Search

As authorized under the Arizona Water Settlements Act of 2004, the San Carlos and Irrigation Drainage District (SCIDD) is undertaking a 10-year rehabilitation project of its irrigation system. SCIDD is the non-Indian irrigation component of the San Carlos Irrigation Project (SCIP), which provides irrigation water to the communities of Florence, Coolidge, and Casa Grande in Pinal County, Arizona. To assist with project planning, Reclamation directed Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) to conduct a Class I overview of the project area, updating previous Class I reports compiled by Doyel et al. (1995) and Woodson (2000). The Class I update revealed that 172 cultural resource investigations have been conducted within the APE and review area. Although the cultural resource surveys cover approximately 22 percent of the APE and review area, most were conducted more than 10 years ago, or are on the verge. As such, only five percent of the review area was adequately surveyed within the last 10 years. In total, 187 sites have been recorded within the APE and review area, and include a variety of site types and ages and eligible, not eligible, and unknown eligibility determinations to the National Register. The bulk of the sites are prehistoric (n = 121) and include Archaic and Hohokam artifact scatters, habitation sites, resource and procurement sites, and sites with features such as petroglyphs and rock features. At least 52 documented sites are historic, a number of which are associated with the SCIDD and Joint Works system. Other historic sites include homestead sites, structures, roads and highways, railroads and trash scatters. Another 12 sites have been characterized as multicomponent, the bulk of which comprise artifact scatters, some with features, with both prehistoric and historic components. The bulk of the sites had not been evaluated for eligibility (n = 65) or no information is available for them (n = 2). Of the remaining cultural resources that were evaluated, two archaeological districts (Blackwater and Florence) and one structure (the Arizona State Prison Captain of the Guards House) are listed on the State Inventory; 34 sites have been determined eligible for inclusion on the State and/or National Registers; 52 have been recommended eligible; one has been recommended for eligibility testing; and 27 have been recommended as not eligible. Three large prehistoric Hohokam habitation sites along the Gila River are listed on the National Register, including Adamsville Ruin (AZ U:15:1[ASM]), Grewe site (AZ AA:2:2[ASM]) and a site cluster (House Mound) within Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (AZ AA:2:16[ASM]). In addition to the projects and site record checks, historic GLO plat maps and MTP records reveal a number of potentially undocumented historic features and structures in the review area including houses, buildings, canals, ditches, fence lines, railroads, roads, utility lines, and agricultural fields. Modern urban development and expansion of agricultural activity in the area may have obscured or obliterated many of these features. This is the Class I report. A photo of a petroglyph identified during the assessment can be accessed at tDAR ID: 393776.