Mark L. Requa

Mark L. Requa (December 25, 1866 – March 6, 1937) was an American mining engineer and petroleum conservationist. He served as the director of the Oil Division of the U.S. Fuel Administration during World War I. He helped manage the presidential campaigns of Herbert Hoover in 1928 and 1932. Early life Mark Lawrence Requa was born on December 25, 1866, to Sarah Jane (née Mower) and Isaac Lawrence Requa in Virginia City, Nevada. Isaac Requa was a one time president of Oakland Bank of Savings and made a fortune in silver and gold mining in Virginia City. He was also an engineer with Comstock Mining and served as president of the Central Pacific Railroad. Requa was educated at the Requa School in Piedmont, California and at private schools. He was admitted into Yale University but could not attend due to poor eyesight. Career Requa was the manager of the Eureka-Palisades Railroad. Requa organized the White Pine Copper Company in 1902. In 1904, Requa merged the White Pine Copper Company and the Boston and Nevada Copper Company into the Nevada Consolidated Copper Company. He formed the Nevada Northern Railway to transport copper ore from the Robinson Mine near Ely, Nevada to Cobre, Nevada. Requa first met Herbert Hoover in 1905. Hoover brought Requa with him when he joined the U.S. Food Administration in June 1917 and Requa served as his assistant. By 1918, Requa was in charge of the commercial relations division of the Food Administration. He also served as a consulting engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Mines.