This Day in History: The Hoover Dam

On this day in 1929, a project born from floods, ruined farms, and an accidental inland sea takes a major step forward. The Colorado River had long been a problem for Americans in the Southwest, but soon a dam—known today as “Hoover Dam”—would provide some relief.

The project had been a long time coming.

Roughly 25 years earlier, the Colorado River had flooded. There was so much water that an inland sea was accidentally created: the Salton Sea. Needless to say, farms in the area were badly affected. Recovery took two years and more than $3 million.

That’s a lot of money today, but it was even more back then. The cost in today’s dollars would exceed $100 million.

Unfortunately, the 1905 flood was not the first of its kind. The river could be fairly unpredictable. One Bureau of Reclamation employee observed: “The river was an enemy, and only in short periods of time could you look at it as a useful river. Most of the time it was something that would kill you or ruin your farm.”

Another major flood in 1916 perhaps prompted what came next.

In May 1920, Congress authorized the Secretary of the Interior to investigate and determine the feasibility of a dam. By February 1922, the investigation’s report was complete, proposing a dam to control the river, even as it provided electricity and water to portions of the West.

Of course, an idea is one thing. Convincing everyone to jump on board is another. Herbert Hoover—the “Great Engineer”—tackled this latter problem.

Hoover was then serving as Secretary of Commerce. He chaired a Colorado River Commission to bring the seven affected states together; they could talk about water rights and possible solutions. (The Commission had already begun its work before the investigation was completed in February 1922.) Eventually, Hoover proposed a compromise that enabled these states to reach an agreement, and the Colorado River Compact was signed in November 1922. Later, as President, Hoover signed a June 1929 proclamation, making the states’ compact effective.

Construction began in 1931. You can imagine that it was no easy task.

One early (and dangerous) job was performed by daring men known as “high scalers.” Dangling from ropes high above the canyon floor, they used jackhammers and dynamite to strip away loose rocks that might otherwise fall on construction workers. Of course, falling rocks could hurt the high scalers, too, so they coated their cloth hats with tar, improvising to make hard hats.

On one occasion, a high scaler fell from the rim of the canyon. “Twenty-five feet below, high scaler Oliver Cowan heard [Burl] Rutledge slip,” a Bureau of Reclamation website explains. “Without a moment’s hesitation, he swung himself out and seized Rutledge’s leg.”

Rutledge was saved, but others would not be so lucky.

A precise count of the injured and killed is disputed, but one family remembers the first and last fatalities: Surveyor J.G. Tierney drowned while scouting dam sites in 1921. Unfortunately, the last recorded fatality was his son, Patrick Tierney. The younger Tierney fell from an intake tower on December 20, 1935—exactly fourteen years to the day after his father’s death.

The project was basically complete by that point, with just a few final touches needed.

The dam was initially named “Hoover Dam,” at least during Hoover’s presidency, but the subsequent FDR administration did not think too much of that! They did their best to change the name to “Boulder Dam.”

The name didn’t stick. Congress restored the name “Hoover Dam” in 1947.

Since then, of course, the Hoover Dam has become an iconic symbol of American ingenuity and determination. A fitting story to remember as we approach our 250th birthday.

Constitution4Kids.com

Primary Sources:

• Henry Brean, Father and son died on the same day, 14 years apart while working on Hoover Dam (Las Vegas Review-Journal; Dec. 18, 2016)

• Herbert Hoover, Statement on Signing a Proclamation on the Colorado River Compact and the Boulder Canyon Project (June 25, 1929)

• Herbert Hoover: The Man (Bureau of Reclamation website)

• Hoover Dam (Bureau of Reclamation website)

• Hoover Dam: The Story of Hoover Dam—Essays High Scalers (Bureau of Reclamation website)

• Hoover Dam: Timeline (PBS)

• The Hoover Dam Documents (U.S. Govt Printing Office; 1948)

• The Story of Hoover Dam (U.S. Dept of the Interior; 1971)

• You Can't Have One Without the Other: The Story of a River Compact and a Dam (Bureau of Reclamation website)