The valley was changed forever and the habitat lay under 300 feet of water.
John Muir was heartbroken and beat from the experience. He died the following year - 1914. The nation lost a founding father of the environmental movement.
The predicted use of the water for San Francisco never came true and the power generation is only around 1% of the state's needs.
The cost of the construction ballooned from the approved $45 million to $103 million eventually.
source: Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin
Audio Interview: Dr. Gray Brechin on the conservationists demeaning Muir by depicting him in women's clothing
Audio Interview: Dr. Roderick Nash on the failure of Preservationists' message
Audio Interview: Dr. Gray Brechin on William Hammond Hall, Hall describes the economic failure