In the early morning hours of Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the city of San Francisco was torn apart by a huge earthquake and devastating fire. As the city rebuilt, it also sought to ensure that if fire were to strike the city again, abundant water would available to fight it.But a new reservoir for the city would require flooding a treasured portion of Yosemite, the Hetch Hetchy Valley, one of John Muir’s favorite locations. He fiercely opposed the plan, setting up a showdown between Muir’s newly formed Sierra Club and political forces in both San Francisco and Washington, D.C. - including Muir’s former ally in the conservation movement, Teddy Roosevelt.Listen to new episodes 1 week early and to all episodes ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App https://wondery.app.link/historytellers.Support us by supporting our sponsors!Sleep Number - Discover the Sleep Number 360® smart bed. Special offers for a limited time. Only at Sleep Number stores or sleepnumber.com/TELLERS.SimpliSafe - To learn more about the exciting new SimpliSafe Wireless Outdoor Security Camera, visit SIMPLISAFE.com/tellers. What’s more, SimpliSafe is celebrating this new camera by offering 20% off your entire new system and your first month of monitoring service FREE, when you enroll in Interactive Monitoring.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.