Existing comment:
Why Delta?
The economic climate in Delta had been bleak since the late 1920s. Businessman Nels Petersen believed that the region could prosper. When he heard that the WRA had rejected a nearby area for a confinement site, he went to San Francisco to offer land and water northwest of Delta. The meeting persuaded WRA official Robert Cozzens to reconsider.
A few weeks later the WRA purchased 9,560 acres from local farmers. The county provided 8,840 acres of lapsed tax land. Ten families lost their farms -- another 1,400 acres -- by eminent domain. The families received payment for the land but resented the seizure. |