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 xii
... irrigation on rural society. In the nineteenth century, easy access to “public land” became the cor- nerstone of ... irrigation a popular panacea. So did irrigation's importance as the cornerstone of Progressive Era conserva- tion policy ...
... irrigation on rural society. In the nineteenth century, easy access to “public land” became the cor- nerstone of ... irrigation a popular panacea. So did irrigation's importance as the cornerstone of Progressive Era conserva- tion policy ...
Page xvi
... irrigation farmer , or how much it would cost to clear and level desert land or construct irrigation and drainage works . Federal reclamation was a program begun with great confidence , with the assump- tion that all problems could be ...
... irrigation farmer , or how much it would cost to clear and level desert land or construct irrigation and drainage works . Federal reclamation was a program begun with great confidence , with the assump- tion that all problems could be ...
Page 1
... Irrigation. and. the. Ideology. of. Homemaking. If there is one lesson taught by history it is that the permanent greatness of any State must ultimately depend more upon the character of its country population than upon anything else. No ...
... Irrigation. and. the. Ideology. of. Homemaking. If there is one lesson taught by history it is that the permanent greatness of any State must ultimately depend more upon the character of its country population than upon anything else. No ...
Page 2
... irrigation and the forest policy of the United States.”2 Frederick Haynes 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 ...
... irrigation and the forest policy of the United States.”2 Frederick Haynes 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 ...
Page 4
... irrigation surveys were planned for all the western states and territories.11 In March 1903 , Hitchcock approved the first five government irrigation projects : the Sweetwater in Wyoming , the Milk River in Montana , the Truckee- Carson ...
... irrigation surveys were planned for all the western states and territories.11 In March 1903 , Hitchcock approved the first five government irrigation projects : the Sweetwater in Wyoming , the Milk River in Montana , the Truckee- Carson ...
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