Frederick Haynes Newell
Encyclopedia
Frederick Haynes Newell (March 5, 1862 - July 5, 1932), First Director of the United States Reclamation Service, was born in Bradford, Pennsylvania
Bradford, Pennsylvania
Bradford is a small city located in rural McKean County, Pennsylvania, in the United States 78 miles south of Buffalo, New York. Settled in 1823, Bradford was chartered as a city in 1879 and emerged as a wild oil boomtown in the Pennsylvanian oil rush in the late 19th century...
. He graduated in 1885 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and after field experience in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
and other states was appointed on October 2, 1888, as Assistant Hydraulic Engineer of the United States Geological Survey
United States Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...
, being the first aide designated under Major John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell
John Wesley Powell was a U.S. soldier, geologist, explorer of the American West, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions...
to investigate the extent to which the arid regions of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
might be reclaimed by irrigation. He was subsequently appointed Chief of the Hydrographic Branch.
At the same time, he actively assisted Representative Francis G. Newlands
Francis G. Newlands
Francis Griffith Newlands was a United States Representative and Senator from Nevada.-Early life:Newlands was born in Natchez, Mississippi, on August 28, 1846...
(later Senator) of Nevada, George H. Maxwell of California, President of the National Irrigation Association, and others in the preparation and public presentation of various Congressional bills, one of which by the personal efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
became the Reclamation Act when signed by the latter on June 17, I902. Immediately after that date Mr. Newell was appointed Chief Engineer under Charles D. Walcott, then Director of the U. S. Geological Survey.
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Reclamation Service
During the next few years the organization of the Reclamation Service was completed and plans outlined for extensive work in each of the western states, work being initiated in most of these. In 1907, when Mr. Walcott left the Geological Survey to become Secretary of the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, the Reclamation Service was organized as a separate bureau of the Department of the Interior with Mr. Newell as Director and Arthur P. Davis as Chief Engineer. Construction was rapidly pushed until twenty-six projects, including reservoirs, canals and related works were completed in whole or part, notably the Roosevelt, Shoshone, Arrowrock, Gunnison Tunnels and others, involving the investment of over $100,000,000, in 100 dams, of which ten form reservoirs of national importance also 25 miles (40.2 km) of tunnels, 13000 miles (20,921.4 km) of irrigating canals and ditches with regulating works, bridges, steam and hydro-electric generators, transmission lines, pumps and devices connected with supplying water to 20,000 farms. Special efforts were made to attain the highest practicable economy and efficiency in the execution of the work and to meet the need and desires of the settlers under them.
Offices and Awards
Frederick Haynes Newell was Secretary of the National Geographic SocietyNational Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...
from 1892–1893 and from 1897–1899, Secretary of the American Forestry Association
American Forestry Association
The American Forestry Association was formed in Chicago, Illinois in September 1875 by John Aston Warder. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C.. The organization acts as a clearinghouse for environmental organizations working to preserve world tree growth. The "National Register of...
after 1895, President of the American Association of Engineers in 1919. He was awarded the Cullum Geographical Medal
Cullum Geographical Medal
The Cullum Geographical Medal is one of the oldest awards of the American Geographical Society. It was established in the will of Major General George Washington Cullum , the vice president of the Society, and is awarded "to those who distinguish themselves by geographical discoveries or in the...
by the American Geographical Society
American Geographical Society
The American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...
in 1918.
Marriage
He married Effie Josephine Mackintosh April 3, 1890 in ilton, Massachusetts]. Her father was John Sherman Mackintosh, the grandson of John Sherman and the great-grandson of American founding father Roger ShermanRoger Sherman
Roger Sherman was an early American lawyer and politician, as well as a founding father. He served as the first mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, and served on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and was also a representative and senator in the new republic...
.
Books by Newell
- Oil Well Drilling (1888)
- Agriculture by Irrigation (1894)
- Hydrography of the Arid Regions (1891)
- The Public Lands of the United States (1895)
- Irrigation in the United States (1902)
- Hawaii, Its Natural Resources (1909)
- Principles of Irrigation Engineering (1913)
- Irrigation Management (1916)
- Engineering as a Career (1916)
- Water Resources, Present and Future Uses (1919)
