William Henry Wattis, also known as W. H. Wattis (August 15, 1859 – September 13, 1931), was one of the three
Wattis Brothers who founded
Utah Construction Company The Utah Construction Company was a construction company founded by Edmund Orson Wattis Jr., Warren L. Wattis and William. H. Wattis in 1900.
History
A short four years after its founding, the company was awarded the contract to build the Feat ...
in 1900.
Early life
William Henry Wattis was born on August 15, 1859, in
Uinta,
Utah Territory
The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state. ...
, the fourth of seven children born to Edmund Orson Wattis and Mary Jane Corey. With his brother
Edmund Orson Wattis, he formed a firm to lay track for the expanding railroads. The fledgling Wattis Brothers firm was wiped out in the
panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...
. While William continued to try to find construction projects, Edmund focused his energies on running a sheep ranch the brothers had established in the Weber Valley. This ranch and others would later provide the financial strength for the large construction projects to come.
Wattis married his sweetheart, Anna Maria Dorothea Sophie "Marie" Stander, on January 9, 1889. They had three daughters and one son. In 1897, they lost Florence Louise, age 5, and Edmund (Teddy), age 1, within six months of each other while living in
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...
.
Utah Construction Company
In 1900, the Wattis Brothers (E.O., W.H. and Warren L.) again attempted to be partners in contracting. They founded the Utah Construction Company along with
David Eccles and
Thomas D. Dee. A short four years after its founding, Utah Construction Company was awarded the contract to build the Feather River route between
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
and
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
. This $60 million contract was challenging, but after five years, very profitable. The Feather River route was complete for the
Western Pacific Railroad
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route dire ...
in 1911. The Utah Construction Company also was a building contractor for the Utah State Capital.
In 1912, after the death of David Eccles, W. H. was elected President of The Utah Construction Company. The company thrived, and soon captured a large share of the tunneling, grading, and track projects in the rapidly expanding railroads in the mountain west. Seeing the end of railroad expansion, the Wattis Brothers looked for ways to diversify their construction risks.
Wattis Coal Company
In 1915, the Wattis brothers bought the Wattis Coal Company (160 acres from the federal government) and the Wattis mine shipped its first coal on April 11, 1918. The
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
of
Wattis, Utah, located south of
Price
A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...
, is named after the Wattis brothers. In 1919 the company merged with the Lion Coal Company, owned by the Eccles family.
Ogden Union Stockyard Company
On July 29, 1916, W.H. formed a partnership in incorporating the Ogden Union Stockyard Company (opened for business April 1, 1917), formerly known as the Ogden Packing and Provision Company, which proved to be quite profitable—by 1934 the company made over $2 million.
Building dams
In 1917, Utah Construction Company was awarded the $7 million
O'Shaughnessy Dam contract, a controversial project that impounds the
Tuolumne River
The Tuolumne River ( Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...
in the
Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years bef ...
of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
's
Sierra Nevada
The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...
mountains. Success with the O'Shaughnessy Dam convinced the Wattis Brothers to bid on more dam projects.
In 1922, Utah Construction Company formed a partnership with the
Morrison-Knudsen Company of
Boise, Idaho
Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown are ...
. With
Frank Crowe
Francis Trenholm Crowe ( – ) was a Canadian civil engineer and employee of Morrison-Knudsen, who later became in 1931, the General Construction Superintendent of the Hoover Dam construction contract.
Born in Trenholmville, Quebec, Crowe at ...
as the chief engineer, the MK UC partnership successfully built dams throughout the American west.
Politics and committees
In 1918, W.H. was nominated by the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
to run for a seat in the
U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
. He was defeated by
Milton H. Welling. Wattis ran unsuccessfully for governor of Utah in 1928, losing to
George Dern
George Henry Dern (1872–1936) was an American politician, mining man, and businessman. He co-invented the Holt–Dern ore roasting process and was United States Secretary of War from 1933 to his death in 1936. He also served as the sixth Gov ...
.
He was appointed to the Flood Relief Committee by
Governor Mabey on August 17, 1923, and appointed to the Christmas Seal Sale Advisory Committee in 1924.
Other businesses
W.H. was also a prominent businessman in
Ogden, Utah
Ogden is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's eighth ...
and known throughout Utah. He was director of The National Bank, director of the
Utah-Idaho Central Railroad, and president of
Dee Memorial Hospital from 1917 to 1929. As president he oversaw the new L-shaped addition equipped with elevators, making Dee one of the most modern and up-to-date hospitals of its time at an estimated cost of $160,000.
In January 1921, Wattis was elected general manager and president of
Utah-Idaho Sugar Company
The Utah-Idaho Sugar Company was a large sugar beet processing company based in Utah. It was owned and controlled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and its leaders. It was notable for developing a valuable cash crop a ...
and vice president and general manager of the Canadian Sugar Company Ltd., the Canadian branch of Utah-Idaho Sugar Company. Due to political and legal troubles with the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, Wattis was indicted on price fixing charges and was found in
contempt of court
Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the cour ...
by Judge
Tilman D. Johnson, which caused him to withdraw from a 1920 run for governor.
He was elected Captain of the
Alta Club
The Alta Club is a private club in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah, named for a local mining district. It was founded in 1883, 13 years before Utah's accession as a state. The Alta Club serves as a forum for business development and social interactio ...
, one of the oldest gentlemen's clubs in Utah, on April 22, 1921.
On September 27, 1927, Wattis was nominated and elected Vice President of the
, and later nominated on October 20, 1927 to be the vice president over the states of Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona.
In 1929, the Wattis Brothers spearheaded the formation of
Six Companies
Six Companies, Inc. was a joint venture of construction companies that was formed to build the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River in Nevada and Arizona.
They later built Parker Dam, a portion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the Colorado River Aqueduct ...
to build the
Hoover Dam
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on Se ...
, which was the largest construction project ever tackled by the US Government up to that time. W.H. was elected as the Six Companies' first President.
Death
On March 23, 1931, ''Time Magazine'' wrote:
However, he did not live to see Hoover Dam completed. Wattis died in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, on September 13, 1931, of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Shortly before his death on June 9, 1931, the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
honored him with a Doctorate of Law degree. Wattis was buried next to his parents at a cemetery in Unitah.
Wattis loved life, family and friends. He was an avid golfer, hunter and traveler.
References
Sources
Alta Club Photograph Collection, box 3, 235 W.H. Wattis, University of Utah Library Collection*Arrington, Leonard J. ''Beet Sugar in the West: a History of the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company 1891-1966'', p. 95-97, 109.
*''Davis County Clipper''
*Sessions, Sterling and Gene. ''History of Utah International: From Construction to Mining''
Stevens, Joseph E. ''Hoover Dam: An American Adventure''
*''Inside the Hoover Dam Scrapbooks'', WSU, Special Collections
*Powell, Allan Kent. ''Labor at the Beginning of the 20th Century: Carbon County, Utah Coal Fields, 1900 to 1905''
*''New York Times'', June 28, 1911 / May 25, 1920
*''Ogden Standard Examiner''
*''Time Magazine''
* University of Nevada, Las Vegas Special Collections
*Utah State Historical Society
Weber State University Special Collection and Archive departmentsPhoto of W. H. and E. O. Wattis
*Western Mining and Railroad Museum, Helper, Utah
*Generous donations made to numerous universities in Utah, Nevada, California and Idaho by the Wattis family
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wattis, William Henry
American construction businesspeople
Businesspeople in the sugar industry
1859 births
1931 deaths
American sugar industry
Deaths from cancer in California
Utah Republicans
People from Weber County, Utah