Editor’s note: The following is part of a series recapping Manteca’s history. It wasn’t the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929 that was the defining economic development for Manteca in the 1920s.It was the Great Drought of 1924. It was also the same year the dreaded hoof-and-mouth diseases decimated dairy herds.The drought was the catalyst for the single most enduring economic investment made by Manteca’s voters.Up until 1924, bonds to build the Melones Dam were soundly defeated.