A Cultural Resource Survey of the Salt River Project Fence Lake Coal Mine Transportation Corridor Reroute 3 In Catron County, New Mexico

On August 16, 17, and 18, 1994, Dennis Gilpin, Richard A. Anduze, and Lex Palmer of SWCA, Inc., Environmental Consultants, conducted an archaeological survey of the proposed Fence Lake Transportation Corridor Reroute 3 in Catron County, New Mexico. The project was located on New Mexico State Trust Land; the Bureau of Land Management, Las Cruces District, is the lead federal agency for cultural resources. The survey was conducted under New Mexico State Blanket Survey Permit No. 94/055. The project (SWCA project number 23-94826) was conducted for Judy Brunson-Hadley, Ph.D., Project Archaeologist, Salt River Project, P.O. Box 52025, Phoenix, Arizona, 85072-2025. The proposed undertaking involves constructing a railroad transportation corridor from the proposed Fence Lake Coal Mine in Catron County, New Mexico, to the Coronado Generating Station in Apache County, Arizona. The original route and two reroutes have been previously inventoried; the inventory reported herein was for a third reroute. In total, 150.48 acres were inventoried for the project. As a result of the survey, two previously recorded sites, four previously unrecorded sites, and 16 isolated occurrences were identified within the survey corridor. The six sites included two undated lithic scatters (Sites LA 105991 and LA 105992); one one-room Anasazi structure (LA 105990); one multicomponent site consisting of Archaic projectile points, an Anasazi structural habitation, and a historic camp (LA 86262 [previously recorded]); one multicomponent site consisting of an Anasazi sherd and lithic scatter and segments of the Old Zuni Trail (LA 86273 [previously recorded]); and one multicomponent site (LA 105989) consisting of an Anasazi sherd and lithic scatter, historic features and artifacts, and trail segments that might be variants of the Zuni Salt Trail or a trail to Ojo Caliente. Sites LA 86262 and 86273 have been determined to be eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) by the New Mexico State Historic Preservation Officer and the Bureau of Land Management. Sites LA 105989, 105990, and 105992 are potentially eligible for inclusion to the NRHP. Site LA 105991 is not considered eligible for inclusion to the NRHP because of the site's surface nature and the small quantity and dispersed nature of the artifacts; detailed recording has exhausted the site's data potential.