A Tent Town Emerges

The camp that Hubbard and Carlson established at the lower dam was quite a little town of shacks and tents.

Fifteen to twenty families of workmen lived there at the beginning of the work. A boarding house and a supply store were there for the needs of the men. Meals cost 25 cents at the mess tent.

F.C. Bohlson who had forty years of service with the Bureau of Reclamation, remembered the camp as a lively place. He reported that it was common to walk the seven miles into Caldwell to attent to business, go to church, or for a weekend dance. He also took streetcar #5 into town. On December 31st, he attended the Commerical Club ball and danced until 1:00am.

As early as August of 1906, there were 138 names on the roll. Horses and mules employed numbered 156. That summer they established an electrical plant and work continued at night.

Even in early days there were refinements--umbrellas for the men and horses at Lake Lowell. The umbrellas were sold by the Forwarding Company of Caldwell. They advertised Ackley's Market, a leading grocery store.