CURRY

county, eastern New Mexico, U.S., a farming region in the High Plains, bordered on the east by Texas. It is an extremely flat area, varied only by a few canyons and dry creek beds. Black-Water Draw National Archaeological Site and Cannon Air Force Base are located in the county. The area has been populated since about 10,000 BC, and Comanche Indians roamed it in the 18th and 19th centuries. The town of Texico, on the Texas border, became one of the most violent western towns in the early 20th century. Curry county was founded in 1909 and named for the then governor of New Mexico territory. The county's residents lived by dry farming until the 1940s, when irrigation from deep wells was begun; cattle feedlots and farming (wheat, corn , sorghum, vegetables, potatoes) are the bases of the economy. Clovis is the county seat. Area 1,406 square miles (3,642 square km). Pop. (1990) 42,207.