The Story of Davis dam

measures were necessary to insure better controls of the flow of water. Also our Government had signed a treaty with Mexico, promising that water from the river would be furnished our sister republic in regulated amounts throughout the year. There was no way of insuring the provisions of this treaty unless a dam was built that could be used to give us a safe water reserve, available when needed. Of course, the dam would allow the development of additional power, and its new reservoir would furnish many recreational opportunities and a major wildlife sanctuary, but these were secondary benefits. The dam is situated in an area that has always been of great historic interest. Long before the coming of the first white man, the early day Mohave Indians had found this a good place to live, and several villages were situated along the river where the valley was wide and flat. Evidences of these people may still be found in numerous symbols pecked into the rocks near the dam. There was also an important travel route along the river itself, allowing trade with Indians to the north in Nevada and Utah. In 1826, a party of adventuresome fur traders and trappers, under the leadership of Jedediah Smith, came into the area from the region around Great Salt Lake. Whether this expedition actually visited the present site of the dam isn't known, but Smith's party must have at least come within a short distance, because its members paid a call at a Mohave village not far from present day Needles. From 1827 to 1829, other well known frontiersmen paid visits to this same area-men like James Ohio Pattie, Ewing Young and Peter Skene Ogden, whose adventures and battles with the Mohaves make exciting reading. However, it wasn't until 1858 that the site was definitely described and put on a map. In that year, a river party under the command of Lieutenant J. C. Ives of the Army Corps of Engineers camped at Pyramid Canyon, and was much impressed with the ruggedness and beauty of the place. It wasn't until 1902 that the real value of the region was finally recognized. At that time, engineers of the Bureau of Reclamation were searching for prospective dam sites along the river. This search led them to several places, and among them was Pyramid Canyon. The site seemed ideal. The rock in this area was granite and not too highly fractured. While the canyon was not overly deep, still a dam could be constructed here that would make a reservoir of considerable size, and one that would be of great value in controlling the Colorado River. The exact location for the proposed dam was selected-near a huge rock rising above the river that somewhat resembled the head of a bull. "Bullshead Rock" it was immediately named. However, it was realized that this dam could not be built until a larger one, present day Hoover Dam, was constructed upstream. Thus the plans for the proposed dam were put on the shelf until that time should come. Come it did with the completion of the huge master dam in Black Canyon. In 1939, investigations were again carried out by skilled engineers, wise in the ways of the Colorado River, and in 1941 the construction of the dam was authorized by Congress. But delays were ahead. There came Pearl Harbor, and, while construction began in August, 1942, the project had to be stopped and shelved for the duration of the war. In 1946, the Utah Construction Company began again the task of building the dam. A little more than two years later, it was rapidly taking form. The actual construction did not pose many problems of a serious nature, but one proved to be rather knotty. To build the dam, the river had to be diverted around the site. This was accomplished by digging a diversion channel. However, when it came to closing off this diversion channel, now to become a huge spillway at its lower end, the engineers faced a most interesting situation. Huge concrete "logs" had to be put into place across the swift waters of the river to close off the flow while the spillway and spillway gates were being completed. This wasn't easy, as the water pressure was actually so great that the "logs" were sometimes forced upward and refused to sink. As one of the construction crew remarked: "It was the first time I ever saw concrete logs trying to float!" Nor was the problem of log placement the only one to arise. After the dam itself was constructed and power generation under way, it was necessary to do additional work on the stilling basin below the spillway. Until this was completed, water going over the spillway into the river below was literally mining away at the downstream foundations of the concrete structure. A review of the size of the dam discloses that it really isn't as small as the visitor often visualizes it to be. It only seems small when comparing it to Hoover Dam. From the lowest point at its base to its crest, it rises some 200 feet, or about 138 feet above the river bed. It has a crest length of 1,600 feet, or more than a quarter of a mile. There is often some confusion regarding the way in which it is constructed. Actually there is very little concrete in it. Instead, engineers threw a large earth and rock fill embankment across the river, which forced water around to the forebay channel of the power house. The dam was then made impervious to water by forcing additional materials in among the rocks by pressure. Five large intake towers, leading into penstocks twenty-two feet in diameter, supply the water for the five generators of the power plant. While the dam is both in Arizona and Nevada, the power plant is entirely in Arizona. Again, were it not for the nearness to the huge generators at Hoover Dam, these power units would be considered quite large. Each of its five generators produces 45,000 kilowatts, which takes it out of the "small" unit class at once. Often the question is asked: "Doesn't the same amount of water pass through this power plant as passes through Hoover Dam? If so, why aren't there as many generators at Davis Dam as are found in Hoover Dam, and why isn't as much power produced?" There is certainly about the same amount of water passing through each dam all right, but the difference lies in the water pressure fed through the penstocks. At Hoover Dam, the water has a terrific drop in elevation from where it enters the intake tower to where it enters the turbines. At Davis Dam, there is not much of a drop in elevation between the intake level and the turbines. Thus, it takes much more water to operate the turbines at Davis Dam than in its sister structure upstream. Maintenance problems at the power plant are simplified by the use of a large crane, operating on tracks placed on top of the power house. Generators are installed so that this crane can travel along above them, thus allowing ready access to each power unit should it have to be lifted out for any type of repair. Electricity produced at the dam finds its way to sev-eral areas in the Southwest. By tying this power into the vast distribution system at Hoover Dam, it is possible to supply electrical energy to the three states of Arizona, California and Nevada. The sale of the power will, in time, repay the cost of the dam's construction of approxi-mately $120,000,000.

OPPOSITE PAGE

These views show part of the inland playground formed by Davis Dam-Lake Mohave. The lake extends from Davis Dam to Hoover Dam and offers the boatsman and the fisherman recreation throughout the year.

It was on December 10, 1952, that the dam was official-ly dedicated as a part of the network of projects ulti-mately planned for the Colorado River drainage. rainage. It was symbolic of the value attached to the dam to see the names of the officials attending-governors, senators and congressmen from the western states, engineers of note, and representatives of various organizations. It was also fitting on that day that the name of Arthur Powell Davis, Director of Reclamation from 1914 to 1923, should be commemorated. It was Davis whose courage and fore-sight did so much to bring into being a far reaching plan to control the waters of the Colorado River, and bring about the development of the resources of the entire river drainage.

As a part of the power plant construction, a visitor use room was built on top of the structure. This is de-signed for use as an information center, should the time come when visitation to the dam would require its use. At present, this room is not in use. Often the question is asked as to whether there is to be a guide service through the dam. As matters now stand, there is no real demand for such a service, and so none is planned. Should visitor pressure increase to the point where such a service would be advisable, then it might be inaugurated. At the present time, visitors do not go through the dam, nor are they allowed on top of the power plant. However, excellent views of the entire dam and the outstanding external features of the power house, spillway and take-off towers may be had from several vantage points.

Because of the climate and character of the country around the dam, the area may be visited throughout the year. With summer temperatures often hitting above 110 degrees, the most desirable seasons are the spring and fall months. These months are also best for desert wild-flowers and outdoor activities of all types. With such attractions as the Dead Mountains, Petroglyph (Grape-vine) Canyon and old Fort Mohave-to mention only a few-there is much to see and do.

Sometimes it takes a long time for something to be-come well enough known for people to really travel con-siderable distances to see. Certainly that situation exists at Davis Dam. In time there is little doubt that it will draw its full share of visitors. When that time comes, it will likely not have the appeal that it does now to one man and his wife who have been parking their trailer along new Lake Mohave near the dam. When asked how he liked the place, he replied: "This place has everything -a really beautiful dam, wonderful country, a fine lake and quiet living. Folks will begin to hear about it one of these days, I suppose, and then my wife and I will have to share it with lots of other people. Until then, though, we are really going to just sit here and enjoy every bit of it while we can!"

LAKE MEAD NATIONAL RECREATION AREA

Up in the northernmost tip of Arizona there's one of the largest playgrounds in the nation. And, best of all, just a tiny bit of it has been developed. It is Lake Mead National Recreation Area which takes in some 2,655 square miles of federally owned land. It joins Grand Canyon National Monument on the east and follows the course of the Colorado River for approximately one hundred eighty-five miles, extending as far south as Bullhead City, Arizona. More than a million acres of the area is in Arizona with 689,827 acres inside the state of Nevada. In the area and immediate vicinity are some of the ghostliest ghost towns, romantic reminders of primitive people, some of the most rugged yet beautiful country and two of the best fishing lakes found anywhere. Although the lure of the road brings more than 2,000,000 visitors each year to the area, the National Park Service, which administers the area, has plans for developments which will attract thousands more. The area has shown a tremendous growth in popularity. Back in 1937, when the area was first established under the National Park Service, travel amounted to only 552,128 persons. This past year 2,112,724 sightseers, campers, boatmen, anglers and cross-country travelers visited the area. There was only one of the one hundred eighty-one areas administered by the National Park Service which drew more travel last year than this recreation area. It was the Great Smokey National Park, located in the heavily populated east. Lake Mead National Recreation Area draws from a nearby population of only about 50,000. It is one of the most popular travel and vacation sec-tions in the entire country. And it's no wonder! Imagine trout and bass fishing, hiking, camping, mountain climb-ing, boating, swimming and miles of scenic beauty all lumped together and available to everyone the year round. The Park Service came by the job of administering the large desert playground as an afterthought. With the completion of Hoover Dam in 1935, thousands of persons flocked to see the world's highest dam and to play on the shores of the reservoir created by the dam. Government officials soon realized that the Bureau of Reclamation, which built the dam, would have to have help with the tourists. An agreement was reached in October, 1936, between the National Park Service and the Reclamation Bureau under which the Bureau administers the dam itself and Boulder City, and the Park Service supervises all recreation plans, developments and facilities. Since that time Davis Dam, huge earth and rock structure sixty-seven miles downstream from Hoover, has been completed forming Lake Mohave, and adding a new lake to the old West. There's been a lot of new development here the past two years and according to Charles Richey, superintendent of the LMNRA, there's much more scheduled. "We're going to have the finest recreation area in the National Park System," Mr. Richey said. Superintendent Richey took over last fall as head of the vast domain. He is no stranger to most Arizonans having been superintendent of Southwestern Monuments with headquarters in Coolidge, Arizona, and having spent most of his twenty-four years with the Park System in the Southwest, serving in various capacities.

Water sports will be stressed as well as fishing and sightseeing, according to Mr. Richey. Complete orientation programs for visitors will help them enjoy their stay here whether for a day or two weeks, he pointed out. Immediate improvements call for work on roads, docks, beaches and concessioners' facilities. Well placed signs now mark every entrance to the area with the trademark-a jumping bass inscribed LMNRA. Tourists who have flooded all parks of the Park System the past few years have been no different at Lake Mead and Lake Mohave. It has been a race to keep facilities up with the increasing thousands of sightseers. March, April, May and June are good months to visit the twin lakes. Early spring, of course, has the advantage of not-too warm but sunny days with the landscape made more beautiful with desert blossoms. Fishing is at its best then, too. May and June are better months for camping and swimming. Fall weather is delightful. And for those who don't mind it a little chilly at night, December, January and February are good vacation months. If you visit thenyou'll find accommodations and other facilities plentiful. A good starting point for a tour of the LMNRA is Boulder City where the National Park Service has its new administration headquarters. Here rangers and naturalists will be glad to outline a tour for you pointing out some of the historic or scenic spots that you should see and giving you a brief sketch of developments. And, if you are interested in wild life, geology or Indian artifacts, Naturalists O. L. "Wally" Wallace and John Good will be glad to interpret the natural and historical features of the region. Also in Boulder City, the naturalists and rangers give nightly illustrated lectures on this area and other parks at the Visitors Bureau. A twenty-minute film on the construction of Hoover Dam is shown continuously seven days a week at the Visitors Bureau. It is a "must" for dam visitors. Lake Mead, just four miles from Boulder City, comes next. This reservoir, created by Hoover Dam, follows the old Colorado River bed spreading out into one of the largest artificial lakes in the world and containing