A slip (also sometimes called a scoop, scraper, or road scraper) was the common implement for moving dirt when doing such things as digging ponds or making fills where large volumes of dirt were needed.
RIO GRANDE. The Rio Grande rises in Rio Grande National Forest, San Juan County, Colorado (at 37Â°47' N, 107Â°32' W), as a clear, spring and snow-fed mountain stream 12,000 feet above sea level. Its origin is at the Continental Divide in the San Juan Mountains.
The Rio Grande Valley of Texas is a world apart, isolated by empty ranch land to the north, the Gulf to the east, and Mexico to the south. A million-and-a-half people live there amid dazzling wealth and stark poverty. Corruption's always been an issue here in the Valley.