The Wild River and the Great Dam: The Construction of Hoover Dam and the Vanishing Colorado River

Gr 4-6–A fascinating, and at times heartbreaking history of the building of the Hoover Dam. This book discusses geographical issues of flooding and water conservation, and the human impacts of the building of the dam. The Great Depression is discussed as well as the impact of not only the flood of “white European colonizers,” but the frequent flooding of the Colorado River itself. States and Indigenous Peoples and the water rights of Mexico are covered, and an extensive and well-researched profile of the company that built the dam (Six Companies, Inc.) is also included. The book features period photos in black and white, and several maps to help readers understand the geography of the region. Front matter includes a table of contents; back matter includes a time line of construction/development of the dam, a list of nine other dams on the Colorado River, a map of the nine dams, acknowledgements, picture credits, footnotes, sources, and an index.