Water and American Government: The Reclamation Bureau, National Water Policy, and the West, 1902-1935Donald 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. |
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Page 1
... acres (after 1906 to as little as 10 acres), but no settler could claim more than 160 acres of public land. The public land within project boundaries cost settlers nothing, save for a filing fee, but entrants were required to repay ...
... acres (after 1906 to as little as 10 acres), but no settler could claim more than 160 acres of public land. The public land within project boundaries cost settlers nothing, save for a filing fee, but entrants were required to repay ...
Page 2
... acres in 1890 and 7.3 million acres in 1900.5In 1902, Frederick Newell estimated that between 60 million and a hundred million acres could be reclaimed in the West, a body of land roughly the size of California, and he crowed that ...
... acres in 1890 and 7.3 million acres in 1900.5In 1902, Frederick Newell estimated that between 60 million and a hundred million acres could be reclaimed in the West, a body of land roughly the size of California, and he crowed that ...
Page 5
... acres were irrigated in the humid half of the nation , including 134 acres in Massachusetts , 73 in New Jersey , 123 in New York , and 758 in Pennsylvania.16 The proponents of federal reclamation hoped , therefore , that building dams ...
... acres were irrigated in the humid half of the nation , including 134 acres in Massachusetts , 73 in New Jersey , 123 in New York , and 758 in Pennsylvania.16 The proponents of federal reclamation hoped , therefore , that building dams ...
Page 6
... acre per year, but irrigated hay returned $20 an acre and irrigated pota- toes $73 per acre. A New Jersey study ... acres of swampland, Louisiana about 10 million, and Mississippi more than 6 million. The same dams and canals used ...
... acre per year, but irrigated hay returned $20 an acre and irrigated pota- toes $73 per acre. A New Jersey study ... acres of swampland, Louisiana about 10 million, and Mississippi more than 6 million. The same dams and canals used ...
Page 7
... acres of swampland could be drained for an aver- age cost of five dollars an acre , providing homes for 5 million people . The Irrigation Congress supported the legislation , and Frederick Newell urged various business organizations ...
... acres of swampland could be drained for an aver- age cost of five dollars an acre , providing homes for 5 million people . The Irrigation Congress supported the legislation , and Frederick Newell urged various business organizations ...
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 |
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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