It would be the "Biggest Thing on Earth," the salvation of the common man, a dam and irrigation project that would make the desert bloom, a source of cheap power that would boost an entire region of the country. Of the many public works projects of the New Deal, Grand Coulee Dam loomed largest in America's imagination during the darkest days of the Depression. It promised to fulfill President Franklin Roosevelt's vision for a "planned promised land" where hard-working farm families would finally be free from the drought and dislocation caused by the elements.
In the mid 19th century, the formerly nomadic aboriginal tribes in North Central Washington began to settle along prominent waterways to trade with Canadian and European explorers and settlers. It was not long before disputes over land ownership between natives and newcomers became common. In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an Executive Order establishing the Colville Indian Reservation along the Columbia River, where Native Americans from 12 tribes were designated to live on several million acres of land. Twenty years later, the reservation was reduced to 1.4 million acres.
In 1940, seven years into the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, the reservoir behind the dam (Lake Roosevelt) began to fill. The water level rose rapidly, submerging around 18,000 acres of land in the Colville Reservation -- inundating homes, ancient fishing spots, and historic cemeteries.
The boy behind the myth, who in just a few short years transformed himself from a skinny orphan to the most feared man in the West and an enduring icon. Part of The Wild West collection.
The life of the legendary photographer, known best for his black and white images of the wilderness of the American West.
Native Alaskans, oil company representatives, environmentalists, politicians, and others tell the story of the 800-mile pipeline.
A central figure in the narrative of how the west was won, Wyatt Earp and his story became an American legend. Part of the Wild West collection.
The most daring and innovative accomplishment at the turn of the 20th century.
Robert Moses fueled some of the most ambitious -- and controversial -- public works projects ever conceived.
A personal story of one family's dramatic effort to hold onto their family farm in Iowa as massive foreclosures sweep the nation in the 1990s.
The American effort to relieve starvation in Soviet Russia in 1921 during the worst natural disaster in Europe in 500 years.
