The Rain Wizard: The Amazing, Mysterious, True Life of Charles Mallory Hatfield
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I DROUGHT Charles Mallory Hatfield's camp on a ridge above the northern shore of Morena Reservoir in the backcountry of San Diego County California resembled a military outpost In a way that is exactly what it was on New Year’s Day 1916 Surrounded by a perimeter fence two white munitions tents glinted in the morning sun One served as an office and sleeping quarters for the two men manning the camp Hatfield age forty and his twenty five year old brother Joel The other was used to store their supplies and at least twenty three secret chemicals An observation tower wrapped in heavy black tar paper for privacy had been erected a few yards away The platform stood a dozen or so feet above the ground Charles Hatfield wearing a fedora and carrying a rifle could be seen from time to time patrolling the fence intent on keeping unwanted visitors at a
A camp similar to the one Hatfield set up above the shore of Morena Reservoir This one dates from 1924 Note the tar paper wrap around the tower Hatfield was intent on keeping his process and chemical formula secret His was not a usual war His was a fight against drought that plagued the West and brought crop failure to farmers throughout much of the United States Charles Hatfield was a rainmaker although he bristled at the term He never claimed to make rain He was instead a rain inducer or coaxer He used his secret concoction of chemicals to attract clouds and compel them to give up their moisture In early December 1915 Hatfield received a telegram
from San Diego's city council They wanted to talk At the time the city was hosting the Panama California Exposition to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal The event was also meant to show off San Diego as the first U S port of call that ships heading north would reach after passing westbound through the canal Political leaders and real estate moguls alike hoped the exposition would present the city at its finest to draw new residents and investors to the area San Diego had dreams of overtaking Los Angeles as California's most populated city To accommodate more people San Diego's leaders realized they would need a reliable and abundant source of water Its average rainfall of around ten inches each year means it is a semiarid desert The area historically had experienced long periods of drought Although it had a system of aqueducts and man made lakes in place few if any of these reservoirs had ever been filled to capacity Certainly the city’s Morena Reservoir begun in 1897 and completed in 1912 had never received enough rainfall to fill it With five billion gallons of water retained behind its dam the reservoir was sitting at only one third full Despite the city’s close to normal rainfall pattern and nearly average precipitation totals for the year San Diego's leaders began talking of drought that fall A San Diego Union article from early November claimed the first rainfall of the season fell last night and broke the longest dry spell in the history of San Diego weather
