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Arthur R. Bowman Dam

dam in Crook County, Oregon, United States of America

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 16, 2025
Entity authorityQ4800051
Source-derived summary

Arthur R. Bowman Dam (also known as Bowman Dam; National ID # OR00579) is an earth-type irrigation dam on the Crooked River in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is in Crook County. Its reservoir is called Prineville Reservoir.

The dam was constructed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in 1961, and is operated by the Ochoco Irrigation District. The Crooked River wild and scenic area, which was designated by the Bureau of Land Management in 1988, passes through the center of Bowman Dam. Due to this designation, hydropower production is currently not allowed at the dam.

The dam is named for Arthur Ray Bowman, a Prineville businessman and civic leader.

In 2013, for the second time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Bowman Dam bill, which would authorize the city of Prineville to access about 6 percent more water from the reservoir. As of May 2013, the Bowman Dam bill has not passed the U.S. Senate.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Arthur R. Bowman Dam” as dam in Crook County, Oregon, United States of America. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1961, 1988, 2013—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where Arthur, Bowman and Crook can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as dam in Crook County, Oregon, United States of America. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4800051. Authority coordinates are 44.112, -120.787. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1961, 1988 and 2013.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Arthur R. Bowman Dam”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Arthur R. Bowman Dam primary sources, Arthur R. Bowman Dam archive and Arthur research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Arthur R. Bowman Dam”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Arthur R. Bowman Dam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.