Historical Land Occupance of Tue Upper San Pedro River Valley Since 1870
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Historical land occupance of the upper San Pedro River Valley since 1870 Item Type Thesis-Reproduction (electronic); text Authors Rodgers, William Maxwell,1907- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 05:22:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/191458 HISTORICAL LAND OCCUPANCE OF TUE UPPER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY SINCE 1870 by William M. Rodgers A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY AND AREA DEVELOPMENT In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1965 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfill- ment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowl- edgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his judgment the proposed use of the material is in the inter- ests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIED: /2 APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: 1! DAN STANISLAWSKI Professor of Geography PREFACE This thesis is designed to meet requirements of the Geography Department that the subject be concernedwith geography in an arid area and that it include original research in the field. The first requirement was only a problem of choice from the many areas available nearby. The second was met by extensive personal observation and analysis on the ground combined with research of pertinent records of the U. S. Bureau of Land Management in Phoenix and those of Cochise County in Bisbee, Arizona. I wish to express my appreciation for the assist- ance and cooperation of Mr. Fred Weiler Director and Mr. Roy T. Helmandollar and Mr. C.C.. Bazan of the U. S. Bureau of Land Management and that of Mr. F. C. Alexander, Cochise County Treasurer, and Mr. Sam R. Clark, Cochise County Assessor. Their help was essential to the research and interpretation of land occupancy records of the area under study. The assistance and interest of Mrs. Nova Alderson, librarian at the Arizona Pioneer's Historical Society is also deeply appreciated. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS V LIST OF TABLES vii ABSTRACT viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1 3EOGRAPHIC ENVIRON14ENT 6 Geomorphology 6 Soils 13 Drain.age 15 Climate 18 Vegetation 22 OCCUPATION BEFORE1870 32 OCCUPATION OF THE UPPER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY 1870-1900 39 Occupation and Use of the Land1870-1900 . 39 Landscape1900 76 OCCUPATION OF THE UPPER SAN PEDRO RIVER VALLEY1900-196k ..............95 Occupation and Use of the Land1900-1930 .. 95 Occupation and Use of the Land1930-196k . 120 Landscape196k 138 CONCLUSIONS 1k5 Historical Occupation of the Upper San Pedro River Valley Since1870 14i5 Occupance and Landscape Change in the Upper San Pedro River Valley lk8 Landscape Change in the Upper San Pedro River Valley and Current Hypotheses as to Landscape Change in Southeast Arizona 150 LIST OF REFERENCES 155 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS F ± gur e Page Topographic Map of Upper San Pedro River Valley 8 Upper San Pedro River Valley Profile . 9 Land Forms of the Upper San Pedro River Valley ii ti. Tree Ring Indices of Precipitation in Arizona 19 Precipitation in Upper San Pedro River Valley 22 Vegetation of the Upper San Pedro River Valley1870 31 Land of Upper San Pedro River Valley not Available for Homestead Settlement . 35 Land Claims Filed in the Upper San Pedro River Valley1870-1881 50 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1882 56 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1885 59 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1890 63 Cattle Population of the Upper San Pedro River Valley1882-1900 68 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1900 70 14, Privately Owned Land in Upper San Pedro River Valley by Size of Holdings1882-1900. 73 15. Types of Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1882-1900. .......... 75 v vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS__Continued Page Vegetation of the Upper San Pedro River Valley1900 79 Upper San Pedro River Valley; U. S. Government Land Reservations, Spanish Grants, Place Names and Road Net,1900- 1964 97 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1910 99 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1920 1o6 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1930 111 Types of Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1900-1930 113 Privately Owned Land in Upper San Pedro River Valley by Size of Holdings1900-1930. 116 Cattle Population of the Upper San Pedro River Valley1900-1930 117 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley 1940 121 Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1950 124 L:and Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1964 129 Types of Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley1930-1964 133 Privately Owned Land in Upper San Pedro River Valley by Size of Holdings1930-1964. 134 Cattle Population of the Upper San Pedro River Valley1930-1964 137 Vegetation of the Upper San Pedro River Valley1964 142 LIST OF TABLES Table Page Climate Data Upper San Pedro River Valley from Four Representative Weather Stations . 20 Categories of Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley by Number, Acreage, Percentage of Total Holdings, and Average Size, 1870-1900 72 Categories of Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley by Number, Acreage, Percentage of Total Holdings, and Average Size,1900-1930 ilk Categories of Land Holdings in Upper San Pedro River Valley by Number, Acreage, Percentage of Total Holdings, and Average Size,1930-196k 132 vii ABSTRACT This study traces the sequence of occupation of the land of the Upper San Pedro River Valley from its beginnings with the discovery and exploitation of its mineral resources through the exploitation of the free open range to eventual necessity to own or lease all grazing lands used. It concludes with a description of the develop- ment of small tract suburban residential occupation of significant magnitude since establishment of a payroll source at Fort Huachuca in 1954 and later the growth of popularity for suburban retirement living in Arizona. Concurrent with consideration of the sequence of occupation in the area, the consequences of denudation of the mountain woodlands for fuel prior to 1900 and the disturbance of vegetation and soil of the grasslands due to continuous uncontrolled overgrazing until 1930is described and discussed. The study concludes that the changes to the land- scape of the area since1870were directly due to the occupation and use of the land. Denudation of the mountain woodlands and severe disturbance of the grasslands caused significant change to the drainage and moisture content of the soil leading to an invasion of desert shrub into what was once a grass dominated landscape. viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCON During the period since1870there has been a sig- nificant change in the geographic landscape of southeastern Arizona and adjacent areas. There has without doubt been a disturbance of the delicate balance of nature in this area. While there is a continuous evolution produced by the interaction of exogenetic and indogenetic forces in nature that results in change in the landscape, when man appears on the scene another force for change is added. That landscape change in southern Arizona has not gone unnoticed is apparent from the considerable litera- ture that has been produced on the subject sincei880. Much has been written concerning climate, erosional cycles, overgrazing, plant invasions and vegetation change by authorities such as Kirk Bryan, Edmund Schulman, R. R. Humphrey, L. B. Leopold, B. L. Branscomb, L. A. Mehrhoff, A. L. Brown, Forest Shreve and most recently and most comprehensively by James R. Hastings. However none of the foregoing have considered the total impact of changing patterns of human activity as an element in the changing landscape of the region. 1 2 It therefore appears desirable to consider the patterns of human activity prior to and during the period of landscape change in the affected region. The upper San Pedro River Valley was chosen as a representative segment of the region which had undergone, at one time or another during the period, all of the experiences of the whole region. That this area also experienced the landscape changes common to the region is evident from the following: Where the San Pedro River of southeastern Arizona formerly wound its sluggish course north- ward through a marshy, largely unchanneled valley, in August,1890,it began carving a steep-walled trench through which it thereafter emptied rapidly and torrentially into the Gila. Where it formerly ran more or less consistently throughout the year, after1890its flow became intermittent, leaving the new channel dry over much of its length for most of the time (Hastings, 1959, pp. 60-67). As late as1877the upper San Pedro River Valley was being described as "miles and miles of good farming and grazing lands along the San Pedro River. The valley in which one travels resembles an old and cultivated tracttt (Hinton, 1954,pp. 234-236). Today the area could hardly be described in such terms with its vegetation cover dominated by mesquite, creosote bush and other desert shrub.