The Construction of Hoover Dam and the Vanishing Colorado River
January 1, 2024
In the early part of the twentieth century, the arid climate and desert landscape of the American Southwest limited development. The Colorado River, which passes through seven states (Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and California) was notoriously unpredictable: occasionally changing course, frequently flooding, and always bringing mud and silt. Building Hoover Dam, then, required persistence, fortitude, and resources, but, in turn, it provided electricity, irrigation, recreation, and -- during the height of the Great Depression -- jobs. Weaving compelling facts and human stories into a cohesive narrative, Boughton explores the dam's political, economic, social, and environmental impacts on the region. He traces the need for a system of dams to control and regulate water; the engineering feats and specific labor skills that would be required to build the great dam at such a breakneck pace; and how the experience shaped the lives of those who built it. The final chapter and epilogue discuss how overreliance coupled with drought has imperiled the Colorado River, threatening several of its reservoirs with "dead pool," the inability of water to flow downstream. The book includes numerous well-chosen black-and-white photographs, maps, diagrams, and primary source quotes throughout the text, while a timeline, additional maps, source notes, a bibliography, and an index (unseen) are appended. Jonathan Hunt
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2024
An extensively researched exploration into the people, the river, and the economics behind the creation of Hoover Dam. Completed in 1936, Hoover Dam was heralded as a human victory over the wild Colorado River, providing water and electricity for millions, including the residents of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and other cities. Less than a century later, climate change, combined with increased demands for water, have depleted the once seemingly endless river. Primary sources and quotations from several oral history projects put readers in the boots of some of the more than 20,000 men who worked in dangerous conditions and sweltering heat to complete this feat, made possible by cutting-edge technology and clever engineering. The absorbing chronological narrative follows the construction of the dam, delving into the social, economic, political, and cultural issues that propelled the project forward. Visual aids add immediacy, including maps, construction plans, advertisements, and black-and-white photos showing the vast scope of the project, the powerful white men in charge, the workers and their families, and the devastating environmental consequences. The impacts on Indigenous and Black people are mentioned--for example, exclusion from compensation for land taken, destruction of sites and artifacts, forced labor, and unequal wages and work conditions. The inclusion of many exact measurements provides insight into the enormity of the project but at times overwhelms the narrative. A fascinating blend of social and environmental history and engineering. (timeline, dams on the Colorado River, notes, sources, picture credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Starred review from January 15, 2024
In this detailed and informative work, Boughton chronicles the construction of the Hoover Dam—whose “purpose was to stop the floods and droughts that plagued the southwestern United States”—and how it would become the largest feat of engineering ever seen in America. In 1921, the Black Canyon in Colorado was chosen as a site for a huge dam that would finally control the flooding of the Colorado River, which ran through seven states and into Mexico, impacting Imperial Valley farms. Via compellingly comprehensive text, the debut author outlines the sheer scale of the project, the engineering innovations that made it possible, the individuals who labored through terrible conditions to build it, and the myriad social, political, financial, and environmental implications of the dam’s construction, and briefly touches on the dam’s impact on Black and Indigenous populations, until the monolith’s completion in 1936. Personal stories from the men who built the dam feature throughout and provide context sur-
rounding the consequences of such a drastic change on the natural environment, while maps, b&w photographs, archival advertisements, and construction diagrams paint a vivid picture of the period. A timeline, source notes, and further information conclude. Ages 9–14.
March 1, 2024
Grades 4-9 *Starred Review* This engaging history of the construction of the Hoover Dam does a very good job of recreating the political, social, geographic, and environmental scenarios that swirled around this daunting and ambitious project. The text provides accessible and detailed step-by-step descriptions of how the dam was developed in a vast wilderness during the Great Depression, resulting in the largest structure that existed in the U.S. at the time. Ever present is the shared story of the Colorado River and the effects of human invention on this great river over the last century. Readers are drawn in from the start, as first-person accounts describe the frantic, noisy, and unimaginably dangerous conditions men were willing to work in just to have a job. Some observations come from these men's wives and children, describing what life was like in Ragtown, the makeshift encampment where families hunkered down. The construction itself took over four years, but the coverage goes back to the early 1900s, bringing in various voices, including the Indigenous people who lived on the land, small ranch farmers and herders, power-company executives, conservationists, and of course, politicians. Numerous archival photographs, maps, and newspaper accounts combine with sidebars to create inviting spreads. The extensive back matter includes a time line, a list of dams, and copious notes. This well-written narrative is bound to become the authority for children on this modern American marvel--and its devastating effects on the environment.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
April 12, 2024
Gr 4-6-A fascinating, and at times heartbreaking history of the building of the Hoover Dam. This book discusses geographical issues of flooding and water conservation, and the human impacts of the building of the dam. The Great Depression is discussed as well as the impact of not only the flood of "white European colonizers," but the frequent flooding of the Colorado River itself. States and Indigenous Peoples and the water rights of Mexico are covered, and an extensive and well-researched profile of the company that built the dam (Six Companies, Inc.) is also included. The book features period photos in black and white, and several maps to help readers understand the geography of the region. Front matter includes a table of contents; back matter includes a time line of construction/development of the dam, a list of nine other dams on the Colorado River, a map of the nine dams, acknowledgements, picture credits, footnotes, sources, and an index.VERDICT A great addition to nonfiction collections covering dams, ecology, and history of the Southwest.-Kristin J. Anderson
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2024
In the early part of the twentieth century, the arid climate and desert landscape of the American Southwest limited development. The Colorado River, which passes through seven states (Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and California) was notoriously unpredictable: occasionally changing course, frequently flooding, and always bringing mud and silt. Building Hoover Dam, then, required persistence, fortitude, and resources, but, in turn, it provided electricity, irrigation, recreation, and -- during the height of the Great Depression -- jobs. Weaving compelling facts and human stories into a cohesive narrative, Boughton explores the dam's political, economic, social, and environmental impacts on the region. He traces the need for a system of dams to control and regulate water; the engineering feats and specific labor skills that would be required to build the great dam at such a breakneck pace; and how the experience shaped the lives of those who built it. The final chapter and epilogue discuss how overreliance coupled with drought has imperiled the Colorado River, threatening several of its reservoirs with "dead pool," the inability of water to flow downstream. The book includes numerous well-chosen black-and-white photographs, maps, diagrams, and primary source quotes throughout the text, while a timeline, additional maps, source notes, a bibliography, and an index (unseen) are appended.
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)