Hatfield - Widespread Panic

This video is for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement intended. I own nothing in this video. "HATFIELD" by Widespread Panic. Widespread Panic fan-favorite "HATFIELD" depicts the subject of "rainmaker" Charles Hatfield and the 1916 flooding at Lake Morena, CA. Singer/guitarist John Bell wrote the song after reading a story about him in a Farmers Almanac. LYRICS: Wide awake in San Diego. Smallest root shrinking dry. The fish are swimming closer inside Lake Morena. Still get no rain from the sky. Men have been firing cannons. Hoping smoke might tear an angel's eyes. Heard the stories of shooting arrows, tearin' open the clouds. But the Indians shoot the best, and the Indians they don't like us much. Hatfield. You made rain for L.A. Got ten grand. We can go cook us some rain. Science from the cooking pot mixing up with the air. Feeling thunder. Nights since they have started. Now the clouds won't stay apart. A little California voodoo, care of Hatfield and his brother. Now the horses won't race where the town's turned to mud. Streams and rivers are growing. And my boots are filling up from back this way. Look at them smiling, cooking and smiling. Hatfield. Made rain for L.A. Well, "Hot Damn!" People swear with one walk in this rain. Families on their porches. Their children are smiling. The owners are mad; owners are crying. Still the eyes of the children are wide open. Wide, wide. Well, the blue light is rolling in between the clouds. Feeling of wonder. Some water drying up, some sinking down. "Charles always kept in touch," swears his mother. "Always had the touch." Made rain for L.A. Made rain for L.A. Hatfield. BACKGROUND: Charles Mallory Hatfield (c. 1875 - 12 Jan 1958) was an American "rainmaker". Born in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1875-76, his family moved to southern California in the 1880s. In 1915 the San Diego city council, pressured by the San Diego Wide Awake Improvement Club, approached Hatfield to produce rain to fill the Morena Dam reservoir. Hatfield offered to produce rain for free up to 40", then $1,000/inch for between 40-50" and free again over 50". The council voted 4 to 1 for a $10,000 fee, payable when the reservoir was filled. Hatfield and his brother built a 20' tower beside Lake Morena, which was completed early in the new year. On Jan 5, 1916 heavy rain began--and grew gradually heavier with each passing day. Dry riverbeds filled to the point of flooding. Worsening floods destroyed bridges, marooned trains and cut phone cables, not to mention flooding homes and farms. Both Sweetwater Dam and one at Lower Otay Lake overflowed. Rain stopped Jan 20 but resumed two days later. On Jan 27, Lower Otay Dam broke, reportedly causing about 20 deaths. Hatfield talked to the press on Feb 4, saying that the damage was not his fault and the city should have taken adequate precautions. Hatfield had fulfilled the requirements of his contract--filling the reservoir--but the city council refused to pay the money unless Hatfield would accept liability for damages; claims already totaled $3.5 million. There had been no written contract, but Hatfield tried to settle for $4000 and then sued the council. In two trials, the rain was ruled an act of God, but Hatfield continued the suit until 1938 when two courts decided that the rain was an act of God, absolving him of any wrongdoing. Hatfield's fame only grew and he received more contracts for rainmaking. During the Great Depression, however, he had to return to his work as a sewing machine salesman. His wife divorced him. Charles Hatfield died January 12, 1958 and took his chemical formula with him to his grave in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.