D. W. Davis - Other Interests and Later Career

Other Interests and Later Career

Along with his political career, Davis stayed heavily involved with banking, even after he moved to Boise when he was first elected as Governor. That interest led to his election as president of the Idaho State Bankers Association in 1918.

Davis also took an active interest in irrigation projects, especially those promoted by the Carey Act along the Snake River. During his term as governor, Davis organized a meeting in Salt Lake City for fifteen of the arid western states to discuss water issues. Out of that meeting grew the Western States Reclamation Association, to provide a united voice for advice to the U. S. government on Federally-funded irrigation projects.

Two months after Davis left the governor's office, he was appointed as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Interior, to supervise the United States Reclamation Service – renamed the Bureau of Reclamation in 1923 – and served until 1924. He then served from 1924 to 1932 as director of finance for the Interior Department, and for a short time in 1931 as a special advisor to President Herbert Hoover.

After his service with the Federal government, Davis returned to his Idaho banking interests and also expanded his investments in mining ventures in the Northwest. Governor David W. Davis died on August 5, 1959, and was buried at the Cloverdale Cemetery in Boise, Idaho.