"I should say I felt proud, 'cause I was a part of it. As to that structure down there, right to this day, I still feel like holding my hand over my heart when I go down there. 'Cause that dam was a part of me. It was a part of me, I can assure you of that. "72 - Tommy Nelson "When I was looking at the dam, I thought of the young men that had given up their lives to build the damned thing. That's what I thought of when I was looking at the dam. "74 -W.A. Davis Once the dam was finished, waters from newly-created Lake Mead flowed from the cylindrical intake tunnels into the penstocks, and then raced downhill to the power houses. Irrigation water could be released directly into the river through the outlet works or from the lower portals of the original diversion tunnels. A Memorial Day service in 1935 recognized those who died while working on the dam. The official death toll now stands at 96, ranging from the first J. G. Tierney, a surveyor who drowned December 20, 1922 to the last his son, Patrick Tierney, who fell from an intake tower and drowned December 20, 1935.73