Reservoirs

Fifth Avenue at 41st Street in New York City showing the old reservoir.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

Unknown

This postcard shows a view of a reservoir in the mountains near Rio de Janeiro, around which runs a walking path and fence. Palm trees stand further back from the water. This postcard was created by gluing a photograph to the front of a different postcard, as indicated by a crossed-out description on the back.

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

1911

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 H. 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 Mar. 18, 1911, Roosevelt presses an electric switch opening sluice gates; Roosevelt speaks and shakes hands with Indian workers. Behind him on the platform are, left to right: a woman who may be Edith 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.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

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.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Theodore Roosevelt praises the people of Utah for their use of natural resources. Roosevelt also advocates for treating forests with the far seeing view of a statesman. In Utah, the government also must build reservoirs for the storage of flood waters. Roosevelt closes by reflecting on the lessons that can be learned from the men who fought in the Civil War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-05-29

Benjamin Ide Wheeler comments on a current bill in Congress pertaining to water management. Wheeler is of the opinion that the primary water management control should be at the state, not the federal, level. He has an interest in irrigation and thinks that reservoirs on existing waterways would be beneficial for the West. He also discusses President Roosevelt’s opposition to a merger that has won him quite a bit of support and possibly the Republican nomination for 1904.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-04-15