Lake Ament

Three miles to the south of CMO, as the crow flies, is a man-made lake of sorts. An Alpine judge for many years, Mae Ament, had purchased some land in the area and hired someone to build a dam across Dark Canyon in order to have a lake. A survey eventually showed that the lake wasn't on her land. A National Park Service website says "The Lake Ament Dam was built in 1957-58 and employed 100 Mexican laborers and skilled stone masons. Its massive size and vernacular architecture are a testament to masonry construction in the Big Bend."

Former Alpine City Judge, Mae M. Ament receiving her 50 year lawyer certificate
in 1968. Her memorial credits her as helping acquire land for Big Bend National Park.

The dam held water pretty good at first, but eventually leaked. During the 1970s it was part of a 9000 acre ranch subsequently purchased by a conservation fund, then transferred to the General Land Office. Terramar Corporation (who owned the land that is now Terlingua Ranch) had been leasing it for hunting. Terramar also stocked the tiny lake with fish and put paddle boats on it. All these "amenities" were intended to attract people to purchase 5, 10, and 20 acre tracts of land on Terlingua Ranch. Nothing down, and small monthly payments, use of the hunt parks, and much more.

I took this photo of the lake in the mid 1970s. (At the time I bought my property, not part of Terlingua Ranch,  the "Lake Ament Road" was my only access. Later, I bought land between my place and Snake Road in order to build a shorter route from Highway 118 to CMO.)

Looking toward down canyon

Once the majority of tracts were sold, like over 4,000, Terramar created a property owners association, took the money and left the area. When the lease expired on the 9,000 acre ranch, Texas Land Commissioner, Jerry Patterson, tried to facilitate the sale of it to his friend, John Poindexter, owner of Cibolo Creek Ranch. I don't recall all the details, but there was a big uproar over it. Fortunately, by that time the land had many conservation easements attached to it. Big Bend National Park wouldn't annex it because the GLO had a hunting mandate attached to the land.

So the state donated the land to the Texas State University System, which is still the situation today. They use it for research purposes. It's probably being preserved as much as is possible in this day and age.

The dam today looking down canyon. Photo by Don Baucham