Mussel Slough Tragedy
| Mussel Slough Tragedy | |
|---|---|
Mussel Slough Tragedy Historical Landmark
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| Location | 5.6 miles (9 km) northwest of Hanford, California |
| Date | May 11, 1880 |
| Deaths | 7 |
| Motive |
Dispute over land titles |
| Designated | 1936 |
| Reference no. | 245 |
Coordinates: 36°23′21″N 119°42′31″W / 36.38917°N 119.70861°W
Dispute over land titles
The Mussel Slough Tragedy was a dispute over land titles between settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) that took place on May 11, 1880, on a farm located 5.6 miles (9 km) northwest of Hanford, California, in the central San Joaquin Valley, leaving seven people dead. Frank Norris' 1901 novel, The Octopus: A Story of California, was inspired by this incident, as was W. C. Morrow's 1882 novel Blood-Money. May Merrill Miller's novel, First the Blade, includes a fictionalized account of the conflict. The exact history of the incident has been the source of some disagreement, largely because popular anti-railroad sentiment in the 1880s made the incident to be a clear example of corrupt and cold-blooded corporate greed. Muckraking journalists and anti-railroad activists glorified the settlers and used the events as evidence and justification for their anti-corporate crusades. The site of the episode is now registered as California Historical Landmark #245. A historical marker on the east side of 14th Avenue, 350 yards (320 m) north of Elder Avenue, memorializes the site.
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