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 85
Page 2
... Newell, the first di- rector of the Reclamation Service, predicted that ultimately the reclaimed lands of the arid and semiarid West would support a population twice as large as that of the entire United States in 1900: “The dead and ...
... Newell, the first di- rector of the Reclamation Service, predicted that ultimately the reclaimed lands of the arid and semiarid West would support a population twice as large as that of the entire United States in 1900: “The dead and ...
Page 3
... Newell and Charles Walcott—head of the U.S. Geological Survey—to underscore the importance of paying close attention to the politics of recla- mation: “I dwelt upon this financial feature of the situation with Messrs. Wal- cott and Newell ...
... Newell and Charles Walcott—head of the U.S. Geological Survey—to underscore the importance of paying close attention to the politics of recla- mation: “I dwelt upon this financial feature of the situation with Messrs. Wal- cott and Newell ...
Page 4
... Newell decided to begin con- struction as rapidly as possible and distribute federal aid as widely as possible , the Reclamation Service came under siege . “ I have personally talked with about every man in this audience , about some ...
... Newell decided to begin con- struction as rapidly as possible and distribute federal aid as widely as possible , the Reclamation Service came under siege . “ I have personally talked with about every man in this audience , about some ...
Page 6
... Newell, then head of the Hydrographic Division of the United States Geological Survey, and George H. Maxwell, fed- eral reclamation's chief publicist in the years from 1896 to 1902, sought to broaden the membership of the annual ...
... Newell, then head of the Hydrographic Division of the United States Geological Survey, and George H. Maxwell, fed- eral reclamation's chief publicist in the years from 1896 to 1902, sought to broaden the membership of the annual ...
Page 14
... River Project was one of the first authorized by the secretary of the interior.52 To limit speculation, Newell forbade government surveyors from talking to Montana newspaper editors and booster groups , and 14 saving lost lives.
... River Project was one of the first authorized by the secretary of the interior.52 To limit speculation, Newell forbade government surveyors from talking to Montana newspaper editors and booster groups , and 14 saving lost lives.
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