Top of page

Book/Printed Material San Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the committee on the public lands of the House of representatives, December 16, 1908, on H.J. res. 184

View 42 images in sequence.

About this Item

Title

  • San Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the committee on the public lands of the House of representatives, December 16, 1908, on H.J. res. 184

Summary

  • The debate over the damming of the Hetch Hetchy Valley raged from 1902, when the city of San Francisco made its first application to use the valley, then part of Yosemite National Park, as a reservoir, to 1913, when President Wilson signed the legislation permitting the dam. The Hetch Hetchy controversy was a catalytic event for the conservation movement, splitting up the previous mingling of conservationists-for-preservation and conservations-for-use. Both houses of Congress held several hearings on Hetch Hetchy over these years. This is one of the early House hearings. The principal witness was the City Engineer of San Francisco, Marsdon D. Manson. Letters from opponents of the dam, such as John Muir and Robert Underwood Johnson, were read into the record. William E. Colby, associate of Muir and expert on forest law, referred to "the economic value of scenery" in urging that the valley be saved for camping. Colby also stated that "this precedent of entering national parks is wrong in principle and unnecessary in fact" and strongly regretted Gifford Pinchot's support of San Francisco (p.35). American Memory.

Names

  • United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Public Lands
  • United States. Congress 1908-1909). House

Created / Published

  • Washington, Govt. print. off., 1908.

Headings

  • -  Water-supply--California--San Francisco
  • -  Hetch Hetchy Valley (Calif.)

Notes

  • -  Available also in microform in CIS US congressional committee hearings, accession number HPul 60-O.

Medium

  • 42 p. 23 cm.

Call Number/Physical Location

  • KF27 .P76 1908b
  • TD225.S25 A5 1908 Copy 2 Copy 2.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 08035652

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

The books in this collection are in the public domain and are free to use and reuse.

Credit Line: Library of Congress

More about Copyright and other Restrictions.

For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

United States Congress. House. Committee On The Public Lands, and United States Congress ). House. San Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the committee on the public lands of the House of representatives, on H.J. res. 184. Washington, Govt. print. off, 1908. Image. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/08035652/.

APA citation style:

United States Congress. House. Committee On The Public Lands & United States Congress ). House. (1908) San Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the committee on the public lands of the House of representatives, on H.J. res. 184. Washington, Govt. print. off. [Image] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/08035652/.

MLA citation style:

United States Congress. House. Committee On The Public Lands, and United States Congress ). House. San Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the committee on the public lands of the House of representatives, on H.J. res. 184. Washington, Govt. print. off, 1908. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/08035652/>.