This week’s bit of western water history comes from the archives of the Library of Congress.

Elephant Butte Dam, circa 1916 or '17, courtesy U.S. Library of Congress

Elephant Butte Dam (originally Engle Dam) is on the Rio Grande upstream from El Paso. Completed in 1915, it is currently the subject of a fascinating New Mexico water rights adjudication battle, nicely detailed by Sig Silber.