[4] Holderman later left the United States at the age of 16 and worked on dam projects in India and Africa before returning to Oklahoma.

He sold his land holdings and borrowed money from friends in order to purchase rights to the dam sites he had prospected.

[3] Over several decades, Holderman and a group known as the "Rainbow Chasers" tried to secure funding to construct the dam; making several trips to Washington DC.

Just prior in 1928, Oklahoma Representative Everette B. Howard secured $5,000 in funding for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to survey the Grand River.

Eventually, on September 18, 1937, with the help of Oklahoma Representative Wesley E. Disney, Senator Elmer Thomas and engineer W. R. Holway, President Franklin D. Roosevelt approved $20 million in funding through the New Deal's Public Works Administration for the dam.

The higher cost for the dam was attributed to a project that was approved for additional purposes, including hydroelectric power generation and recreation.

[5] Additional costs for the dam were covered by the state government and by GRDA municipal bond auctions which appropriated or raised $11 million.

[5] Senator Thomas helped appropriate additional state and public funding for the dam while also being instrumental in its legislation.

Thousands of workers moved to the area to work on the dam before construction began and 3,000 eventually did, earning about $16 a week.

Workers also constructed the first cofferdam on the east side of the river and left it in place until the arches were above the normal water level.

Once this was achieved, workers removed the east cofferdam and constructed another on the west side of the river to divert water from the location of the future power plant.

The federal government took control of the dam in November 1941 to aid in the World War II effort and returned it to the GRDA in 1946.

Although losing significant portions of land, some tribe members were forced to find work on the dam project.

Since the dam is a multi-purpose project, there are conflicting interests between flood control, environmental conservation, recreation and hydroelectric power production.

[19][20] Significant releases from the dam have drawn opposition from people such as Oklahoma State Representative Doug Cox.

He argues that the large releases effect the state's economy as an off-road recreational rock park is flooded downstream.

[28] The center serves as a water and fish monitoring research lab while offering visitors information about hydropower and water/electrical safety.