A Dam in the Desert: Pat Moran's Last Water Venture BY W I L L I A M L. M O R A N
1 CAN'T UNDERSTAND HOW HE BUILT IT." Bill Heyenbruch of the U.S. Corps of Engineers was looking at a picture of Bishop Creek Dam above Metropolis, Nevada. His office in Sacramento was to have been my last stop on a long search for an answer to the same question. "Even today with the latest technology the task would be staggering," he decided. "In 1911 it was something of a miracle." He noted that it was listed in the 1973 World Register of Large Dams:1 Mr. Moran, youngest son of P. J. Moran, lives in Piedmont, California. Paris, France: International Commission on Large Dams, 1973.
1
Upstream wall of Bishop Creek Dam under construction in late 1911. Courtesy of Nevada Historical Society.
