In 1934, with plans in place for United States Reclamation Service and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to build Parker Dam on the Colorado River between Arizona and California, Arizona governor Benjamin B. Moeur protested the diversion of water to California by sending members of the Arizona National Guard to the dam construction site. A local ferry service also participated under the informal name of the Arizona Navy.
Related to the article, “Guard Pays Dam Visit, Arizona Risks ‘Navy’ Craft, Julia B. Takes Governor’s Party From Parker to Scene of ‘Invasion,’ California Water District Crew Fails to Welcome ‘Foreigners' Arrival," Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1934. The article states: "…The Julia B., happily dubbed, for the occasion, Arizona’s navy, came through in grand style today by carrying Gov. Moeur’s military reconnaissance party fifteen miles up the murky Colorado … piloted by Capt. Tom Kinder and Ascension Esquerra. … It was the first time, since war days, that such a boat had come up the river. Once during the war the Julia B., or her sister ship the Nellie Jo, hauled twenty tons of manganese up the river. At the wheel most of the trip today was none other than the able woman member of the Arizona Legislature … Mrs. Nellie T. Bush [and] … her husband, Joe Bush..."
In 1934, with plans in place for United States Reclamation Service and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to build Parker Dam on the Colorado River between Arizona and California, Arizona governor Benjamin B. Moeur protested the diversion of water to California by sending members of the Arizona National Guard to the dam construction site. A local ferry service also participated under the informal name of the Arizona Navy.
