Bartlett Dam UC 4

On March 4, 1938 this photo was taken at Bartlett Dam on the Verde River near Phoenix, Arizona, then under construction by USBR. At that time, 77,000 sec. ft. of water was rushing down a usually dry canyon against the partially completed structure. Heavy rains in the desert, which forms the watershed of this river, collected quickly in the stream and the flood resulted. Damage to the structure was slight. This dam was designed to conserve the waters of floods such as this for irrigational use on the claim land downstream.