforced the
Army sanitation rules. Through these efforts,
there was no epidemic or even significant
increase in disease after the disaster.
Refugee cottages on the Presidio today
1906 by Judge Company Publishers
camps into small tent towns, where people
quickly established the routines of everyday
life; children formed playgroups, and dining
halls and camp fires became the center of
social gatherings. The camps on the Presidio
were the first to dismantle, closing in midJune. Most refugees moved out as the city
rebuilt, while others were housed more
permanently in small wooden Earthquake
cottages. By 1908, these camps were disbanded
as the cottages were moved onto the owners’
private property, providing the opportunity
for many to own their first homes. The crisis
was over.
As memory of the 1906 earthquake fades into the past, we must not forget that there will be another BIG ONE.
Will you be ready? Here are some precautions you can take:
-prepare an emergency kit, including food, clean drinking water, flashlight, radio, batteries, first aid kit
-secure heavy items to the wall beforehand, and stay away from windows and tall furniture that could fall on you
-have an out-of-town family contact to call afterwards
-check for broken pipes and damaged wires, and immediately report gas leaks
-remain calm so you can help others, and expect aftershocks
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EXPERIENCE YOUR AMERICA
www.nps.gov/prsf/history/1906eq/