Our next destination was Lake Havasu. The promise of warmer weather and a new place to explore had us heading north.
If you’ve been following our travels for a while, you know that we can’t resist visiting a good dam. Or a bad one such as the one in this post. But enough distractions, we want to tell you about Parker Dam.
Parker Dam is the deepest dam in the world. it is 320 feet (98 m) high, 235 feet (72 m) of which are below the riverbed. It was necessary to dig this deep to reach the bedrock to build a stable foundation.
But that’s not the only claim to fame Parker Dam holds. Did you know that Parker Dam was the reason for a miniscule and rather cute war? A war between Arizona and California.
True Story.
On November 10, 1934 Arizona declares war against California over the construction of Parker Dam.
But first some background for this little war.
A decade earlier, In 1922, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming divided the river’s waters in two between the four upper states and the lower three states. However, they did not specify allotments for individual states resulting in a conflict between California and Arizona.
In 1928 the Bureau of Reclamation approved the Hoover Dam project. Lake Mead reservoir would provide irrigation water to California and potential deny Arizona from some more of the Colorado River’s precious water.
A few years later, in 1934, construction on the Parker Dam began. It would potentially provide more irrigation water to California. Arizona was pissed off.
Arizona’s Governor, Benjamin Baker Moeur was not happy, and sent a reconnaissance team to investigate. When they reported back that construction was taking place on the Arizona side of the river, the state’s Attorney General declared the construction illegal. Moeur declared martial law and dispatched 100 National Guard troops to the dam.
The soldiers used two ferries owned by Nellie T. Bush, the temporary “admiral” of the “Arizona Navy”. The navy set out to inspect the dam but got tangled in cables and had to be rescued by the “enemy”.
This effectively ended the war, but Arizona was able to halt the construction until it was re-approved in 1935 and completed in 1938.
End of story.
We drove over the dam to the California side.
Everything seems peaceful, but be warned: the road closes at night. Plan your route accordingly it you plan to travel between the two states.
We wandered around for a bit before heading back to Arizona.
There is something very powerful about dams.
The power to create lakes where there were none.
The power to harness electricity and water, and the power to destroy towns if it ever breaches.
The only threat to water consumption today in California and Arizona is the looming draughts. We will see later on the effects on Lake Mead, but here they may have a few more years of good supply, and at least there is relative peace between these two states.
Until next time.
Stay safe.
There’s always something to argue over. At least it ended well! It is interesting that the dam is built so deep to find the bedrock. That must have been something to watch being built.
Dams are so interesting and the ones that pose an engineering challenge are truly fascinating to me.
That’s a dam good story. Thanks for sharing. Hope all is well. Allan
Haha, thanks for stopping by. All is well in sarnia!
Great history lesson! We have traveled in that area and over Parker Dam several times but first we’ve heard the history!
Glad I could share it with you! I love this snippet of desert history.
Someone once said that the future wars would be over water. Obviously that person wasn’t aware of this particular war.
But yeah, what will the future bring? Water levels were definitely going down (not sure if the latest crazy rainfalls had any effect on these levels) and may result in a new crisis. I’m sure that Arizona has a better navy by now 🙂
“Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!”
That’s what Admiral David Farragut said
In 1864, during the Civil War Battle at Mobil Bay.
But if I were the Arizona governor in the 1930s, I’d say
“Torpedo the dam! Damn California instead!
Oh, that is very clever of you! I think they should add this line to their info plaques 🙂
Thanks. As I think I’ve mentioned before, I can’t get “Like” to work on your posts or on comments thereto, so if I simply comment “Like” on your posts, you’ll know why.
Nice shots.
Thank you!
I did giggle at Arizona Navy! Water is such a important resource, maybe even more obvious to those states today. Maggie
Very true!
I love Lake Havasu. I know you will love the place. Have fun.
It does look like fun!
Now here’s a post we can all give a dam about. Sorry I couldn’t resist a bad pun.
Very interesting historical trivia and love the photos. Dams are indeed quite interesting! We visited Hoover Dam in 2015 and the receding Lake Mead is indeed alarming.
I’m glad there is peace right now but I shudder to think about the water crisis looming ahead in the coming years.
Puns are accepted here any time 🙂 Yes, the state of the water at Mead Lake is quite terrifying!
Water is so valuable that it does cause trouble. Here in Oz the border between New South Wales and Victoria is usually said to be the River Murray but legally the border between Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) lies along the top of the southern or left bank of the Murray River. Which has caused arguments from time to time.
There are similar issues along the Jordan River which is in some areas the border between Israel and Jordan. Now that there is peace between the two countries, they developed agreements not only about water usage, but also about water pollution.
As they should.
So much drama!! Makes you wonder what will happen if these droughts out west continue and become more severe.
This is a very realistic and imminent concern. Hopefully, everyone will get along and the nave doesn’t get deployed again!
Is that dug deeper than the Hoover dam? Wow! And what a dam good story. 🤣
Yeah, apparently the deepest!
Thanks for sharing this idea and great images. Anita
Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful pictures of the dam. I guess dams are fascinating. And often controversial. Have you been to the Glen Canyon Dam? We’d did the tour there and it was quite interesting.
There is something about harnessing all that power that is fascinating to us! We haven’t been to Glen Canyon so naturally now we’ll have to go 🙂
Gosh, this little war occurred before I was born! That makes it way back then in history. How interesting. I visited Hoover Dam. I was in awe. Enjoy your travels. Muriel
Hoover dam is just awe inspiring!
I’m glad you explained… “cute war” sounds like an oxymoron to me! Interesting story. There may be some serious conflict in years to come. It’s not just drought, but also use by too many players and development that’s leading to the Colorado River running dangerously low.
Haha, I’ll do anything for attention! But, yes, the situation just seems to be getting from bad to worst.
Thank you for telling the story of this other civil war, unknown to most.
It was an intriguing little story to stumbleupon! I hope all is well in France!
Damn the dams, as it were! I actually wonder if another war will erupt now that water is becoming scarcer due to climate change
I hope not! Hopefully we are wiser today, but I know we aren’t really…
Hot Dam! 😃
Haha 🙂
Very interesting Dam 😊
Thank you!
A small and mighty dam. ☺️
It sure is!