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In compliance with Section 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306102), the Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office (Reclamation) contracted with Tierra Right of Way Services to relocate, re-evaluate, and re-record previously identified cultural resources situated on Reclamation-managed lands near Lake Pleasant, in Maricopa and Yavapai Counties, Arizona. Between November 2, 2020 and March 18, 2022, Tierra Right of Way archaeologists conducted several field sessions to revisit and update site cards for 82 cultural resources in Lake Pleasant Regional Park. Of the 82 cultural resources identified for assessment, Tierra Right of Way was unable to relocate 16 and was unable to visit two sites, due to unforeseen prohibitions on access during mating season. Tierra Right of Way also recommended combining 3 sites following relocation and re-recording. Tierra Right of Way recommended 27 cultural resources eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, 9 not eligible, 25 remain unevaluated.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) identified the need for an in-depth study of ranching and homesteading in Lake Pleasant Regional Park (LPRP). At Reclamation’s request, Archaeological Consulting Services (ACS) undertook this current study, which builds upon previous research and investigations sponsored by Reclamation that indicated that the ranching history was an important historic context for the area. This project includes: (1) archival research into the history of ranching in the park in general and the Two Shoe Ranch (a.k.a. Solo Spring Ranch, AZ T:3:39(ASM)) in particular, and (2) oral histories from four individuals familiar with ranching and homesteading in the park. It was determined through this study that the LPRP comprises the southeast corner of a much larger ranching community that spans the southernmost portion of Yavapai County from Morristown to the Agua Fria River, and stretching up to the foothills of the Bradshaw Mountains. Select photos can be found here: https://core.tdar.org/image/391347. The photo log can be found here: https://core.tdar.org/document/391346.

Lake Pleasant Regional Park (LPRP or the Park) was in an undeveloped portion of Maricopa County, Arizona. However, population growth exploded in the Phoenix area in the past 30 years and new housing developments expanded and are still expanding ever northward. It is just a matter of time before the Park becomes part of the Valley of the Sun's crowded urban landscape. With an expansion in population will come an increase in land use demands and resource impacts. The purpose of the Cultural Resources Management Plan is to provide the County and Reclamation with a long-term management strategy to preserve and protect the significant cultural resources of the park.

In the summers of 1979 and 1980, Arizona State University (ASU) conducted a cultural resources survey of Lake Pleasant Regional Park (LPRP) (Rice and Bostwick 1986). The completion of New Waddell Dam in 1993, increasing recreational development, and new park boundaries spurred the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to survey the park. Reclamation performed the new survey on their land to fulfill their Section 110 requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act. Upon completion of the fieldwork in July 1995, Reclamation archaeologists, under the supervision of Carol Telles, had identified 65 new sites, 19 isolated petroglyphs, and 308 isolated artifacts. A recent records search by ACS also revealed 87 previously recorded sites. Only two had been field-checked by the Reclamation crew. In addition to the survey and literature review, Reclamation undertook a separate rock art study that detailed each petroglyph panel and element identified during the survey. Once the fieldwork was finished, report preparation began, but personnel changes made it difficult to complete in-house. Therefore, Reclamation requested that Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS), revise and complete the draft under ACS’s on-call contract for cultural resources Class III survey and testing (Contract No. 1425-97-CS-32-028105).ACS performed the work based on existing documentation that Reclamation crews collected during their fieldwork and the cooperative recollections of Carol Telles and Dave Gifford. No field checking was involved. In total, this research identified 183 historic and prehistoric sites (104 previously known/79 newly identified) and 306 isolated artifacts.

In June 1986, the Bureau of Reclamation awarded a three year contract for historical archaeological studies as part of the mitigation program for the Central Arizona Project's Regulatory Storage Division, designated as Plan 6. This study focuses on reconstructing the social history of the workers and their families who lived in several temporary dam construction camps dating from the 1890s to 1940s. The first chapter discusses experience in managing the study during the second year of the project and outlines plans for the third and final year. Chapters 2 and 3 present the results of supplemental archaeological survey at the northern end of the New Waddell Dam locale. Chapter 2 describes homestead and ranch sites, and Chapter 3 discusses the Humbug Creek hydraulic mining complex. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 present historical, sociological and archaeological perspectives, respectively, of the Roosevelt Dam construction community. Versions of these papers were presented as a symposium at the annual meeting of the National Council on Public History held in Denver, Colorado in March 1988. The Epilogue presents comments of a labor historian who served as a discussant for the symposium.