Olney's law office. He wrote its first charter and served as vice president of the organization. In 1903 Olney became the 34th Mayor of Oakland, where he had made his home, serving one term to 1905. He held strong views that California cities and communities needed a secure water supply system separate from private independent suppliers. This led to the damming of the Tuolumne River by O'Shaughnessy Dam in 1923, which flooded the Hetch Hetchy Valley under Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Olney supported this project, resulting in a bitter separation from John Muir, his other conservationist friends, and with the Sierra Club, who staunchly opposed the environmental destruction. The project was completed in Yosemite National Park, and remains controversial to the present day. Death Warren Olney, Sr. died at 80 years of age on June 2, 1921, from pneumonia. He is buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, California. Family Olney's son and grandson, who shared his name, were also lawyers. His son, Warren Olney, Jr., served on the Supreme Court of California from 1919 to 1921. His grandson, Warren Olney III was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as an Assistant Attorney General to oversee the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. Although Warren Olney III was Chief Justice Earl Warren's choice to be chief counsel for the Warren Commission, J. Lee Rankin was chosen instead. His great-grandson, Warren Olney IV is a noted Los Angeles-based broadcast journalist. See also List of mayors of Oakland, California Sierra Club References External links Sierra Club biography of Warren Olney I California lawyers American conservationists Mayors of Oakland, California Sierra Club people 1841 births 1921 deaths Burials at Mountain View Cemetery (Oakland, California) People from Iowa People from San Francisco Union Army officers University of Michigan Law School alumni Activists from California 19th-century American lawyers Military personnel from California