WORK WE NEEDED IT THE MOST.
♪♪
EASTERN WASHINGTON STATE.
THE MIGHTY COLUMBIA RIVER FLOWS
DOWN FROM THE CANADIAN OFFICE,
CUTS ACROSS WASHINGTON AND OUT
INTO THE PACIFIC.
AS IT TURNS WEST FROM RIVERBEND
BY AN ANCIENT DRY RIVERBED
CALLED THE GRAND COOLIE.
>> THE GRAND COOLIE WAS LEFT BY
THE ICE AGE FLOODS.
THE CANYON IS 50 MILES LONG AND
900 FEET DEEP.
>> THOUSANDS OF YEARS, BACK
COOLIE WAS DRY.
THE LAND AROUND IT, COLUMBIA
BASIN WAS A BARREN AND MOSTLY
UNINHABITABLE LANDSCAPE.
>> THIS IS THE MOST PARCHED
DESERT IN THE WHOLE UNITED
STATES.
6 INCHES OF RAINFALL WON'T GROW
ANYTHING.
YOU HAVEN'T LIVED UNTIL YOU'VE
BEEN HIT BY A TUMBLEWEED RIGHT
IN THE FACE.
♪♪
>> WASHINGTON SETTLERS LONG
IMAGINE IF THEY COULD USE THE
RIVER DEVELOPED THE GRAND
COOLIE, THE MASSIVE LAKE CREATED
WOULD IRRIGATE THE COLUMBIA
BASIN.
UNFORTUNATELY THERE IS A
MOUNTAIN BETWEEN THE RIVER AND
THE COOLIE.
♪♪
>> THERE WERE TWO GROUPS THAT
EMERGED THAT HAVE THIS IDEA TO
BRING WATER TO THE COLOMBIAN
BASIN.
ONE GROUP BECAME KNOWN AS THE
PUMPERS IN ONE GROUP BECAME
KNOWN AS THE PICTURES.
♪♪
>> PICTURES PROPOSE A SERIES OF
CANALS.
>> I WAS CALLED THE GRAVITY
PLANT DON'T PUT THEM IN THE
RIVER, LET THE GRAVITY DRAIN THE
CANAL DOWN HERE.
>> BUT IT IT WAS ALMOST 200
MILES FROM THE COLUMBIA BASIN.
THE COLUMBIA RIVER PROVIDED
ANOTHER OPTION.
IF LOAD WITHIN A MILE OF THE
EMPTY GRAND COOLIE.
THE TROUBLE WAS, THAT MILE WAS
UPHILL.
>> THE PUMPERS ON THE OTHER HAND
ENVISIONED BLOCKING THE COLUMBIA
RIVER, FORMING A LAKE BEHIND THE
DAM AND PUMPING WATER INTO THE
GRAND COOLIE.
>> THE PUMPERS BELIEVE EXAM
WOULD CREATE A RESERVOIR
GENERATE ENOUGH POWER TO PUMP
WATER FROM THE RESERVOIR 80 FEET
UP INTO THE COOLIE.
FROM THERE, THE WATER COULD FLOW
OUT TO THE REST OF THE COLUMBIA
BASIN.
THE TEACHERS HAVE THE SUPPORT OF
THE MAN WHO BUILT THE PANAMA
CANAL, GEORGE WASHINGTON THE
PUMPERS HAD A HIGH PROFILE ALLY.
PAPER, RUFUS.
>> THEY HAD TO DEFEAT THE
GRAVITY PLAN TOOK AT LEAST 20
YEARS OF FIGHTING THIS WORDS NEW
ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF
IRRIGATION WATER AND WHAT I
COULD DO.
>> WHAT HE COULD DO WAS
TRANSFORM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
DESERT INTO UN-AMERICAN EVENING.
ADDED HYDROELECTRIC POWER, IT
COULD BE AN INDUSTRIAL HUB, TO.
IN THE 1920s, THE WANTON OF
PEOPLE IN WASHINGTON TO USE THE
POWER.
>> THERE WAS THIS NOTION IS A
WHITE ELEPHANT THAT WOULD FLOOD
THE MARKET WITH ELECTRICITY NO
ONE NEEDED.
>> FOR FEDERAL SUPPORT.
COOLIDGE AND HOOVER, ALL TEARS
THEY CONSIDERED THE PROPOSAL ALL
THREE ULTIMATELY DECIDED THE
TIMING WASN'T RIGHT.
>> TWENTY-TWO YOUR FIGHT JUST TO
BUILD THE DAM.
>> THE DEPRESSION CHANGED
EVERYTHING.
>> UNITED STATES IS ONE OF THE
BLACKEST.
IN ITS HISTORY.
IT IS IN THE GRIP OF CAP KNOWN
AS THE GREAT DEPRESSION.
MILLIONS OF UNEMPLOYED DID
BESIEGED THE GOVERNMENT.
>> FDR CAME TO POWER PROMISING
TO PUT PEOPLE TO WORK WITH BIG
GOVERNMENT PROJECTS.
>> IS VERY MUCH LOOKING FOR WAYS
TO PUT AMERICANS BACK TO WORK
AND COOLIE WAS THE RIGHT PLACE
AT THE RIGHT TIME TO MAKE
EXACTLY WHAT ROOSEVELT WAS
LOOKING FOR, A SHOVEL PROJECT
REQUIRING AN AWFUL LOT OF
SHOVELS.
ROOSEVELT AUTHORIZED $63 MILLION
TO BUILD A DAM LOWER THAN WAS
HOPED BUT HE TOOK WHAT HE COULD
GET.
>> I THOUGHT WAS IF CONSTRUCTION
ON THE LOW DAM STARTED, THEY
WOULD SEE PEOPLE PUT TO WORK AND
A HIGHER DAM WOULD BE POSSIBLE.
>> RECLAMATION PUT THE BEST MAN
ON THE JOB.
CHIEF ENGINEER, FRANK BANKS.
>> FRANK BANKS WAS THE ENGINEER
FOR THE BUREAU REFORMATION.
BY THE TIME HE GETS TO AND
COOLIE, HE'D BEEN BUILDING DAMS
FOR 30 YEARS.
>> BEFORE BANKS COULD START
BUILDING, HE HAD TO DEAL WITH A
SERIOUS HR PROBLEM.
♪♪
>> THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF
MEN CAME HERE.
IF THEY CAN HAVE A HOME OR
RELATIVES, THEY JUST TOOK A BIG
CHANCE.
>> PEOPLE STARTED SHOWING UP IN
THE AREA.
THERE WERE NO ACCOMMODATIONS.
PEOPLE WOULD LIVE IN THEIR CARS,
INTENT.
>> TO HOUSE HIS CREWS, BANKS
BUILT TWO SEPARATE TOWNS.
MASON CITY LABOR SENT ENGINEERS
DOWN FOR THE ENGINEERS.
WHILE BANKS BUILT THE
INFRASTRUCTURE, RUFUS WAS
RATCHETED UP PUBLIC SUPPORT.
♪♪
MORE POWER.
I ALWAYS BELIEVE IN THE OLD
SAYING OF MORE POWER TO YOU.
[CHEERING]
>> THE GRAND COOLIE DAM BECAME
THE SYMBOL OF FDR'S NEW DEAL.
IT ABSOLUTELY HAD TO WORK.
EVEN THE FIRST LADY FELT THE
PRESSURE TO NOT HE BROUGHT
ELEANOR WITH HIM, HE SAID U.S.
TO SO STUPID TO BUILD A DAM
APPEAR, NOBODY LOVES APPEAR.
>> ROOSEVELT MEANT THE COMPACT
THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A GOOD
SALESMAN WHO SOLD US PLACE.
>> RUFUS WOODS SOLD THE IDEA,
FRANK BANKS HAD TO MAKE IT A
REALITY.
TO SUPPORT THE DAM, HE HAD TO
EXCAVATE DOWN TO THE BEDROCK.
IF THAT MEANT PULLING OFF AN
UNPRECEDENTED 22 MILLION CUBIC
YARDS OF DIRT AND ROCK.
SO BANKS SET UP A MASSIVE SYSTEM
OF CONVEYOR BELTS, THE LARGEST
IN THE WORLD.
THE MORE DEBRIS THEY REMOVED,
FURTHER THE CONVEYOR BELT HAD TO
GO.
>> THE BIGGEST CONVEYOR SYSTEM
EVER INSTALLED IN THE WORLD.
>> BEFORE HE COULD BUILD A DAM
FOR THE RIVER, BANKS HAVE TO
STOP THE RIVER TO BUILD THE DAM.
>> THE COLUMBIA IS A FORCE OF
NATURE.
THE EVER PRESENT DANGER YOU FACE
OUT THERE.
>> TO HOLD BACK THE WATER,
ENGINEERS HAD TO BUILD TEMPORARY
ERRORS IN THE DAMS ABSOLUTELY
HAD TO BE COMPLETED IN THE