Search

Salt River Project (SRP) and Arizona Public Service Company (APS) propose to construct three transmission lines along a portion of the Beeline Highway on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPMIC). SRP proposes to build a new line which will connect the Pinnacle Peak, Brandow, and Papago Butte substations. APS proposes to realign two existing transmission lines and move them out of the Salt River channel and onto the north terrace above the river. Archaeological Consulting Services Ltd. (ACS) was contracted to perform cultural resource investigations for both SRP and APS portions of the project. The recommendations of these earlier studies were that both SRP and APS should work to minimize adverse effects by carefully designing pole and access locations and to employ a professional archaeological contractor to prepare and implement a data recovery program to negate any adverse effects. Seven sites are not addressed in this report. They are: the Rio Verde Canal, AZ U:5:1 (ACS), the Bridge Foundation on the SRP right-of-way, AZ U:9:25 (ASU), AZ U:9:26 (ASU), AZ U:9:27 (ASU), and AZ U:9:28 (ASU). All of these properties were identified as a result of the investigation of the SRP right-of-way. Only AZ U:9:26-28 (AS) were each recommended as potentially eligible properties. In the other four cases, the sites were not recommended as eligible for National Register inclusion. In all cases, however, these sites will be avoided by construction of the SRP transmission line. The cultural resources that will be affected by the two projects are located along the north terrace of the Salt River. In 1963, Arizona State University (ASU) conducted a series of limited surveys and test excavations on portions of the SRPMIC. In 1972, ASU resurveyed the majority of the undeveloped sections of the SRPMIC, including the present study area. Effland and Green provide brief descriptions for each of the sites identified by ASU in 1972. A number of the sites have either been destroyed as a result of land modifications or totally collected by ASU during their survey. At the time of the ASU survey, a total of 20 archaeological sites were identified within the corridor that will be used by SRP and APS. Of these, only 13 remain today. Twelve of these sites are prehistoric while one (AZ U:9:62(ASU)) is an archaeological site dating to the historic period. These sites have been recommended as potentially eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places because they have the potential to contribute information important to our understanding of the historic and prehistoric past (36 CFR 60.4, criterion D). AZ U:9:62 (ASU) may also qualify for inclusion on the grounds that it may date to the early settlement of Pima and Maricopa Indians within the area, and therefore, may be considered potentially eligible under 36 CFR 60.4, criterion A; the property may be associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. Effland and Green recommended that the importance of this complex of prehistoric sites be considered collectively rather than individually. In this sense, these sites lie within a geographically definable area as a continuity of sites possessing the potential to yield information about the past. The collective arrangement of these remains adds to the the individual importance of each site. The sites as a whole reflect a variety of site types which are linked by a theme, that of adaptation to the terrace. For example, AZ U:9:64 (ASU) is a small scatter of artifacts, measuring only about 35 square meters in area. Taken alone, this site may not be eligible for the National Register. However when viewed as part of a complex, the importance of the site can be realized. The remains from this site can be related to the total range of behavior of the prehistoric people who adapted to this terrace. The importance of these sites must be viewed in relation to their integrity. These sites represent some of the few remaining of their type within the greater Phoenix area with such a high degree of site integrity. Limited activity sites such as those represented within the district largely have been distrubed by agricultural and urban development within the lower Salt River Valley. Since these resources are largely surficial in character, they are destroyed easily by development. As a result, the vast majority of these sites within the Phoenix area have been lost. The context and integrity of the properties within the complex constitute a rare opportunity to examine problems relating to the interrelations among sites and the range of activities represented within this inventory.

This document consists of site descriptions for sites located on the Salt River Indian Reservation Lands. Those contributing content to the report include Gerald Bair, Susan B. Belt, Dav Buge, Thomas Cartledge, William G. Holiday, Susanne LaFollette, Minnabell E. Laughlin, Chad Phinney, Erwin R. Ray, Linda Richards, Helen P. Wells, Regge N. Wiseman, Robert York, and Betsy R. Zeligs.