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The Whole Dam Family: The 48th Annual 31ers Reunion

Last Saturday morning, I drove down to Boulder City to attend the 48th Annual 31ers Reunion. 31ers, for those not in the know, are people who came to southern Nevada in 1931. That was the year word went out that, after years in the planning stages, construction on the huge new dam across the Colorado River would finally begin.

At the height of the Great Depression, it didn’t matter that the construction site was an inhospitable gorge in the middle of a howling desert. Thousands of men, many of them with families in tow, were lured by the hope of getting paid $4 a day to work on the dam. Those lucky enough to actually get jobs were rewarded with grueling, life-threatening tasks, but the hard labor had its rewards, too. The experiences the men and their families shared forged friendships that have extended into succeeding generations.

31er reunions used to be huge affairs. Former dam workers from all over the country joined those who still lived in Boulder City for a weekend of jolly camaraderie and reminiscing. While the numbers have dwindled over the years, the group that gathered at the wedge-shaped community college building at the corner of Utah and Wyoming Streets still numbered over a hundred. Just about everyone had a personal connection with the building of Hoover Dam, but only one had actually participated. Now 91, Lee Tilman was eighteen years old when he landed a job on a cleanup crew. He quickly moved up the ladder and continued to work on the dam after it was built.

“I came for the money,” Tilman said when I spoke with him before lunch, but as he continued reminiscing, he noted that money wasn’t what turned out to be the most important thing. “I look around this room,” he said, “and I see the faces of the guys I worked shoulder to shoulder with on the dam. They’re not here, but I see them in their children.”

After everyone had had a chance to chat, pore over photographs, and eat a home-style lunch of meat loaf and mashed potatoes, it was time for the formal program. Following Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro’s welcome and a blessing by Lyn Laughery Mobley, emcee Laura Smith introduced Patrick Paternostro, coordinator of the Hoover Dam guide program. A number of dam guides had come to the reunion to mingle with 31ers and hear stories they can repeat to visitors. In addition to talking about dam tourism, Paternostro distributed door prizes: Hoover Dam hats, pens, and videos.

As popular as the mementos were — I shall prize my Hoover Dam pen for years to come — the real gifts of the afternoon came from the 31ers themselves. 96-year-old Ross E. Salter shared stories of his police work on the Ranger Force. Dave Stegmuller drew laughs with his anecdotes about cats, scorpions, and the challenges of sharing one bathroom with far too many other people. Laura Smith recalled the building of the Boulder City Cemetery, and her sister Ila Davey recounted how her dog survived a rattlesnake bite.

Finally, Lee Tilman took the mike. “At first, it was about the money,” he said, repeating what he had told me earlier. “But now that’s not the important thing. The important thing is family.” He paused and smiled at the faces smiling back at him, faces that included not only those of his own children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but those of his friends and comrades. “And you are all my dam family.”

I’m not in Lee Tilman’s family, but as I drove back through Boulder City, it was with new appreciation for the 31ers. The community they forged is as great a legacy as the concrete wonder they built.

Click here for my story about touring Hoover Dam.

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