Gillespie Dam
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The Gillespie Dam is a concrete gravity dam located on the Gila River between the towns of Buckeye and Gila Bend, Arizona. The dam was constructed during the 1920s for primarily irrigation purposes. It was key to the development of a 72,000-acre (29,000 ha) parcel owned by "millionaire" W.S. Gillespie of Tulsa, Oklahoma, initially allowing for irrigation of 10,000 acres (4,000 ha). A portion of the dam failed unexpectedly in 1993 during unusually heavy rains.
The Gila River flows freely through the breached dam.
Ruins of the dam
The ruins of the dam
Different view of the dam
Gila River
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The Gila River is a 649-mile-long (1,044 km) tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of nearly 60,000 square miles (160,000 km2) that lies mostly within the U.S., but also extends into northern Sonora, Mexico.
The river in the Gila Box Canyon in eastern Arizona
The McPhaul Suspension Bridge on a former section of US Route 95 spans the Gila between the Gila and Laguna ranges in Yuma County. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Gila River near Coolidge Dam in Arizona
This patch of desert south of Buckeye, Arizona, drains east and west from a minor drainage divide. When they flow, both sides flow to the Gila River.