THE PECOS VALLEY 



Immense Development Going on and More 

 Promised Through Reclamation Projects 



BY 



A. M. HOVE 



DECOS VALLEY, famed in song 

 and story, is meriting fame in 

 material progress as well. On all 

 sides the visitor sees marked evidence 

 of progress and development from 

 Roswell southward far into the Texas 

 part of the valley. 



Irrigation in the upper Valley is by 

 artesian wells or canals from tribu- 

 taries of Pecos River, while in the 

 lower valley the waters of the Pecos 

 itself are used exclusively. Near 

 Lakewood is McMillan reservoir, an 

 artificial lake of large dimensions, sup- 

 plying water to the fertile lands 

 around Carlsbad, Otis, Loving, and 

 Malaga. 



Carlsbad itself is a beauty spot. Its 

 convenience of location, its banking 

 and trading facilities, its exceptionally 

 good schools, its fine water and excel- 

 lent supply of corn, alfalfa and other 

 feedstuffs have attracted the stockmen 

 from far and near. They live in 

 Carlsbad and run their stuff, may be, 

 a hundred miles away on the plains. 



The superb climate, both summer 

 and winter, the moderate elevation, 

 3100 feet, and good hotel accommo- 

 dations make Carlsbad the Mecca of 

 the health seeker and the pleasure 

 seeker. 



Carlsbad has risen to the occasion 

 and the remarkable progress of the 

 past year is proof thereof. Substantial 

 business blocks and fine residences 

 have gone up. Streets have been 

 graded; sidewalks, as broad and 

 smooth as any city can boast of, have 

 gone in. Carlsbad is no longer a 



jumping off place just beyond no- 

 where. It is modern, metropolitan. 



The farming section extends for 

 many miles below Carlsbad. The soil 

 is fertile. It responds to modern 

 methods of cultivation like few soils. 

 Strong in the elements necessary for 

 plant food, all it needs is the directing 

 hand of intelligent man to produce 

 bounteous harvest of alfalfa, corn, 

 fruit anything that fancy may like 

 to plant suitable to the climate. 



This part of the valley is at present 

 receiving more than its share of atten- 

 tion from men who look into condi- 

 tions to determine what the future 

 may be. The Reclamation Service 

 has had a corps of engineers in the 

 field since last December looking into 

 the possibilities of a better and larger 

 irrigation system under government 

 control. B. M. Hall, Supervising En- 

 gineer of New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

 and West Texas, with headquarters at 

 Carlsbad, is directing the investiga- 

 tions. Thomas Means, soils expert, 

 has gone over the lands and deter- 

 mined the acreage of land suitable for 

 irrigation. H. A. Storrs, electrical en- 

 gineer, has made an estimate of the 

 probable amount of power that may 

 be developed at the various dams. J. 

 M. Giles, district hydrographer of the 

 Geological Survey for New Mexico, 

 Oklahoma, and West Texas, also has 

 his headquarters in Carlsbad. Be- 

 sides his regular assistant hydrogra- 

 phers other men connected with the 

 hydrographic work like C. E. Murphy, 

 Hydrographic Inspector, and M. O. 

 Leighton, Engineer Hydro-Economic 



