University of Wyoming
"©" 2006 University of Wyoming
Arthur Powell Davis (1861-1933), nephew of John Wesley Powell, was one of the foremost hydraulic engineers in the world in the early twentieth century. Davis was one of a growing group of government professionals associated with the conservation movement that arose in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who were proponents of public service through professionalization that utilized scientific accuracy and precision.
Davis was born and raised in Indiana. He graduated from George Washington University in 1882 and received his first job as a typographer with the United States Geological Survey. In 1894 he left the U.S.G.S. and was the Hydrographer in Charge of Stream Measurements until 1897. From 1897 to 1901 he was the Hydrographer in Charge of Examination of Hydrologic Work for Interoceanic Canals in Nicaragua and Panama. In 1902 Davis joined the newly created Reclamation Service as Assistant Chief Engineer. In 1907 he became Chief Engineer and in 1914 became Chief engineer and Director of the Reclamation Service.
After the reorganization of the Reclamation Service into the Bureau of Reclamation in 1923 Davis worked for the East Bay Municipal District in California. In 1929 he left the country for the Soviet Union where he was Chief Consultant for Irrigation in Turkestan and Transcaucasia.
He returned to the United States in 1931 and was named a Consulting Engineer for the Boulder (later renamed Hoover) Dam project in 1933. He died shortly thereafter.
Davis was involved with the Colorado River Compact during the 1920s, the All-American Canal and Imperial Valley, and has been called the father of Hoover Dam.
Davis was named Doctor of Sciences from George Washingtion University in 1917, and Doctor of Engineering from Iowa State College in 1920. He married Elizabeth Brown in 1888 and they had four daughters. Elizabeth died in 1917 and he later married Marie MacNaughton.
The Arthur Powell Davis papers include various project files, correspondence, articles by and about him, bibliographic information (including memoirs and diaries), a few photographs, and project maps. Also included are audiotapes of reminiscences by Douglas Powell Davis, Arthur Powell Davis' nephew. The collection documents the career and public life of Davis well after 1908 including his work with Bureau of Reclamation projects, the Soviet Republic, the East Bay Municipal District, and other projects. Box 10 contains diaries from 1901 to 1933. Series VI, the Reclamation Service files, include information about the reorganization of the Reclamation Service in the Bureau of Reclamation and Davis' dismissal. There is limited information before 1908 to document Davis' involvement with John Wesley Powell's Geographic survey, the Salt River negotiations, and his association with the building of the Panama Canal. Information regarding the development of the Colorado River is also limited.
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There are no other known archival collections created by Arthur Powell Davis at the date of processing.
The Arthur Powell Davis papers were donated to the American Heritage Center in
The collection was processed by Daniel Davis in August 1995 and updated by D.C. Thompson in January 2002 and Jamie J. Greene in May 2025.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Arthur Powell Davis papers, 1865-1974, Collection Number 01366, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.
Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, maps, reports on various Reclamation Service projects and on consulting work for East Bay Municipal District, the Soviet Union, Boulder Dam, and others.
reports, correspondence, cost estimates, Gatun Dam reports, clippings
articles on Panama Canal, Isthmian Canal Commission reports
correspondence, reports, maps, clippings
reports, maps, field notes
report, map
maps, reports, correspondence, discharge measurements
map, report with pictures, correspondence
pictures, report, Conconully Dam, correspondence, map
reports, correspondence, San Luis Ranch
memoirs, reports, Irrigation in Turkestan, correspondence
correspondence with John Hays Hammond, maps
maps, clippings, Size of Farms Report
correspondence with F.G. Baum, telegrams, report with pictures
clippings, report, correspondence, pictures, articles, maps
telegrams, correspondence, reports, sand cement tests, blueprints, report on Rio Grande Project
pictures, correspondence, maps, articles, reports
contract between Peruvian government and Breitung and Co., correspondence
articles, correspondence, memoirs, telegraphs, map, reports, clippings
correspondence, report, map
correspondence, reports, maps, telegram, receipt
correspondence, reports, maps, telegram, receipt
Delph Carpenter, congressional reports, hearings, correspondence, clippings
report on Imperial Valley (2 copies, annotated)
correspondence, report
maps, correspondence, report, telegram
newspaper clippings
newspaper clippings
correspondence, reports, telegrams, receipts
map, report
newspaper clippings
bill for Hoover Dam, correspondence, articles reports
articles, reports
correspondence
a year's record, correspondence, clippings, memo
blueprints, maps, correspondence, pictures
brochures, reports, correspondence
economic results of two years in Turkestan, irrigation in Turkestan, late A.P. Davis in Turkestan
correspondence, reports, pictures
clippings, reports, correspondence, cost estimates, articles
report, correspondence
Arranged chronologically. Divided into two sub-series, personal and miscellaneous correspondence. Much of the personal correspondence is with other engineers.
Arranged alphabetically. Includes biographical sketches, memoirs of Reclamation Service, parts of Davis' autobiography, diaries, family information, audiotapes, and information on Davis Dam.
anecdotes on Isthmian Canal, Taft's conservation policy
qualifications, memorials, correspondence
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
Transcripts
John Davis, Martha Powell Davis, John W. Powell
Truckee Carson Project; Peshe Kara Kum; La Prele
Reminiscences of Arthur Powell Davis and Davis Family by Douglas Powell Davis (transferred to audio-visual area)
Various articles and reports by Arthur Powell Davis, and miscellaneous data.
book by A.P. Davis, 417 pages
Gunnison Tunnel, Caljalco Reservoir, others
certificates, reports, comparative costs of items, statement about dismissal, correspondence, Congressional Record, Universal Services, Sacramento Valley Development, appropriations for Army
opening a coal mine, twenty years with Reclamation Service
Includes family and personal, Panama Canal, and other projects.
agricultural equipment demonstrations
miscellaneous and unidentified
Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, memorandums, press releases, news clippings, etc. relating to Davis' career with the Reclamation Service.
Most of this material corresponds with projects files.
Index cards alphabetically listing articles by and about Arthur Powell Davis.