The Eighth Wonder Of The World

Originally Aired: June 9, 1937 Cavalcade of America #86, "The Eighth Wonder Of The World," chronicles the visionary campaign to build the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington State. In 1918, publisher Rufus Woods meets with lawyer Joe in the dusty, struggling town near Wenatchee, where they discuss the region's greatest problem: over a million acres of barren, useless land alongside the mighty Columbia River. Woods seizes on Joe's idea to build a dam, launching an editorial crusade that will consume the next fifteen years. Despite support from engineers and politicians, the dream faces fierce opposition from skeptical locals like Abe Waters, who considers the whole enterprise crazy and impossible. The conflict intensifies as the community divides into believers and doubters. Woods and his allies, including Jim O'Sullivan, Gail Matthews, and others, tirelessly promote their vision through newspaper articles, government surveys, and engineering reports. Abe and his faction ridicule the project, calling Woods a modern-day Munchausen spinning impossible tales. The tension builds until July 27, 1933, when Joe bursts onto the street with stunning news that threatens to transform skepticism into reality and change the Columbia Basin forever.