In December 1936 the United States Department of the Interior authorized the Lower Colorado River Authority to construct a low dam at the site of an old crossing on the river known as Marshall Ford. Marshall Ford Dam was completed in 1941 through the collaboration of the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) of Texas. The original purpose of the dam was to prevent floods from devastating Austin, TX. The capital city had substandard heavy damage from previous floods since its establishment in 1846. Soon bureaucrats came together to create the Colorado River Project, wanting to create a series of dams along the Colorado River to create hydroelectric power and serve to control floods and droughts. With Buchanan dam well under way with a total of six planned Marshall Ford was the only dam designed primarily for flood control and the only dam in which USBR oversaw construction. With money scarce there was debate over the final height dam and it reservoir capacity. This issue resolves itself with the flood of 1938. Once completed Marshall Ford Dam would flood 65 miles of the Colorado to form Lake Travis, creating the largest of the seven reservoirs known as the Highland Lakes.
Marshall Ford Dam is a dam located across a canyon at Marshall Ford on the Colorado River, 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Austin, Texas. The Corps of Engineers still refers to the structure as Marshall Ford Dam. It was renamed in 1941 for U.S. Rep. J.J. Mansfield, who assisted in the project's development. Mansfield Dam and Lake Travis are the only structures in the Highland Lakes chain specifically designed to contain floodwaters in the lower Colorado River basin. Even though LCRA owns the dam and controls the ...
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...rsity Press, 1990.
United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, 1992 Summary Statistics
Denver; Government Printing Office 1992.
David C. Humphrey, "AUSTIN, TX (TRAVIS COUNTY)," Handbook of Texas Online(http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hda03), accessed November 30, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
"BROWN, HERMAN," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbr86), accessed November 30, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
Seth D. Breeding, "LAKE TRAVIS," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rol79), accessed November 29, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
“Mansfield Dam and Lake Travis.” LCRA. November 30, 2013. Accessed November 30, 2013. http://www.lcra.org/water/dams/mansfield.html.
Behind Millerton Lake, lies an existing structure made up of concrete of 319 foot high, this dam is called the Friant Dam. In the San Joaquin Valley below the project's authority of Fresno, Madera, Kern, and Tulare; the water holds and deliver up to a million acres. In 1933 and throughout 1934, the state couldn't find enough contributors to buy revenues bonds to complete the project. Luckily, the River and Harbors Act of 1935 by the United States Congress came through and financed under the United State Army Corps of Engineers.
When we see Texas, we remember today mainly for its BBQ, Football and Black Gold, Texas tea. However, there is much more than just the usual itineraries that we find in most other states as well. Molly Ivins in her essay “Is Texas America” categorically states that, “Here's the deal on Texas. It's big. So big there's about five distinct and different places here, separated from one another geologically, topographically, botanically, ethnically, culturally and climatically” (Ivins). This is a true belief from Molly Ivins of how huge Texas was and how the demographics changed in each geographical location in Texas. The population of Texas and the demographics are two essential factors that include many important parameters in deciding the history of any state. The presence of many ethnic groups further adds to the diversification of
The books “Fertile Ground, Narrow Choices” by Rebecca Sharpless and “The Path to a Modern South” by Walter L. Buenger paint a picture of what life was like from the late 1800’s to the 1930’s. Though written with their own style and from different views these two books describe the modernization of Texas through economics, politics, lifestyles and gender roles, specifically the roles of women during this era.
Ramos, Raul A. Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861. The University of North Carolina Press. 2008.
The one feature common to the Hoover Dam, The Mississippi river and the three gorges dam is that they all tried to control nature’s swings, specifically in the form of flooding. Before the Hoover dam was built, the Colorado river “used to flood spectacularly…but after 1900 the Colorado provoked a vehement response” (Pg 177). The response was simple, but large. The U.S. built several large dams, including the Hoover dam, on the Colorado to decrease its flooding and increase power and irrigation. Unfortunately, just as human control of the Colorado’s flooding increased, its organisms and habitats were detrimentally influenced, and the water became more and more salinated.
Calvert, Robert A., Arnoldo De Leon and Gregg Cantrell. The History of Texas. 4th. Wheeling: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 2007. Print.
Texas prides itself on a strong heritage and history. Events that happened when Texas fought to gain independence will forever remain preserved and idolized in the heart of every true Texan. One of the most famous events that occurred during the fight for independence happened at a place that was not well-known and did not hold much importance at the time, but because of the events that occurred there, it will forever be a place of remembrance and pride. This place is known as The Alamo. This paper focuses on the articles written by Brian C. Baur, Richard R. Flores, and Paul Andrew Hutton over The Alamo.
Anglo- historian’s main concentration was in the area of the colonies established by the Stephen F. Austin. The Austin Colonies are the ones most frequently referenced in the history commonly known by modern Texans. However, Hispanics participated in the revolution and sacrificed their lives and property along with Anglo c...
"Texas Politics - Texas Political Culture." Welcome to Texas Politics. University of Texas at Austin, 2011. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. .
There were about 30,000 people in the area before the flood. The Western Reservoir was built in the 1840s, but became generally known as the South Fork dam. It was designed to supply extra water for the Main Line canal from Johnstown to Pittsburgh. By saving the spring floods, water could be released during the dry summers. When the dam was completed in 1852, the Pennsylvania Railroad completed the track from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, and the canal business began its decline.
Mendoza, Alexander, and Charles David Grear. Texans and War New Interpretations of the State's Military History.. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2012.
22 March 2014. Texas Political Culture - "Texas Political Culture" 2009.
Randolph B. Campbell is currently a history professor at the University of North Texas. In the years of 1993-1994 Campbell was the president of the Texas State Historical Association, he was a man fascinated by the history of how the United States came to be where it is today. Campbell graduated with his doctorate’s early 19th century American History from the University of Virginia which is the state he was also born in. Campbell has also written and published several other books some of which including Gone to Texas: A History of the Lone Star State, and Grass Roots Reconstruction in Texas, showing that Campbell was interested mostly in Texas history after he had left Virginia to find a state with a lot of history behind it.
J.R. Edmonson, The Alamo Story, From Early History to Current Conflicts (Plano, TX. Republic of Texas Press 2000)
Thesis: The nine years of Texas’s independence were long and seemed to be dragged out. Were those nine years unnecessary and could it have been done in a shorter period of time? 13 October 1834 was the first revolutionary meeting of the American citizens who’d settled in Mexico, in the area soon to be known as Texas. The people attempted a movement that soon was laid to rest by the Mexican Congress. Attempts at independence were silenced for the time being and the elections of 1835 proceeded forward.