"Clark's Dam," they called it in 1908 (after its owner, U.S. Sen. W.A. Clark), when the generators sent their first spark across the wires. At the public unveiling of the facility, the dam superintendent crowed to journalists and local dignitaries: "No expense was spared in making the dam one of the strongest of its kind—enough power will be generated to furnish the entire western portion of the state with electricity for all purposes."