LACHS Webinar from March 31, 2022

A webinar presentation with Joseph Francis Ryan presenting his new book Ice & Oil – The Life and Legacy of Dan Murphy, California's Unlikely Titan.

You may be familiar with names like Huntington; Crocker; Chandler; Doheny and Hearst but have you heard of Dan Murphy? His influence on California’s history is just as significant. This secretive Gilded Age multi-millionaire silently shaped the development of Southern California and Los Angeles more than you may imagine. As the “Golden Boy” of Charles Crocker he began working for the Southern Pacific Railroad, built the largest mining supply house in the Southwest, discovered gold, struck the largest gusher in LA basin thereby saving E.L. Doheny from failure, and eventually owed the largest cement factory west of the Mississippi just as rapidly expanding Los Angeles was in need of concrete.

The unfortunate behavior of the women in his life almost brought disaster to Murphy. His privileged daughter nearly lost Murphy’s fortune to Italian princes who were on the hunt for rich American heiresses. Her story is one of unrequited love but she gave millions to the Vatican and became a Papal Countess.

The book is available at Voorman’s in Pasadana, on Amazon, and at www.iceandoil.com