Lake Arthur is in Chaves County, and in the Southeast New Mexico region. You can find Lake Arthur off of Hwy 2, and north of Artesia.
Lake Arthur was established in 1885 when a sheep rancher by the name of Arthur V. Russell, homesteaded 3 miles north of present-day Lake Arthur. His daughter later explained, "He raised a lot of sheep and ran a lot of them up around Capitan. But at shearing time, Daddy always sheared the sheep at the lake south of Lake Arthur. No one is quite sure why his name and the lake just got connected.
Lake Arthur gained fame in 1977 when the image of Jesus Christ appeared on a flour tortilla made in the Rubio household. Thousands have visited the shrine honoring this image.