[1] The primary purpose of the dam is water supply and it was named for Colorado businessman, Walter Cheesman.

[5] The plans called for an embankment dam faced with concrete and metal some 200 feet tall, which began to rise in 1899.

The water filled the outlet pipe and then overtopped the diversion heading for the construction site.

[5] The company sent out men to warn those downstream that the still incomplete structure could not last for long.

They were transported by short rail lines and even by barge on the lake growing behind the new structure.