Show NEW MEXICO INDIANS PIONEER ORS clovis N M the white man was not tile the first to make use of at tho the gators odthe 0 the rio grande river for irrigation purposes john 0 prichard superintendent of the gran Qu Ivera ruins in con cen aral new mexico in a recent talk in clovis said li irrigation in the vicinity of elephant dutte butte reser reservoir Ir was waa begun by tho the indiana long before for the white man wandered up the rio orande grande through pas paa del norte el paso to jo settle what la Is now now new mexico the indians indiana constructed vast irrigation ditches over tho the area and had a system well established establish od by the time jime coronado and hla his men made their first appearance organized development of 0 the irrigation system however was first begun by the white man in 1893 by the rio brande arondo dam international irrigation company organized ln england by nathan doyd boyd and capitalized at five million dollars actual construction was begun in february 1895 legal entanglements entangle ments brought an end to that work in 1896 and little was waa done until the federal government stepped in n and bu built I 1 t the h 0 p present res elephant butte dat dam A w water ater treaty was made with mexico alerico in 1906 and work on the dam kas aa under way by march 1911 the project was completed in 1916 the dam which crates the largest agest artificial body of water in tile the united states Is feet high the iho reservoir which covers acrea hm a capacity of 0 acro feet territory served by it includes acres in now new mex ico cres crea in texas and acres in maxlea it gets its name of elephant butte from an old volcano crater which watch tormy forma an island in the middle of the lake the crater resembles an elephant head |