Archives West Finding Aid

Clare Joseph ("C.J.") Moody (December 23, 1879 – 1973) worked as an engineer under the U.S. Reclamation Service on irrigation and water supply projects in Montana from 1906-1925, and then from 1925-1933 under the Indian Irrigation Service when his work fell under that new jurisdiction. In 1933, he moved with his family to Arizona, where he continued water infrastructure engineering work until his retirement in 1950. Moody worked on some of the major water infrastructure development projects in Montana, many of which were located on Indian reservations in the state. Originally from Winterport, Maine, and educated at the University of Maine, Moody moved to Montana in 1906 to work as an Engineer Aide and then Office Engineer on the Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Project in eastern Montana. He continued in this post until 1908. The Yellowstone Irrigation Project resulted in the construction of a main irrigation canal and a diversion dam on the Yellowstone River. From July 1908-1910, Moody worked on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation Irrigation Project in northern Montana, working with the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes. After losing multiple toes to frostbite during his first winter doing survey work for the Yellowstone project, Moody spent subsequent winters working out of the Reclamation Service's engineering project office based in Helena. From 1911-1912, Moody served as an Engineer for the Flathead Irrigation Project, completing the Pablo Feeder Canal to the Pablo reservoirs and overseeing early construction of the North and South Pablo Dams. In September of 1913, C.J. Moody married Anna A. Morgan of Helena. They went on to have three children. From 1913-1914, Moody began his employment on the Blackfeet Irrigation Project (referred to as the "Blackfoot Irrigation Project" in his autobiography), overseeing the Badger-Fish Irrigation unit, and engineering the construction of the road between the St. Mary River near Babb to Many Glaciers Lake. This was to become the road to Many Glacier Hotel on the east side of Glacier National Park. Moody returned to the Flathead Irrigation Project in 1915, becoming Project Engineer in 1920. He stayed on in that position as its management was transferred from the U.S. Reclamation Service to the Indian Irrigation Service, working there until 1933, when he accepted a position in Coolidge, Arizona. There he continued his engineering work on the San Carlos Project, which included construction of the San Carlos Reservoir, Coolidge Dam and Power Plant, and the irrigation systems integrated into this system. Moody served on this project until he retired in 1950, but continued to provide engineering and survey services for the Arizona Technical Service until approximately 1962. Moody passed away in Arizona in 1973.