Natural Resources and Industries

The following are source documents which cover Natural Resources and Industries. They are intended to be used for teaching New Mexico history.

Elephant Butte Dam

  • Elephant Butte Dam - Building the Dam
    Photograph - US Reclamation Service?
    This photo shows the building the Elephant Butte Dam. The concrete structure was the largest irrigation system at the time (2.2 million acre feet).  The photo was taken in
  • Elephant Butte Dam - Completed Dam
    Photograph - US Geographic File
    This a picture of the Elephant Butte Dam. This concrete structure that is 301 feet high was the largest irrigation structure built at the
  • Elephant Butte Dam to be Dedicated October
    Newspaper Article - Roswell Daily Record
    This article documents the activities leading to the dedication of Elephant Butte Dam on October 14, 1916. The article provides some details of the dam and its

Discovery of Oil near Hobbs

Acequias at Statehood

  • ARTICLE XVI, Irrigation and Water Rights
    Primary Document - NM Constitution
    This article explains irrigation and water rights at statehood and has an added Section 5 to cover appeals. Section 5 was approved by the voters on November 7,
  • Digging a Ditch in Taos, NM
    Photograph - Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress
    Digging a ditch to catch the water from the melting snow. The aridity of this land and complete absence of water supply make such efforts necessary. Taos land use project, New Mexico. This photo was taken in 1936 as part of the Farm Security
  • El Cerrito - Aerial View
    Photograph - Library of Congress
    This is photograph of the town from above to show how the town was organized. Information, including photographs and drawings, were complied and done by the Historic American Engineering Record in 1975. The town is a small element in a great
  • La Bajada Community Acequia
    Drawing - Library of Congress
    This drawing is the overview of the La Bajada community water system. This drawing completed in 2011 and complied by Historic American Engineering Record. La Bajada village with its long lots and adjacent acequia is a typical example of a New
  • Main Irrigation Canal, Bosque Farms
    Photograph - Farm Security Administration Collection, Library of Congress
    This is a photo of the main irrigation canal in Bosque Farms, NM. This photo was taken by Arthur Rothstein in 1936. This photo is part of the Farm Security Administration Collection at the Library of
  • Protection of Community Acequias
    Primary Document - NM Legislature, H. B. 185
    The document is the Act for the Protection of Community Acequias that was passed in
  • Truchas Molino - Rodenzo
    Photograph - Library of Congress
    This is a photo of the rodenzo (the wheel) part of the Truchas Molino and thus the La Cienega Acequia. This information and subsequent drawings were complied and completed by the Historic American Engineering Record after 1968. The photograph was
  • Water for 4,000,000 Acres
    Newspaper Article - Ft. Sumner Review
    This is a period document that describes the water resources in New Mexico in

Films at Statehood

  • Local Items of Interest
    Newspaper Article - Farmington Enterprise
    This short article was included as part of Local Items of Interest. It explains the activities of an employee of the Biograph Company, which operated out of New York from 1895-1928. Films were produced in New Mexico before statehood by companies

High Tech

  • City takes aim at high tech lure
    Newspaper Article - Santa Fe New Mexican
    This article explains the conditions and problems of a city wishing to expand its industrial

Ranching

  • Land Act Meet Here on Sept. 14
    Newspaper Article - Albuquerque Journal
    This article deals with the Federal act that was passed in 1934. The act was prepared to prevent overgrazing on public lands being used as an open

Agriculture

  • Federal Official Grain Standards
    Newspaper Article - House Pioneer News
    This article describes the responsibility of the Secretary of Agriculture to establish grain standards for grain shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. The act was passed on August 11,

Mining

  • Off the Beaten Path
    Newspaper Article - Albuquerque Tribune
    This articles describes the details of the person, Paddy Martinez, who discovered Uranium in western Valencia County in

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