BANCROFT LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA . University of California General Library /Berkeley Regional Cultural History Project Frank Adams FRANK ADAMS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, ON IRRIGATION, RECLAMATION, AND WATER ADMINISTRATION An Interview Conducted By Willa Klug Baum Berkeley 1959 Y9J -e3 : fcO lu . ' uA. I '- < I PRANK ADAMS, UNIVERSITY OP CALIFORNIA, ON IRRIGATION, RECLAMATION, AND WATER ADMINISTRATION t *i ir :o TTT u t ' . *KAJC5T t MO: PRANK ADAMS (About 19lj-0, by Henry Washburn. Farm Advisor of Santa Cruz Co.) . All uses of this manuscript are covered by an agreement between the Regents of the University of California and Prank Adams, dated June 22, 1959. The manuscript Is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights In the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the General Library of the University of California at Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Librarian of the University of California at Berkeley. benavoo SIB JqlioaxttUBfli airi^ lo eeeir IJA .j lo e^negefl erW neewtfed ctneHieeigB laO lo .P^W *2S enxrt '.;e*ll IIA .eeec oiBeeerr 10*^ eld 9ri^ gnlfoulonl t d - ql t soeunBin srf^ nl tf bevieaei ena t rfelld0q ocf O lo Y^-t^f^^^Jf^ 9rf * ^ beJ rf ^flffi ^qlioatroBfli eri^ lo *iBq oM Ic noJaslfPieq ne^^liw erict tfx/crtttw aol^BolIdirq Bi aC lo TjilenevlnU sr{^ lo n..''T^idlJ erf* Introduction California's land is fertile, its climate ideal for agriculture, but in most areas irrigation is a necessity. Irrigation on the giant scale demanded brings with it many problems: legal questions of the equitable division of the waters available; engineering problems of the storage and transportation of waters from areas of abundance to areas of scarcity, sometimes requiring canals hundreds of miles in length; agricultural problems of the skillful application of water to the land and then necessary drainage; political problems of the organization of public districts for the purpose of building, financing, and administering irrigation works. Water has always been and continues to be one of the major problems in Gal ifornia and the rest of the West, In order to preserve some of the details of the development of water-use institutions and facilities in California, several interviews with men intimately connected with these developments have been conducted by the Regional Ismilo ectl t 9lid'iel el bos an JB al noJJagl'ril SBSIB tfeom ni ct0d , iiga Ynjwn J1 rftfiw egniid bebnaroeb eljsoe ^lusls arf* no nci^Bslii! lo noiaJtvlfe slda^Iupe erl^ lo aaoliaatrp IssI : emaJcfotq egjsnorfB erf^ lo awaldoiq saiiaofllgne .-da lo Bfieia otl aied-flw lo lo sb^ elBflBO ?nltJ:0pen eeail^ercos t Y*lotBoe lo IirllllMe erlrf lo etneldctq iBiw^Iuolisa ;ri*^nel ni X'-iBSEeoen nerfd' bn bnfil edi o3 isctaw lo nJtfM'irq lo nol^BslnBgio srid^ lo aweldoiq iBOJtd-JSJoq ; ens ,j5nloa,8flJ1 <%albltud lo eoq*tuq eri^ 10! d e^swlB Bfirf if>,i .aafiow nol iioll JeO nJt eaieldotq IO^JMB erftf lo sno cf o* eewni^noo .^eoW erf* lo *eer eri* bns erf^ lo ellB^sb sri^ lo since sv^eesiq orf isbto ni ^l^illOBl bnB aaol^0^1*8nl SEir-ie^flw lo taemqoleveb ^la^swicfni n0m rirfiw ewelvietni Xsievee ,fllnxolll*0 &tii \cf be^oi/bnoo nsed evarf p.ctne. /'fib eeeri^ Cultural History Project of the General Library of the University of California at Berkeley. One of these men Is Prank Adams, whose Bulletin 21. Irrigation Districts r n i ' ' in California, although published in 1929, is still the standard source book for irrigation district history. i AU Adams entered irrigation work in 1900 and, with only a brief interlude In the business world, was engaged in public work on irrigation problems until long after his >, retirement In 19l*5> His life covers half a century of significant developments In Irrigation and reclamation in California and the West, and his memories go back even further to the 1880s and 1890s when his father, Edward P. Adams, organized one of the earliest fruit exchanges in California. It was Dr. Elwood Mead, then head of the Division of Irrigation Investigations, later commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, who in 1900 first persuaded young Prank Adams, Stanford student, to try his hand at measuring water flow. This experience, and his strong attachment for Dr, Mead, led Adams to give up his planned career as an agricultural journalist and make a career of irrigation in the Division of Irrigation Investigations, United States Department of Agriculture, the California office of which he later headed. Prom 1916 until his retirement in erftf lo Y^itf-t^ Is-ianeS rfJ lo *oeto-rf Yio*BlH it aa&rfrf .Yelerf-xeS ^B BlmollIflO lo aJolirfBld noiteql'Ml ,JS ni^elli/a eeoriw ,axof>A jfaB-t* si *e el 9S9I al fcerfeilcfuq rfsiroittl* t aiqiolJHx- .^io*elri ctol' ioJt*B5lTt.t tao8 biebnjg^E s \jlno li^Jfw ,bne OOPI ni ^fiow noWsjlTil bet*ne amafcA nl begBjnf . tow e J &rf* nl Qbulisinl lltd alrf tetlA ol^sgli-jl no il-sow oil: >rf BII all I elH ^fci nl nl flol*BB!Bloei bn* ncl*a%ltit nl 8*neqolevb neve sfocd og sslrtomem elrf bns t *ee eri^ bm ^Bl eirf nedw a098l boe e088l eri^ o;t w*il. cfeslltjie orf^ lo eno besln^sio t 8BbA .BlfllOl lo nolelvld ^rfcf lo ftaeri nerfjt t bBsM boowIS .iQ esw *I t^j8l % cnol*Bglctaevn nl oriw t aold-BniBloefl lo a bnari al.cf ^^^ o^ t ^tneb0?e biolnBrfS t emBbA ^n&mffoB^^fl baa eonelisqxe elrfT .well SB 'le9^BO bdnrtfllq elri qt; evl^ o^ emebA bsl t bBeM . viJ Ic -r?o B 9Man bm ctellBmiroc Iflt .Bnol^BSl^eevnl noltfBSltil Ic nolelvia eri* nl lo eolllo BlniclllBO eri^ ^enu^IifoligA lo cfasm^teqeG eld Ilrfnu t)iei wc-f? .hebseti istfsl erl he was professor of irrigation at the University of LI vision California, serving as head of the Department of Irrigation from 1916 to 1936, as veil as irrigation economist for the Agricultural Experiment Station and for Giannini Foundation. His work included consulting with the Bureau of Reclamation, the California State Division of Water Resources, and numerous other public bodies, some of which was done after his official retirement from active service. While much of his work involved the gathering of technical data upon which the construction of irrigation projects was based, he Is probably best known for his achievements In the field of water administration and of the political organization of water-use districts. The following series of interviews was tape recorded by Willa Baum during the winter and spring of 1958 in the - living room of the Adams home at 1831 San Juan Avenue, Berkeley. The room was austerely furnished, cool, shaded by the gnarled live oaks outside the windows. Toys and hobby collections in view bespoke the nearby presence of the Adams grandchildren, and the landscape paintings on the walls evidenced their owner's familiarity with and love for the land. The most Impressive item there was a large grandfather clock with elaborate dials and various chimes, a gift from the Commonwealth Club to its founder, lo ^i8ivlflU eri^ $B floltfBSlTil lo stfigliil lo &mwMM48 arftf lo basil EB snlvnee , lilaO oicffipliil SB Clew BB ,d9Jt o* o~K 5flB noi^J8*8 inamlieqxS IjsturfftroIisA erfd 1 erict rttJw jinlctlysnoo bebirlonl irfiow eiH .nol^ai lo noislviG actB^S BlmolilflO eri^ t noi^Jsmj8loeR 1o rfoiriw lo enoa < 89i&od o.tlduq isrf.lo Buciaaura brua ^ee eolriee evlrfo* moil ctnams'rirfei iBiolllo alri isilB enofc iBolrurfoe* lo j^nlaeri^BS erf^ bevlovnl ^iow sir 1 " lo rioi/nt l^Bgiiil lo /nJenoo rf^ rfo.trfw noqw eirf iol nwortrf ^escf ^Jdadoiq ei erf ^beasd BBW -t lo bfija noi^BirfelnlmbB IO^BW lo blall ri* nl .e*oln*eJtb eeu-^e^flw lo SBW awslvifi^nJt lo seliea snlwollol arfT eworl ainabA arf-t lo moot bne R^oT . -cbnlw rfct eblsiwo 83t*o evil eiq idi:>. <3loqed welv nl enol^oelloo ^ddcrf nc cfnlq eqaoabnaX arf* bnB ,neibIlriobnBi8 am*bA bru ritflw t^-fie-t-C^ KJB ^ s'nanwo ilsri^ beonsfolve ellaw B BBV J avleaeiqini ^BOM 9f(T ,baI erfcT 10! evol sccJiBV b eJfilb ectBiodflJ> rf^lw^oolo tarf^Blbfuats j?; r^ dirXO rfrflAevrrtominoO arf* moil *ll8 fl aorfo Mr. Adams' father. In this setting, seated near the piano, in front of a card table which served as his home office, Mr. Adams related the story of his life and achievements to the interviewer and the spinning tape recorder, Inter rupted only by the entrance of Mrs. Adams brir&ng coffee and cookies. Adams, a slender man of medium height, was eighty- three years old at the time of the interviews. Difficulties of speech, hearing, and vision had slowed down his prodigious output of technical writings, but he still continued to gather information and to write at his home and at his office In Grlannlnl Hall, He spoke slowly and deliberately, first carefully thinking out what he wanted to say. The clearness of his thought is evidenced in the finished manuscript. Some of his humor comes through also, though this was most evident when the tape recorder was not running. Adams impressed the interviewer as an , - la-ied old-school gentleman, with his high button shoes, his quiet sense of humor, his unwillingness to depreciate anyone, his sense of integrity, and his friendly and help ful manner. He would probably be considered a conservative In most of his political views; the reader may judge for himself where Adams stands on water matters. nl ,olllo arnod elri as bevies riolriw aide* biBO lo tfnoil nl etfnemevelrfo* brts elll e.M lo Tjnotfe erf* becfelei ansB^A ,iM - *nl ^efitooei eqe* jnlnnlqe erf^ bna tevfelvie^nl . ee'iloo ^n^pltd amsbA .stfl 1o eoaan^ne orii yd ^Ifio be^qun o bits -^ctrigle eew j^rf^ie/ ' $m lo ruwn tebnela ,enrBbA .ewelvteinl erirf e ic tu&li srf;t ^JB bio eijse^r se nwob bftwoie bfiri nolelv bn ,snirtseil t rfoedqa lo rfifcf t egni^lT:w iBolnrioe* lo ' ficflit; o* bne noli*aitolnl ajfoqe e-H .IIsH IclnoBiS nl eoillo eJtrf ^JB boa erf tferfw cf0o sn-t^nlrirf ^Uulio ^anll nl fcsonobive el ^rfswori* elri lo eaeni*9lo riT ri- : Iri lo eo8 .Jqlioannam berielnll n^P>iooft oqjs^ e/fct nerlw ^neblre ^som BBW airfrf riguori* t oale ne BB new-; nl erf* bdaceiqinl BJBBbA .^nlnni/i ioa BBW rlglri clri rf*lw ,aBffleI*n6 elri ,-ioinirrf lo "ic eenaa elri ^ blanoo d -^IcfBdciq blwow eH .leansw 9g>0t Y* 1 " 'Jftbaei ri* jewel v iBoitflloq elri lo ^aoat nl ne*BW no BbflB^e al>A aneriw lleawlri After the tapes were transcribed, Mr. Adams twice went over the manuscript in great detail, checking on all the information he was able to, revising the wording, and perhaps with excessive modesty modifying his own role in the projects in which he was involved. The preparation, editing, and other effort he so cooperatively spent on this undertaking was great. He also gathered together and donated for inclusion In the manuscript photographs of some of the key figures he mentioned. Mr. Adams over the years has collected a large body of materials pertaining to irrigation and reclamation and sundry other matters. Many of these have been donated to Bancroft Library, some are available in the Library at Davis, some are now In the Water Resources Archives of the University, and some still remain in Mr. Adams' possession. This series of interviews was part of a larger series undertaken by the Regional Cultural History Project to record for posterity eyewitness accoxuits of significant phases of California's history during the 20th century. Villa Klug Baum Regional Cultural History Project University of California General Library, Berkeley July 30, 1959 30 1. oA ,iM t >ofli;t e^eur aaqBtf erlct II* no gnl^oorio t llstfeb *Be*ijs\ nl Jqlioetrruwi t-rf bnB , gal biow erft snleivei t orf IdB BBW erf eTot nwo efri -pn-tt^ ,:*eebo evlr.esoxe rftfiw sqarf ol*fit>7q8rrc erfT .bevlovnl BBVT eri rioidwr ni 8*oet.otq eri>t no ^neqe V-^ v ' <". erf ^olle te/. -3lB fcH .*Bdi esvr rfqBisoior f noletrlonJt 10! bsienob *io eaoe 'amsbA .TM nl ioetoi*? tfrtBO .3 lo . trr^neo rf^OS erfct griiirrb cfBglii? o^ gnln to TrnaM .ai&ttaa isrf^o TjibfitfB bns iBVB fttB 6IBO8 t ^1B1CfiJ $' ^ ie?BW sri* SIB snjoe ,BiVd tnot Illrfa ofcce bas , %3* eievlnU ew *lo iBnolgef? e ne?(B^'Xf> tosei 'So eaa/ . 19ji -^ ?I % *Deene by the AMERICAN SOCIETY of AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERS PHILADELPHIA, PA. June 25, 1947 TABLE OP CONTENTS FAMILY AND EARLY YEARS 1 ANCESTORS 1 FATHER - EDWARD FRANCIS ADAMS 2 Youth and Young Manhood 2 Early Business Career 1| Move to California; Pacific Coast Agent for Schoolbooks 5> Farming in the Santa Cruz Mountains 9 Organizing Cooperative Fruit Exchanges 11 Summer School of_ Economics and Hu shandy 13 Author of The Modern Farmer 17 Editorial Writer for the Chronicle 21 MOTHER - DELIA COOPER ADAMS 2k BROTHERS AND SISTERS 26 FRANK ADAMS - EARLY EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL INTEREST 30 Alfred Holman and the Rural Press 32 STANFORD UNIVERSITY 35 Financing a College Education 35 Courses and Professors 36 Student Life 4l Participation in Student Activities 49 TABLE OP CONTENTS FAMILY AND EARLY YEARS 1 ANCESTORS 1 FATHER - EDWARD FRANCIS ADAMS 2 Youth and Young Manhood 2 . Early Business Career 4. Move to California; Pacific Coast Agent for Schoolbooks 5> Farming in the Santa Cruz Mountains 9 Organizing Cooperative Fruit Exchanges 11 Summer School of_ Economics and Husbandy 13 Author of The Modern Farmer 17 Editorial Writer for the Chronicle 21 MOTHER - DELIA COOPER ADAMS 2k BROTHERS AND SISTERS 26 FRANK ADAMS - EARLY EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL INTEREST 30 Alfred Holman and the Rural Press 32 STANFORD UNIVERSITY 35 Financing a College Education 35 Courses and Professors 36 Student Life 4l Participation in Student Activities 49 8TH3THOO TO 3J8AT YJHAg GgA I 3HOT8 S 8MAOA aiOKAH 1 ? dflAWOS - HSHTA* fcoorln-oM srujcY bag 4 , evoK aCoccflooripS TO^ 9 ertJ -rfoxa ^10rt*? evl^BieqooO fH bae g^o Ifgojaooa lo looiipg niaftoM erfT lo IS eloliiotriO 4S ; :ACIA ffS^OOO AIJ3Q - H3HTOM S SHSTgia QM c gg :'i YJflA: - 'IAQA 3HAH 1 ? TSffffaTW! JAMOITAOCV I 155: ' bflg CfigiCcE 5eilIA 5C 14 oiiJ CONTENTS _ f P_ax Exemption on University Property 51 Dismissal of Dr. Ross 52 Master's Degree a_t the University of Nebraska 55 EARLY WORK WITH DR. ELWOOD MEAD 57 First Meeting with Dr. Mead 57 Another Opportunity to Go Into Newspaper Work with AlfredHolman " 6l Cache Creek Investigations 6I| Work In the Washington Office of the Office of Experiment Stations, 1901 - 1902 ' 70 Washington. D. C. 72 Lobbying Duties 75 "" RECLAMATION ACT OP 1902 AND DR. ELWOOD MEAD Pressures for the Reclamation Act 80 Dr. Mead * s Background In Western ""Irrigation"" 85 Irrigation Laws of Colorado 85 Irrigation Laws of Wyoming 87 Roosevelt's Message _to Congress. 1901 91 Controversy Between Mr. Newell and Dr. Mead 98 Comments on the Reclamation Act 103 IRRIGATION INVESTIGATIONS FOR THE OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS , 1902T T9"o6 112 ' 8TK87I 5 y.3iecjQ'il Yd-lertevfeU no noUgrrexa aeofl .TO *lo lc yJJe^vJtfiU srtt J*. ee^L 55 *aeide% O/ .HC HTIW afiOW bg L oM >'xa ri^lw 3ml^9eM rfanlS -reM o^n.t oC _o* lo eolllO no^?>fllxieBV' OY SOPI - 0^1 . ancl'tf a J;8 dnaffil^e .0 ,Q . c?T 08 GOOWJS .RQ ^A S0 2S WOITAKA, 1 ; PcI 22. 58 no obBtoJcO lo EWBJ Y6 gjttliroYW lo ewjsJ no ;il e .1 'te 89 C.OI SHT HO-5 six "a'c?! >~Tcg tgifsn! 7 ITS fi CONTENTS UTAH INVESTIGATION 112 The Virgin River 113 The Sevier River 122 INVESTIGATIONS OP INTERSTATE WATER RIGHTS ON THE PLATTE RIVER - 1903 12l| Salaries and Expenses 130 INVESTIGATION OP MODESTO AND TURLOCK IRRIGATION DISTRICTS - 1901; 131 Early History of Modesto and Turlock Districts 132 Keeping Records 13i|- Applying Water to. the Land 135 District Operation 137 OTHER WORK - 190l| - 190$ - 1906 Professor (Major) 0. V. P. Stout FAMILY IN THE LIGHTING FIXTURE BUSINESS, 1906 -1910 llj-5 WIPE AND CHILDREN litf ADMINISTRATION OP CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION "T NVESTIGATTO'NS AND DIVISION OF IRRIGATION. UNIVERSITY OF GAlTPORNIA llj-9 Early Years of the Department of Irrigation, University of California llj.9 Cooperative Relationship Between Irrigation Investigations, the State. and the "University 153 Conducting the Irrigation Census 160 SIX 0X OoX I HATU eriT er TI *C 3KOITAOIT8SWI FCPX - HSVIH STTAJ1 3HT HO eeeexg bnja eeJifilae XOCJ- 3fooI'XirT fenfi oedf'M lo ^Tf JO HOITAOIT8SVHI - 8TOIHTeiC KOITADIHHI erf ^091 - $091 - 40^1 - XHOW H3HTO .1 .V ,0 (aof.flM) ,88^1817.' KCITACIfl MITr .HT If I QUA 3*IW ^AfiTSIHI lo Jneincf r c.&qeG erid lo a-tasT to Y^ig'TfevJflTrTno' x>0 ei/an^O CONTENTS . Kuhn Project 163 Solano Irrigated Farms 166 Work of the Cooperative Investigations 170 Irrigation Practices 173 Duty of Water 173 Burning of Brush in Range Areas 176 Initiation of Studies 178 Cooperation with Other Specialists 182 Personnel 183 Comments on Agri cultural Extension 187 WORK WITH THE STATE CONSERVATION COMMISSION 192 Members of the Commission 192 Irrigation Resources Study and Map 200 Background of the 1913 Legislation 203 Defeat of the 1903 Works Bill 203 Commonwealth Club Study of Water Rights, 1901]. - 1905 205 Commonwealth Club Section on Conservation 206 1913 Water Commission Act 209 Other Recommendations of the State Conservation Commission 216 Licensing Power Sites 216 Riparian Rights 218 2TH3T: S8I S9I OOS * osi: 8ftol;UaItfe9vrtI lo no xl eaeiA egojafl nl rieyia lo lo MOIgg Ilia j_ 1 rtA no VHSatiOO STATS gHT HTIW esoir- lo biu/otylos.g 091 erfrf lo no Qtf^ P eetfIS CONTENTS Forest Fire Protection 220 WORK WITH IRRIGATION DISTRICTS 223 Preparation of Bulletin No. 2 in 191$ 223 Irrigation District Legislation 225 Bridgeford Act of 1897 226 Improving the Market for Bonds 228 Bond Certification Commission Act of 1913 234 Increasing State Supervision Over Organization 236 Withholding of Water from Appropriation Pending Formation of a Proposed District 214.0 Making Formation of a District Easier 2l|2 Other Legislation 2l^ Helping to Organize Districts 2i|.9 Irrigation Districts Compared to Other Districts Kern River Water Storage District Large Farms vs. Small Farms 25>8 Difficulties in Developing Irrigation Districts 261 Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District WORLD WAR I. 273 Increasing Food Production in California 273 SS ,8 . [TAjDIHgl HTIW jfOV clgf. Si 2 . . iiSSSL'- 'ct*-Ie.sJ : ; o *1 8SS ebnoS 10! ,ie3fifiM eri^ jsalvc lo rfoA noip,E : itoi*flol*ti* r i ex xevO noleiviequS iticil ie*BW lo beeoqcifl B lo nolcterarto^ e^oli^elQ feslnf.s?0 d oO 6*02" IrttI levlfl ;ci'tajl 9^ gfllgpIeXQ.*J Gl ^L "sD n! riold-sr/bo'tg |u-c^ &r CONTENTS Work vith the Army Educational Corps In France After World VarT" 2?? LAND SETTLEMENT IN CALIFORNIA 283 Background of the Land Settlement Act 283 Durham and Delhi Settlements 28? COMMONWEALTH CLUB STUDIES State Investigation of Water Resources; ""The Marshall flan " 295 State Water and Power Act 309 Changes in the Commonwealth Club 3 111- WORK WITH VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS 318 U. S. Chamber of Commerce, 1926 318 California State Chamber of Commerce 321 California Economic Research Council 323 Publication of. Bulletin 21. Irrigation Districts in California. 1929 328 Irrigation Districts Association 331 California Water Council 335 American Society of Agricultural Engineers 336 State Farm Bureau and the State Grange Institute of_ Irrigation Agriculture "Winning of_ the West Conference" 3k7 SURVEY IN PALESTINE 35l WORK ON INTERNATIONAL AND INTERSTATE WATER "RIGHTS 362 8THST; nl nqnoO IOjt^aftufc vnnA erf a ri ~H, & 12, Si I : 8S i gffj^ _lo bn.? gjaritug T8 ffUJO HTJAgWO'MMOO o-tt.roa,Qg qe^e^ 1o ncl^^UevnI jcf A - ie cfxfl? fC^l-:-.;nOitTg.o^ eAt nl HAV HTIW 1 .aoisrqgQO lo : ' ". -^LSl2 *^A^ Blnipll lap XJtonxj eefl rujf.0 ae^gW _; e^aR'fx) 9JLP r ^5 /tg wsetE:. :; " ' O JssW erirf lc SJUTl ^ HSTAV 3TAT8HgTKI QMA JAHOI '! WO CONTENTS Attempted Compact Between the United States and Mexico. 1928 - 1930 " 362 Rio Grande JojLnt Investigations . 1935 - 193ET 36? 1 f COMMENTS ON CALIFORNIA STATE ENGINEERS AND OTHER LEADERS IDENTIFIED~lTT^ALIFORUIA IRRIGATION AND WATER DEVELOPMENT 3?1|. " State Engineers Outstanding Engineers 378 i Wells A. Hut chins 383 SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS 386 CONSULTING VTORK ' ______ CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT Water Charges Study. 1938 395 Solano Unit Studies. 19L8 i|.00 Somments on the Central Valley Project lj.02 OTHER WORK Tri-Counties Project in Nebraska . 1935 1|.06 Brush-burning Studies. 19U7 American River Studies. 19k7 Other Studies U13 CONCLUSION Ul6 APPENDIX 14-23 Copy of Memorandum of Plan to Utilize and Reclaim the Arid' "Public Domain, by George H. Maxwell Copy of Substitute for Memorandum of Plan to Utilize and Reclaim the Arid Public Domain 1425 J 21ME& ^ b - . opljseM - y?.- t sflj? lajBgl g^eyfll, d; !* 1 1. : ''IPF" S04 SI4 J[ CO _,, ITJUggQO '- t et^;>:^ i YellJlV IjttitnQp erf^ no 'TO 0- t El btr gQIg- QJ H lo of Idtrt biiA r CONTENTS Copy of Draft of Letter Prepared by Elwood Mead for Mr,~]I. G. Burt, President of Union Pacific Railroad . to be Submitted to Board of_ Directors Copy of Letter f rom Elwood Mead to M r H. G. Burt Regarding George Maxwell's Plans, ~ " U39 Letter from Prank Adams to Edward P. Adams Regarding Ap propr lat Ions for IrrTgation Investigations. December lit. 1901 Publications of Prank Adams (and Co- Authors)" TJnpubllshed Reports and Papers of Frank Adams l|.6l Commonwealth Club Activities and Reports re Irrigation and other Water Legislation and Policy ~\62 INDEX lE jtf *S3S33l "' - ! aid ctf 7HL , t isn.g^. ejH[ I ;cTl f ' #Ji3u zf ' i. Ji lp |Vt93. fefff *JL2' Ml vIcfoA dt/I re A?4l LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS Prank Adams, about 1940.. frontispiece Dr. Edward A* Ross 58a Dr. Elwood Mead 91a Dr. Samuel Portier 131a An Article and Photographs by Prank Adams Appearing in Sunset, June- July, 1906 141a Major 0. V. P. Stout 144a Dean Thomas P. Hunt 155a Professor F. J. Veihmeyer 181a State Engineer Wilbur P. McClure 374a Professor Martin R. Huberty .417a IJ ,- ; eec . .ic .id l iiq**C3oJoj ......... oei ^vlirL-en^I, % ^am/c niie&qqA ....CtJLfC: .... S9 ' . 1>I.tI : " . .".-.' ' : , .. ' sir* ; ;R IB' Adams: his headquarters were in San Francisco. The family remained in San Francisco for about three years. ' Farming in the Santa Cruz Mountains Adams: After quite a search for a place for the family to grow up, Father had purchased a farm down in Santa Cruz County, in the Santa Cruz mountains, in 1881. We moved there in 1882. We still have that farm, by the way, in the family. That's where we were until the older children finished at the dis trict school. We had the joy of attending the one- room district school up there. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Then we moved back to San Francisco in 1889 where my three sisters and my brother Will entered Cogswell Polytechnical College, and I entered my last two years in grammar school. Cogswell, a privately endowed school of secondary grade, was then being operated by the board of education of San Francisco. It was an unusually fine high school with an unusually fine faculty, some of whom later became distinguished teachers elsewhere. Early in 1892 Father left the w ork which had been so unsatisfactory after the merger of the schoolbook enterprises. The family went back to the ruse . i 1A . , i nJt , so'/ . . '8W ! , -a .1 ; I .foj - I - . , . B njp M .<- . . '.srfweelo i : ' acres, the farm was composed of various types of forest growth. These 25 acres of open land and five or ten acres which we cleared were planted to prunes, pears, apples, apricots, peaches, and grapes. It was a mountain farm on the top of the Skyland Ridge and a lovely place to live. It was a wonderful community with fine neighbors. Many of the people up there had come from the city after retirement from their activities there. There could never be a finer community to live in and for children to grow up in than that Skyland area. Baum: What town were you near? Adams: No town. Our nearest railroad station was Wrights. It was on the railroad that formerly ran through the mountains to Santa Cruz. There was a general store and a post office there. It was about four miles from the farm. The farm was on the crest of the Santa Cruz mountains, about ten miles back from - . I -.rcf < ' iv . qfit.-R .e . . : . b<. -r j e a -03 an 1 t- fcjBC .SWlO B; ^ eo.r . ^m - : ' . 11 Adams : Baum: Adams : Adams : the coast, where we could look out over Santa Cruz, Capitola, across the bay to Monterey, and back through the gap above Los Gatos to Mt. Tamalpais. So it is beautiful country. When you were away from the farm I suppose you had somebody to take care of the trees. Of yes, a chum of my older brother back in Maine, who had come out to join us, took charge while we were in San Francisco attending Cogswell School. My brother Ned and this chum of his, Will Chamberlain, had been in school together there. Organizing Cooperative Fruit Exchanges It was not long after we returned to the farm in 1892 that Father became interested in a movement among farmers to establish their own marketing agency to dispose of their dried fruit. He attended a meeting in San Jose and was the only man who went prepared with a plan of organization. He was elected to the board of directors and made manager and was given the task of going about among the growers in Santa Clara Valley and raising funds to establish what was known as the Santa Clara County "^ruit Exchange. The canvass for subscriptions to the stock of the exchange was successful, a building was erected, , . . . . . ' . . . . ' ' . . ' I - '. . < 12 Adams : Baum: Adams : and the exchange began operations, I believe, the following year. There were a number of local ex changes around the valley and others were organized. The Santa Clara County Fruit Exchange was to be the central agency for marketing the product from the local exchanges. Colonel Phflo Hersey, a very prom inent fruit grower in Santa Clara Valley, was pres ident of the exchange. After the work of organization was completed, Father turned to the organization of what was known as the California Fruit Exchange. This was a state exchange and was primarily intended to g ather infor mation as to markets and prices so that the local exchanges would have some information as to what their fruit was worth and not be at the mercy of the dealers. That venture did not last very long because of the hard times. It was very difficult. Father had both the task of raising money to keep it going and of gathering the data and issuing bulletins about markets and so forth all ove^ the world. The president of the State Fruit Exchange was a very prominent grower at Yuba City, Mr. B. F. Walton. The California Fruit Exchange didn't sell anything though? No. It arranged for selling to some extent the first . . . ' : . ! . . ' . ' _ . ' . .p. I " " . * . i 13 Adams: year, but the local exchanges around the valley disposed of their products through the Santa Clara County Fruit Exchange. I remember during the early days of the Santa Clara Pruit Exchange the packers were fighting the growers' movements very bitterly. One day, while Father and I were sacking the year's crop of prunes for shipment to the exchange, a gentleman drove up in a very smart rig with a view to getting Father to abandon the exchange and buy f ruit for packers. That was the kind of competition the farmers had. I remember how proud I w as of Father when he flatly refused, although he very much needed the money that he would have received because he had no income except from the farm, and farm prices were very low at that time. Baum: He got no income as manager of the exchange? Adams: Oh, some nominal figure. I think it was $3> a day when he was occupied. He was manager of the entire County Fruit Exchange only during the organization period. Summer School of_ Economics and Husbandry Adams: Back in the early days in Ohio while my Father was working on the farm of a cousin and while he was . I ' , ! . , ' . . . ' . I 00 B ' ; Adams: studying law, he was very active in all community affairs. That was characteristic throughout his life. The same thing happened in our mountain farm country. We organized first a Farmers Alliance during the Populist movement, then a grange. Father was anxious that our grange should really do something. He therefore proposed, and the grange sponsored, and he organized, the first summer school of agricul ture in California. It was known as the Summer School of Economics and Husbandry. It was sponsored originally by the State Grange, although we received no help from that organization. It was handled entirely by our Highland Grange, of which I happened to be secretary, thus I kept familiar with what was going on. The summer school was held on our farm there in the mountains in the grove near a sulphur springs. That was in 1395. It continued through '96 and '97, although the last two years it operated on a reduced scale. We had lectures on agriculture in the morning and on economics in the afternoon. The lectures on agriculture were given by the members of the staff of the College of Agriculture of the University of California. All the members of the College of Agriculture staff, Dr. Hilgard, Professors ' . . . . * 1c I . . ' . . ' . I I >- il . . . : . Adams: Wlckson, Ja'fa, Loughridge, Woodworth, and assistants Hayne and Bioletti, participated. In the afternoon the lectures on economics were given by Professor E. A. Ross of Stanford. Baum: How were these men all paid? Adams: They were not paid. We supplied their accommodations while they were in the mountains and they all came, volunteered. That was a normal thing for the College of Agriculture because the College of Agriculture staff always gave such service without pay except from the University. They were very glad to come. For Dr. and Mrs. Ross this was a vacation. I had the opportunity to pret acquainted with all members of the staff of the College of Agriculture. Of course I got acquainted with Dr. Ross. He and Mrs. Ross stayed with us on the farm each year the school was held. Baum: How much did the people who attended these lectures pfiLV"? Adams: There was a slight charge of $2 per family. for the entire course. Whatever expenses arose were borne by Highland Grange or local contributors, but they were nominal. We all pitched in and did the work. Our Highland Grange became known all over the state. The whole plan of that school was to have authoritative sbA bfljs so^eH ' . . . . . ^8 . . ' . . ' , ' ' ' 39- . ./ . ' 16 Adams: instruction and discussion of issues relating to agriculture, cultivation questions, and economic questions affecting agriculture. The whole purpose was to find out the facts regarding these matters and to discuss them in an open-minded and fair way, without any idea of influencing anybody except as the facts would influence them. We didn't have a large attendance at any of the schools. I suppose the maximum must have been forty or fifty, made up largely of the neighbors, but we had a number of very prominent men from the outside, including Mr. John Swett and his son Prank, who were very well known. John Swett was a great educator who, I think, had been largely responsible in the early days for establishing the public school system in California. At one time he was Superintendent of schools in San Francisco and another time was State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The Swetts lived on a berry vineyard in Alhambra Valley back of Martinez, where Prank Swett still lives. I remember we had one or two men interested in social welfare generally. We had probably the best- known shipper of fruits to Europe, Mr. A. Block. There were some prominent people in our neighborhood who came. It was very successful. ' %B . * W . 1 ' . ' . ;ti/d . . . ' . ; tenoqa , - ' I oil ow<2 ' . - - . .A .-"I ,e( r. sr ct; mOB . 17 Baum: Adams : Adams : Baum: Adams : How long did the sessions last? The first year it was two weeks. I believe it was three weeks one year, but I'm not sure about that. Immaterial,, Author of the Modern Farmer Let me show you this book my father wrote, (reading from book). Edward P. Adams, The Modern Farmer in his Business Relations, published in 1899 by N. J. Stone Company of San Francisco. The initial inspiration for this book, I think, came from the first session of our Summer School of Economics and Husbandry. He was a student of economics and he read extensively on all phases of public life, government, and the economic situation of the country. At the conclusion of the first session of the summer school he wrote the opening chapters of this book. They were a summary, really, of Dr. Ross's first lecture, because Father had passed through the period in agriculture in Ohio that Professor Ross had described. Then he proceeded to write this book, mostly while he was traveling. He could sit in the smoking car of the train, smoke his cigar, and write. Nothing bothered him at all. So he wrote it practically out of his head without ' . . . , . , . . , ' . . , . ' . , . . , . . 18 Adams: reference to anything. It proved to be a book of very great value. His idea all through was an objective statement regarding the economic issues of the day as they affected the farmer. Let me just indicate here some of the chapter headings: The Old Farmer, The New Farmer, The Evolution of the Farmer, The Hope of the Farmer, The Scientific Farmer, The Agricultural College, The Experiment Station, Special Schools of Farming, Agriculture in Common Schools, The ^tudy of the Farm, The Further Study of the Farm. Those were all introductory chapters. Then he took up the farmer's relationships with his family, his fellows, his competitors, his creditors, politicians, and finally the current discontent of the farmer. Then he discussed the farmer as a businessman dealing with the banker, with the commission merchant, with the railroads, with the speculator, with the tradesman, and with the tax-gatherer. Then the farmer as a co opera tor, and he described the various phases of farmer cooperation with which he had been identified so closely in the Santa Clara and State Fruit Exchanges. Then the farmer and questions of the day. I don't know where you can find as objective a "I 31 M B&L I . - ' . . , -J^SlIf . . .8' ! i ' o 1 J Ji 1 ,*i t 3l . . t . . I 19 Adams: statement of the arguments on those questions as you can find here. He didn't express his own opinions in any case. His mind was objective in dealing with those things because he thought the great need of the time was for farmers to understand the facts regarding public questions rather than to be swayed by sentiment and emotion. He very clearly outlined the issues of the day, the tariff, the export bounties, the single tax, currency, labor questions, trusts, referendum, and socialism. His final chapter dealt entirely with California fruit marketing associations. Baum: How did this book sell at that time? Adams: That's a very interesting question. It didn't sell. I think only a few hundred copies were disposed of. It was published as a subscription book and it had hardly come from the press when the publisher went broke. The plans that the publisher had for canvassing It were very much curtailed. Father once said that he knew of no book that had ever received such high praise and so few subscribers. It was very generously received all over the country. Presidents of universities, the Assistant Secretary of Agriculture, deans of colleges of agriculture, all wrote very high praises. I remember . . - . . - t ' . . . . ;f I >ri . IctJ:s . rco ' . 20 Adams Baum: Adams Baum: Adams Baum: the statement of Dean Henry of Wisconsin. He said, "The book has too much good sense to be salable." It was very well received, a very thoughtful book. In later years when Dr. Mead came to the University, back in 1915? or 1916, he wanted Father to revise it, bring it up to date. Father did it for the fun of it, not expecting that anyone would publish it, and no one did. I have his revised manuscript. You have written this typescript biography of your father. What are you planning to do with it? I am going to try and finish it. I did it primarily for the family. I want to get enough cooies made to distribute around to members of the family and put one in Bancroft Library. You wrote the Early History of the^ Irrigation Division, College of Agriculture, University of California. (With some Side-Lights ). Where will that typescript history be available? There's a copy at Davis, a copy at Los Angeles, and I have a copy and you have a copy. Archives in the Library can have your copy when you are finished with it. All right. I'll deposit it there. t . . . .- - . , ' . . orf . , . . ev . ' ' 21 Baum: Adams Editorial Writer for the Chronicle How did your father come to be a newspaper man and a writer for the Chronicle? Father had become quite well known through his connection with the organization of fruit exchanges and the summer school held on our farm. Shortly after the conclusion of the summer school, Father was asked by the San Francisco Call, which was then a morning paper, to write a series of articles . entitled "Plain Talks With Farmers." He prepared those articles during a period of six or eight months. I think it was while the articles in the Call were still running that he was asked unexpectedly by the Chronicle to become its agricultural editor and to prepare the agricultural portion of the weekly Chronicle. All the San Frand sco papers published weekly editions in those days, largely for sale out in the rural areas. Father continued as agricultural editor of the weekly Chron i cl e as long as the w eekly was published, which was, I think, for four or five years. In 1898 the principal editorial writer of the Chronicle left to become war correspondent in the Spanish-American War and Father became principal . r B ' . . :: - 3W OK be - i . ' . . 22 Adams: editorial writer on the Chronicle , and continued in that capacity until a few years before his death, nearly 30 years later. Also he was a frequent contri butor of special signed articles in the fields of public affairs, finance, economics, and agriculture. Baum: During the time he was agricultural editor on the Chronicle, was he able to stay on the farm in the Santa Cruz mountains? Adams: Initially he remained on the farm and did most of his work there, but spent two days of every week in San Francisco with his material. When he became principal editorial writer he had to be there contin uously so he and Mother moved back to San Francisco. Our permanent home in San Francisco wasn't established until about 1903. Baum: I would like to ask you about your father's political opinions. Adams: Father was a Republican. He grew up in the days of Lincoln and lived through the Civil War period. He was always a Republican, but not an extreme one. He often referred to himself as a stand-patter, which he really wasn't. I know of no one who could better indicate his point of view than Herbert Hoover. Father was a strong supporter of Mr. Hoover and men of that type. "be . . . - . . ' ' ' . - ' -TO . . . . . . . . . " . . 23 Baum: Adams Baum: Adams Baum: Was he a Theodore Roosevelt supporter? Adams: Oh yes. Baum: In 1912, did he vote for Roosevelt or Taft? Adams: Taft, by all means. Taft had been nominated and Roosevelt came In with a third party. I'm very sure he supported Taft. He stuck with the party? Yes What did he think of LaPollette? LaPollette split from the party in 192i|.. Well, everyone had a high regard for LaPollette, and I know Pather did, but I'm sure that Father did not vote for him. Baum: Then he always stuck with the party. Adams: I am not warranted in saying that he voted the straight Republican ticket. I do not remember that he ever told us how he voted. I doubt if he ever voted for a Democratic president. He probably always voted for a Republican governor, although in one case I know he didn't. He voted for Pranklin K. Lane, who was defeated and later became Secretary of Interior. Lane was one of his close friends. When it came to the lesser offices I'm sure he voted for the man he thought was the better man for the job, In the late '70's and early '80's he was very . , . . . . . . . : . . . . " ' ' ' 'victor t 26 Adams : Baum: Adams : and keeping them properly disciplined -was not her only responsibility. I have often felt It was Mother's watchful care of Father which enabled him to accomplish so much. After a long illness, she left us in 1918. No mother ever gave herself more devotedly to her family, or was more loved by her family and friends. ' BROTHERS AND SISTERS Did all of your sisters and brothers go t o college? You will recall that my sisters and brother Will went to Cogswell School in San Francisco In the late '80's and early '90's. My two older sisters, Evangeline and Katharine, finished there in '91. My sister Marlon left Cogswell School about the middle of her last year to become supervisor of drawing in the public schools In Stockton, sxtcceeding my older brother Ned, who had been there in that position and who had entered Stanford when Stanford opened in '91. She had been a very fine student at Cogswell and I am sure later received her diploma of graduation there. Ned came out to California when he was about 21 years old and was with us on the farm for several years. He then went off on his own on various . OM . rise-?' l&<" -ir. . ' t B- . :;1 elr a - , . ' BBW b IS o stxi no 11 o '* H 27 Adams: enterprises, finally ending up about 1890 as supervisor of drawing in the public schools at Stockton. When Stanford opened he had made up his mind he wanted to go to college and study mechanical engineering. He had been married and had one child and had to have a position if he went to college. So he want to Stanford on the third of October, 1891, two days after it opened. I went down with him as a kid in high school in San Francisco. He called on Dr. Jordan. Before he left that day he was offered three positions and chose one with Professor Charles D. Marx, head of Civil engineering. So he became a member of the first faculty there as an instructor in drawing. There he stayed until the celebrated suit against the Stanford estate made it necessary for all in the faculty below the rank of full professor to leave. He had senior standing when the time came for him to leave. He rustled around for three months and got backing and went to Cornell, where he finished his engineering course. He was for a short time an instructor there and then went into engineering and had a very wide and successful experience as an engineer. While still in Cogswell, my sister Evangeline studied singing and after the family returned to the , . CJ TOlm- . ' . ''I < . . . >9irf;t f.r ni --, . . . ' inJ .f ?!B ' , i bos 28 Adams: farm in early 1392, she spent a few months continuing her work in singing at Mills College. In 1896, the year I entered Stanford, she came down to College Terrace, where we lived, and kept a cooperative house for my other two sisters and myself and several friends. She was invited to go to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to teach music to children in an American school and spent about two years there. Later she graduated from San Francisco Normal School and taught for several years in the San Francisco schools. She had attended some classes at Stanford while keeping house for us, but did not register. Later she got her degree at the University of California and then taught in the San Francisco State Teachers College, being in charge of teacher training. She stayed there until her age of retirement. Evangeline was married to Dr. Arturo Spozio, editor of an Italian daily paper in San Francisco. Dr. Spozio was a reserve officer in the Italian army and was called at the beginning of World War I and was killed in one of the early battles, My sister Katharine, after graduating from Cogswell, attended and graduated f rom San Jose State Normal School and for several years taught in various places, beginning in our Skyline district , . , . ' t - I . ' . ' . t . rto . ' b . T I ' t we " . -:ev 29 Adams: school. She was with us in our cooperative home in College Terrace from 1896 to 1897, but was teaching in the Mayfield High School. Later she graduated from Stanford and became a teacher in the state normal school at Tempe, Arizona. After several years there she was married to John Hicks, a cattleman of New Mexico, and lived there a number of years until her death. My sister Marion graduated f rom Stanford in 1898 and for a number of years was a history teacher. She went first to Santa Barbara as supervisor of history in the schools at Santa Barbara and then to the Lick School in San Francisco, which was headed by one of her old instructors at Cogswell School. After 12 years at Lick School she became head worker of the People's Place, a community settlement in the North Beach area of San Francisco. When World War I broke out, she and my sister Evangeline went to Italy as Red Cross workers. On returning from Italy, Marion took charge of the Americanization work administered by the public schools at San Jose and carried through to their examination for citizenship a large number of foreign-born residents of the San Jose area. My brother Will didn't finish Cogswell. He got . . .J nl . . .- - . . , . _r . ' ' ' . t biiov; . . _ B . : 30 Adams: a .job in business and was in business of one form or another until he went back to the farm, oh, along a- bout 1921 or 1922, and s tayed there until his death several years ago. That's a rather disjointed account of the family history. There's much more to be told, but too much detail has been told already. PRANK ADAMS--EARLY EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL INTEREST Baum: Adams : Did you attend Cogswell High School also? When the family moved from San Francisco back to the ranch in 1892 I was in the middle of my first year in Cogswell. I was able, with the help of my sister Marion family finances were very low after Father left his work to finish that first year in Cogswell. Then I went back to the farm where I pitched in and did farm work. I had learned earlier to work on the farm and was very fond of the farm. I remained there for about a year and a half, when Father obtained a scholarship for me at Belmont Preparatory School, a boys' school of which Mr. William T. Reid, a former president of the University of California, was headmaster. Iw as able to attend Belmont for a spring term, either in '93 or '9i|, and then had to return to the farm where I took over and ' ! . . : < . .... ' ' i . . . . nerfw : . .tfitfc . 31 Adams: looked after things until I entered college in the fall of '96. When I entered college I had had only a dis connected year and a half in high school. Under the regulations at Stanford then, I could enter as a special student because I was almost 21, with the provision that I make up my deficiencies, either by examination or by extra work in college. In the early days of Father's work in marketing and in connection with the Summer School of Economics and Husbandry, I had become acquainted with Mr. Alfred Holman, who was then editor of the Pacific Rural Press. I was looking forward to working with him because I was very much attached to him. He visited the farm on several occasions. During the summer school of agriculture I also had become tremendously interested in Dr. Ross and the field of economics. I had previously found among Father's books the first Outlines of Economics by Dr. Richard T. Ely, who was the pioneer teacher in that field in this country. So when I entered college I was not quite sure what I was going to do, whether I was going into the field of agricultural economics or into newspaper work with the Rural Pr e s s . I had had a little experience in newspaper work reporting for the San Francisco Call lo II1 . uf . arid . . . nl ' brtB ba vsooc . ! id : ' ' . ' all " nn P.BV- ne ;/ I a t . .//n 32 Adams ; Baum: Adams the meetings of the summer school of agriculture back in l895>. Also some previous experience as our community correspondent for one of our Santa Cruz papers, Alfred Holman and the Rural Press ; Could you give me more details on Mr. Holman 1 s career? I didn't know too much about Mr. Holman in the * early days. He came up to our farm one weekend in the first session of the School of Economics and Husbandry. I was very much taken by his personality and he was extremely friendly toward me. Later, after- a heavy storm all over the state, he wired me up on the farm requesting that I let him know how all the fruit in our community had gone through the storm. That was a very important fruit-producing section at the time. I was very flattered by the telegram. I was about 19 years old then. We took the Rural_ Pr e s 3 , of course, and I read it very religiously because I was interested in all phases of farming, especially fruit growing. It seemed to me that it would be fine to work with Mr. Holman on the Rural Press. Mr. Holman and a Mr. A. H. Halloran had acquired the Rural Press and the Mining and Scientific Press, I think sometime in osd tire sq xt sj. : . ' : I . ' . i : 'nje .1 Is sm . it cf iL e J2. 9rf;f 'Ctnl r. ^errflo ft cf *Jt ^ee A ^ nFiflli . 1 t J5 . . 33 Adams: the early '90's. Mr. Halloran edited the Mining and Scientific Press. Baum: Was Mr. Holman connected with any other papers? Adams: At that time he wasnot. I will tell you about his other papers later. For many years he had been associated with the Portland Qregonian. edited and, I think, at least later owned by Mr. Harvey W. Scott. Mr. Scott was recognized as one of the very strong editors in this country and the Oregonian was generally looked upon as one of the strongest papers in the West, if not the strongest. Mr, Holman 's grandparents moved to the Oregon country in the 'ij-O's and '5>0's and Mr. Holman had grown up there and entered the newspaper business with Mr. Scott, first as a cub reporter and finally as managing editor. He was a very great admirer of Mr. Scott, very closely associated with him. He once described Mr. Scott as "the parent of his mind." Mr. Scott once publicly referred to Mr. Holman as "the beloved son of his professional life," That shows their very close relationship. I found these things out later, of course. I didn't know them at the time. All I knew about him was from my brief contact with him. Baum: What was his subsequent career? ibA . .1 . . SB , . } .+ ' . - .- , ' . '"* . . . ' t I . Adams: Sometime in the middle ' 90 ' s he had sold his interest in the Rural Press and returned to the Portland Oregon Ian. As I understood it at the time, he was taking charge of Mr. Scott's interest there. Perhaps Mr. Scott was traveling, as he frequently did. When Mr. Holman returned to the Oregon! an I gave up my interest in going with the Rural Press because my _ ___WM interest in the Rural Press was largely my interest in Mr. Holman. , ; 1 ' nl ,n/- ' *:h . ' . STANFORD UNIVERSITY Financing A College Education Baum: Adams: Baum: Adams: Then you decided to go t o Stanford? Yes. When I told Father I wanted to major in economics at Stanford with Dr. Ross, he asked me how I was going to sell my education. That was a good practical question. I frankly didn't know, but I thought I would find a way and I went ahead. Father, being on the Chronicle, had suggested my name as a possible correspondent for the Chronicle at Stanford. I was given the position and for four years I had that position at Stanford and w as able in that way to earn my way as I went. Did you earn your full way by that one job? I was a couple of hundred dollars in debt when I got out, which I paid with my first earnings after that* ' . . . . . . . ,3t dflri? . . - 36 Adams: I had worked one summer vacation as a canvasser for the Rural Press and for the Chronicle in Humboldt, Mendocino, and Sonoma counties. I earned enough to get started that fall. Otherwise I worked on the farm during the summers because there was plenty of work to do there. . Courses and Professors Adams: I entered Stanford in the fall of 1896, five years after the university opened. It was still a very young institution. I remember that you couldn't fail to sense the atmosphere of freedom there. A German line was often quoted, "Die Luft der Preiheit webt", "The winds of freedom roll." I remember in Dr. Jordan's talks, it was one of the things he said. Stanford in those days was substantially elective. Certain courses were required in engineering, but in other fields you merely had to satisfy your major professor that you had a well-rounded selection. I began pouring through the catalogue and picking out courses centering on economics. I took it to Dr. Ross, who was to be my major orofessor. He said, "I think you ought to have some science." I said, "I've had a little science in high school. I BbA ol ? . no . I . . . , . t . . iV.MOJ UCY sbl . I e . 88 ev ' I 37 Adams: had some physics and botany and I don't think I need that. I think I should go ahead in economics." "No," he said. "You go down and see the Zoology department and talk it over." Well, as a result I took in my freshman year a basic course in zoology. It was one of the most beneficial courses I took. I also took a course in physics with Professor Rogers, one In algebra with Dr. R. L. Green, a year of entomology with Dr. Vernon L. Kellogg, and courses in botany with Professors William R. Dudley and Douglas H. Campbell. They tied in with agriculture and with the things I had become interested in while on the farm. Dr. Ross also wanted me to take some foreign languages, so over the period of my work there I got in both German and French. The first year of German was very hard for me because, owing to the interruptions in my earlier schooling, I had forgotten what I had learned about grammar. My instructor was Miss Margaret Wickham. I took other courses In German. In fact, I took a course from each of the other members of the German faculty including Dr. Goebel, Dr. Griffin, Dr. Rendtorff and Mr. Schmidt. The courses covered German literature, both prose and poetry, and scientific German. These ' . . t , . I .... t t . . XJn i . . . . ' , . I *aw . ee t l . . 38 Adams: courses were very enjoyable. I also took a course in French with Professor Prlen. Of course, being a major in economics and sociology I took many courses in that field, in fact, more than were required. My recollection is that the head of the department when I started was Dr. Amos G. Warner, a very well-known man in the field of charities. He was not well and died shortly after I went there and Dr. Ross became head of the department. Dr. Ross was a great teacher and undoubtedly the, or one of the, outstanding men in sociology at that time. He was a stimulating lecturer and a great favorite of his students. His presentations were always thorough and if controversial questions came up he was always free from bias, although whenever right and wrong was at issue, he was always sure to be on the side of what he thought right. An example was his attitude during the 1896 political campaign on the money question. He espoused the Free Silver cause, because he believed the demonetization of silver had worked a great injustice. That was not a popular side to take on the Stanford campus at that time, but that made no difference to Dr. Ross. It was *'' . . .ion ,tfo.e3 . . . . *>i . .US JB . . . 18 :* t .*.' t . Dr. Edward A. Ross 39 Adams: typical of his independence of thought. I took a number of courses from Dr. Ross and at least one course from each of the other members of the economics and sociology Departments. One of these was Professor Harry H. P o wers, a brilliant lecturer. He left some time in ray second year and was succeeded by Dr. Prank A. Fetter, a wonderful teacher and man who later became head of economics at Princeton. Dr. E. Dana Durand came while I was there. He WPS subsequently in a responsible position with the United States Industrial Commission, and also director of the United States Census in 1910. Dr. Morton A. Aldrich came while I w as there. He subsequently was dean of the School of Business at Tulane University. Lincoln Hutchinson was an instructor, and there was Mrs, Mary Roberts Smith, wife of the head of the department of mechanical engineering. Later, as Mrs. Dane Coolidge, she was professor of economics or sociology, or both, in Mills College. She and Professor Smith were divorced and she had married Dane Coolidge, who was a student in the college while I w as there, much younger than she was. Finally, there was Dr. Burt Estes Howard, a very brilliant man who had made a great reputation as a speaker on social problems and as a minister. . . ; OS . . . . . . . . . . " t ... - . boiii / I ^lin'w 9; t : ; /q IJB!' Adams: He was there during my last year in college. I took other courses outside of economics and sociology aside from those previously mentioned. One was in psychology with Dr. Prank Angell. There were two courses in English compostion with Professor H. 3. Lathrop; a course in English literature with Dr. A. G. Newcomer and finally a general introductory course In law given jointly by the head of the department Dr. Nathan Abbott, and the remaining members of his faculty, Professor Hall, Professor Clark B. .Ihittier, Professor Lewers, and Professor Jackson Reynolds. I took a course in American history that was taught by George Elliott Howard, who was looked on by Dr. Jordan as one of the g reat teachers of the country. Dr. Howard left in about my third year and his course was completed by Dr. Clyde A. Duniwauy, who subsequently became president of several western universities. I finished Stanford with the Class of 1901, having been out one-half year on the Cache Creek investigations which will be mentioned later. Baum: Did you take any engineering courses? Adams: No. There were many v ery able and distinguished men at Stanford. They were especially outstanding . . .1 - - . . . t . ' , . . . . -.svnl . . Adams Baum: Adams : Baum: Adams : Baum: because the university was young and was charting a new course in education out here. Dr. Jordan had a wide acquaintance with educators in the East. He selected the faculty very largely from Cornell and middle western institutions. They s tood out as very distinguished men, very impressive to the young student. I could go on for a long time talking about those professors. I knew them to speak to, all of them. I got to know some of them quite well. Was this in part because of your contact through the newspaper? Partly, yes. Very largely. I found it desirable to know people, both faculty and students. Were faculty salaries particularly high that they could attract such fine scholars? No salaries were particularly high in those days, compared with salaries today. Dr. Jordan stated in his little book, Days of a Man, that the early s alaries were from $2,000 to $3,600, but for a few of the higher places as much as sp?000. Student Life When you were in college, how many of the freshmen had already chosen their life careers? n fl eblw B H onB i . ' < . ~>ti3 . . ' . 'lO ( : < 6A 'foci e Adams : Baum: Adams Many of the students at Stanford when I w as there were more mature than students now. Were they older? I was twenty-one. That was not any older than lots of others. There were others older than I. We had some just out of high school, of course, but you remember that the '90's were a period of depression. They hadn't recovered from the extreme panic of '93 A larger proportion than normal, I think, earned their living while they were in college. I remember making that the subject of one of my newspaper stories. It was a noticeable feature of the life there. They waited on table, some were agents for the laundries, there were some who did personal service here and there, several of us earned our living on newsnapers. One student had a shoe repair shop; another a bicycle shop in a little annex to the Men's Gymnasium. Ernest Wilson opened a candy store in one of the buildings back of the main quadrangle and from that went on to establish a candy manufacturing business which opened s tores in several cities and still manufactures the "candy with a college education." It was evident that a large number were making their own way. . . , . : ' < . rr- . . - . . . . '. nn . . : Adams: There was very close association between the faculty and the students. Dr. Jordan always addressed the freshman class. I remember one of the things he used to say was, "You will have made a mistake if, when you leave here, you don't know many members of the faculty well and your major professors intimately." There were the faculty at-homes. The Daily Palo Alto , the college paper, carried a column of these at-homes. Any student was welcome. I think students would go more to the homes of their major professors than to others, but I remember going t o at-homes of a number with whom I had no other contact. I remember especially Dr. Melville Best Anderson's home at Menlo Park. He was the head of English, a great Shakespearean scholar. The Anderson at-homes were always in the afternoon on Sunday. Dr. Jordan had at-homes frequently. He would sit in a big chair and the students would gather around him and he would tell stories of his experiences. I frequently went there. Baum: Did many of the students take advantage of these at- homes? Adams: Many did. There was always a nice group present. I went most frequently, of course, to Dr. Ross's home. Faculty wives entered into those at-homes .8 ' er oct b . - . . }& - . . . -- . . i ie . . _ esw ! . ; Adams: very heartily. At Dr. Ross's he would talk to us or some of the students would be good storytellers. Dr. Ross was a good storyteller. I remember one of the Stanford women who frequently entertained us , an economics major, her name was Agnes Morley. She had grown up on a cattle ranch in New Mexico and had remarkable experiences as a young girl. A few years ago she wrote a book, which became a best seller, on her early life there, No Life for a_ Lady. She was then Mrs. Newton Cleaveland. Newton Cleaveland was a close friend of mine in college. Mrs. Cleaveland died only recently. Dr. Ross used to be a great storyteller in his classes. He had this theory, that there always was a certain number who were inclined to go to sleep. When the rest of the class would laugh heartily, the sleepers would wake up and wish they had listened more carefully. The student body was not large then, probably 1,000 or 1,200. I remember it reached 1,^00 while I was there. The university opened in '91 with something between ij.00 and 00, which was a great surprise to Dr. Jordan. He had not expected so many. The University of California, believe it or not, . ctA . . . . . . ,19 1 . . . - ' . I . . ; ! . .ftr> . Adams: then had a student body of only about ijOO. In his Days of a. Man Dr. Jordan spoke of a reception given for the Stanford faculty by the University of California facult.y just after the opening of Stanford. A speaker from the University of California deplored the opening of Stanford. He felt that the University of California had only about l|00 students and that Stanford was going to divide the available students between the two universities. That was Dr. Bernard Moses, a very noted member of the faculty at the University of California. There was a good deal of activity among the students in organizations. Being a small institution, the students became more easily acquainted than in a larger institution. There were a great many student organizations for a university less than ten years old. These covered almost every phase of university activity literary, athletic, music, as well as various departments such as zoology, botany, economics and engineering. Of course, there were the usual parties among the students. I lived in Encina Hall a couple of years, the only dormitory for men. The women's dormitory was Roble Hall. Other students lived in Palo Alto, Mayfield, Menlo. Some commuted from San Jose or up the Peninsula toward San Mateo. . . ' . . . I . . . . Rf . . . . I .flfl " . . Adams: One thing about the student body, they came from a wide area. Some from many different countries. That was really an unusual feature at that time. The university started in that way because many students followed their professors from eastern colleges to Stanford. The beginning of a new university out in the west was something that attracted the entire country. With an endowment of $20,000,000, it was then the richest university in this country. I remember students from the Middle West, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colorado. So it was a cross section of a wide part of the country rather than mainly students that w ere attracted to the state University of California. I was looking through one of my old Stanford picture albums and it brought to mind our life in Encina Hall. We paid only $5 a month for our rooms. I suppose blankets were supplied to us and we had a table and a couple of chairs and two iron beds and mattresses. Everything else we supnlied ourselves, our table covers, our bookcases, any extra equipment we wanted. (Look at pictures in album). Here is a picture of my room in Encina Hall, and Herman Grunsky, brother of C. E. G-runsky. He was then myroorrmate. Uriels' " . ' "ol .fa<- . . , . B . ' . I ^ 100 . . ( t LlB- 4 . -" Adams: Here are some of my classmates. We always wore white shirts with the high stiff collars, ray Father used t o call them "dude collars". There were some less conventional attires but ordinarily we dressed this way. e had class hats. A junior hat was a gray plug. Senior hats were stetsons. Here's ray old junior plug still have it after fifty-odd years. All battered up. I spoke of the atmosphere of freedom down there. No rules and regulations regarding students whatever. No prohibitions. The University was interested only in good work and good order. If from time to time someone overstepped the bounds, why, he went away. The saying in those days was that he was taken to the edge of the campus and dropped off. I remember one notable instance of that. One of the most popular students in the University, who was a leader in all the deviltry and escapades, finally was dismissed. Word got around that he was to leave on the train. I went down there to cover the story. I think 90$ of the student body was there. On my way back to the campus on my bicycle I fell in with Dr. Jordan. He was also on his big, high bicycle. Most of the faculty in those days had bicycles to get around on. Dr. Jordan said to me he felt very, very . . ' . . . . . . . . . , . . ( . . . BBW 6 . t .flf ' tJB Adams: sorry they had to dismiss Will Irwin. He was a very able and very fine man, but they just couldn't stand him any more. Too much deviltry. Later that man was forgiven, he came back and got his degree. He became a very distinguished man in journalism and was one of the very best of war correspondents during World War I. That was Will Irwin. Will began his journalism in San Francisco, then went to New York. His brother, Wallace Irwin, became very well-known as a writer, primarily as a satirist. He wrote poetry mainly at Stanford. I feel sure Will Irwin and Chris Bradley and Billy Erb were largely responsible for first bringing out the old Stanford Axe originating the "Give them the Axe" yell. The axe was brought out first at a rally the evening preceding one of the games in San Francisco with California. I was there. It was at that game that it was stolen. After that, and in this I'm sure Will Irwin had a part, as a matter of reprisal, a group sneaked up to the Berkeley campus at night and stole the Senior Fence and put it on their wagon and started home. Early in the morning of the following day word came around that they were being pursued by a f^roup of Berkeley students and wanted help. So we got together, oh, perhaps forty . .6 . ' - . . - . . I ' . .llBT . . , ' ; fa . ' . > ^w Adams: or fifty of us, got In buses and went down through Mayfield and finally met them near Mountain View. We accompanied them triumphantly back to the campus and went on to the Inner Quad and everybody turned out. Instead of this being a reprisal, it was really a dud because the California students said they didn't care anything about the Senior Pence and they got away with that. Participation in Student Activities Baum: Did you take part in student activities? Adams: Being interested in newspaper work I naturally worked on the college daily, the Daily Palo Alto , first as assistant editor and finally for a short period during my fourth year as managing editor. I resigned the managing editorship to give more time to my other work. I was on the board of editors of the 1901 Stanford Quad. About 1900 the first Stanford alumni magazine, the Stanford Alumnus , was started, I think entirely as a private venture, by Charles E. Schwartz and Helen Swett, both of whom had graduated. I think they published it for three or four years and it was then taken over by the alumni association and has gone through several names. It is now the Stanford Review. . . - . - . . . :f>1 . . . . . . 50 Adams: Debating was an important student activity. There were three or four student debating societies. I belonged to one of them, Euphornia. I was never a good debater but for some reason I was made chairman of the intercollegiate debating committee. This was the committee that arranged the intercollegiate debates in conference with a similar committee from California. The principal job of this committee was to select the judges for the intercollegiate debates, working with Joe O'Connor, who represented California. We took the matter of selecting of judges very s eriously, and I had to inquire into the backgrounds and general aptitudes of those proposed by Joe O'Connor or whom I myself suggested. I did this work for about two years. Another job I had while I was chairman was to help work out an agreement with the California committee as to rules governing the judging. In alternate years a member of the Stanford and a member of the California faculty presided at the intercollegiate debates. Our debaters were not satisfied with the instructions given to the judges by the facutly member from California when he presided. So we negotiated an agreement that the presiding officer should give no instructions whatever t o the judges. There were numerous other minor activities in which . . . . . . . . ' . ' . I ' . . Adams: I took part. I remember one that seemed to me to be Important at the time. It was a bit of proselyting among the high schools of the state. The president of the associated students appointed me chairman of the publication ciommittee, and we arranged to have the college daily, The. Daily Palo Alto, sent to high schools in the state. I presume this activity didn't last very long. Tax Exemption on University Property Adams: I'd like to go into another historical matter. Stanford was paying taxes on all its property. A movement was started to have the university exempted from taxes on all property involved in the educational work. Largely through the activity of George E. Crothers, who was a '95 graduate and who was then practicing law with his brother, Thomas G. Crothers, what was called an Anti-Tax Committee was a ppointed. That was soon chanp-ed to Tax Exemption Committee. An executive committee was named to direct the campaign. George Crothers was chairman. He asked the three correspondents of the San Francisco papers to be on that committee and I was one of them. I left in 1900 I was out the fall term of .0 I , . . . . . . . . ' . . . . . . r nl tl Adams: 1900--before the work was completed, so I resigned from the committee. Vie had undertaken to raise money to pay the costs of the campaign. When I resigned I felt obligated to send in a small contribution, which to me in those days was quite a contribution. I think it amounted to $5. I sent that to George Grothers. Many years afterwards I was riding with George between Baltimore and Harrisburg on the Pennsylvania Railroad and he told me that I was the only one who put in a nickel on that campaign except his brother and himself. They paid the entire cost of it. George drafted the constitutional amendment and it was subsequently adopted. Fortunately, George and Thomas Crothers were able to carry the financial load which must have been substantial. George was attorney for Mrs. Stanford and very close to her and her affairs throughout the remainder of her life. Senator Stanford had, of course, died by then and she was the sole trustee under the original grant. The board of trustees had been named, but, I believe, they didn't begin to function until after her death. Dismissal of Dr. Ross Adams: An unfortunate occurrence took place during my period there, what was known as the "Ross affair." . oil . . . . . . . . '18 . . . , . t rid . . 53 Adams: Dr. Ross was dismissed, reportedly at the insistence of Mrs. Stanford, for what she considered unwarranted attacks on the early railroad activities to which Leland Stanford was a party. There were, or course, in those early days great manipulations. Mrs. Stanford took offense. I won't go into the details of that.. I cannot be sure of the facts after so many years. Dr. Ross's dismissal was looked into exhaustively by, I think, the American Economics Association, and the university was very severely condemned for what was considered a breach of academic freedom. Baum: Because Dr. Jordan permitted Dr. Ross to be dismissed? Adams: Yes. That was my understanding. Another unfortunate aftermath was that through indignation at Dr. Ross's dismissal, Dr. George Elliott Howard, the great history teacher, spoke out bitterly against the dismissal and was also dismissed. That created further furor in educational circles. Prior to events leading up the dismissal of Dr. Ross and Dr. Howard, Stanford had planned to create a historical research center to be housed in the old Hopkins home on California Street, the site of the present Mark Hopkins Hotel. Dr. Howard was to be head of this institute. Plans were rather elaborate. I remember this because I covered the plan for a , . . . . - V . : . . . . . . . , , ' . . . I I 51* Adams: newspaper story. Whether It was due to Dr. Howard leaving I don't know, but the project was never carried out. Baum: Did you come into contact with Dr. Jordan while you were at Stanford? Adams: I had daily contact with Dr. Jordan's office as correspondent for the Chronicle. His office was always open to the boys who were doing the newspaper work. He was very cordial, generous, frankly told us about things not yet ready to be announced, knowing that we wouldn't abuse his confidence. So I knew him very well. It was a great burden for me, having such an affection for Dr. Ross and Dr. Howard, to reconcile Dr. Jordan's taking the part he did in the dismissal of Dr. Ross and Dr. Howard. Time healed my feeling somewhat and I saw Dr, Jordan throughout most of the rest of his life. Dr. Jordan once told me he wanted me to raise a million dollars for Stanford to go into work in agriculture, which previously had been planned but discontinued because of lack of funds. He said, "When you get that money I want you to come here and help us spend it. " Baum: Did you raise that money for Stanford? Adams: No. I was puzzled. I was then in the College of . ' . . . . . < . , . . . . . ' . ,6 . . 55 Adams: Agriculture. I went to Dean Hunt and told him of Dr. Jordan's idea. Dean Hunt had no objections to my considering the matter at all. I wrote Dr. Jordan outlining what I a ssumed he had in mind for Stanford to do in agriculture, which was not to go into agriculture in all its branches as the University of California College of Agriculture, but to specialize in certain fields like entomology, plant physiology, soil chemistry, w ith a view to training teachers in the field. He wrote back t hat that was exactly what he had in mind. But I w as not in a position to raise the money and never did. It did not seem to me proper that I should undertake this project for Stanford while on the faculty of the University of California. It was just an incident in my e^p erience. Baum: When was that? Adams: Oh, I suppose about 1915 or 1916. Perhaps earlier. Master's Degree at the University of Nebraska Baum: When did you finish your M. A. thesis? Adams: Dr. Ross had gone to the University of Nebraska. I was working out of Cheyenne, Wyoming at the time. It was possible in those days to register and study in absentia for a master's degree. So I arranged that with Dr. Ross. In 1906 I finished my thesis, which . ' . . I " . , . . . . . . . . . . . Adams: was my work in Utah on the Virgin and Sevier Rivers, supplemented by some discussion I gave on the economics of irrigation. I don't have a copy of my thesis. I had it bound up and sent to Nebraska and it was accepted. In the spring of 1906 I went to the University of Nebraska and spent six weeks there. They wanted me to get acquainted with their economics faculty and they with me. I did my principal work there in economic history with Mrs. Langworthy Taylor, wife of the head of the economics department. Then I went before the entire staff for a two-hour oral examination. < . . . . . . . 57 EARLY WORK WITH DR. ELWOOD MEAD First Meeting with Dr. Mead Adams: Having given up my ideas of working for the Rural Press when I was still in college, I had definitely made up my mind I wanted to work in one of the agricultural colleges. So when in 1899 the American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations met in San Francisco, I attended and went to all the sessions and met quite a lot of the people. I was at that time correspondent at Stanford for the Chronicle and I got them to send me on a week's excursion, which was arranged for the delegates of this convention, over the central and northern portions of the state. A committee composed of Professor Jaffa of the University of California College of Agriculture, Professor Emery Smith, then assistant professor of horticulture at Stanford, and ray father raised something over $3000 to pay the expenses of t his excursion. Mr. James Horsburgh, general passenger agent. of the Southern Pacific Railroad, furnished the Pullman train with a diner at a nominal charge and an entire week was spent on this excursion. About 125 of the delegates to the convention went on the trip. . . , . . . . . . . . . '* . . . Adams: We went first up Russian River Valley as far as Ukiah to show them the northern coastal areas. We returned to San Rafael for a banquet that night at the Hotel Rafael, then a big hotel. Next day was a river steamer trip over the Delta, visiting a number of the large farms there. During the night we were carried down to Fresno and spent the next day going over the vineyards and out to the Kearney farm. Then we returned to San Francisco, The following day we went down to Stanford, then to the Santa Clara Valley where we had lunch at one of the large olive farms. We went on to the Hotel Del Monte for the night, where they had their final banquet. The next day the delegates took the 17-Mile-Drive. Leaving Monterey, we stopped at Salinas where the Spreckles sugar plant had just been opened. It was the largest beet sugar factory in the country. Then we stopped near Morgan Hill at the Morse Seed gardens. We were entertained there by the Chinese help at the seed gardens, who put on a marvelous display. Then we returned to San Francisco. That was the end of the excursion. As correspondent for the Chronicle I had to file a story every night so I circulated very freely among the delegates. I talked with all of them, briefly aW -: a - ; B ^W . rub . - . - y . . . . .cfnJ Y-f' IJBe rf^ bns t miB r t Brict rlcMw rfouo* n^jBup eri I I'ttid'I' oJtigB 1c 1 ba^oBic 1 OHB oO si 3d? Diige bne :ooe ,bniw nl ' bfirf Bi Jt/c ,mic' c jnl oO cxf -r 9f( J pnA lpH bs'i'tlA riJ 1 w >{noV r rtBfr . . -fog e '-(* I ff rf mo'i 1 . :W o^ r _ r t f t-T bA 8/T-BbA 62 Adams: quandary, should I go with Mr. Holman or should I continue ray plans v:ith Dr. Mead? Baum: What did Mr. Holman have to offer? Adams: He then owned a controlling interest and was editor of the San Jose Mercury. He offered tot ake me on immediately, even before I was finished with college, at $100 a month. I had gone down to see him because he had asked my father to suggest that I go down to see him. This was along in November of 1399, in my fourth year in college. So the remainder of that year I had these things in mind: should I look toward journalism with Mr* Holman or go with Dr. Mead? I might say here that this was not my last opportunity to go with Mr. Holman. After I had decided to go with Dr. Mead and been in the work for a year or two I met Mr. Holman on the train going from San Francisco to Sacramento. He had disposed of his interest in The San Jose Mercury and acquired an interest in and was editing the Sacramento Union. He invited me to s top off and spend the day with him in Sacramento which I did. I met and visited with his two editorial writers- Franklin Hichborn and Wells Drury. Franklin Hichborn of course became very prominent in the Progressive movement that culminated in the Hiram Johnson administra tion. Wells Drury gave California two very fine . . . ' . ' . . . . . ' . . . ' . ' ' . - ' ! . 63 Adams: citizens and conservationists in Aubrey Drury and Newton B. Drury, the former as secretary of the Save the Railroads League, and the latter currently director of the State Park Service in California after having served for a period as director of the National Park Service. When late in the evening I left to resume my return to Cheyenne Mr. Holman said to me, "Whenever you bring your grip and say you're ready to go to work with me I still have a place for you." Of course, I was then established in the irrigation work with Dr. Mead and had no thought of changing at that time. Subsequently, Mr. Holman became editor of the Argonaut , and so far as I know his last newspaper activity was as editor for a brief period of the Oakland Tribune. It is ray recollection that on the death of a member of the family that controlled the Tribune Mr. Holman thought he could obtain a controlling interest in it and edited it for oerhaps only a few months when Joseph P.. Knoviland got control. My timing may be in error. It may be that he was editor of the Argonaut after his brief time with the Tribune. ' . . ' . . : . . . . . ' . . . . ' . Cache Creek Investigation Adams: As previously explained I entered Stanford In '96, but with partial standing. I was to make up entrance deficiencies by examination and by taking extra units of college work. On account of this and my newspaper work, I couldn't take a full college load, so at the .j end of my fourth year in June, 1900,1 still had a semester to go; however, the irrigations investigation in California was about to begin. I reported to Dr. Mead as ready for duty, because I had definitely decided to go with him rather than into newspaper work with Mr. Holman. Dr. Mead had concluded that I would first work as an assistant to Mr. J. M. Wilson in the study of irrigation on Cache Creek up near Woodland. He thought it desirable that I should have some field experience because I knew nothing of irrigat on. I had seen my first irrigation on the excursion with the agricultural college people in the summer of '99. Mr. Wilson had not yet arrived for the work on Cache Creek so Dr. Mead directed me to report to the California Water and Forest Association in San Francisco. That had been organized a year or two previously and had raised money to help finance the investigation under Dr. Mead. . . ' . . . . . . . . . . xa .iM . . . . Baum: This was a private organization? Adams: Yes. They raised a fairly large sum, perhaps $20,000 or $30,000, by private subscription and arranged with the Office of Experiment Stations of the Department of Agriculture and the Geological Survey and the Division of Forestry of the Department of Agriculture to undertake a study of water and forest matters in California. Baum: Who were members of this association? Adams: The president was Mr. William Thomas, who was a very prominent lawyer in San Francisco. I don't recall all the members, but they were such men as Fred W. Dohrmann, Arthur H. Briggs, who was important in State Board of Agriculture work, and T. Gary Friedlander who was secretary of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, I believe, and very much interested in forestry. Trying to find something to do pending beginning the work on Cache Creek about the first of July, I called on Mr. William Thomas, president of that association. He suggested that while I was waiting I look into the irrigation districts situation, seeing that organization of irrigation districts had been nearly a complete failure in California under the old Wright Act. He said that Judge James A. McG-uire , former congressman from California, had . ( ' . - . . , . ni t . I , . "aw i eef . 66 Adams: reorganized Turlock Irrigation District and put it on its feet, also that the Modesto Irrigation District was about ready to go ahead again. He thought it would be a fine thing to look into the history of the whole irrigation district movement. That's where I got my first interest in irrigation districts. This idea interested me very much, so I began assembling information about the old districts, first reading the Wright Act of '8?. There was no complete list of the old districts available, so I addressed a letter to each county clerk in the state requesting information as to the names of districts organized in his county. At odd times during the summer I continued assembling information by mail and at the end of the summer had made a fair start. However, Mr. Wilson arrived about July 1 and most of my time thereafter was devoted to work with him. I spent the entire summer with Mr, Wilson on Cache Creek. There had been a great deal of litigation over water rights involving Cache Creek and Clear Lake, out of which Cache Creek flows. Our job was to look into the history of that litigation there and how the doctrine of appropriation had worked on Cache Creek, how the conflicts came about, what the water supply was there, what the irrigation practice was a . . ' , . . . . . . ' . , t s I . . 67 Adams: complete description of the irrigation situation on Cache Greek. At the end of the season the engineers who had participated in the investigation over the state were brought together in a conference at the University of California campus with President Wheeler as host. Dr. Mead had brought the two universities into the investigation. The investigation on San Joaquin River was made by Professor Frank Soule, head of civil Engineering at the University of California. The investigation on Salinas River was made by Professor Charles D. Marx, head of civil engineering at Stanford. He also brought into the investigation Mr. C. E. G-runsky, who had been associated in the earlier work of the state engineer, William Ham Hall, and who was then city engineer of San Francisco. Mr. Marsden Manson, who made the investigation on the Yuba River, was another engineer who had been largely identified with irrigation in California. For the study of storage and irrigation on the San Jacinto River and Sweetwater River Mr. James D. Schuyler was in charge. He was a very well-known engineer and highly thought of, and he was recognized as an authority on storage o Mr. E. M. Boggs wrote the report on the Los Angeles River The investigation o n the Susan . \ ' 9t9W . . . . T . . ' . . ' ' ' ' . . . . . 68 Adams: River in Honey Lake Valley was made by Mr. William E. Smythe. I can best describe him as a publicist. He was quite a writer, an enthusiast in reclamation matters, not an engineer. I think that he had some early association with efforts to reclaim Honey Lake Valley. Mr. Wilson acted as an engineer-consultant for Mr. Smythe on the Susan River to keep him straight in that field. At the end of that conference the engineers drew up a statement of principles of legislation which they considered were needed in California to straighten out the water right situation. I attended that and listened in on it. President Wheeler showed great interest in the investigations and in what was proposed in the way of legislation. At the end of the conference he invited Dr. Mead to come to California and organize a department of irrigation at the University. Dr. Mead did not desire to give up his position as expert in charge of Irrigation Investigations in the Depart ment of Agriculture, but he consented to organize the department and to give about a six-week course of lectures each year, as well as to assign one of his assistants to act in his absence to give regular instructions in irrigation and to take charge of J Y eflt . a. . ' ~y . i e qi< . . . e . . . e sM _ . - . 69 Adams : Baum: Adams irrigation investigations in California in cooperation with the University. That arrangement was carried out and Dr. Mead gave his first course in the spring of 1901. On the completion of the work on Cache Creek, I accompanied Mr. Wilson first to Reno and then to Cheyenne to assist in preparing a report. I returned to Stanford in January of 1901, I was therefore in my last semester at Stanford when Dr. Mead gave his first course of lectures at the University of California, Dr. Mead had been out of college work for a good many years. He felt a little nervous about the University contacts and he thought I could help him in his work. He asked me if I wouldn't come down. I obtained a leave of absence of six weeks and worked with Dr. Mead in getting material together for his lectures. This made it tough for me to finish my work at Stan ford, but I made it and got through in June, 1901. It was a fine experience. Dr. Mead's lectures, with some revision, were published about the following year as his little book on irrigation institutions. Can you remember your early impressions of Dr. Mead? I was very strongly attached to him. My relationships with him were very intimate. During those six weeks of the lectures we had rooms at Professor Soul&'s -11 . . . . - . . . . . . . . om i : . .rlw . . v I tw 70 Adams; home on Hillegass Avenue and I was with Dr. Mead constantly during the days and evenings on the work. Baum: What did he look like in his younger days? Adams: He had a rather youthful appearance. He was in his early forties. Work in the Washington Office of the Office of Experiment Stations. 1901-1902 Adams: On completing my work at Stanford I reported to Dr. Mead. He directed me to proceed to Cheyenne, which was the field headquarters. I got there, not knowing what he was going to have me do. Within a few days after arrival, word came that he had been in a streetcar accident in Washington and his right arm had been amputated. That, of course, was a great shock to us there in Cheyenne. About a week later a wire came from Dr. True, director of the Office of Experiment Stations within which the irrigation work was conducted, directing me to proceed to Washington to be with Dr. Mead. Dr. Mead had recently established the main headquarters of the Irrigation Investigations in Washington. I went there and was with him every day in the hospital while he was there and accompanied him to Atlantic City where I was with him while he recuperated. . . .> bnje SY -;b ^ItfruBctenoo I I erf bib tf< terl^Bi a t>i . irfiol ^1 -.Janji .l^flJS Jnemlisc x 1 '. rloiflv; t : . ?sM .8 acJ-iatJpbBaii .o "'IB . . Oil acts . n ' s- . liil o ens^'r. . d >>u bn :ixi9w I i d alJriw iBctiqeorf fw Y^ r;JA 71 Adams: I remained in Washington until February of 1902. My work was principally editorial. Various reports would come in from the irrigation men in the field, and I did editorial work on these reports and some of the final work on the report of the California inves tigations which was about to be published as Bulletin Number 100, Office of Experiment Stations, Department of Agriculture. Dr. Mead had me prepare a rather extensive review of this report which was transmitted to the Chronicle^ and published under my by-line. The purpose, of course, was to publicize this report in California, especially the recommendations regarding water rights legislation. The other reports on which I worked which I candef initely r ecall were a report on irrigation in Wisconsin by Professor P. H. King of the University of Wisconsin, and one on the irrigation of rice down in the southern states by Prank Bond. Of course I became very intimately associated with the others in the Office of Experiment Stations. The Office of Experiment Stations was set up to deal with the experiment stations and agricultural colleges in connection with their use of federal funds under the Hatch and Morrill acts and subsequent acts. . - - I . ' t . . . . . ' fid-', ."Iw nl stfoe II 72 Adams: It made annual inspections of their work and use of federal money. I was in a large room in which five or six, in fact, practically all the other members of the Office of Experiment Stations were working. There were Dr. E. V. Wilco^ Walter H. Evans, John I. Schulte, G. B. Smith (son of the director of the Michigan College of Agriculture, whom I'd met on that early excursion), Dr. C. P. Langworthy, D. J. Qf>sby and D. W. May (I think I have all of these initials correct.) Being right there in the same room with them every day I got to know them very well. That's where I met my wife, although we weren't married until five years later. She was a secretary, did my work. After I left Washington, she worked directly with Dr. Mead. Years later, when I became connected withthe College of Agriculture, several of these men came out on the annual inspection of the experiment station so I had a chance to renew the old association. They were long-lasting friendships I made there in that old office. The experience, of course, was a very valuable one to a young man just starting out. ' Washington, D. _C. Baum: What was Washington like when you were there? ' . . . . ' . . . . I. r ' . t . . . . ' ' - . ' iv < ''{asW r 73 Adams: It was, of course, very interesting* Arriving there during mid-summer during an unusually hot spell, the city seemed a sleepy place to me. The population, as I recall it, wa* only about 150,000 although it has become way over a million now. It was not uncommon to see shacks scattered among the residences even in some of the better areas. The central shopping area was confined largely to P and G Streets aid Pennsylvania Avenue from about 12th Street to the Treasury Building on 15th Street. The only new and modern government building was the Congressional Library. This was considered a marvel, and it really was. Most everyone you met seemed to be "in office," meaning working in a> me way for the government. I guess that expression is still common there. It was not long after I arrived that the tempo of the city was quickened by Theodore Roosevelt becoming President. I was in Washington when McKinley was assassinated and Roosevelt took over. His vibrant personality seemed to permeate the city, especially, of course, the political life. I lived in a boarding house on 15th Street Just across the street from tiie little Swedenborgian church which Roosevelt attended. He always walked up from the White House trailed by cv / inA ^gnictee 1 viev ,ee , ,Ioqa ctori ,noi . 'i eoslq 4>0orf3lB 000^061 Quod's Tjlrro BBW ^t OHJJ cton BBW ctT .won noJtJIIiax B 'x; . acf neve e&on^ -us >e r sria eee oct ' 3^1q^. . sen* oe nl f> IB ed'eei.jS >HB *5 o^ ~%L egie [ b^ailnco sew i-eis ed^ o* 4 cioi' sinsvl^nnel frns wen. .^esi .;. no ..uS ^"Bfi^i' 1 J 1 sew ^nlMt^cf o ai)tar . :eia'U BftW t "olllo rii" ecf ocf ;; ^am uo^ eno^'iave ieoM I . ,p w em OB ni , -.terf^ 3 si no; ^riJ eeejjs I :e31fl sciol ton BBW ctl ^. ; ;" Jbenf "> ettt to eew I . ieeiSt Jleveeoofl I b9^nieB a^^Eraeq o* hemese ^i I .altl laoWlioq edrf 8ix/oo lo BEOIOB *ewt *' -^ no oei .ftc vJtnw rioi0rf flei; a fieliBi^ eei/oli V ad^ moil qw foe^Lew e^ewX* eH Adams: several of his sons and his younger daughter. They seemed to have difficulty in keeping up with him. Another event that stirred the city in that summer was the court martial to determine whether Admiral Samson or Commodore Schley was entitled to credit for destroying the Spanish fleet which had been bottled up in the harbor of Santiago, Cuba during the Spanish American War, I spent an afternoon listening to the proceedings which were presided over by Admiral Dewey. I sat near enough to Admiral Dewey and the other men to get a clear impression of each of them. Admiral Dewey seemed to me to stand out head and shoulders above the others. With the coming of fall, and especially with the opening of Congress early in December the social life of the city took on new emphasis. Of course I had no personal contact with this, but could not help but be aware of it. I did have opportunity to attend two of the President's receptions in the White House, where I had the privilege of shaking hands with him. Washington was then a great theater city, and it was not uncommon for plays to come down from New York for their premiere in Washington. It was fascinating to watch the celebrities, especially those of the diplomatic corps, as they arrived or .i > legatio^ a-*** &IB eflce eld Ic l*tevea ,-iw qu : rrrf nl ^.fuc.mib evBxi oS fcenese *srfcf nJ ^ito erltf bet c (Jt;t8 isrfJ inave terftferfw enlxcterfab cct lBj.(ti r\ ^ _^ i"> oeaiBS Tiw *t : ' ori* ' -icfaeb TO! BC f, . qu beltfrfod n< ,i.e' -^A risir. bebJtaeiq s - * gn.lnecfelJ teen tfB I .^weG IfiilirbA Y d '*evo nem n : bns TjeweC . >.rfct 10 ri' ,rfe bnB bBerl cfuo i ' J1W r Y-^i ; -:ancO 1( >qo 5 fif .BlBBriqne wr* ^lo ari^ ^o ^ud ,eJi - on : ^^Jtni:*--' -varf bib I .^1 lo eaawfl ed *0d ;t nl BHC' s'ltnebleei 1 ! ertt lo ot bne^d 1 * ; lo ej\ellviiq exii bad I ctsriw .eft/oH e*i ^eeiict ^Beig R ne ' ;rf ef " f! n;- nouanc' '^aw ^1 .'J^lo asW nl eielaietq ileri^ tol 7(10* we? JeJeo erl* rio^Bw r - >w *I TO b^-'ttlB VAri^ 8fl .EOT' "i*> ft rf* ' ! Adams Baum: Adams departed in their beautiful horse-drawn carriages. However, what was really most striking in Washington during that fall and winter was the dynamic personality of President Theodore Roosevelt, One thing that surprised me was the absence of news from California and other western areas in the Washington city newspapers. I had to subscribe to the San Francisco Chronicle In order to keep posted on what was going on in California, Lobbying Duties While in Washington did you have to do any lobbying in support of your appropriation? The only lobbying I did in Washington was very brief. In those days some of those associated with the movement for the Reclamation Act were opposed to Dr. Mead's ideas on federal reclamation and were constantly trying to cut off Dr. Mead's appropriations in the Department of Agriculture, so Dr. Mead had to be on the constant look out to keep his fences built in Congress. The appropriation for our work when I was In Washington was, I think, only about f 50,000, but that was a great deal of money in those days. The House almost always cut that down to a very small figure. Dr. Mead had to call on Senator .triso nwjetJb-eeiori lullcftfjaed fieri* ni bd^teqefo 3bA IriesW nl snWliia cteom \ oH rr^b eritf eew istfnlw bna Ilfl'i .tflevseoofl e^ em bseiiqius cfr .. SBQ1B ii18^88V' 1: : rjB JSiaiOllIsO fllCll ' , -ceq^qewea y- ! nl ej- c. s^S d; \ f ->X bib n iW nl e ' '.JB8 'ro rfioqqy ?. nl 7 EBW no. I sdT eYb eaorf^ nl od be ; , ; aaiBloo .tnsmevoaj larrsbel ftc ' b^eM .*jC '- .tQ Ho ^uo r. -" .ia oe - ' ai eeonel ^>f ctf ^wo iooj tfnjs^an J no etf erf .olcfBl-icciqca arPT ,P il ^Ilwf ^Ino ,3(fllr&t I t 8*w i BW I neriw o iBflb ^aets B Qfl w 'i o^ nwob ^Bri* rfi/o a-^BwIa tfeomls sai/oH 9riT no HBO o^ bri bBeM .ia . -11 II* 76 Adams Baum: Adams Baura: Adams ; Francis E. Warren and Congressman Prank Mondell of Wyoming and others of his friends in Congress to get it restored One day Dr. Mead asked me to see Congressman Julius Kahn of California and Congressman Victor H. Metcalf of California to enlist their support in our appropriation in Congress. I called on Mr. Kahn. He was very gracious and promised to help out. I then called on Mr. Metcalf. He reminded me that just a few days previously President Roosevelt had issued an order positively forbidding any members of department staffs to lobby for support of their appropriations. I was through then. I had to leave. That was the extent of my lobbying in Washington. I have a letter here I wrote to my father in 1901 regarding our efforts to get our appropriation, (reads letter). This Is very interesting. May I include it in the appendix of this interview? Yes, if you think this desirable. (See Appendix for letter. ) Did your office always have to keep pressuring to keep your appropriation up? 1 That was true for many years. Those in the field in irrigation work had as one of their duties to Ic IlebnoM aeets ruseiEr boa neiiBW .3 nJ ebneltl eld lo eiertto bne .3/1 oO 99 E am boMes bseM . snO . t d . ! lo nileX fl JB * d-ellne ocf nc> bellso I .ECS" r )8linc a behnlrro't eH i barf .jfQ c ' bTC n bey lc - ^icqotf - ' ': ellB^a ctn ; encitffc' f T : ' of ^tn nl isrirfB^ YW ^ e^oiw I oiexl / s vsjc i&-% c>3 a^noll:* ino " . I 8ie^tnl 1' -lBb Biff* ifl-trf* o* gn ti/Jeseiq qsesf o* evfiri Y BW -f fl ftoll" Tqu nol*Bl' ' bl^l*} - riT .STB^Y Y*l* fff * !C ' i t?)Lr ^ c* sel*/ rf* lo one as barf M-iow ncl*sslitl . Adams: attend conventions and get legislatures and associations interested in irrigation and reclamation to pass resolutions favoring our appropriations, I had a little of this experience in lobbying years later when temporarily in California from Cheyenne during the illness of Mr. Wilson who was in charge there. I remember leaving one night to go up to see Will S. Green, who was head of the Sacramento Valley Development Association and long known as the "father of irrigation in the Sacramento Valley." They were having a meeting of this association in Colusa and I took the train, got up there after dark, registered at a hotel, and asked where I could find Mr. Green. I was told the board of directors of the association were having a meeting upstairs right then. So I went up and sat down. I was recognized by the secretary of the board, Mr. Harry Stabler of Yuba City. He came down and asked if there was anything he could do for me. I explained what was wanted. I had in pocket a resolution already prepared, of course. I read it to him. He said, "That's all right." I sat down. In fifteen or twenty minutes it was passed and I left the meeting and returned to Berkeley. Baum: Did you have many contacts with Will S. Green? Adams: I met him first in 1900 at a meeting of the Sacramento TT ear bflfl ae-ntftBlalsel 3g boa encl^nevnoo brie,' q erf nolcfBraBloei fine , beieeietfnl .em ' raliqcia-'B 100 s-tiC'V*l eaoWirXoe i8i-l BiBC-t snlYddol ni 8Ofliieqxt< ' to eld-ctil gnlii/f) erurie^eriO trcit .: ni ^.a-;noqed' oifw ,t eenlli erf* ;$ qu og o* 'vsel e r i I YC -3ri eaw oriw ,r3S8iO .2 II1W srf;t ' IrfjslocRaA ^newqoIevsC adtf nJt no.t^j3sliii ^o I fanB JB ; - nl noi^Bloc88B aLlcf ', loom srf beie^Bl- 5 sis . -=ii orf .ne . -prfw bejfee . B ^B ib 1o biBcef srf^ blo^ saw I I .08 , -i Pi'rl.v.. 1 Vlgil BflW .' e80BO ioi;t.eslvil iB'tvineO bio e.cf* : ^CJflt. "t bB9". ni.nEf. to aoftloun ajf* w ;B! rfolziw j ("jBTtfn .BOTB ^fi, .'/-i^R' ili-xl tsd^o fcfiB aet ' saw er^ . ^tneH ,elQBU3X9 isri^cnA isw I . ' -91 vlfj*6 etii at ^IXfiO oil arr . nneyo -cl aJniolilBO nt ass o? Raw I ;!JB.- qt/ ^ftov I . -391 erf;t nl nojtfulcaei eofil .erf d-jsricf bntrol fefie orfr aS .ooaJonsn'H njs2 ni b ; n eoalfl 1 ! eirf^ c* coaionai^ o^ ;/OBcf cfnew I 08 .ostner t Tioo -^-r^v forte eolllc elrf o*nl fceiarisjj rf -^- rf cf . o bnlA iBanol bn Iti/ts B ier. ^w ^3 t r srf rr c brie t.u qlftd bluvv -uit be.lBolbnl 'tqqa tt;c *c ew adme*. COB ESW otMCtjBjBj'ael / :cf -VTJT8 erict 5iiow IDC cct ^ficomjB -^BeT^E bft t BYvi0a ; ' t iiicw fi^E cicqe lalnnaJtd B lo imolt ari^ ni eineo *I 79 Adams: About 1908 Mr. Clyde Seavey, secretary of the State Board of Exa