Repeat Photography at Chaco Canyon Based on

Photographs Made During the 1896-1899

Hyde Expedition and in the 1970s

BY

Harold E. Malde U.S. Geological Survey (Retired)

HAL MALDE PHOTOGRAPHS BOULDER, COLORADO: 2000 Prepared in December 2000 as a single original copy for Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico U. S. National Park Service

Photograph scanning and electronic document publication by Wright Paleohydrological Institute

©2001 Wright Paleohydrological Institute

Contents

Introduction 1 Purpose and approach 1 Summary of findings 3 Portfolio of repeat photographs 4 Kin Bineola 5 Head of Mockingbird Canyon 8 Fajada Butte from unnamed ruin 11 Fajada Butte from Una Vida 15 Una Vida 19 Chettro Kettle 23 Pueblo Bonito 27 Camp scene 31 Casa Rinconada 34 Ruin Bc-51 37 References cited 41 1

Repeat Photography at Chaco Canyon Based on Photographs Made During the 1896-1899 Hyde Expedition and in the 1970s

Harold E. Malde U.S. Geological Survey (Retired)

INTRODUCTION

PURPOSE AND APPROACH

During the 1970s, I repeated several of the photographs made during the 1896-1899 Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. These matching photographs are the subject of this report. An additional photograph, dating from 1950 and repeated by me in 1976, is also included. While working with the Hyde Expedition photographs, I also established several dozen other photo sites at Chaco Canyon, some of which repeated photographs that had been made in the 1930s (Chauvenet, 1935). Many of these were repeated by me in July 2000 and are the subject of a related report (Malde, 2000). Negatives for the Hyde Expedition photos are stored at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and my negatives and transparencies are stored at the U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library in Denver. Repeat photography is the practice of finding the site of an earlier photograph, reoccupying the original camera position, and making a new photograph of the same subject, preferably at the same time of day and the same day of the year (Rogers, Malde, and Turner, 1984, p. ix). The object, in the case of landscape photographs, is to make a matched pair of photographs so as to compare large and small features, thus demonstrating possible geomorphic and biologic changes. The Hyde Expedition photos, which are attributed to Richard Wetherill, were made from unmarked locations using a full-plate camera, for which the negative image measures 6½ x 8¼ inches. Wetherill had two lenses for the Chaco photos, a standard lens of about 250 mm focal length and a wide-angle lens of about 150 mm focal length. My camera was a 4x5 view camera that produced film negatives measuring four by five inches. For lenses, I used a standard lens of 150 mm focal length and a wide-angle lens of 90 mm focal length. These produced images that closely matched the field of view of Wetherill’s camera, thus making photographs having the same coverage when suitably enlarged. In one instance, however, because I lacked a wide-angle lens at the time, I used a 2¼ x 2¼ Hasselblad camera with a 50 mm lens. In point of fact, I could have used any appropriate camera to repeat the Hyde Expedition photos. All that really mattered was to place my camera in the same position as Wetherill’s — meaning the lens position — 2 and to aim the camera at the same object. In other words, I was following the dictum of Rogers, Malde, and Turner (1984, p. xxvi) that “views made with cameras of different focal lengths from the same lens position will always match exactly, provided that both are printed and cropped to the same size.” My camera positions were generally marked by driving a rebar rod 40 inches long vertically into the ground below the camera lens, using a plumb bob. (On bare rock, a star drill was used to make a shallow hole below the lens; and, rarely, a 10-inch nail was used as a marker.) The lens was used to mark the site (rather than some other part of the camera) because the lens acts as the perspective center of a photograph, such that its position and orientation establish all the geometric relations of objects in the field of view (Malde, 1983). In the case of a view camera, for which the lenses are nearly symmetrical, I used the position of the shutter to represent the center of the lens — hence, the perspective center of the photograph. Then, as noted in the data given with the photographs that follow, other essential factors were recorded, such as lens height above the marker, aiming point, azimuth, and inclination of the camera axis. Because the camera positions occupied by Wetherill were not marked, I first found his camera locations visually by applying the familiar principle of parallax, which I have described as follows (Malde, 1973, p. 197-198):

A position is found such that near and distant objects in the center of the field of view are brought into approximate alinement. Then, by moving along the center line, objects at the periphery are alined so that their apparent parallax is also correct. This procedure identifies the aiming point and fixes the camera at the proper distance from the subject. The height of the camera at this distance can generally be determined only by observing the parallax of identifiable objects in the foreground.

This procedure resulted in locating the position and orientation of the camera more or less closely. By using a view camera on a tripod and “instant” Polaroid prints, I was then able to make small adjustments in position and aim, using a geometric method based on comparing ratios of horizontal and vertical distances in the old and new photographs (Harrison, 1974; Klett and others, 1984, p. 42-43). Briefly put, by measuring such ratios with respect to an arbitrary vertical line drawn on a Polaroid print, one can judge whether to move the camera up or down, left or right, or forward or backward. The final placement is achieved by making successive trials. Having found the same placement for the camera (within practical limits of tolerance, of course), I was able in some cases to reproduce the highlights and shadows in a Wetherill photo by observing how the subject looked under the prevailing direction of sunlight — that is, the existing azimuth and altitude of the sun. Although this goal can be approached analytically by using astronomical tables, I simply compared the existing lighting with that in a Wetherill photo and tried to find the best possible time within constraints imposed by my schedule for fieldwork. 3

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Based on arguable evidence, Chaco Wash may not have been a fully incised arroyo in 1896, as it had become by the 1970s — and even well before. Arroyos typically terminate headward in a headcut, below which they have vertical walls and a comparatively broad floor, and above which the stream occupies a shallow channel. Both aspects can be discerned in the Hyde Expedition photos. Thus, an arroyo is shown opposite Pueblo Bonito in 1896 extending upstream to about half a mile above Chettro Kettle, if not farther. Furthermore, an arroyo must then have been present continuously downstream to the confluence with the Escavada, and surely beyond. On the other hand, distant views of Chaco Wash in 1896 in the area of Fajada Butte show a more or less continuous line of greasewood, apparently growing in a shallow channel, and closer views of Gallo Wash in the same area clearly show that the Gallo was not then incised. This evidence, although perhaps subject to other interpretations, points to the head of the Chaco arroyo in 1896 being somewhere between Chettro Kettle and Fajada Butte, a distance of about three miles. As for changes in vegetation between the Hyde Expedition and the 1970s, the principle difference is in the growth of greasewood, which became comparatively much more abundant nearly everywhere on the floor of Chaco Canyon. Judging from the repeat photos, this increase in greasewood was greater north of Chaco Wash than on the south side. Also, from a photo that overlooks Ruin Bc-51 from the south, which is discussed in the portfolio, a substantial part of the increase in greasewood may date from 1950, or later. In contrast, the repeat photos taken at the head of Mockingbird Canyon show no discernible change in the upland vegetation. 4

PORTFOLIO OF PHOTOGRAPHS 5

OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Kin Neole, a Pueblo in the Northwestern part of New Mexico/ about 15 miles SW of Pueblo Bonito.” September 1899. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 412149. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 823 Site 74 M 45 Date JUN 12, 1974 Time 1234 MDT Location La Vida Mision quad, NM, 2200' E, 250' N, SW cor. Sec.32, T 21 N, R 12 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Kin Neole, a Pueblo in the Northwestern part of New Mexico/ about 15 miles SW of Pueblo Bonito.” [Kin Bineola Ruins from the east.] Lens 150 mm Lens down 10 mm Aiming point Apex on middle wall Azimuth S 75 W Marker 10" Nail Height 3.79' above top of nail

CommentComment The valley beyond the low mesa in the middle distance is a tributary of Kim-me-ni-oli Valley. Greasewood along the valley floor is comparatively more abundant in the 1974 photo than in the 1899 photo. However, vegetation in the upland area around the ruin, which is largely mantled by a thin cover of wind-blown sand, is nearly the same in both views. Aerial photographic evidence of ancient irrigation at Kin Bineola is reported by Thomas R. Lyons and others in “Third Annual Conference on Remote Sensing in Arid Lands, Office of Arid Lands Studies, University of Arizona,” p. 266-283, 1972. 6 7 8

OPPOSITE

TOPTOP “Exploring outfit at mouth of canyon looking south. 1 p.m.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411919. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

BOTTOMBOTTOM USGS # 961 Site 76 M 56 Date JUN 11, 1976 Time 1345 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad, NM, 1200' E, 2100' S, NW cor. Sec.9, T 21 N, R 10 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Exploring outfit at mouth of canyon looking south. 1 p.m.” [Head of Mockingbird Canyon.] Lens 150 mm Lens down 10 mm Front tilt 2° down Aiming point Nothing definite Azimuth S 27 W Marker Rod 10 cm high Height 153.5 cm above top of rod

CommentComment The description, “mouth of canyon,” in the caption of Wetherill’s photo is a misnomer. Rather, the view is southwestward from upland at the head of Mockingbird Canyon. The negative number typed on the back of the 1896 photo is the same as that found on the back of “Butte from Pueblo Una Vida / Mesa Fahada looking south.” The upland vegetation is virtually unchanged in composition and density. The area of exposed rimrock (slickrock) also is unchanged, for example at the far left and at the right-center in the middle distance. In other words, any effects of erosion or deposition of surficial material next to the slickrock are not recognizable. Grazing could have perpetuated the character of the vegetation for three or four decades, given that photo 81514 by William Chavenet taken in 1934 or 1935 shows sheep grazing at the mouth of Mockingbird Canyon (Chauvenet, 1935) and that the park was not fully enclosed by fencing until 1946 (DeAngelis, 1972). 9 10

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Butte from Pueblo west of Weje-gi.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411918. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 989 Site 77 M 50 Date JUN 16, 1977 Time 1218 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad, NM, 950' W, 450' S, NE cor. Sec.28, T 21 N, R 10 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Butte from Pueblo west of Weje-gi.” [Fajada Butte from just west of unnamed and unexcavated ruin.] Lens 150 mm Lens down Aiming point Step on shoulder Azimuth S 37 W Marker Rod 4 cm high Height 217.5 cm above top of rod

CommentComment Gallo Wash is in the middle distance; Chaco Wash is in the farther distance. In the 1977 photo, both streams are entrenched in arroyos. In the 1896 photo, Gallo Wash is in a shallow, non-incised channel marked by a line of greasewood. The distant Chaco Wash is also marked by a line of greasewood, but the character of its channel is less certain. On the one hand, the continuous line of greasewood, which presumably marks the path of occasional streamflow, suggests that the channel is shallow, like the channel of Gallo Wash. On the other hand, as pointed out by Kirk Vincent, U.S. Geological Survey (written communication, November 2000), sharp vertical banks can be seen with a magnifier at two places to the left and right of Fajada Butte. This circumstance suggests that the channel of Chaco Wash in 1896 was to some degree incised. In my view, however, this evidence does not necessarily establish that a continuous arroyo was then present in the area embraced by these photos. The foreground vegetation has hardly changed in composition and density, but grease-wood is conspicuous on the interfluve between the Gallo and the Chaco in the 1977 photo, whereas it is absent in the 1896 photo. 12 13 14

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Butte from Pueblo Una Vida / Mesa Fahada looking south.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411919. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 987 Site 77 M 45 Date JUN 15, 1977 Time 1544 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 450' E, 400' N, SW cor. Sec.21, T 21 N, R 10 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Butte from Pueblo Una Vida / Mesa Fahada looking south.” [Fajada Butte from Una Vida.] Lens 150 mm Lens down Aiming point Nothing definite Azimuth S 6 E Marker Rod 1 cm high Height 167.5 cm above top of rod

CommentComment The negative number typed on the back of the 1896 photo is the same as that found on the back of “Exploring outfit at mouth of canyon looking south [Head of Mockingbird Canyon].” In the 1896 photo, Chaco Wash is marked by a more or less continuous line of greasewood, presumably indicating (as in the preceding Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo 411918) a shallow channel. Because of the very low angle of view, however, an arroyo along Chaco Wash in 1896 cannot be ruled out. Still, in my view, the greasewood seen in 1896 along Chaco Wash would not be visible if it were growing in a channel (or arroyo) deeper than the height of the plants. Gallo Wash, which is seen at the right edge of the 1977 photo, was not visible in 1896. This evidence, unfortunately, does not necessarily bear upon the problematical existence of a Chaco arroyo in this area in 1896, in that arroyo cutting on a tributary can be independent of arroyo cutting on a main channel. Faint signs of an abandoned road, perhaps used during work on Pueblo Una Vida, are visible in the foreground of the 1896 photo. The topography of the former road is still dimly visible in the 1977 photo. Greasewood was scarce in the 1896 photo but is conspicuous near the trend of Gallo Wash in the 1977 photo. 16 17 18

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Pueblo Una Vida, Western end, Looking N.W.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411921. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 841 Site 74 M 68 Date AUG 17, 1974 Time 1624 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 450' E, 200' N, SW cor. Sec.21, T 21 N, R 10 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Pueblo Una Vida, Western End, Looking N.W. ” Lens 150 mm Lens down Aiming point Corner Azimuth N 2 E Marker Rod 0.37' high Height 5.31' above top of rod

CommentComment Greasewood is conspicuous in the foreground in the 1974 photo, and grass has invaded the middle ground. 20 21 22

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Pueblo Chettro Kettle from west Stairway in Mesa east of ruin.” 1896. American Museum of Natural History no. 411906. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 928 Site 76 M 22R Date MAY 16, 1976 Time 1130 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 2000' W, 250' N, SE cor. Sec.13, T 21 N, R 11 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Pueblo Chettro Kettle from west Stairway in Mesa east of ruin.” Lens 50 mm (2¼" x 2¼" negative made with Hasselblad camera) Aiming point Dark streak on cliff Azimuth S 65 E Marker 10" Nail Height 145 cm above ground

CommentComment The photos are from the stairway west (not “east”) of the ruin. Both photos were made with wide-angle lenses. Distant haze in the 1896 view, which is an artifact of the orthochromatic plate used at that time (Eder, 1945, p. 469-470), makes the perspective up Chaco Wash confusing, but the photos are otherwise closely matched. Chaco Wash as an incised arroyo is visible near the right edge of the 1896 photo, showing a vertical wall that indicates a depth of perhaps two or three meters. (This estimated depth is based on comparing the height of the arroyo wall with the height of cottonwoods in the 1976 photo.) Thus, the arroyo reached at least this far up the wash in 1896. Also, greasewood is clearly seen along the arroyo, apparently growing on the arroyo floor. (See also, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo 411840, Casa Rinconada.) Interestingly, study of the 1896 photo with a magnifier shows that the swath of greasewood abruptly narrows at a point about half a mile above Chettro Kettle and then either pinches out or becomes imperceptibly narrow and discontinuous. This observation suggests that the Chaco arroyo itself may have reached its headward extent at this place in 1896. Cottonwoods along Chaco Wash in the 1976 photo are a feature of plantings done in the 1930s to control erosion. Greasewood is comparatively more abundant in the 1976 photo. 24 25 26

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Pueblo Bonito, Western End from Mesa looking South.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411867. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 930 Site 76 M 24 Date MAY 21, 1976 Time 1220 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 1500' E, 650' N, SW cor. Sec.12, T 21 N, R 11 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Pueblo Bonito, Western End from Mesa looking South.” Lens 150 mm Lens down Camera axis tilted down 7 degrees Aiming point Crack in cliff Azimuth S 9 E Marker Mark on rock Height 124 cm above mark

CommentComment Greasewood is visible along the length of Chaco Wash in the 1896 photo. If the greasewood is growing on the arroyo floor, then the arroyo is clearly shallow, perhaps at most three or four meters. The arroyo is also comparatively narrow. Greasewood is much more abundant on the valley floor surrounding Pueblo Bonito in the 1976 photo, when compared with the 1896 photo, and is also somewhat more abundant on the opposite side of Chaco Wash. 28 29 30

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Camp scene / Mr. Buck and horses.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411852. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 991 Site 77 M 52 Date JUN 17, 1977 Time 1050 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 1700' E, 350' N, SW cor. Sec.12, T 21 N, R 11 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “Camp scene / Mr. Buck and horses.” Lens 90 mm Lens down Camera axis tilted down 3 degrees Aiming point Dark spot on cliff Azimuth N 84 W Marker Rod 10 cm high Height 191.5 cm above top of rod

CommentComment This is a wide-angle view of the 1896 camp at the rear of Pueblo Bonito. Pueblo del Arroyo can be seen in the distance at the left of center, but the position of Chaco Wash with respect to Pueblo del Arroyo in the 1896 photo cannot be determined from this perspective. 32 33 34

OPPOSITE

TOPTOP “View of burial mound #1, pueblo, view looking north.” 1896. Hyde Expedition to Chaco Canyon. American Museum of Natural History no. 411840. Photographer not identified but attributed to Richard Wetherill. 6½ x 8¼ inches.

BOTTOMBOTTOM USGS # 962 Site 76 M 57 Date JUN 11, 1976 Time 1745 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 1850' E, 2500' N, SW cor. Sec.13, T 21 N, R 11 W Subject Repeats Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo “View of burial mound #1, pueblo, view looking north.” [Casa Rinconada.] Lens 150 mm Lens down Camera axis tilted down 3 degrees Aiming point Edge of light rock Azimuth N 19 E Marker Hole 3 cm deep on sandstone ledge Height 167.7 cm above hole

CommentComment Casa Rinconada is at the left center in the middle distance. Chettro Kettle is below the distant cliff at the right, and Pueblo Bonito is below the cliff at the left. Chaco Wash in the middle distance beyond Casa Rinconada has a sharply defined northern edge in the 1896 photo and is clearly narrow when compared with the 1976 photo. By using a magnifier, a flat area with scattered greasewood can be seen at the far right of the 1896 photo below the arroyo wall. Presumably this is the floor of the arroyo, showing that the arroyo was then comparatively shallow, perhaps about 3 meters deep. Cottonwoods in the Chaco arroyo in the 1976 photo date from the 1930s. (See also, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo 411906, Pueblo Chettro Kettle.) Greasewood is comparatively more abundant on both sides of Chaco Wash in the 1976 photo. 35 36

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OVERLEAF

LEFTLEFT “Ruin Bc-51, Chaco Canyon. View toward the north from top of cliff. July 1950.” G. Vivian, National Park Service. 3 3/4" x 4 3/4" inches.

RIGHTRIGHT USGS # 946 Site 76 M 40B Date JUN 2, 1976 Time 0954 MDT Location Pueblo Bonito quad. NM, 2500' E, 2400' S, NW cor. Sec.13, T 21 N, R 11 W Subject Repeats G. Vivian photo “Ruin Bc-51, Chaco Canyon. View toward the north from top of cliff. July 1950.” [Ruin east of Casa Rinconada.] Lens 150 mm Lens down 5 cm; camera axis tilted down 10 degrees Aiming point Dark vertical crack, cliff Azimuth N 30 E Marker Hole in rock Height 157 cm above hole in rock

CommentComment The part of Chaco Wash at the exact center of these photos is at the far right edge of Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo 411840, Casa Rinconada. By 1950, judging from the Vivian photo, the Chaco arroyo at this place clearly had become substantially wider and deeper than it was in the 1896 photo. Greasewood on the near (south) side of Chaco Wash has about the same density in the 1950 and 1976 photos, but its density on the far (north) side had become much greater in 1976. (See also, Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. photo 411867, Pueblo Bonito.)

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REFERENCES CITED

Chauvenet, William, 1935, Erosion control in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, for the preservation of archaeological sites: MA Thesis, University of New Mexico.

DeAngelis, J.M., 1972, Physical geography of the Chaco Canyon Country: U.S. National Park Service, Chaco Culture National Historical Park Museum Collection, unpublished manuscript, 113 p.

Eder, J.M., 1945, History of photography; translated by Edward Epstean: Columbia University Press; unabridged and unaltered Dover edition published in 1978, 860 p.

Harrison, A. E., 1974, Reoccupying unmarked camera stations for geological observations: Geology, v. 2, no. 9, p. 469-471.

Klett, Mark, and others, 1984, Second view, the Rephotographic Survey Project: University of New Mexico Press, 211 p.

Malde, H. E., 1973, Geologic bench marks by terrestrial photography: U.S. Geological Survey Journal of Research, v. 1, no. 2, p. 193-206.

______, 1983, Panoramic photographs: American scientist, vol. 71, March-April, p. 132-140.

______, 2000, Repeat photography at Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico, based on photographs made in the1930s, 1970s, and the year 2000: Wright Paleohydrological Institute, Denver, Colorado.

Rogers, G. F., Malde, H. E., and Turner, R. M., 1984, Bibliography of repeat photography for evaluating landscape change: University of Utah Press, 215 p.