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University of California in Berkeley. His classic text remained in print for 17 years and was used
by colleges across the United States. Mulholland would occasionally quote from it for the
balance of his lifetime, much to everyone’s amazement (Lippincott, 1941).
In 1877-78 Willie and Hugh (Fig. 1) decided to try their luck at prospecting, and struck out
easterly, for the Colorado River, along which dozens of new mining camps had sprouted up over the
previous 15 years, mostly on the Arizona side. They found employment with one of the steamboat
firms (Pacific & Colorado Steam Navigation Co. or the rival Colorado Steam Navigation Co) which
operated out of Yuma, delivering essential goods from California and taking ore back east, on the
Southern Pacific. At this time the village of Ehrenberg (across the river from present-day Blyth,
CA) was the watery portal to wagon trains transporting ore to the nearest railhead at Maricopa,
south of Phoenix. It was here that the two Irishmen decided to “work the placer deposits,” which
had been discovered in 1863 and worked over by numerous wildcaters. Their mining sojourn was
th
interrupted by the Indian uprisings of 1877-78. When the American 6 Cavalry rode into the village
warning its residents about the dangers of being caught alone outside of the village, the Mulholland
brothers decided it was time to return to the Pueblo of the Angels, and so began a new chapter of
Willie’s life.

ZANJERO TO SUPERINTENDENT

When Mulholland returned to Los Angeles in the spring of 1878 he was 22 years old and looking
for whatever opportunities he could find. He found a seasonal position with the privately-held Los
Angeles Water Company as a deputy “Zanjero,” or water ditch tender. His responsibilities centered
around maintaining the city’s main supply of water between Crystal Springs and the old downtown,
centered around Olivera Street. Crystal Springs was where the William Mulholland Memorial
Fountain was constructed in 1938-39, near the southeast corner of Los Feliz Boulevard and
Riverside Drive. In 1878 the earthen ditch ran parallel to the Los Angeles River and required round-
the clock maintenance whenever the weather became wet and the river rose, or during dry periods,
when water could easily disappear into desiccation cracks. Young Mulholland, who now went by
the sobriquet “Bill” or as the smaller Chicanos called him, “Big Bill,” learned the craft of
maintaining municipal water systems in an era accompanied by countless sources of organic debris
and filth, without any municipal collection of horse droppings, garbage, or trash (Lippincott, 1941).
In the tradition of apprenticeship that typified that era, Mulholland found ways of educating
himself through reading and interacting with others in his line of work. Much of his success came
from his habit of reading technical literature and then applying those principles to the problems at-
hand. His disdain for administrative work was typical of a field man, but seldom hurt him because
he possessed a phenomenal memory. Mulholland was so serious about his work that one day when
a man dressed in a business suit asked him some questions about what he was doing, he replied
“None of your damn business!” It turned out that the man was one of the owners of the water
company. Instead of being offended, he was impressed that Mulholland performed his duties as if
he owned the company. Mulholland was gradually accorded more and more responsibility, and by
the fall of 1886, was named superintendent of the L.A. Water Company. It was a position he would
retain for the next 43 years.

During some torrential flooding in December 1889, the Los Angeles River overflowed its
banks and cut a new channel that severed the brick-lined Zanja Madre (Mother Ditch) that conveyed
water from Crystal Springs to the downtown business district, which included the train stations.
The eroded sand filled the Zanja Madre conduit, which was 3.5 feet in diameter. Mulholland

World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2017