Transcript for How Water Won the West, segment 06 of 8

A cabin's lone light in northern Idaho, a television picture in rural Nebraska, a nighttime football game in a small Oregon town, a stoplight on a western byway.

Another type of artery, a vast web of spun wire, connects the great dams and lakes to the people of the West. This electrical network is fed by giant generators driven by the tremendous force of falling water. Grand Coulee, Glen Canyon, Shasta, Yellowtail, Hoover - their hearts beat with a single purpose: to fill the lines, the blood vessels of the energy network, with a constant flow of power.


I'm a tour guide here at Hoover Dam. To my way of thinking, Hoover is one of the wonders of the world, and many others think so, too, after they visit here. This complex would earn its keep in flood control alone, but in addition, it irrigates more than a million acres of farmland between here and Mexico and generates power used by thousands of westerners. A half century ago, it took people with vision, courage, and perseverance to create this facility. With that same kind of determination and vision, we, too, can provide a legacy for the future.