A historical novel , its plot is based on the Johnstown Flood of 1889 , when more than 2,000 people drowned after the collapse of the South Fork Dam . It accurately portrays the historical figures of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club , the industrialists Henry Clay Frick , Andrew Mellon , and Andrew Carnegie , in their cameo roles . The novel features fictional characters , such as Frank Fallon , a steel mill foreman and American Civil War veteran ; his son Daniel , a labor organizer ; James Talbot , a lawyer hired for the club ; and his daughter Nora , an amateur naturalist who believes that the dam , built to provide an Eden for the captains of industry , is likely to fail
Johnstown Flood of 1889
Johnstown Flood
In Sunlight, In a Beautiful Garden