POWERGRAMS

37 Mitchell was described as "an indefatigable worker, resourceful," who "demonstrated an unusual engineering ability and adaptability." In addition, through his work with Sperling, Mitchell mastered corporate finance and securities. In 1911, Sperling sent Mitchell to the U.S. to look into developing power sites in the South. Cherokee Bluffs was named for Native Americans who had come to Alabama during the Creek Indian War of 1813-14 and remained following the Creeks' defeat. In 1896, rights to the site were acquired by Henry Jones, J.S. Pinckard and Jack Thorington. In 1900, they organized the Cherokee Development and Manufacturing Co. and, with $50,000, began developing dams downstream from Cherokee Bluffs and upstream from Tallassee. In 1910, the Cherokee Bluffs site was purchased by Henry Doherty. There are conflicting stories as to who recommended Mitchell come to Alabama, with both Paul Brady, of Westinghouse, and Charles Baker, associated with railroads and New York-based utilities, claiming credit. However, once in Alabama, Mitchell saw the potential of the rivers and sought to coordinate power generation in an integrated river network. Tallapoosa native Nora Miller promoted the development of Cherokee Bluffs. She was quoted as saying "it took Mitchell only 15 minutes" to decide to invest in the site. He wanted to begin development at Cherokee Bluffs because a dam there would be less expensive, relative to the high production of electricity it would yield. Mitchell scheduled a meeting at the law office of Massey Wilson, who, along with his colleague, Tom Martin, had previous involvement with the site. When Mitchell called on Wilson, he instead found Martin, an Alabama native who was familiar with the waterways, the legal status of many of the state dams, and had the social and political connections that Mitchell would need to be successful. At that time, six groups of investors were active in the Alabama hydroelectric scene. Mitchell knew these companies could not individually offer the cheap, dependable service he intended to provide. As Mitchell and Martin worked to purchase the smaller companies and merge operations, they encountered roadblocks. The first was funding. While Mitchell had the financial support of Sperling, several New York investors including S.Z. Mitchell, who grew up in Dadeville, attempted to block the British investors from financing Mitchell. Second, there were three dam sites and a bridge that would be affected by Mitchell's proposed dam at Cherokee Bluffs. Henry Doherty owned one of the dams and settled quickly with Mitchell. The relocation of a bridge owned by Central of Georgia Railroad was also quickly accomplished. The other two settlements took longer to resolve. Textile baron Benjamin Russell owned the second site, north of Cherokee Bluffs, called Buzzard Roost Shoals, that would be flooded by Mitchell's dam. It took nearly a week of meetings in New York before Mitchell and Russell reached a settlement. The third dam, downstream at Tallassee, was owned by the Mount Vernon-Woodberry Cotton Duck Co. It was the most challenging and time- consuming settlement. Legal action was taken against Woodberry in January 1912, but there was no settlement in sight. Since Mitchell was working with borrowed money and the Mount Vernon-Woodberry lawsuit was ongoing, Mitchell turned his attention to Lock 12 on the Coosa River. Alabama Power, headed by William Patrick Lay, owned that site. Mitchell and his associates purchased the company, and the rights to Lock 12, in 1912. Mitchell directed construction of the Lock 12 dam, the completion of Gadsden Steam Plant and construction of Gorgas Steam Plant. Mitchell died in 1920 before development of the Cherokee Bluff site on the Tallapoosa began. In 1922, Martin was finally able to move forward with the Tallapoosa River developments. The Federal Power Commission issued preliminary permits for the Alabama Interstate Power Co., one of Mitchell's umbrella companies, to develop the Tallapoosa. The license for Cherokee Bluffs was granted on June 9, 1923 and construction began on July 24. Cherokee Bluffs was isolated and

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