 Soon after the dam was authorized , increasing numbers of unemployed people <unk> on southern Nevada . Las Vegas , then a small city of some 5 @,@ 000 , saw between 10 @,@ 000 and 20 @,@ 000 unemployed descend on it . A government camp was established for <unk> and other personnel near the dam site ; this soon became surrounded by a squatters ' camp . Known as <unk> , the camp was home to men hoping for work on the project , together with their families . Another camp , on the flats along the Colorado River , was officially called <unk> , but was known to its inhabitants as " <unk> " . When construction began , Six Companies hired large numbers of workers , with more than 3 @,@ 000 on the <unk> by 1932 and with employment peaking at 5 @,@ 251 in July 1934 . " Mongolian " ( Chinese ) labor was prevented by the construction contract , while the number of blacks employed by Six Companies never exceeded thirty , mostly lowest @-@ pay @-@ scale laborers in a segregated crew , who were issued separate water buckets . 
