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RITA SCHMIDT SUDMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WATER EDUCATION FOUNDATION I hope you enjoyed the reception last night. It was a crowded little room that we gathered in, but that room was actually the place where the Compact was signed. Fifteen years ago, Gary Weatherford put together a conference which he talked about last night and he invited me. I was a new employee of the infant Water Education Foundation. It was really an inspiration to come here and start learning about the history of the Colorado River. So it was sort of natural that when I ran into him about a year ago, I got the bright idea. The 75th Compact anniversary year, I could just put together a little program, wouldn't take too much. Gary warned me, but I didn't listen. It was a difficult thing to get everyone together. It's an issue that a lot of people are sensitive about discussing, and we recognize that and we structured the program somewhat to understand that. But we did get you all here, and we're pleased to see you. To begin our program we will move directly into 1922. It's my pleasure today in 1922 to introduce L. Ward Bannister, our first speaker. Now it's a pleasure because in 1922, which we're in now, women didn't usually have the opportunity to introduce these prominent men. In fact, no women were involved in the Compact negotiations - well, at least directly. Mr. Bannister was born in 1871 in Des Moines, Iowa. He attended Drake University, the University of Iowa and Stanford Univer- sity. It was at Stanford Univer- sity where he got to know Herbert Hoover quite well, and at Harvard University where he studied to become an attorney. He arrived in Denver in 1899 - the same year that Delphus Emory Carpenter received his law degree from the University of Denver. Active in Republi- can politics, Mr. Bannister gave much of his time to the Denver Chamber of Commerce in which capacity he served as president and water specialist. He was director of the United Srates Chamber of Commerce for 12 years. Because of his experience in water, Mr. Bannister frequently served as special counsel for the state of Colorado on a number of Compact negotia- tions. And in this capacity, he came to know Mr. Delph Carpenter, Colorado's Interstate Streams commissioner, quite well. His early and publicly- stated criticism of Mr. Carpenter was followed in later years by respect and admiration. Now, although Mr. Bannister is somewhat fatigued from his travel - and he is certainly sartori- ally outdated - he has consented to share with us his views of Mr. Delph Carpenter before returning to the warmer regions where he now resides. . Participants of the 75th Anniversary Colorado River Compact Symposium held May 28-31, 1997 at The Bishops Lodge, Santa Fe) New Mexico SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS MAY 1997 o