Grand Coulee DamThis is a featured page

Grand Coulee Dam ConstructionGrand Coulee Dam In 1917 a proposal was conceived by civic leaders in central Washington to divert water into the “Grand Coulee” by the Columbia River and build a dam to hold irrigation water and generate hydro-electric energy. When it was finally completed in 1941, the Grand Coulee Dam was the biggest dam in the world. Ever since, it has been the center piece of the Columbia Basin Reclamation Project and the Bonneville Power Administration.

Some key historical Questions: What is a coulee? How was the Grand Coulee formed? Why was this use of the Grand Coulee innovative? Who were Rufus Woods, William Clapp, Arthur Davis, J.B. McIntyre, Clarence Dill and Thomas Symons and why were they important to the history of this project? What was the Columbia Basin Commission and what role did it play? Why was Washington Water Power involved? What was the “Gravity Plan?” Why did the “Dam Group” and the “Gravity Group oppose each other?

Primary Sources:
  • Columbia Basin Commission Records
    Construction Photos
  • Engineering Reports
 Washington State Archives - State Government Archives
  • Grand Coulee Collection
  • Grand Coulee Photographs
  • Grand Coulee News-clippings
  • Columbian Record Newsletter


  • Paul Pitzer Collection
 Washington State Archives - Central Regional Branch
  • Pamphlet Collection
 Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
  • Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company Photographs and Publications
  • H.W. McCurdy Collection
 Museum of History and Industry
  • Clarence C. Dill Papers
  • Spokane Chamber of Commerce Records
 Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture
  • Columbia River Oral Histories
 Oregon Historical Society

  • Seattle City Light Columbia Basin Z Canyon Photograph Album
 Seattle Municipal Archives
  • Brock Adams Papers
  • Henry M. Jackson Papers
  • Wesley L. Jones Papers
  • Warren G. Magnuson Papers
  • Hugh Mitchell Papers
  • James O’Sullivan Papers
  • Thomas J. Page Photograph Collection
  • Views of the Grand Coulee Dam Collection

University of Washington Libraries
  • Mary W. Avery Research Files
  • Frank A. Banks Papers
  • Kenneth W. Brooks Papers
  • William E. Carty Papers
  • Homer J. Dana Papers
  • Herman Deutsch Papers
  • Engineering College Highway research Papers
  • Thomas S. Foley Photographs
  • Hutchison Studio Photograph Collection
  • Alice Kennedy Papers
  • Paul P. Kies Photographs
  • Clarence D. Martin Papers
  • Catherine May Congressional Papers
  • Mike McCormack Papers
  • LV McWhorter Papers and Photograph Collection
  • Partnership for Rural Improvement Records
  • Ferman L. Pickett Papers
  • O.L. Waller Papers
 Washington State University Libraries
  • Paul Gullick Papers
 Whitman College Library

Secondary Sources:

History Link: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?keyword=Grand+Coulee+Dam&DisplayPage=results.cfm&Submit=Go Great River of the West:

Essays on the Columbia River by William L. Lang (Editor), Robert C. Carriker (Editor), David Lowenthal Northwest Passage: The Great Columbia River by William Dietrich The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River by Richard White
A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia by Blaine Harden
River of the West: Stories from the Columbia by Robert Clark,
Voyage of a Summer Sun: Canoeing the Columbia River by Robin Cody
BPA and the Struggle for Power at Cost b Gene Tollefson


MSaundersWSA
MSaundersWSA 		Latest page update: made by MSaundersWSA , Aug 18 2009, 11:44 PM EDT (about this update About This Update MSaundersWSA Edited by MSaundersWSA

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Keyword tags: Columbia Basin Project Grand Coulee Dam
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