Sensationalized history can be credited with inspiring
generations of truth-seeking experts and enthusiasts. The tragedy
of the Johnstown Flood was an oft-exploited event as writers and
publishers hawked hastily written articles in original form or
pirated collections. Where many of the articles lacked fact, they
were rife with exaggeration and imagination.
James Herbert Walker published one of the very first of these
books, The Johnstown Horror, a pamphlet of some 40 pages. Experts
cite the book as being sold in New York within a week of the
disaster. Though the structure suggests the stories were gathered
at rail stations in an apparent journey to the site, there has been
debate whether Walker ever traveled to Johnstown. Yet the
collection features accounts that do not appear in other
publications following the flood.
Later, expanded editions swelled to over four hundred pages and
included well-crafted woodcuts. As the flood occurred near the end
of the nineteenth century, the engraved drawings are often
generously labeled as remnants of Victorian art. It is not clear
whether the inclusion of the cuts was an aesthetic or monetary
decision, considering the period's developments in photography.
The final, massive collection of individual stories makes the
book memorable, ranging from the accusations levied against wealthy
Pittsburgh industrialists to the emergence of the Red Cross. So
many unique details and personal chronicles capture the frantic
mentality of a town, state, and nation trying to make sense of
natural and yet not-so-natural disaster.
General
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