Western National Parks Association Tucson, Arizona At the Confluence of Change: A History of Tonto National Monument Nancy L. Dallett Western National Parks Association Tucson, Arizona Copyright© 2008 by Nancy L. Dallett Published by Western National Parks Association The net proceeds from WNPA publications support educational and research programs in the national parks. To receive a free catalogue, featuring hundreds of publications, email: [email protected] or visit our online store at www.wnpa.org. Written by Nancy L. Dallett Edited by Melissa Urreiztieta Designed by Simpson & Convent Cover photograph: Lower Cliff Dwelling by Adriel Heisey Printed by Friesens Printed in Canada contents List of Illustrations 7 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 1 1 Chapter One: Reclamation. Conservation, and Preservation: Three Currents Converge 17 Chapter Tw-a: One Land, Many Peoples 45 Chapter Three: The Early Years of Tonto National Monument: The Forest Service Era, 1807-1833 67 Chapter Four: The National Park Service Takes Over, 1 833-1 853 87 Chapter Five: A Time of Transition: Mission· BB, 1854-1866 147 Chapter Six: Taking Control: Fences, Science, and Surveys, 1867-1885 171 6 • CONTENTS Chapter Seven: Reclamation, Conservation, and Preservation Revisited: A Mission F.leborn, 1 BBB-2006 1 81 Epilogue 221 Appendix A: American Antiquities Act 223 Appendix B: Tonto National Monument Proclamations 225 Appendix C: Tonto National Monument Custodians and Superintendents 229 Appendix C: Tonto National Monument Visitors Per Year 231 References 233 Index 247 illustrations Figure 1: Site location map from Tonto National Monument General Master Plan, 2003 12 Figure 2: View of Roosevelt Lake from the lower cliff dwelling 17 Figure 3: Upper and lower cliff dwelling illustration b-y Adolf Bandelier, 1883 18 Figure 4: Major John Wesley Powell, age 40, 1874 20 FigUre 5: Water flowing through a prehistoric canal near Phoenix 22 Figure 6: Site selected for the Salt River Dam, 1904 23 Figure 7: Construction of the diversion dam on the Salt River 25 Figure 8: Map of Arizona, 1955 27 Figure 9: Temporary power plant at Roosevelt, Arizona 45 · Figure 10: Four Peaks seen from the Tonto Basin 46 Figure 11: ArtistS rendering of Griffin Wash Meddler Point archeological site 47 Figure 12: Cliff polychrome bowl, circa 1400 48 Figure 13: An Apache wickiup on the shore of Roosevelt Lake 49 Figure 14: Rounding up cattle in the Tonto Basin 52 Figure 15: The main street in Roosevelt, 1907 62 Figure 16: View of the Apache Lodge Hotel on the shore of Roosevelt Lake, 1916 63 Figure 17: Lower cliff dwelling, 1929 67 Figure 18: Eastern entrance to the Apache Trail 69 Figure 19: Southern Pacific Railroad brochure for the Apache Trail, 1924 71 Figure 20: Southern Pacific brochure promoting side trip to Tonto Cliff Dwellings 73 Figure 21: Illustrated map of the Apache Trail Highway 76-77 Figure 22: Two views of the lower cliff dwellings, 1924 79 Figure 23: Entrance to Tonto National Monument, 1953 97 Figure 24: Frank "Boss" Pinkley-the first superintendent of the National Park Service Southwestern Monuments 100 8 • LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 25: Current site of visitor center parking lot, pre-1950 107 Figure 26: Archeologists and laborers building retainer wall after fence removal at the lower cliff dwellings, 1952 114 Figure 27: Trained laborers performing stabilization work, lower cliff dwelling, 1952 115 Figure 28: Trained laborer opening a prehistorically closed doorway between Rooms 8 and 14 in the lower cliff dwelling 117 Figure 29: Monument staff using a tractor on the trail to the lower cliff dwelling, 1953 122 Figure 30: Tonto National Monument boundary fence and notice 123 Figure 31: Tonto National Monument museum and administrative headqttarters, 1938 133 Figure 32: Tonto National Monument parking area and ranger housing, 1941 135 Figure 33: Tonto National Monument entrance road, 1953 137 Figure 34: Tonto National Monument maintenance headquarters, 1953 139 Figure 35: Fire moving down Cholla Canyon toward parking area, 1964 147 Figure 36: Old museum and new parking lot, 1949 150 Figure 37: Floor plan for Mission 66 visitor center 154 Figure 38: New visitor center displays, 1964 163 Figure 39: Dedication ceremony for new visitor center, 1965 166 Figure 40: 1985 survey map 171 Figure 41: Archeological survey at Site 85A-29, 1985 181 Figure 42: Three views of schoolhouse mound site 182 Figure 43: Tonto polychrome jar, circa 1300 183 Figure 44: Clay animal effigy, circa 1300 183 Figure 45: Laser scanning at Site 39 191 Figure 46: Construction of new entrance kiosk, 1988 195 Figure 47: Parking lot and picnic tables, 1985 201 Figuce 48: Topograph" map of lower cliff dwelling, 2006 203 Figure 49: Tonto National Monument staff and tribal members at a consultation meeting, 1995 207 Figure 50: Digital relief map of Tonto National Monument 212 Figure 51: Superintendent Bradley Traver in lower cliff dwelling for laser scanning, 2007 213 Figure 52: Highly accurate mesh model of/ower cliff dwelling created by digital scanning. Used to track changes in the dwelling over time as well as for interpretation at the monument 214 Figure 53: Archeologist Duane Hubbard stabilizing a lower cliff dwellmg wall, 2006 214 Figure 54: Archeologists Duane Hubbard and Matt Guebard stabilize a wall at Site 89A-39, 2007 215 acknowledgments Special thanks to: Bob Spude, National Park Service Noel Stowe, Arizona State University Duane Hubbard, Tonto National Monument Bradley Traver, Tonto National Monument Thanks to the following people for their help in archival research: Greg Davis of Superstition Mountain Historical Society Catherine May and Shelley Dudley of the Salt River Project Research Archive Khaleel Saba of the Western Archaeological Conservation Center Scott Anderson of the Sharlot Hall Museum Lisa Gazelter of National Archives, Laguna Niguel Karina Robinson for conducting research in National Archives, Washington, D.C. Thanks to the following people for interviews: BOB ARMSTRONG, Tonto National Forest Roosevelt GARY CANTLEY, Bureau of Indian Affairs CHRIS DOWNUM, Northern Arizona University MIKE JACOBS, Arizona State Museum TRINKLE JONES, Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit TOM LINCOLN, Bureau of Reclamation MARTIN MCALLISTER, Tonto National Forest 10 • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS TODD METZGER, Flagstaff Area National Monuments GLEN RICE, Arizona State University ARLEYN SIMON, Archeological Research Institute archeologist JOHN WELCH, Bureau of Indian Affairs scoTT WOOD, Tonto National Forest Thanks to the following former Tonto National Monument employee for interviews: KAREN ARMSTRONG, archeologist 1970-1972 LEE BAIZA, superintendent 1992-2003 SHIRLEY HOH, natural resource manager 2004-2005 RON ICE, archeologist 1967-1969 CAROL KRUSE, superintendent 1987-1991 HANK JONES, park ranger 1962-1965 JAN RYAN, park ranger 1993-1999 JIM TROUTWINE, superintendent 1983-1986 JAMES VALDER, superintendent 1975-1979 BOB VIKLUND, seasonal ranger 1950-1952 PHILIP YOUNG, park technician 1977-1981 introduction Even now, after a century of study, we don't know enough. We want to know much more about who they were and why they chose the shelter of caves 1,200 and 1,600 feet above the Salt River. Did these people we call the Salado seek protection from the environment/ From other people/ Perhaps from both/ We do know that they constructed dwellings in the caves, cultivated corn in the valleys, produced polychrome pottery, created cotton and agave textiles, and enjoyed relatively good health. We know this much because they left marks in the towering sandstone cliffs that survive today as the cliff dwellings in Tonto National Monument. Visitors by the millions have come during the past one hundred years of federal management to gaze at these marks and to try to visualize the long­ ago people who made them. It's a challenging task because so much has been eroded by time and misfortune. Also difficult to grasp is the drama that has played out behind the scenes at Tonto, as generations of dedicated men and women worked against considerable odds to identify, analyze, preserve, and maintain these archeological treasures of the American Southwest. In the total life of the cliff dwellings, one hundred years is quite short. Yet over the past century, both federal agencies involved (the U.S. Forest Service, 1907-1933, and the National Park Service, 1934-present) and visitors have left their own marks, literally and metaphorically, on the monument. This book is the story of those marks. It is the life story of a small, isolated national monument that survived and thrived while repeatedly affected by changes in values, knowledge, preservation techniques, bureaucratic alignments, and accessibility, all of which had significant consequences for what the monu­ ment is now and what its fUture will be. 12 • INTRODUCTION A 0 S 10MilEiS ..... ~ Figure 1: Site location map from Tonto National Monument General Master Plan, 2003 Chapter 1 offers an overview of three national movements in the first decade of the twentieth century that had a profound impact on the Tonto Basin: recla­ mation, conservation, and preservation. The U.S. Reclamation Service plugged the confluence of the Salt River and Tonto Creek with a dam, and the U.S. Forest Service set aside 2.9 million surrounding acres as a national forest to protect the watershed._ The 1906 American Antiquities Act gave the president the power to declare historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest. In 1907 President Theodore Roosevelt designated the Tonto cliff dwellings as a national monument. The cliff dwellings serve as an excellent vantage point from which to see the influence of these three national movements. They are also witness to a great archeological loss, for shortly after legal protection was granted for the cliff dwellings, perched high above the river bottom, hundreds of related sites located in the river bottom were flooded and lost to future generations. Chapter 1 is the story of these gains.