The Leishmans ' social and business connections provided entrée into an extraordinarily exclusive circle of sixty-odd families , called the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club . It was conceived as an idyllic summer colony , bought and developed by Henry Clay Frick in Cambria County , Pennsylvania , a short , convenient train ride away from the smoke and soot of Pittsburgh 's industry . To create the summer colony , an abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad earthen dam was rebuilt and increased in size to create a mountaintop reservoir for pleasure boating , which was named Lake Conemaugh . Among the Club 's members were Andrew Carnegie , Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon . The Club 's earthen dam failed on May 31 , 1889 , contributing to the Johnstown Flood disaster
Johnstown Flood
Johnstown Flood
John George Alexander Leishman