Chapter 1 - Origins
The creation of the Southwestern Division, United States Army Corps of Engineers, in 1937 represented a significant step in the growth of the federal government's responsibility for flood damage reduction in the Southwest. The region included several large river drainage systems—primarily the Arkansas, Trinity, Brazos, Red, White and Rio Grande. They frequently flooded, causing or contributing to some of the worst deluges in modern American history. By the 1930s the Southwestern states were becoming more urbanized and starting to develop an industrial economy. With the growing population in these river basins, there was a natural demand that the flooding be stopped—or at least brought under control.
Before the 1930s the roles of the Corps of Engineers in the Southwest had included surveys, dredging and snag-clearing. One major project was improvement of Galveston Harbor on the Texas Gulf Coast.
The disastrous Mississippi River flood of 1927 dramatized the need for a comprehensive plan of flood damage reduction, particularly in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Many authorities agreed that only the federal government had the resources for such a large task. As momentum for federal intervention increased, the Depression struck. The election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 marked the beginning of massive federal works throughout the United States, including river improvements.
The Flood Control Act of 1936 marked the last step leading to the creation of the Southwestern Division. It authorized 211 flood-control projects in 31 states at an estimated cost of $300 million. The measure also incorporated the concept of multipurpose planning, meaning that federal river basin development would include hydropower, soil conservation, navigation and water supply.
Southwestern Division established
To oversee projects on the Arkansas, White, Black and North and South Canadian rivers in the Southwest, the Corps of Engineers established the Southwestern Division on July 1, 1937. It initially included the Conchas District, which was constructing the Conchas Dam in eastern New Mexico, and the Little Rock District, which covered parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Missouri and New Mexico.
Original division boundaries
The division began functioning on July 14 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its first personnel primarily came from the Memphis District, including Col. Eugene Reybold, the first division engineer.
In 1939 the division's workload increased with the creation of two new districts: Denison, which would build Denison Dam on the Texas-Oklahoma state line; and Tulsa, which took over much of the Little Rock District's territory west of Arkansas.
During its first years, the Southwestern Division supervised about 30 examination and survey reports by its districts in addition to overseeing the projects under construction. Even though the division's responsibilities at this time dealt exclusively with civil works, the small staff had a considerable workload.
The outbreak of war in Europe in 1939 and the growing likelihood of American participation brought an increased number of projects to the Army Corps of Engineers and its Southwestern Division. For example, the Caddoa (formerly Conchas) District built airfields for the Civil Aeronautics Administration. In January 1941 the Galveston District was transferred from the Gulf of Mexico Division to the Southwestern. The new addition included most of Texas and parts of Louisiana, Colorado and New Mexico. To handle the new work, the Division staff grew from about 35 to nearly 100 employees.
With the addition of the Galveston District, the geography and topography of the division ranged from wetlands on its eastern boundary to and desert in the west. The lowlands of the lower Mississippi Valley contrasted sharply with the high plateaus of the Rocky Mountains.
Some of the richest and poorest people in the United States lived in that expanse, from the classic Ozark backwoodsman to sophisticated urban residents.
Geographic conditions held much significance for the Southwestern Division. The region's broad expanse and clear skies would prove attractive for military installations and defense contractors. The presence of major rivers meant that the division would face the task of making the region safe from flooding. The growing southwestern economy would also let the division benefit from and contribute to the expansionist ideology of the region.
But before it could become deeply involved in reservoir construction, the division faced another challenge. Only a few years old and still trying to consolidate itself, it turned to military construction soon after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
