How America Built the Colorado River Aqueduct Across 240 Miles of DesertForgotten Labor

In 1933, 35,000 men came to the Mojave Desert with hand tools, dynamite, and $3-a-day wages. Their job: build a 242-mile concrete pipe across five mountain ranges to save the city of Los Angeles from running out of water. They drilled tunnels through solid granite in 110-degree underground heat. They dug 235 feet below the Colorado River while the river pressed against the walls around them. They built pumping stations powerful enough to lift water 1,617 vertical feet over mountains that had no roads, no power lines, and no shade. The official death toll was 26. The real number is unknown. The Colorado River Aqueduct still delivers water to 19 million people today. Not one of the men who built it has his name on it. This is the story of the Colorado River Aqueduct — and the men who built it. Subscribe if you believe the people who built this country deserve to be remembered. #ColoradoRiverAqueduct #ForgottenHistory #AmericanInfrastructure #GreatDepression #LaborHistory #EngineeringHistory #WaterHistory #LosAngelesHistory #MojaveDesert #ParkerDam #ConstructionHistory #WorkingClassHistory #AmericanHistory #InfrastructureHistory #ForgottenWorkers