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Transcript for Lake Powell, segment 05 of 11
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The river that had once flowed brown with silt was halted. Clear waters of the new lake lapped against red sandstone cliffs and back into remote side canyons. Lake Powell it was named in honor of Major John Wesley Powell, the scientist who first explored and named Glen Canyon in eighteen sixty-nine.
From fish hatcheries in the southwest, the Fish and Wildlife Service sent large planes loaded with millions of tiny trout and bass, trout and bass that would find homes in the blue waters where they would soon grow into fighting game fish.
The land and the lake became the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to be administered by the National Park Service. Swimming beaches, boat docks, marinas and motels were built by the Service and the concessionaires. At the Visitor Center may be seen the intricate model that shows how Lake Powell winds through the rugged cliffs.
The dam, built by the Bureau of Reclamation, is located here in Arizona, and the Utah-Arizona border is here. When full, the lake will back up the Colorado River one hundred and eighty-six miles and up the San Juan River seventy-one miles. The shoreline will be almost two thousand miles long. Along the upper part of the lake, access roads reach developed areas at Hall's Crossing, Bullfrog, and Hite.
Or visitors may enjoy the viewpoint over the dam and power plant. Wet sand, blue water, and sunshine, a sparkling swimming beach on a desert hillside. Where the main roads reach the lake are new campgrounds for travelers.
At Page, the city built to service the needs of the men who worked at the dam and on Lake Powell, there are motels, stores and restaurants.