United States Bureau of Reclamation Project histories and reports, 1905-1925

Format:

Book

Series:

Environmental History: Conservation and Public Policy in America, 1870-1980.

Environmental History: Conservation and Public Policy in America, 1870-1980

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Bureau of Reclamation--Archives.

United States.

Irrigation projects--West (U.S.)--Sources.

Irrigation projects.

Reclamation of land--West (U.S.)--Sources.

Reclamation of land.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (438 manuscripts)

Place of Publication:

Gale, a Cengage Company

Summary:

These project histories and reports contain the details of seventeen Bureau of Reclamation projects from across the western United States. The Reclamation Service was created by the Secretary of the Interior for the purpose of administering the reclamation fund established by the Newlands Act of 1902. This act appropriated the revenues collected from the disposal of public lands in thirteen states and three territories for the construction of irrigation works for the reclamation of arid lands. The act further provided for charges to be made per acre on lands irrigated by the waters of any project in order to return to the reclamation fund the cost of construction. From its creation until 1907 the Reclamation Service was under the jurisdiction of, but not a part of, the Geological Survey. In 1907 the Chief Engineer of the Reclamation Services was given the status and title of Director and made immediately responsible to the Secretary of the Interior. In 1906 the benefits of the Newlands Act were extended to Texas, which was not a public land state; and in 1910 a bond issue of twenty million dollars was authorized, the proceeds of which were to replenish the reclamation fund, but with certain restrictions imposed on the allotment of the funds. Not until the Reclamation Extension Act of 1914, however, were detailed estimates of the costs of various projects required to be submitted to Congress, with the express provision that, beginning with the fiscal year 1916, no expenditures from the reclamation fund could be made except in pursuance of appropriations made by Congress. The act also gave legislative sanction to the Service's practice of levying operation and maintenance charges, in addition to construction charges, on owners of and entrymen on lands irrigated by reclamation projects. The material in this collection covers a wide array of topics from dams, waterways and irrigation to settlers and indigenous people. Researchers from many disciplines will find useful information in this collection related to the reshaping of the western United States, exemplifying the impact of public policy and legislation on the landscape and the use of America's natural resources.

Contents:

Series 1: Belle Fourche Project, South Dakota, 1905-1917

Series 2: Blackfeet Project, Montana, 1910-1923

Series 3: Boise Project, Idaho, 1906-1921

Series 4: Flathead Project, Montana, 1909-1923

Series 5: Fort Peck Project, Montana, 1908-1923

Series 6: Grand Valley Project, Colorado, 1903-1923

Series 7: Huntley Project, Montana, 1904-1919

Series 8: Jackson Lake Enlargement Project, Wyoming, 1902-1916

Series 9: King Hill Project, Idaho, 1911-1926

Series 10: Klamath Project, Oregon - California, 1905-1925

Series 11: Lower Yellowstone Project, Montana and North Dakota, 1904-1921

Series 12: Milk River Project, Montana, 1902-1919

Series 13: Minidoka Project, Idaho, 1910-1919

Series 14: Okanogan Project, Washington, 1905-1919

Series 15: Shoshone Project, Wyoming, 1904-1923

Series 16: Sun River Project, Montana, 1910-1919

Series 17: Umatilla Project, Oregon, 1905-1919

Series 18: Yakima Project, Washington, 1908-1938.

Notes:

Date of documents: 1905-1925.

Reproduction of the originals from National Archives (United States), courtesy of the Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College.

OCLC:

1419557867