So what...200 years ago, there were no dams and 3 people lived in that area....and likely lived on a hill.
LOL! NEVER build too close to the creek or down hill from a dam. Not too hard to figure out.
Ummmm.... NO.
Read the stuff at the links above. A little knowledge might help...
Maybe you are being sarcastic, but CA had boomed economically in 13 years. It was no longer a Mexican backwater but was experiencing huge booms in ag, mining, and railroads. In just seven years the transcontinental RR would be finished. Huge global capital investments in hard rock mines and railroads were pouring in. The flood of 1862 drowned 100,000 sheep and 500,000 lambs. Oyster beds in San Francisco Bay near Oakland were reported to be dying from the effects of the immense amounts of freshwater entering the bay. Full of sediment, it covered the oyster beds. One-quarter of California’s estimated 800,000 cattle were killed by the flood.
Better brush up on your history.