Thanks again Rod! Quick follow up here...
I dug my little hole deeper and then called a local contractor that did others ponds. He looked at my dirt pile/hole and was familiar with the composition from the others he has done locally. He assured me that the layer I was worried about was very clay rich and gave me a screaming deal on digging the pond and forestry mulching my back acre.
He brought his equipment out, then it rained cats and dogs for 3 days (was wishing I had my hole dug!). I have been agonizing over whether or not it would hold water. We got a quick shot of rain and I went out this morning and there was a tiny bit of water in the bottom! Not conclusive, but I thought is was a good indicator.
We used the spoils to regrade my back yard and included some shallow swales along natural drainage lines to encourage the water to go to the pond.
October is a good rain month here. I have been considering getting a ton of bentonite to fortify everything but haven't decided if the insane shipping charges are worth the piece of mind.
