Synopsis/Details
Before the sinking of the Titanic. Long before either of the World Wars or the Great Depression came the Great Quake that destroyed San Francisco. One of the first recorded natural disasters and the first time the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt, came to the aid of a U.S. city. In the early 1900s, San Francisco has emerged as the ‘Paris of the West.’ Hidden beneath its audacious veneer is an underbelly of corruption and greed. The union, led by Abe Ruef, has taken over control of the city, propping up a musician, Eugene Schmitz as Mayor. While a faction of citizens including the Call Bulletin editor, Fremont Older, sugar baron, Rudolph Spreckels, and former Mayor James Phelan struggle against odds to wrestle back control of the city. All the while the dedicated Fire Chief, Dennis Sullivan fights to protect the fragile city in the bay. The drama comes to a head just as detective William Burns is sent by the President to investigate the corruption at the heart of this burgeoning West Coast city. On April 18th, 1906 at 5:00 am in the morning a magnitude 7.8 earthquake strikes, setting off a tragic series of events that lasts for nearly four days. The Presidio’s Brigadier General, Fredrick Funston urges the Mayor to declare Martial Law and marches troops into the city armed with bayonets. Based on actual events, this mini-series tells the tale of the battle that raged on for the lives and soul of the city of San Francisco.
