Field Station Lake Dam and Spillway, East side of 34th Street, east of intersection with Quail Drive, Woodward

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OK-8. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Field Station Lake Dam and Spillway is alongside the east side of Street, east of its intersection with Quail Drive in Woodward within Woodward County, Oklahoma. It interrupts the flow of Spring Creek to create Field Station Lake. The facility is located at latitude: longitude: The coordinate represents the center of the dam. This coordinate was obtained on November 30, using Google Earth. The coordinate s datum is North American Datum The location has no restriction on its release to the public.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OK-8. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Field Station Lake Dam and Spillway were constructed between and by the United States Department of Agriculture Bureau of Plant Industry. The dam is part of the development of irrigation systems to foster the growth of experimental crops amid the ecological devastation of the The dam is one of a small number of examples of the built history of irrigation dams in this region of Oklahoma during this time. Historian(s): Sean Fallon, MA, Thomas Carr, ABD, Daniel Gilbert, MA, Pinyon Environmental, Inc.

Project The Field Station Lake Dam and Spillway project was undertaken Information: by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) - Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to mitigate for adverse effects under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), 16 United States Code to the Field Station Lake Dam as a result of proposed rehabilitation to the structure. The structure was classified as a high hazard due to the potential for damage to areas downstream of the dam, including loss of life, should the dam breach. The adverse effect is the result of bringing the dam up to current safety standards, including the installation of a new reinforced concrete principal spillway conduit and a concrete baffle topped drop riser.

FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 2) Part I. Historical Information A. Physical History: 1. Dates of Construction: 2. Engineer: Engineered by the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering under the United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry. 3. Builder / Contractor: Not Determined1 4. Original Plans: One set of original plans, one topography and drainage map, one soil survey, one land use map, and one land survey are on file at the Southern Plains Range Research Station in Woodward, Oklahoma. Additional plan sets may be available at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), specifically Records of the Southern Great Plains Region (Region 6).

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, NARA is closed to the public and unable to attend to research requests at the time of this report. The United States Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District Records Offices, Oklahoma State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), and National Park Service were also queried for any available information regarding the structure. No additional information was available at these repositories. The earliest plan set is dated November 18, and shows the dam and components in typical sections on blueprints. The blueprints contain section and plan views for Section and and include notes such as Disturb earth as little as possible here. Pour concrete against face of trench.

Section and elevation drawings are provided for the Gate Tower, including specifications for a Hardesty type A lift 24 wheel or equal at the top connected to a Hardesty Model 190 Gate 12 diameter or equal, and Hardesty Patent semi-adjustable stem guards or equal. The Hardesty Manufacturing Company in Denver, Colorado was a primary supplier of steel and iron irrigation supplies in the early-to-mid-twentieth century.2 The plan set depicts the profile of the dam (Line A-A) as an earthen embankment approximately 950 in length. The dam embankment has a maximum height of 35 and the crest width of the dam embankment is approximately 12 .

The upstream slope of the embankment is and the downstream slope of the embankment is The principal spillway consists of a concrete drop box which controls water flow into a 12 outlet. The pipe outlets through a concrete auxiliary spillway control structure. The auxiliary spillway has a 1 Records have been requested from the Fort Worth National Archives and Records Administration, which contains Soil Conservation Service and CCC records for the Southern Great Plains Field Station. The request is in a very lengthy queue. Due to current COVID 19 restrictions, public researchers are not permitted in the archives.

2 Michael Holleran, Historic Context for Irrigation and Water Supply: Ditches and Canals in Colorado (Denver: Colorado Center for Preservation Research, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 3) 175 wide inlet channel. The control section of the spillway is a concrete drop structure, semi-circular in plan with a maximum height of approximately 26 . The next available plan set is a topography and drainage map dated January The map depicts the general topography of the proposed irrigation reservation and water flow of Spring Creek. The next available plans provide a soil survey dated March 13, The soil survey depicts the general topography and soil makeup.

The map includes illegible handwritten notes, likely noting the different soil types throughout the field station property. The next available documentation is a land use map of the field station property dated to April Not only does the map depict parcels, but also depicts the land use of the field station, including species cultivated (most commonly sorghum), number of acres of each field and pasture, as well as building footprints and dimensions. The most recent documentation available is a land survey dated December 21, The survey map depicts the general topography and ground cover, but primarily notes the location of utility lines and roads. 5. Alterations and Additions: No reported or observed alterations or additions are present at the Field Station Lake Dam.

An inspection of the dam was performed in November The inspection reported that the geometry and configuration of the dam components, including the outlet structure and embankment, were consistent with the design drawings described above. Some components of the impoundment structure were reportedly in poor condition and showings signs of significant erosion.3 This indicates the Field Station Lake Dam has not undergone alterations or additions. B. Historical Context: President Thomas Jefferson once referred to the southern Great Plains as an immense and trackless desert.4 Passing away in the man behind the Louisiana Purchase would not live to see this immense frontier transform from desert into the breadbasket of the United States.

The environmental historian Donald Worster came closer, describing the southern Great Plains as a having a vast austerity, containing within it much of the nation s history.5 Encompassing more than 100 million acres sprawling across five states, the region is indeed vast and beneath the austere fa ade is an environment teeming with life. Short grasses such as buffalograss, Buchloe dactyloides, and blue grama, Bouteloua gracilis, supported a diverse array of animal life, including mule deer, pronghorn, as well as the legendary and once nearly extinct American bison.

Long before French fur trappers and traders worked their way up the Missouri, Arkansas, and Red Rivers, before the bison had 3 Schnabel Engineering, Investigative Study and Evaluation of Field Station Lake Dam, United States Department of Agriculture, Southern Plains Range Research Station, Woodward, Oklahoma. June 30, 4 Alfred B. Sears, The Desert Threat in the Southern Great Plains: The Historical Implications of Soil Erosion, Agricultural History, Vol. 15, No. 1 (January 2. 5 Donald Worster, Dust Bowl, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1.

FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 4) been scattered this way and that by railroads and other aspects of expanding United States dominance, Native Americans had persisted on the southern Great Plains in low densities for a millennium. The tribes and vast trade networks that had been established over time in the southern Great Plains belied the notion that the region was a desert devoid of life. Nonetheless the perception persisted in the broader United States psyche for generations.

Over time, however, the perception would change, and the southern Great Plains would become, at least for a time, some of the most coveted land on planet earth.6 A nationally recognized policy of Native American removal was adopted in the United States beginning in The federal government at first asked for Cherokee volunteers in the southeastern United States to abandon their territory in exchange for land grants in Arkansas. In the Cherokee were once more pressured to take up lands in the northeast portions of federally designated Indian Territory, predominantly in present-day Oklahoma. There was an understanding that through treaty, future encirclement by United States settlement would be prevented by maintaining a perpetual corridor to the western territories.

Ratified in March the Treaty of New Echota established the terms upon which the Cherokee Nation would cede territory in the southeastern United States and relocate to federally designated Indian Territory. The Act effectively provided the legal framework for the forced removal of Eastern Cherokees, but also granted right of access to the West via a corridor land whose boundaries had been established via the Adams- Onis Treaty. The Cherokee Outlet, as it became known, was a strip of 6.5 million acres of good grassland in what would become northern Oklahoma, including present day Woodward County. By it was well-understood that the Outlet was only sporadically used for hunting purposes, as originally intended by the U.S. government.

Exhibiting a fundamental misunderstanding of traditional land use practices, it seemed self-evident to cattlemen and farmers from outside of local Native American cultures that the land was being underutilized. In the subsequent decades, the Outlet would become a heated topic among cattlemen and farmers, the U.S. Army, Indian agents, land speculators, and the Cherokee Nation.7 By the the once-prolific fur trade was beginning to fade, and the trading posts and military forts established in the preceding decades served as a foothold for the relentless push of new settlers deeper into the parts of the United States where the country s influence had been relatively light.

The discovery of gold in California in served as a significant catalyst for the mass migration of eastern populations westward, exposing hundreds of thousands to the southern Great Plains. Compounding the movement of people, ten years later in gold was discovered in the Colorado Territory. It seemed inevitable to many in the United States that the future of the country lay to the West. However, many would- be pioneers quickly discovered life in a mining camp as dirty, cramped, and often punctuated by alcohol-induced lawlessness. Alternatively, farming and ranching proved a quieter though no less difficult or dangerous lifestyle.

It did not take long for it to be proven that with adequate water and a little hard work practically every part of the southern Great 6 Worster, Dust Bowl, (New York: Oxford University Press, 81 2. 7 Savage, The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, 17. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 5) Plains could be profitably farmed and/or ranched. For a variety of reasons, the effort to permanently settle the southern Great Plains would not begin in earnest until the passage of the Homestead Act in During the United States Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law.

The Homestead Act guaranteed one quarter section of unappropriated public land to heads of families who have never borne arms against the United States Government or given aid to its enemies, facilitating the movement of millions west.9 In an obvious gesture of goodwill to the Union faithful, and a more subtle move to undermine slavery in the United States, the Homestead Act granted United States citizens up to 160 acres of public land provided they live on it, improve it, and pay a small registration fee.

This transformative legislation served the dual purpose of creating the legal groundwork for Jefferson s yeoman vision for the republic and facilitating the movement of residents without a stake in slavery west with the purpose of tipping the federal balance of power against slavery.10 As early as the the area that would become Woodward County had been integrated into a well-used military transportation corridor. Fort (Camp) Supply was established along the route in approximately fourteen miles north of present-day Woodward, Oklahoma. The fort was heavily utilized for the U.S. Cavalry s campaigns against the Cheyenne and served as the muster location for George Custer s infamous raid of Chief Black Kettle s camp on the Washita River.

Fort Supply remained a permanent fixture along the route because of its commercially strategic location at the confluence of Union Creek and the Cimarron River. The corridor slowly transitioned from serving primarily a military purpose into a route for trade and commerce. From onward through the massive herds of cattle passed through the southwestern corner of Woodward County on a route known as the Great Western Trail, snaking its way north from Texas to Kansas.11 The relocated Cherokee Nation had in the Cherokee Outlet, a territory created in a potential revenue stream through taxes and grazing leases to United States cattle operations.

While some cattlemen successfully negotiated their leases directly with the Cherokee Nation and paid their due taxes, enough United States cattlemen flouted the imposed regulations and freely mixed their untaxed cattle with other herds to cause confusion and make it generally impossible to track delinquency or even properly collect fees.12 This proved disadvantageous for both legitimate cattle operations as well as the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association was formed to combat the issues arising in the Outlet. Formed March 7, primarily by Kansas cattlemen, the Cherokee Live Stock Association was designed to regulate cattle drives, provide a record 8 William W.

Savage, The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association: Federal Regulation and the Cattleman's Last Frontier (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 17. 9 Act of May 20, (Homestead Act), Public Law 37 64, Record Group 11; General Records of the United States Government; National Archives. 10 Savage, The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, 11 Ibid., 8. 12 Ibid., 17. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 6) of members and their associated cattle brands, and to also resolve the ceaseless issue of stray cattle.

Understandably, the association found a strong partner in the Cherokee Nation and the legitimate cattle operations working the Outlet, but the organization was strongly opposed by homesteaders who routinely competed against free-range cattle for land.13 Historians have noted that once the Indians and bison were out of the way, the cattlemen had come in [to the southern Great Plains], seeking to exploit the vast region s seeming excess of excellent grazeland.14 Requiring fifty acres a head to properly finish a steer, the cattle operations of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas were as vast the environment they were located in. Oblivious to the delicate ecological balance being upended beneath their immense herds, cattlemen pushed the land far beyond carrying capacity.

In a dramatic foreshadowing of events to come, an unusually bitter winter in wreaked havoc on the short grasses already straining from poor rangeland management practices. The loss of forage devastated western cattle herds, with losses upwards of 85 percent.15 Compounding the mounting issues for free-range cattle operations was the coming of the railroad and the passage of the Dawes Act. Between and the Southern Kansas Railway constructed a line southwest from Kiowa, Kansas, through the Woodward, Oklahoma region and into Texas, seeking to capitalize on the lucrative cattle market. The town of Woodward emerged at the crossroads of a spur of the old military road and the newly laid rail line, just to the east of the Great Western Trail.

A station house and numerous depot buildings were hastily constructed, and soon a store was also erected.16 The small settlement naturally attracted the attention of the regional ranchers and farmers looking to export their goods more easily and to a wider market and expanded quickly. The rail line was later purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad and a second line came soon thereafter, permanently connecting this once far-flung corner of the United States to regional and national markets.

Putting additional pressure on the teetering cattle operation was the passage of the Dawes Act in The Act allowed for the federal government to break up some tribal lands into allotment divisions of 160 or 320 acres.17 With the tremendous losses of cattle, along with the passage of the Dawes Act, the parceling of land and advances in barbed wire technology, as well as the ability to transport livestock via rail, cattle leases in the Outlet were dramatically reduced. Facing mounting economic problems, the Cherokee Nation sold the Outlet to the United States in Two years later the Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association was dissolved.18 At noon on Saturday, September 16, the Cherokee Outlet opened to settlement with 13 Savage, The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, 17.

14 Worster, Dust Bowl, 82 83. 15 Ibid., 83. 16 Architectural/Historic Reconnaissance Level Survey of Certain Portions of the City of Woodward, Pt. 1, Pt. 2, 17 An Act to Provide for the Allotment of Lands in Severalty to Indians on the Various Reservations (General Allotment Act or Dawes Act), Statutes at Large 24, 388 91, NADP Document A1887. 18 Savage, The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association, 67. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 7) a land run.19 Woodward County was established, initially called County N, and the small settlement of Woodward was named the county seat of government. In the county took the town's name through a vote. Settlement of the area progressed in dramatic fashion.

By almost all land in the Outlet had been claimed.20 With Oklahoma statehood coming in and the passing of the Enlarged Homestead Act the southern Great Plains region looked extremely different than it had in By the number of individual farms in the State of Oklahoma grew to a staggering making the territory one of the most rapidly settled agricultural frontiers in United States history a far cry from the trackless desert the area was once described as.21 Farmers found the southern Great Plains region suitable for an array of crops, including cotton, corn, and various wheat species.

By there were farms in Woodward County, occupying approximately 92 percent of the land.22 Broomcorn was a favored utility crop among Woodward s earliest farmers, and the region would eventually support several broom factories.23 The farming system on most farms was built around raising livestock and dairying.24 Of all crops, though, it was wheat that formed the bulk of agricultural production in Woodward County prior to In wheat occupied about 50 percent of all land in cultivation with grain sorghums, forage grass and cotton making up the majority of what remained.25 At peak production, Woodward County farmers harvested an impressive 1.2 million bushels on acres.26 To achieve these significant yields, agricultural practices at the time emphasized resource extraction while doing little to rehabilitate heavily utilized fields and pastures.

The emphasis on monocropping raised serious concerns, both financially for tenant farmers taking on large amounts of credit, and ecologically for the immense stress and vulnerability it created within the grassland ecosystem. Great Plains Field Station (Southern Plains Range Research Station) if crops grew here, they would grow anywhere Ellery Chilcott, To aid homesteaders struggling both financially and to effectively work their land, agencies like the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) worked with local representatives and agricultural committees to establish science-based institutions to both conduct agriculture research and provide education and other resources for local farmers. One such institution is the Great Plains Field Station, established in in Woodward, Oklahoma.

The Great Plains Field Station was established primarily through the efforts of 19 Ibid. 20 Paul Roland, "Home on the Range: The Impact of the Cattle Trails on Indian Territory," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History 8, no. 2 65. 21 Dianna Everett, Woodward County, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. 22 E. G. Fitzpatrick & W. C. Boatright, Soil Survey of Woodward County, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, Series No. 28 (June 7. 23 Dianna Everett, Woodward County, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. 24 E. G. Fitzpatrick & W. C. Boatright, Soil Survey of Woodward County, Oklahoma, 4 8. 25 Ibid.

26 Dianna Everett, Woodward County, The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 8) Senator Thomas P. Gore. Elected as one of Oklahoma s first two senators, Gore had long been involved with the Southern Farmer s Alliance and upon election to the senate was chosen as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture. As chairman, Gore worked with Woodward County commissioners to select an uninspiring 160-acre tract of land west of the small town of Woodward, Oklahoma for an experimental farm. The site was chosen specifically for its relatively poor quality of soil and lack of trees.

Research at the station would emphasize specialized plant breeding, more efficient methods of cultivation to prevent soil erosion, and the rotation of crops to improve yields and sustain soil health. A general office building, horse barn, and multiple residences were constructed in and after a year of preparation the first wheat, sorghum and broomcorn crops went into the ground.27 In the following six years, the first superintendent of the field station, Ellery Franklin Chilcott, would make significant additions to the station s staff. The next year, in John Sieglinger was recruited to the station to head up the research of sorghum. In Lowell Locke joined the staff as a horticulturalist, and Joseph Bransom was brought on as Assistant Manager.

That same year an area farmer who had been involved with the station since its inception, Everett Smith also joined the small team as a general laborer.28 Under the direction of superintendent Chilcott, the field station oversaw the successful propagation of numerous varieties crops, but especially that of sorghum after the arrival of Mr. Sieglinger.29 In it was observed that the station likely housed more varieties of kaffirs, milos, and broomcorns than anywhere else in the world.30 Due to not only the success of the field station in promoting vigorous agriculture production, but also because of the beautiful and well-kept grounds of the station, the station came to feature prominently in the Woodward community.

Well-attended Field Days were organized, typically in the fall, where farmers and others in agri-business would come to hear lectures, explore the grounds, and generally share in the camaraderie. Chilcott believed deeply in promoting the aesthetic qualities of a farm and fostering a diversity of plant life. As a result, by the field station hosted more than fifty species of shade and ornamental trees, numerous shrubs and bushes, peaches, apples, plums, apricots, pears and even 120 different varieties of grapes.31 In Congress appropriated monies for the Great Plains Field Station to establish a dairy herd but neglected funds for the construction of the necessary buildings and structures.

After much back and forth between the federal government, local entities and adjacent property owners, the station was expanded to the east and money was secured for the construction of a dairy barn, stock barn, milk house, a hollow-tile silo, a pit silo as well as a modest residence for the dairy herdsman.32 By all measures the Great Plains Field Station achieved wonders in science-based agriculture, supplying farmers of 27 Louise B. James, Jujubes, Grapes & Grass: The USDA Research Station at Woodward, Oklahoma, Chronicles of Oklahoma 65, no. 4 (Winter 28 James, Jujubes, Grapes & Grass, 29 Sandra DeChard & Ellen Brady, Phase I Architectural Survey of the Field Station Lake Dam, Woodward County, Oklahoma 30 James, Jujubes, Grapes & Grass, 31 Ibid.

32 Ibid., FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 9) the region not only with robust crop species well-suited for the western Oklahoma climate, but also with knowledge on how to maximize yields without exhausting the soil. The late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries saw myriad factors coalescing to create the right conditions for one of the worst environmental disasters in American history. The suppression of grassland wildfires, the indiscriminate plowing of the land and monocropping of fields, as well as the poor management of grazing by domesticated animals left most of the plains topsoil dangerously exposed to wind erosion.

In Woodward County, drought resistant native grasses and shrubs had all but been plowed under to make way for the mass production of wheat, broomcorn, and sorghum. Buoyed by a heady sense of invulnerability from the United States newly elevated position following World War I and the subsequent economic boom of the many farmers had dramatically overextended themselves and overworked their land.33 By the spring of more than three million men and women were without work following the economic crash the preceding fall. By that number would balloon to 12 million.34 Amid the burgeoning economic crisis, drought conditions crept onto the plains. In twelve states quietly declared drought conditions after reporting record low rainfall.

However, by much of the country, from Montana and the Dakotas south to Texas had become as arid as any desert. In fact, between and only two states in the Union would escape having to report drought conditions Maine and Vermont.35 Farmers could only watch helplessly as the once fertile earth became scorched and lifeless. Losses were nothing short of devastating. In alone farm losses totaled more than the entirety of what the United States had spent during World War I.

By farm losses were exceeding $25 million per day and more than two million farmers, once the symbol of United States independence and resiliency, were drawing relief checks from the federal government.36 The Great Plains Field Station twice faced closure, most notably in As part of recovery efforts outlined by newly proposed New Deal programs, the Great Plains Field Station was excluded from the federal budget. In fact, all experimental field stations had been excluded from the budget, sparking widespread protests from farmers, ranchers, and local chambers of commerce. The protests drew so much attention that Congress actually appropriated additional funds to dramatically expand the Great Plains Field Station in both size and scope.

Other programs like the Soil Erosion Service, later Soil Conservation Service and currently the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Prairie States Forestry Project organized under the New Deal provided much needed support to the field station and area farmers, often putting the latter to work 33 Worster, Dust Bowl, 89. 34 Ibid., 10. 35 Ibid., 11. 36 Ibid., 12. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 10) at the former.37 Chilcott s affinity for ornamental trees proved fortuitous for the station, which beginning in began to examine how windbreaks and shelterbelts could be utilized to prevent soil erosion. Forestry nurseryman Earnest W.

Johnson was transferred to the Woodward Field Station from Fort Hays, Kansas in and with the help of Locke established new greenhouses in Furthermore, lobbying efforts by supporters of the Woodward Field Station in Washington resulted in obtaining funds for grass breeding and regrassing experiments which also began in earnest in Agronomist David A. Savage, who also relocated to Woodward from Fort Hays, Kansas, pioneered reclamation methods at the Woodward experimental station that would prove critical to the conservation efforts underway. Savage s methods would be utilized to reclaim millions of acres for grazing in the Southern Great Plains. The ongoing success of the experimental station in the face of disaster led to a dramatic expansion of the facility.

In Congress authorized the purchase of a 480-acre parcel for the purpose of expanding grass experimentation. Part of the expansion included plans for a dam constructed on Spring Creek, which ran through the newly added tract of land.40 Field Station Lake Dam Two significant water impoundment structures were constructed in Woodward County during the one at Fort Supply on Wolf Creek and another at Woodward on Spring Creek.

Plans for a dam on Spring Creek had been drawn as early as but construction would not begin until the latter part of The Field Station Lake Dam, on Spring Creek was a much smaller water impoundment designed for a different purpose than the Fort Supply Dam, primarily to aid the field station in furthering research related to irrigation.41 At about the same time, construction began on the Fort Supply Dam northwest of Woodward. The Fort Supply Dam was a larger project in scope and scale overseen by the Little Rock, Arkansas, District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The USACE s design called for a primary embankment structure stretching more than two miles long and 85 tall.42 The massive structure attracted significant regional attention and tall observation towers were constructed for the public to view progress.43 Understandably, 37 DeChard & Brady, Phase I Architectural Survey of the Field Station Lake Dam, Woodward County, Oklahoma, 38 Ibid. 39 James, Jujubes, Grapes & Grass, 40 Ibid. 41 Schnabel Engineering, Investigative Study and Evaluation of Field Station Lake Dam, United States Department of Agriculture, Southern Plains Range Research Station, Woodward, Oklahoma 42 United States Army Corps of Engineers. Fort Supply Lake. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District Website, USACE, District Lakes/Oklahoma/Fort Supply Lake/Pertinent Data/.

Accessed May 7, 43 USACE, Fort Supply Lake. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District Website. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 11) a significant labor force was required for this undertaking. The Woodward County Journal reported that by the end of more than 500 men were working on the project, enough to put a strain on the local housing market.44 Some of the Fort Supply work crews may have also been utilized in the construction of Field Station Lake Dam.

Census records for Woodward County from indicate almost forty individuals who may have been employed in dam construction, including general laborers, concrete finishers, drivers, engineers, guards and more.45 The initial plans for the Field Station Lake Dam were developed by the newly created USDA Bureau of Agricultural Engineering s Division of Irrigation.46 The Bureau of Agricultural Engineering was created within the USDA on July 1, by Secretary's Memo in accordance with the Agricultural Appropriation Act for Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace stated that the new Bureau was responsible for agricultural engineering functions related to irrigation as originally authorized in Prior to issuance of Memo irrigation work had been performed by the Office of Experiment Stations and had moved through several reorganizations until landing in BAE s Division of Engineering.47 The core purpose of the newly created Bureau of Agricultural Engineering was to conduct research on the principles of civil and mechanical engineering in the areas of irrigation, drainage, and farm structures and machinery.48 The Field Station Lake Dam is emblematic of the size and scale of projects undertaken by both the USDA s Bureau of Agricultural Engineering and the Bureau of Chemistry of Soils, along with state experiment stations as part of the national effort of soil rehabilitation.

In the Bureau's construction and hydrological work were transferred to another new agency at USDA, the Soil Conservation Service while other functions were directed to the Bureau of Plant Industry.49 The SCS s approach to soil conservation called for tailoring conservation solutions to fit the land. Under the leadership of Hugh Hammond Bennett, the SCS advocated for a whole- watershed approach that treated every field in a selected watershed according to its unique needs (soil type, slope, climate, etc.) Moreover, Bennett advocated conservation planning that deployed a tailored and interdisciplinary toolbox of conservation solutions ranging from engineering to agronomic and cultural adaptations.

Originally created in as a temporary, emergency agency in the Department of Interior called the Soil Erosion Service (SES), the Soil Conservation Service was transferred to the Department of Agriculture and 44 Woodward County Journal, and James, DeChard & Brady, Phase I Architectural Survey of the Field Station Lake Dam, Woodward County, Oklahoma, 45 Census, Woodward, Oklahoma, Enumeration District: 77 23A. 46 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Southern Great Plains Field Station Plans, Prepared by Bureau of Agricultural Engineering, Irrigation Reservoir. Sheets 1 to 4. November 18, 47 Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. National Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, fed records/groups/008.html.

Accessed May 7, 48 Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. National Archives and Records Administration. 49 Ibid. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 12) became a permanent agency in The SES and early SCS established demonstration projects near existing erosion experiment stations to test new techniques and demonstrate the effectiveness of conservation agriculture. These demonstration projects aimed to show neighboring farmers the benefits of installing conservation measures on the land by treating as many farms as possible in a selected watershed. As part of this demonstration and research work, the SES and early SCS also built small dams in the upper reaches of project watersheds to help store sediment, slow erosion, and prevent flooding.

Additionally, the SCS conducted flood surveys in order to devise framework plans for the purpose of flood control and irrigation impoundment projects.50 The SCS also provided oversight for the Civilian Conservation Corps work camps that often provided the labor for SCS projects. By the SCS was operating close to 500 CCC work camps throughout the nation, including Company just northeast of Woodward.51 The camp operated at what is now Boiling Springs State Park from to providing work and shelter to some 200 men. By the end of construction of the dam fell under the purview of the SCS due to the reordering of the administrative hierarchy within the Department of Agriculture.

Due to SCS ownership of the project, laborers from CCC Company may have been leveraged for construction in The dam was initially designed to impound up to fifty acres of water, creating Field Station Lake. The lake was created for the purpose of providing water to the field station, but quickly became an attraction to Woodward residents who suddenly found themselves with a new recreational opportunity fishing. The Oklahoma Fish and Game Department first stocked Field Station Lake in The fishing was reportedly quite good until the lake was drained and seined in The lake was restocked and remained a popular destination for locals until when the quality of fishing declined dramatically.52 In a survey of the lake found it was overpopulated with crappie, carp, and large-mouth bass.

Various measures, including poison, were implemented to bring the population in line.53 Sadly, the Great Plains Field Station s longtime superintendent Ellery Chilcott was killed in in an automobile accident. Lowell Locke took over as the acting superintendent of the station, a role in which he would serve until when David Savage assumed the role. Field Days continued to serve a prominent role with Savage in charge of the station, though the annual event was cancelled in because of a devastating tornado that rocked Woodward. It was cancelled again in due to the Korean War, but the station nonetheless continued to serve as an important hub in the community.

As the area recovered from the Dust Bowl, due in no small part to the pioneering work that had been 50 Eugene Buie, A History of Water Resource Activities of the United States Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service 7 8. 51 Buie, A History of Water Resource Activities of the United States Department of Agriculture, 7 8. 52 Woodward County Republican, Investigation of Field Station Lake, March 20, 53 Woodward County Republican, Investigation of Field Station Lake, March 27, FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 13) undertaken at the Great Plains Field Station, the station s attention shifted to meet the demands of a post-war boom.

Cattle production would become the primary focus of the station.54 In Pat McIlvain was named station s superintendent. Under his direction the station began to focus on range management. In two of the station s earliest and most significant researchers Locke and Johnson both retired. With their retirement all fruit, vegetable, flower, and shrub research ended. During this transitory period, the station faced its second closure due to budgetary cuts. In the United States Department of Agriculture announced the station would be closed, but, in similar fashion to protests were organized by the Oklahoma Cattleman s Association and Oklahoma State University which generated enough social and political pressure to save the station. Dr.

Phillip Sis was named as the new superintendent in and the station took on its current name the Southern Plains Range Research Station in The new goal of the station would be to increase red meat production from rangeland consistent with the perpetuation of rangeland resources.55 The station continues this tradition today. With the stated mission to develop and transfer sustainable forage and livestock production practices based on fundamental ecological principles to enhance Southern Plains rangeland and pastureland the station continues to function as an integral part of the USDA s broader resource management goals. 54 James, Jujubes, Grapes & Grass, 55 Ibid., FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 14) Part II. Structural / Design Information A. General Statement: 1.

Character: The ARS Field Station Lake Dam is a typical rolled fill embankment dam of medium size representing standard civil engineering practices of its time. The design and placement of its spillway were dictated by the contours of the site, and it is largely indistinguishable from thousands of dams of similar design, material, and construction located throughout the United States. 2. Condition of Fabric: The ARS Field Station Lake Dam and associated features are in fair to poor condition. The upstream slope and narrow crest of the embankment exhibit signs of instability and breaching as a result of wave action. The primary spillway inlet has gradually accumulated large amounts of soil which has buried the spillway to the point where it is no longer functional.

Dense vegetation overgrowth is present on the embankment and in the auxiliary spillway inlet channel. The concrete forming the auxiliary spillway control section has deteriorated to the point of damaging the spillway and there is no means to effectively lower the lake in the event of a dam safety emergency.56 B. Description: The ARS Field Station Lake Dam is a rolled, earth-filled embankment dam forming Field Station Lake by blocking the channel of Spring Creek, a tributary of the North Canadian River. The dam has a maximum structural height of 35 . Its crest is 12 wide and lies at an average elevation of . Counting abutments and spillway, the entire site is about 950 long.

The dam s upstream slope is and the downstream slope of the embankment is The principal spillway consists of a concrete drop box which controls water flow into a 12 outlet. The pipe outlets through a concrete auxiliary spillway control structure. The auxiliary spillway has a 175 wide inlet channel with a trapezoidal cross-section. The control section of the spillway is a concrete drop structure, semi-circular in plan with a maximum height of approximately 26 . The weir has a curved crest and a concrete approach slab with sloped training walls on both sides of the approach channel. The only outlet works for the dam consists of an 8 pipe located in a 3 square foot concrete carrier conduit.

According to the Soil Mechanics Report for the facility, the dam embankment is constructed on alluvial sand, silt, and clay overlying weathered bedrock. As a guard against erosion, the dam s upstream slope is faced in Class A and C riprap from the dam s crest down to a supporting berm below water level. Additional riprap extends 7 from the base on the downstream face. 56 Schnabel Engineering, Investigative Study and Evaluation of Field Station Lake Dam, United States Department of Agriculture, Southern Plains Range Research Station, Woodward, Oklahoma FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 15) C. Operation: ARS Field Station Lake Dam impounds water by blocking the natural course of Spring Creek.

To prevent the level of the impounded water from reaching and overtopping the crest of the dam which would likely cause failure of the embankment a spillway is provided whose crest is lower than the dam s crest. The dam has only one operational feature, the auxiliary spillway control structure which allows the lake surface to be lowered below the level of the weir crest for dam maintenance. The control section of the spillway is a concrete drop structure, semi-circular in plan with a maximum height of approximately 26 . The weir has a curved crest and a concrete approach slab with sloped training walls on both sides of the approach channel. The only outlet works for the dam consists of an 8 pipe located in a 3 square foot concrete carrier conduit.

The dam currently has no drawdown facility for lowering the level of the lake in the event of a dam safety emergency. D. Site Information: ARS Field Station Lake covers approximately 31 acres. According to the Investigative Study of the field station conducted by Schnabel Engineering for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) the normal storage capacity is 232 acre-feet (measured with the water level at the elevation of the auxiliary spillway crest). Its maximum capacity is 803 acre-feet with the water level at the crest of the dam.

Historical aerial photographs in the Environmental Assessment of the dam show the lake and dam at various points from to Sometime between and a small recreational dock and accompanying parking lot were constructed on the west side of the lake, to the south of the spillway structure. Alongside these minor changes in recreational facilities, the period from to saw a considerable increase in residential structures to the west and south of the lake and dam. That said, the historic viewshed of the ARS Field Station Lake Dam remains rural and the ARS management practices over time have greatly increased the proportion of trees within the landscape. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 16) Part III. Sources of Information A. Primary

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER OK-8. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Investigation of Field Station Lake. Woodward County Republican, March 20, Investigation of Field Station Lake. Woodward County Republican, March 27, Oklahoma. Woodward County. U.S. census, population schedule. Database with images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com: Sears, Alfred B. The Desert Threat in the Southern Great Plains: The Historical Implications of Soil Erosion. Agricultural History 15, no. 1 U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. Soil Survey of Woodward County, Oklahoma, by E. G. Fitzpatrick & W. C. Boatright. Series June U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. Dam Site on Spring Creek. January U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. Southern Great Plains Field Station Plans: Irrigation Reservoir. Sheets 1 to 4. November 18, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. Southern Great Plains Field Station, Woodward County Soil Conservation District, Woodward, Oklahoma. March 13, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Land Survey: U.S. Southern Great Plains Field Station. Woodward, Oklahoma. December 21, B. Secondary Everett, Dianna. Woodward County. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. Holleran, Michael. Historic Context for Irrigation and Water Supply: Ditches and Canals in Colorado.

Denver: Colorado Center for Preservation Research, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, James, Louise B. Jujubes, Grapes & Grass: The USDA Research Station at Woodward, Oklahoma, Chronicles of Oklahoma 65, no. 4 (Winter 79. FIELD STATION LAKE DAM AND SPILLWAY HAER OK-8 (Page 17) National Archives and Records Administration. Records of the Bureau of Agricultural Engineering. Accessed May 7, Oklahoma Historic Preservation Society. Final Survey Report: Architectural/Historic Reconnaissance Level Survey of Certain Portions of the City of Woodward, 40- Rainey, George. The Cherokee Strip. Guthrie, Oklahoma: Co-operative Publishing Co., Roland, Paul "Home on the Range: The Impact of the Cattle Trails on Indian Territory," Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History 8, no.

2 Savage, William W. Jr. The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association: Federal Regulation and the Cattleman's Last Frontier. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Fort Supply Lake. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Tulsa District Website, USACE, Accessed May 7, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service. ARS Field Station Lake Dam Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment. by Valerie Glasgow, et al. December U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service. A History of Water Resource Activities of the United States Department of Agriculture, by Eugene Buie. September U.S. Department of Agriculture, Southern Plains Range Research Station., Investigative Study and Evaluation of Field Station Lake Dam, by Schnabel Engineering.

June 30, Worster, Donald. Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the New York: Oxford University Press, C. Likely Sources Not Yet Investigated Records have been requested from the Fort Worth National Archives and Records Administration, which contains Soil Conservation Service and CCC records for the Southern Great Plains Field Station. The request is in a very lengthy queue. Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, public researchers are not permitted in the archives.

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