Water and American Government: The Reclamation Bureau, National Water Policy, and the West, 1902-1935University of California Press, 2002 M12 31 - 408 pages Donald Pisani's history of perhaps the boldest economic and social program ever undertaken in the United States--to reclaim and cultivate vast areas of previously unusable land across the country—shows in fascinating detail how ambitious government programs fall prey to the power of local interest groups and the federal system of governance itself. What began as the underwriting of a variety of projects to create family farms and farming communities had become by the 1930s a massive public works and regional development program, with an emphasis on the urban as much as on the rural West. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 83
Page xvi
... engineers to larger fields in connection with our Federal public works . On the other hand , if the Recla- mation Service can be shown to have been extravagant and inefficient in its work , then a strong weapon is placed in the hands of ...
... engineers to larger fields in connection with our Federal public works . On the other hand , if the Recla- mation Service can be shown to have been extravagant and inefficient in its work , then a strong weapon is placed in the hands of ...
Page xvii
... Engineers Library, Alexandria, Virginia; the Sterling Library, Yale University; the Wyo- ming State Archives (Cheyenne); the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming (Laramie); the Louisiana State Museum (New Orleans); Spe- cial ...
... Engineers Library, Alexandria, Virginia; the Sterling Library, Yale University; the Wyo- ming State Archives (Cheyenne); the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming (Laramie); the Louisiana State Museum (New Orleans); Spe- cial ...
Page 6
... engineers. Once drained, 50 million acres of sub- merged land could become small farms. Florida contained nearly 19 mil- lion acres of swampland, Louisiana about 10 million, and Mississippi more than 6 million. The same dams and canals ...
... engineers. Once drained, 50 million acres of sub- merged land could become small farms. Florida contained nearly 19 mil- lion acres of swampland, Louisiana about 10 million, and Mississippi more than 6 million. The same dams and canals ...
Page 7
... Engineers and the Office of Irrigation Investigations . Forestry and Irrigation , part of the Forest Service and Reclamation Service's substantial publicity mill , jubilantly supported the legislation . “ It is but natural , ” the ...
... Engineers and the Office of Irrigation Investigations . Forestry and Irrigation , part of the Forest Service and Reclamation Service's substantial publicity mill , jubilantly supported the legislation . “ It is but natural , ” the ...
Page 12
... engineers , ” and with their lack of attention to the “ sociological and economical sides ” of communities . He insisted that “ town planning is as much a science as is the expert handling of reclamation projects ” and offered the ...
... engineers , ” and with their lack of attention to the “ sociological and economical sides ” of communities . He insisted that “ town planning is as much a science as is the expert handling of reclamation projects ” and offered the ...
Contents
1 | |
Federal Reclamation 19021909 | 32 |
Twin Falls and Rupert | 65 |
Federal Reclamation 19091917 | 96 |
Federal Reclamation 19171935 | 123 |
The Reclamation Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs | 154 |
Illustrations | 180 |
The Yakima and the Pima | 181 |
The Strange Career of Public Power | 202 |
Water Politics 19201935 | 235 |
Retrospect and Significance | 272 |
ABBREVIATIONS | 297 |
NOTES | 299 |
INDEX | 389 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
A. P. Davis Administrative agriculture American April arid Arizona Ballinger bill Boulder Dam build Bureau of Reclamation California Carey Act Central Colorado River Commission Commissioner of Indian Cong construction Corps of Engineers cost crops dams and canals December districts electricity Elwood Mead F. H. Newell farm farmers federal government federal reclamation flood control Franklin K Herbert Hoover Hiram Johnson Homecroft Hoover hydroelectric Ibid Idaho Indian Affairs Indian Office irrigation irrigation projects January July June legislation March Maxwell million acres Minidoka Project Mississippi Montana Muscle Shoals October percent Pima public land Reclamation Act Reclamation Bureau reclamation fund reclamation projects Reclamation Record Reclamation Service Report reservation reservoir River Project Roosevelt Salt River Project Secretary Senate settlers Snake River streams Theodore Roosevelt tion town United Valley Washington water policy Water Power water projects water rights West western Yakima Yakima River York