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H. A. Evans is a young man with $8000.00 looking to invest. He has heard about the Salt River Valley under the Roosevelt Dam and hopes Theodore Roosevelt will give him information on the water rights, soil, and production quality of this area.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-10
On March 18, 1911, Theodore Roosevelt spoke at the dedication of Roosevelt Dam. Providing irrigation for the Salt River Valley area of the territory of Arizona, the dam is largely the result of Roosevelt’s reclamation efforts while President. On driveway along the top of the dam, Roosevelt, officials, and crowd look intently over the side of the dam. Roosevelt has probably just pushed the electric switch opening the sluice gates on the dam’s northern slope. Long shot of Roosevelt addressing crowd, with the following officials identified behind him on the platform: Richard E. Sloan, territorial Governor of Arizona; Louis C. Hill, engineer in charge of dam construction; and Benjamin A. Fowler, president of the National Irrigation Congress.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1911-03-18
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary informs H. A. Evans that Roosevelt cannot give advice regarding the prospects of the Salt River Valley in Arizona and advises him to write to the director of the Reclamation Service, who might be able to get him in contact with the Salt River Valley Users’ Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-24
Dwight B. Heard sends Theodore Roosevelt photographs from the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-28
C. J. Blanchard is scheduled to deliver lectures in New York City shortly, and asks whether it would be possible for him to speak with Theodore Roosevelt on one of the days he is there. Blanchard hopes to particularly speak with Roosevelt about his upcoming trip west in relation to the dedication of Roosevelt dam in Arizona. He hopes the event will be a success, and reports great enthusiasm from all the citizens of Arizona’s Salt River Valley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-11-22
Blanchard, C. J. (Clarence John), 1863-
O. D. M. Gaddis spoke with Charles Henry Akers, editor of the Arizona Gazette, about the matter of joint statehood. Akers is eager to use his paper to support statehood, but fears a loss of advertising business might result. Gaddis asks if a sum of five thousand dollars can be raised for Akers to “start the ball rolling.” Gaddis argues that if they secure Akers’s support, their cause will have a leading daily and the only Republican paper in Phoenix, Arizona.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-06
Frank S. Wood sends a postcard showing a picture he took of “The Magic Arrow” at Roosevelt Dam–a reflection appearing in the surface of the water pointing up the Salt River valley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-08
Wood, Frank S. (Frank Sumner), 1864-1955
English
A collection of executive orders chronicling the establishment of a variety of bird sanctuaries and nature preserves across the United States.
Unknown
This film depicts Theodore Roosevelt’s commitment to the reclamation of desert land and his belief that natural resources exist for the public benefit. Included are close-up views of Frederick Haynes Newell, first director of the U.S. Reclamation Service and Gifford Pinchot, first chief forester and leader of the conservation movement in the U.S.; both influenced Roosevelt’s thinking and action on conservation. Roosevelt fought successfully for the passage of the Reclamation Act of 1902, which authorized the creation of the reclamation service. In 1906 work on the Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River in Arizona began and was completed in 1911. Film consists of views of desert area, including many varieties of cactus; construction of the dam; the completed dam, hydroelectric plant, reservoir, and irrigation system. Scenes of fields and orchards, sheep and cattle grazing, men clearing, plowing, and harvesting fields with various types of farm equipment, and scenes of crops of wheat, alfalfa, and melons, all represent the benefits brought to the Salt River Valley area by the availability of water.
At the formal dedication of the dam on March 18, 1911, Roosevelt presses an electric switch opening sluice gates, and speaks and shakes hands with workers. Behind him on the platform are, left to right: a woman who may be Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt; a bald man who is probably Louis C. Hill, supervising engineer of the project; an unidentified man; Benjamin A. Fowler, president of the National Irrigation Congress; another unidentified man; Richard E. Sloan, territorial Governor of Arizona; and a man who is probably John P. Orme, president of the Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1928
After a discussion with Ray Stannard Baker, Gifford Pinchot has concluded that there were no “shady dealings” in the government work at Salt River Valley. There was a dispute regarding water access but it has concluded and government officials only showed a lack of tact. Pinchot will also take up the A. A. Anderson matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-11