Further information : Great Flood of 1862 The failure and near complete collapse of the St. Francis Dam took place in the middle of the night on March 12 , 1928 . The dam was holding a full reservoir of 12.4 billion gallons ( 47 billion liters ) of water that surged down San Francisquito Canyon and emptied into the Santa Clara River , flowing down the river valley to the ocean
Great Flood of 1862
Great Flood of 1862
Santa Clara River Valley