Harriet Strong

For Harriet Strong, who was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2016, necessity was the mother of invention. She was left penniless when her husband died by suicide with four daughters under the age of 15 to raise. Rising to the occasion, overcoming ailments that had afflicted her for her entire life, she pioneered new methods of conserving flood waters and irrigating to supply her walnut, orange, pomegranate, and pampas plantings in Southern California in the late 1800s. An advocate for women’s suffrage and very active in the community, Strong had a total of five patents and has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Strong understood the need to conserve flood waters during the months when California experienced significant rains to provide water during the rainless months. Her concepts were adopted by engineers and helped California become a major agricultural region. Her efforts led to the development of the Hoover Dam. The chapter also provides an overview of the US Bureau of Reclamation and its role in the development of dams and water conservation in the American West.