Narrator: In 1938, thousands of hard-working people arrived in rural Shasta County to build a dam, and a dream.
Shasta Dam brought much-needed work during the Great Depression. It meant renewed pride for the builders, and in the country.
Starting as a New Deal project during the Roosevelt administration, the construction of Shasta Dam provided work to 4,700 people and
drastically changed the economy of rural Shasta County.
Daniel C. Brown: My name is Daniel C. Brown -- Brownie Interviewer: Brownie, is that...?
Daniel: That's what everybody called me on the dam.
Interviewer: When did you work on the dam? Daniel: Started in September of 1938. I was one year out of college, out in Reno.
Interviewer: How did you hear about working on the dam, Brownie?
Daniel: My dad followed the dams all across the country, and he was one of the first ones hired here. They started their numbers out at 500, I
think it was. He got number 229, and I got 533. My first job was right up there on the hill, clearing brush for that road to come down here. Was a little
bitty hamburger joint up there, so they started there, clearing the brush to come down here to the front of the dam up there.
I took my shirt off, and I was just grabbing all this and throwing it on the fire...
Interviewer: You were a kid. Dan. Daniel: ...and I got the poison oak so bad. [laughs] Interviewer: Oh, my gosh.
Jim Brock: I worked on the Grand Coulee Dam, and finished it up there. Then, we come down here to Redding to work on Shasta Dam.
Interviewer: You were talking...what did you do when you first went out there, when you got hired?
Jim: I was hanging on the cliffs with a rope, knocking all the loose rocks and stuff down. I did that there for about two or three weeks. Then I
went on the groating crew. That is, they went in with a drill -- a diamond drill -- and drilled down in the rock, surface rock, that way. They
drilled sometimes 100 feet or so into the rock.
Narrator: The builders arrived to find an undeveloped area with no roads, water, or power. Although they lived in tents, trailers, and hastily-
built shelters, they managed to not only build Shasta Dam, but they also built a thriving community.
Tour Guide: ...down to the right now, is the service road. This was actually built -- those of you who are builders know -- this was built to get them
down to the river level so they could actually start excavation, build the construction camp, and the things like that they needed to do before they
actually started building the dam itself. Our first stop that we're going to be going to is the old construction camp. You might be knowing it as the
PCI Camp. This is where Pacific Constructors Incorporated, who was the contractor, built over 100 homes for the families that were coming here
to build the dam.
On this side of the bus, you see these big towers? This is known as the Shasta Switchyard. The hospital was actually right up on the hill, right
behind us, and where the switchyard is, is where the dormitories were. That's where the single folks lived, right down here.
Interviewer: Your name is? Cecil Stinson: Cecil Stinson.
Interviewer: Cecil, when did you come to work on the dam?
Cecil: April of '40. I helped pour the first bucket of concrete poured, and I just met the fellow that was with me, today. We've been looking for each other
for over sixty years. Interviewer: Oh, my gosh. Who did you meet?
Cecil: The fellow right there in the cap. Interviewer: In the cap. Right here in the plaid shirt?
Cecil: Yeah. Interviewer: Cecil, can I bring him over here?
Jim Carlton: You sure can. I'd be proud to get a picture with him.
Interviewer: All right, and your name is? Jim Carlton: I'm Jim Carlton.
Interviewer: Jim Carlton. Cecil said he just met you and he hasn't seen you since a long time.
Jim: Since 1940, and I didn't even know him then. Cecil: April of '40. I think it was the 14th...
Interviewer: April? Jim: Was it April? I didn't even know that.
Cecil: April. I think it was the 14th of April we poured the first bucket of concrete.
Interviewer: Oh, my gosh, and you were on the same crew then.
Cecil: Yes. There was only four of us on there. Jim: A guy come buy and says, "You, you, and you,
and you, follow me," and there's where we ended up.
Interviewer: All right, so when I look at that picture of the first bucket of concrete that's poured, I'll see you guys in there, right?
Cecil: The second one in, looking straight at the camera, is Cecil.
Interviewer: Very good. Do you know where you were?
Jim: No, I do not. Interviewer: OK.
Jim: I have no idea. Cecil: He's going to recognize himself. I've got an
8x10 of it. Interviewer: OK.
Jim: I sure hope I can recognize myself. Interviewer: All right. Now...
Cecil: There's several stories I could tell you, but it'd take a while.
Interviewer: Give me a story, I'm ready. Hey, I'm ready for a story. You've got a story?
Cecil: Well, they were pumping concrete into the railroad tunnel to plug it, and it was up to me to cut the pipe off when the concrete got up to the pipe.
There's some big timbers, and I laid down and went to sleep. They shook me, "Cecil, cut the pipe off," and they got me wired down to there so I can't
even move. Interviewer: [laughs] Is that called sleeping on the job?
Cecil: That's called sleeping on the job. Interviewer: [laughs]
Cecil: That was worse than sleeping in the sand hoppers when the sand was warm and it was raining outside...
Narrator: Constructed for flood control, water storage, and hydroelectric power, Shasta Dam is the keystone facility of the Central Valley Project,
the largest and most elaborate water project in the nation.
The Central Valley Project plays a key role in California's powerful economy, and because of Shasta Dam and the CVP, the Central Valley is the
richest agricultural region in the nation.
It is the builders of this engineering marvel we want to honor. Their hard work and determination, their craftsmanship, their sense of
community, and want to honor. Their hard work and determination, their craftsmanship, their sense of community, and their dedication to their
country is where the real story of Shasta Dam begins.
These humble men and women came with nothing but hope, a dream, and the willingness to work hard. They have left their monument to a far better
life for all.