Colossus: The Turbulent, Thrilling Saga of the Building of the Hoover Dam by Michael Hiltzik tells the story of the Hoover Dam's construction through the story of those who built it. What became Hoover Dam was initially criticized by FDR, before being championed as the epitome of the New Deal. The Hoover Dam's construction was a defining feature of our economy; the author views it as not post or pre-war, but rather, post or pre-dam era (p xiii). In the face of the Great Depression, the Hoover Dam represented a feat over nature & economic hardship, and above all, opportunity.
Having come to fruition immediately prior to and kept alive during the Great Depression, the Hoover Dam was a key opportunity for unemployed Americans looking for stable work. The Hoover Dam had terrible working conditions: at least 96 people died, many suffered long term health issues related to the conditions, and the pay was deeply inadequate. A labor union, the Wobblies, made a couple of unsuccessful reappearances on the job site. Their theory was to get arrested, make as much noise as possible, and overrun the jail until police backed down (p232). While the public campaign worked, workers did not achieve any pay raises or other benefits. Because of this, despite the life threatening working conditions, when workers lost rights or pay, they did not want to be associated with the Wobblies, instead forming a "joint workers committee" (p235). The day that the superintendent, Frank Crowe, rejected worker demands to keep their wages, cold water, and other livable conditions, he not only rejected these requests but fired all workers involved and made them vacate their company housing by 5pm that day (p238).
Because of the depression, there were so many people looking for work that union power was at a low. Not only did many workers die, but the contractor, Six Companies, finished the contract years early and directly pocketed the cash associated. It could be argued that a slower schedule could have saved lives. As when it was initially built, visitors flock to the dam to see its glory, but we don't often hear about those who built it.
While the advocacy for what became the Hoover Dam began around 1859, it was completed 1936. Today, the Colorado River Compact relies on the assumption of 16.4 million acre-feet, but the true historic average is around 14.7 million, and the recent ten year average hovers near 12 million. In no reality could the Colorado River Compact actually be fulfilled (p85). Ultimately circling back, the book ends with an acknowledgement of this fatal flaw of the Colorado River Compact: inaccurate acre feet & demand, which also did not consider Native water rights (p394). These issues remain today, particularly as the lower basin states have continued to grow.
Below I have some miscellaneous facts I found interesting-
Miscellaneous tidbits:
- To zoom out for context, the initial advocates of what became the Hoover Dam were the same people incentivized to settle the West and replace Native Americans.
- WH Forbes (the very same) supported the initial venture by sending his own engineer to corroborate reports around the potential wealth of today's Imperial Valley.
- In the same area as today's Hoover Dam, King Gillette (of Gillette razors) and John B Stetson (heir to the hat company) were exploring their own private dam to supply water to California.
- Interesting connection to a previous book, Cadillac Desert, which chronicles the saga of Los Angeles taking water from the Owens River Valley. The main orchestrator of that was William Mulholland, who also testified in support of Hoover Dam (p101). When the biggest dam built under Mulholland, the St Francis Dam, collapsed, he initially suspected his foes in the Owens River Valley. But, it was his engineering that was at fault (p113).
- It's interesting to read about the role Denver played in all this as the hub of trains and commerce for the whole area. It was a hub for Bureau of Reclamation Engineers and every other high level person involved in the job.
- Two theories of water allocation: riparian and prior appropriation. Riparian theory was most beneficial for agriculture, maintaining that the water used would recharge the area. However, prior appropriation reigned supreme in the West, dominated by miners who ignored riparian law to respect "first in time, first in right" (p76).
- Interestingly, what became Kaiser Permanente, one of the best models of healthcare according to Big Med, was tested at the Hoover Dam by Henry Kaiser. Workers paid $1.50 a month for comprehensive health care at the company hospital (p260).
- After Harold Ickes, FDR's Secretary of Interior renamed it "Boulder Dam" from "Hoover Dam", Hoover never paid another visit to the dam (p312). Additionally, Hoover ironically disliked the idea of government-funded power generation, preferring to keep power generation private (p80).
- The behavior of Elwood Mead, head of the Bureau of Reclamation 1924-1936, reminded me of Floyd Dominy, head of Bureau of Reclamation 1959 to 1969. In preparing for the Hoover Dam's required land acquisition, the budget was $500,000. Mead undervalued lands to fit that budget "imposing his will" on the land acquisition board in person (p214).
I actually finished this at the end of 2024, but have been slow to blog.
Overall, this book gave a novel worker-focused perspective to the Hoover Dam.
Thank you, Alan S, for this recommendation!