Chapter 4 55 THE DAM BUILDERS put up one million and Morrison Knudsen another half, leaving $3.5 million to raise. He soon found another million: half each from the J. F. Shea Company of Los Angeles and the Pacific Bridge Company, two highly respected West Coast operators with a working alliance. Morrison called MacDonald & Kahn, a San Francisco company that had previously subcontracted for Utah, and found it was already considering bidding on at least part of the Colorado River project. Partner Felix Kahn quickly agreed to put up a million, which, he chuckled, “made me one of the family right away.” Not surprisingly, other large contracting firms were debating partnerships to bid on the dam. Among them were Henry Kaiser and W. A. Bechtel, close associates and powerfully connected contractors in California. After convincing Bechtel to come in, Kaiser invited in Warren Brothers of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kaiser hoped to round out his group with other East Coast contractors in time to get bonded and make a winning bid early in 1931. But upon his return to California from finishing a $20 million highway project in Cuba, Kaiser learned of Morrison’s activities. Recognizing the expanding power of the Wattis-Morrison group, Kaiser approached Morrison about a possible alliance. W. H. Wattis then parleyed with Bechtel and apparently liked what he heard. As a consequence, the Kaiser-Bechtel- Warren union threw in the remaining $1.5 million, and Six Companies, Inc. became a reality. Three major tasks loomed before the new collaborators— organization, preparing a workable bid, and bonding. With remarkably little disagreement, they cleared the first hurdle in February 1931 when Six Companies incorporated under the relatively easy laws of Delaware with six officers: President W. H. Wattis, First Vice President W. A. Bechtel, Second Vice President E. O. Wattis, Secretary Charles A. Shea, Treasurer Felix Kahn, and Assistant Secretary-Treasurer K. K. Bechtel. With the exception of Bechtel, these officers were also named directors. Stephen D. Bechtel, Henry J. Kaiser, Alan MacDonald, and Philip Hart (representing Pacific Bridge) rounded out the board. Amicably, the principals agreed to establish the following holdings: Utah, 20 percent; Kaiser-Bechtel-Warren, 30 percent; M-