e r s v i a n r y n C A e h l t ebrati 0 0 1 of eagle nest o dam and lake
n
By Yvonne O’Brien, Member, Friends of Eagle Nest Lake and Cimarron Canyon State Parks
Photo above: An evening view of Eagle Nest Dam and Lake just east of Eagle Nest. Photo by Yvonne O'Brien. Photos below: Construction of the dam began in the fall of 1916. Final inspection was made and certification granted on December 9, 1918. Photos courtesy of Ida Marie Hanson Trujillo.
E
agle Nest Dam and Lake are located in the Moreno Valley of New Mexico’s highest northern mountains. On June 30, 2018, a major celebration and rededication will take place to mark its 100th anniversary. Settlers for many years dreamed of impounding the Cimarron River surplus, which would also halt periodic disastrous floods downstream. It was in the early 1900s this dream became a reality when Frank and Charles Springer, both lawyers and landowners, provided the direction and money to enhance their mining and land interests by building a dam. In 1907, Frank Springer filed a construction application with the State of New Mexico, which was approved the following year by New Mexico’s Territorial Engineer, Vernon Sullivan. Permit 71 authorized both the construction of a dam and the downstream distribution system. Although Springer now worked in Washington, D.C., nearly all of his money flowed back to New Mexico to pay for the dam and land acquisition, which cost nearly $700,000. Thereupon, the prestigious dam engineering/ design firm of Bartlett and Ranney of San Antonio, Texas, was hired for the job and it assigned Neal Hanson as project engineer. His first job was to bring in many workers from afar, plus local miners, cowboys, and a large crew from the Taos Pueblo. …continued on page 17
12
JUNE 2018
enchantment.coop