O' the Cherokees - Grand Lake, Oklahoma - You Want to be Here!

Historic Pensacola Dam
Located in the heart of Northeast Oklahoma, Pensacola Dam and Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees
provide flood control for the Grand River and produce hydroelectric power for the Grand River Dam Authority.
Known as the Grand River Project, the facility was the first hydroelectric system in Oklahoma.
It started as one man’s dream. In the late 1800’s, Henry C. Holderman first envisioned building a dam on the Grand
River to bring electric power to the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. Holderman worked for years to acquired financing
for the project and came close on a couple of occasions. While Holderman watched, a group of men known as the
“Rainbow Chasers” turned the dream into a reality. These men, including Jack Rorschach and George Schaefer of Vinita
and Clay Babb and Owen L. Butler of Grove, made several trips to Washington, DC, to secure funding for the Pensacola
Dam. With the help of Representative Wesley E. Disney and engineer W. R. Holway, funding was approved by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt on September 18, 1937.
Holway and Neuffer, project engineers, began survey and engineering work on October 25, 1937. Massman Construction
Company of Kansas City, Missouri, was selected as the major contractor for the dam and powerhouse. After six
months of preparation, excavating 1.6 million cubic yards of earth and rock, Massman began pouring the first of 510,000
cubic yards of concrete on December 30, 1938. Building the dam required nearly 23.9 million pounds of reinforcing and
structural steel and 625,000 barrels of cement to make the 510,000 cubic yards of concrete. The 24-hour-a-day continuous
pour was completed 20 months later, and the final openings in the dam under arches seven and eight were closed
on March 21, 1940. The lake was full by the end of summer. Governor Leon Chase Phillips opened the road across the
dam on August 13, 1940. The entire contract on the dam was completed on October 4, 1940.
• Pensacola Dam’s 51 arches and 21 spillways combine for a total length of 5,145 feet and span approximately one mile.
Each arch has a clear span of 60 feet.
• Approximately 3,000 men worked on the project. “Common” or “blue collar” laborers earned about $16 per week.
• The construction period was the driest 18 months on record. Only one small flood occurred during construction of
the dam.
• Many lives were saved by using nets underneath the arches as the height of the dam increased.
• Maximum height of dam – 150 feet
Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees sits at an elevation of 745.0 feet above sea level. The lake area is a total of 46,500 acres.
Capacity of the lake is 1,672,000 acre-feet with a mean depth of 35.9 feet and a maximum depth of 164 feet.
For more information visit www.grda.com.
Grand Lake Guide 2008 | Come to play . . . plan to stay!
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