6 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ing of the severe task of reclaiming the desert, 

 and with the prosperity which follows bountiful 

 harvests, has come an appreciation of the value of 

 these beautiful lakes nearby. The summer pilgrimage 

 of vacationists, fishermen and seekers of health grows 

 each year. Hotels, villas and tent cities now dot the pic- 

 turesque shores and in the water are innumerable boats 

 of all descriptions. Many of these lakes are well stocked 

 with fish, and all are wild bird refuges. The highways 

 leading from the desert valleys to these resorts are excel- 

 lent and are 

 t r a v e rsed bv 

 thousands of au- 

 toists and camp 

 ers. 



Up to the 

 present time the 

 R e c 1 a mation 

 Service has con- 

 tributed 29 arti- 

 ficial lakes of 

 this kind. Its 

 structures on 14 

 natural lakes 

 have lessened 

 the fluctuations 

 of water levels 

 and rendered 

 these lakes more 

 useful for resort 

 purposes. 



First in com- 

 pletion and by 

 reason of the 

 wide publicity 

 which was given 

 to the great 

 work which 

 created it, prob- 

 ably the best 

 known of the 

 artificial lakes 

 of the service is 

 the Roosevelt 

 reservoir in Ari- 

 zona. This great 

 body of water 

 was impounded 

 by the construc- 

 t i o n of the 

 Roosevelt dam, 



LAKE McDONALD AND THE MISSION RANGE, FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION, MONTANA 



This emerald gem snuggles close to the beautiful Mission range with tiny glaciers clinging to their steep 

 slopes. Up to a very recent period the region has been quite inaccessible, and for that reason is but 

 little known. The development of a large irrigation project and the building of a railroad will make 

 this delightful section of Montana the summer playground for many people. The lake is utilized as a 

 storage reservoir for the irrigable lands in Flathead Valley, but care has been taken to preserve all its 

 natural charm and beauty. 



races. In the canons of the nearby mountains are the 

 homes of the cliff dwellers, concerning whose history we 

 know so little. 



The Forest Service is building trails to make accessi- 

 ble many of these ruins which, up to the present time, have 

 never been visited by the white man. 



The lake, now well stored with game fish, is a favorite 

 resort for the angler. Prosperity undreamed of before 

 the Government irrigation became a reality has rewarded 

 the dwellers in the desert valley below, and their appre- 

 ciation of this 

 beautiful inland 

 sea is evidenced 

 by a constant in- 

 crease in the 

 number of vis 

 itors each year. 

 Famous in the 

 engineering cir- 

 cles of the world 

 by reason of its 

 enormous c a- 

 pacity, is the 

 Elephant Butte 

 Rese r v o i r in 

 New Mexico. It 

 is the largest 

 storage b a sin 

 for irrigation in 

 the world. 

 Spread over 

 Connecticut, it 

 would cover the 

 entire state ten 

 inches deep. Lo- 

 cated in the Rio 

 Grande Valley 

 about 120 miles 

 north of El 

 Paso, this lake 

 is the only ex- 

 tensive body of 

 water between 

 Galveston and 

 Los Angeles. 

 Good auto roads 

 have been built 

 through the ir- 

 r i g a t ed vallev 

 lands and for 



an enormous structure of masonry 

 wedged in a narrow canon of Salt River, at a point just 

 below the confluence of Salt River and Tonto Creek 

 The dam, which is 280 feet high and 1,080 feet long on 

 top, floods a broad basin having an area of 25 square 

 miles. The lake lies in the heart of the Sierra Ancha 

 Mountains, in a region of wonderful coloring and beauty 

 It is one of the principal attractions on the famous 

 Apache Trail, which traverses a country rich in historical 

 interest and full of the crumbling ruins of vanished 



many miles the route is across the weird and mysterious 

 Jornado del Muerto, whose milestones are the bones of 

 the early Spaniards. The Journey of Death, as the first 

 white people called it, is now made in a few hours. 



Elephant Butte Dam is located in the canyon just be- 

 low the black basaltic butte from which it takes its name 

 It is one of the world's great structures, being 305 feet 

 high, and 1,400 feet long on top. The lake created by it 

 covers about 5 square miles, and is picturesquely set 

 among the hills and detached buttes which conspicuously 



