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California Department of Parks and Recreation Archaeology, History and Museums Division NUMBER 27 27 PUBLICATIONS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE THE HUMAN HISTORY OF RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK OF RED ROCK CANYON STATE THE HUMAN HISTORY AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE HUMAN HISTORY OF RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK Cultural Heritage Publications in AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE HUMAN HISTORY OF RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK THE RESULTS OF SITE SURVEY WORK 1986-2006 AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE HUMAN HISTORY OF RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK THE RESULTS OF SITE SURVEY WORK 1986-2006 Michael P. Sampson California Department of Parks and Recreation, San Diego PUBLICATIONS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE NUMBER 27, 2010 Series Editor Christopher Corey Editorial Advisor Richard T. Fitzgerald Department of Parks and Recreation Archaeology, History and Museums Division © 2010 by California Department of Parks and Recreation Archaeology, History and Museums Division Publications in Cultural Heritage, Number 27 An Archaeological Perspective on the Human History of Red Rock Canyon State Park: The Results of Site Survey Work 1986-2006 By Michael P. Sampson Editor, Richard Fitzgerald; Series Editor, Christopher Corey All rights reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Orders, inquiries, and correspondence should be addressed to: Department of Parks and Recreation PO Box 942896 Sacramento, CA 94296 800-777-0369, TTY relay service, 711 [email protected] Cover Images: Top left: Two Kawaiisu Men Standing in Front of Hillside in Red Rock Canyon State Park. Photo taken by Maurice Zigmond, 1938. Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution and the National Anthropological Archives and Human Studies Film Archives. Top right: Red Cliffs, 2006. Photo taken by Michael Sampson (author). Bottom: Stage Station at Ricardo, 1907. Courtesy of Red Rock Canyon State Park files. Image Opposite Page: Gold Miner Sifting Ore in a Dry Washer, ca. 1890s. Courtesy of Red Rock Canyon State Park files. Design and Typesetting: Heather Baron, DocDesign Printed in the United States of America Table of Contents PREFACE .................................................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ VII AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE HUMAN HISTORY OF RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK ....................................... I INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................1 Setting ...........................................................................................................................4 Regional Overview .......................................................................................................5 Ethnography ..................................................................................................................9 History ........................................................................................................................12 Archaeology ................................................................................................................15 FIELDWORK METHODS ..................................................................................................19 FIELDWORK RESULTS ....................................................................................................23 Ricardo Campground Sites .........................................................................................23 Iron Canyon Road Sites ..............................................................................................25 Last Chance Canyon Addition Sites ...........................................................................39 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................71 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 77 Other Works Consulted ..............................................................................................84 APPENDIX A: SELECTED ARTIFACT PHOTOS AND SKETCHES FROM SITES WITHIN RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK ................................................ 89 APPENDIX B: LISTS AND MAPS OF PREHISTORIC AND HISTORIC-PERIOD SITES WITHIN RED ROCK CANYON STATE PARK .............................................. 105 Contents i List of Figures Figure 1. Location Map. .......................................................................................................2 Figure 2. Last Chance Canyon Addition Base. ....................................................................3 Figure 3. Sculpted Hillside in Red Rock Canyon State Park. ..............................................5 Figure 4. Two Kawaiisu Men, John Nichols and Sam Willie, Standing in Front of Hillside in Red Rock Canyon State Park. ..........................................11 Figure 5. Stage Station at Ricardo, 1907. ..........................................................................12 Figure 6. Overview of CA-KER-147, View to the North. .................................................16 Figure 7. Pictographs at CA-KER-147. .............................................................................25 Figure 8. Sodium Springs Dam in Red Rock Wash at CA-KER-5104H. ..........................26 Figure 9. Mark Faull Points to Rows of Cupules on Sandstone Canyon Wall at CA-KER-5109. ................................................................................................27 Figure 10. Site CA-KER-1079 Located on Top of Hill and Slopes Below. ......................27 Figure 11. Iron Canyon with Wash and Road; Conglomerate Hills Mining Complex at Right and Bonanza Gulch Mining Camp Site in Far Left Background. ......28 Figure 12. Red Rock Camp with Iron Canyon Road Running through it, View to the Northeast. .....................................................................................30 Figure 13. Photo of Red Rock Camp in 1894. ...................................................................30 Figure 14. Tent Pad at Bonanza Gulch Mining Camp. ......................................................32 Figure 15. Artifacts Collected from Bonanza Gulch Mining Camp. .................................33 Figure 16. Artifact Concentration at Bonanza Gulch Mining Camp. ................................34 Figure 17. 1890s Dry Placer Mines within Bonanza Gulch Mining Complex, on Hillside. .......................................................................................................35 Figure 18. Mining Adits at Santa Monica Gulch Mining Complex. .................................36 Figure 19. Shaft (SM-06) with Windlass at Santa Monica Gulch Mining Complex. ........36 Figure 20. Mark Faull Recording a Mining Feature at Iron Canyon Placer Mining Complex, with Scenic Canyon in Background. ..................................37 Figure 21. Overview of CA-KER-246 with Sierra View Road in Foreground. ................41 Figure 22. Overview of CA-KER-377, View to the Southwest. .......................................43 Figure 23. Kawaiisu Indian Elder Luther Girado at CA-KER-432/H, Feature A. ............44 Figure 24. Feature I at CA-KER-432/H, with Arrow Pointing Out Pounding Area with Desert Varnish. ........................................................................................45 Figure 25. Feature B at CA-KER-432/H. ..........................................................................45 Figure 26. Overview of Last Chance Canyon Quarry, Looking North. ............................47 ii An Archaeological Perspective on the Human History of Red Rock Canyon State Park Figure 27. Overview of CA-KER-376 with Steep Trail in Foreground, view to the South. ............................................................................................48 Figure 28. Pictographs at CA-KER-252. ...........................................................................53 Figure 29. Middle of Last Chance Canyon and Grubstake Hill Mines, with CA-KER-5951H in Background and CA-KER-6258/H at Right. ...................55 Figure 30. Middle of Last Chance Canyon with Existing Vehicular Trail and CA- KER-6259 in Foreground and CA-KER-6258/H in Background (Arrow). .....56 Figure 31. View Downstream in Middle of Last Chance Canyon, with Cudahy Camp (CA-KER-6235/H) in Background (Arrow). ...........................59 Figure 32. Foundations of Cudahy Camp. .........................................................................59 Figure 33. Overview of Red Buttes, View to the East. ......................................................61 Figure 34. Overview of CA-KER-5972, with Rock Ring Found Next to Base of Rock. ...................................................................................................63 Figure 35. Terraced Area with Rock Piles on CA-KER-5972, View to Northeast. ..........63 Figure 36. Overview of CA-KER-874/H. ..........................................................................65 Figure 37. CA-KER-5959, with Desert Pavement Surface. ..............................................67 Figure 38. Geoglyph at Nightmare Gulch (CA-KER-244). ...............................................68 Contents iii iv An Archaeological