Hells Canyon & The Middle Snake River Chap 8 thoughts

The Eureka Mining Company in the 19th Century was an example of explosive growth of big corporations shortly before and after the Industrial Revolution. Demand for natural resources across the country was skyrocketing. New technologies that were used such as the steamboat, proved beneficial to many people and not just the Eureka Company. However, the legacy of how we harvest and use our natural resources is one of the most prevalent debates in America today.

The Eureka Mining Company did everything it could to maximize profits from copper and minimize expenses. The environment was of little concern. Congressional representatives were pressured to rule in favor of the company. This type of thinking by big corporations is at the heart of debate today. American’s insatiable demand for oil has led to similar problems that we as a nation faced in the 19th century. In 1987, I was a young Airman stationed in Egypt. At the time, our nation was supporting a virtually unknown autocratic dictator named Saddam Hussein. Hussein was waging an eight year war against his neighbor state of Iran. The United States feared that if the Islamic Revolution in Iran spread through the Middle East our nation could lose access to our oil supplies. We looked past the brutality of Saddam Hussein, even as he gassed Iranian soldiers and his own people. Congressional representatives were pressured by oil companies who had interest in the region. Rice and grain companies pressured representatives to look past the atrocities because they were reaping profits from selling Hussein their products’ for his military campaign. It is a sad irony that only two years after the Iran-Iraq war ended, our nation fought Saddam Hussein for the same reasons we has supported him, access to natural resources. This issue is still continuing to this very day.

Our nation as a whole must look past the mistakes of the Eureka Mining Company. We must learn to conserve our nation’s resources or repeat the mistakes of our Middle East campaigns. The days of maximizing profits for natural resources without regard to consequences have come as a maximum price to our nation and its people. The price is quality of life and more important loss of life itself.