Shí Kéyaa: The Western Apache Homeland and Archaeology of the Mogollon Rim Angie Krall Vincent E. Randall Technical Report No. 2007-03 Desert Archaeology, Inc. Shí Kéyaa: The Western Apache Homeland and Archaeology of the Mogollon Rim Angie Krall Vincent E. Randall Technical Report No. 2007-03 Desert Archaeology, Inc. 3975 N. Tucson Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85716 • July 2009 PREFACE The realignment of State Route 260 (SR 260) be- Cores and frontiers depend on vantage point, tween Payson and Heber follows a long tradition however. In this report, KenCairn and Randall ad- of trail blazing through the lands below the Mogol- dress the presumption of the interpretation that lon Rim region. For over 3,000 years, people have described the region as frontier. They examine the passed through the region, perhaps following the region as a homeland and an essential and central route of the modern highway through spring-fed part of the history and identity of Apache, even as meadows and perennial streams. For at least 350 private and public entities have claimed the lands years, the stewards of this land have often been of the Mogollon Rim and native peoples have been Apache and Yavapai. moved to reservations. For modern Apache, the area is a “bridge” be- An extensive view of the Apache use of the tween the modern Yavapai-Apache Nation, Tonto, sub-Mogollon Rim was drawn from published and White Mountain, and San Carlos Reservations. unpublished ethnographic work on Apache places, Tribal members recall trails traveled by foot, don- cultural resource management reports, and the key, horse, or car, as well as camps made under the records of the public agencies who protect and trees, ramadas, or wickiups. A history of subsis- manage Apache places. An understanding of the tence activities, personal rituals, and social occa- human agency that shaped this landscape is pro- sions is encoded across the landscape. Where vided by Apache and Yavapai consultants who Apache confronted the pioneers of the American talked with the project ethnographers about how frontier and their military forces are better known the Mogollon Rim region has changed over the and mapped by all. course of their lives. They also shared the place- Apache and Yavapai archaeological sites are knowledge they received from their parents and the remains of a mobile people who lived lightly grandparents. The narratives of the people who on the landscape, which means that archaeological informed Goodwin, Buskirk, and Basso, as well as investigations are not sufficient to fully evaluate those who worked with Anthropological Research, the effects of development on Apache cultural re- L.L.C., converge and diverge as the result of the sources and traditional places. To ameliorate the many experiences, many memories, and many in- analytic divide between the archaeological meth- terests that are tied to the region. od, which draws inference from material remains, This study of the Apache homeland was con- and the fundamental connections modern Apache ducted by Anthropological Research, L.L.C. The and Yavapai make with the central Arizona land- project was guided by T. J. Ferguson, initiated with scape, the Arizona Department of Transportation Roger Anyon, written and researched with Angie (ADOT) and the Tonto National Forest (TNF) re- Kralj KenCairn and Vincent Randall, and edited quested an ethnographic project be conducted as and brought to completion by Chip Colwell- part of the State Route 260 Payson-to-Heber pro- Chanthaphonh. Ahéhye’e to those tribal members ject. who contributed their knowledge to help us better The S.R. 260 project is a cultural resource man- understand their history and the history of the re- agement project conducted by Desert Archaeology, gion: Levi DeHose, Jerome Kessay, Sr., Gregg Inc., in advance of the realignment of 74 km (46 Henry, Lorin Henry, Ramon Riley, Eva Watt, Don miles) of state highway between Payson and Decker, Mary Smith Garner, Everett Randall, Heber, Arizona. All archaeological sites are con- Elizabeth Rocha, Victor Smith, Ed Cassa, and fined to the westernmost portion of the project area Jeanette Cassa. Researchers and consultants were below the Mogollon Rim on TNF land. The use of aided by John Welch of the White Mountain the project area by modern Apache and their an- Apache Historic Preservation Office, Beverly cestors was not as confined; therefore, the ethno- Malone and Karl Hoerig of the White Mountain graphic research considered the entire corridor and Apache Cultural Center and Museum, Vernelda the surrounding region. Grant of the San Carlos Historic Preservation and The goal of the archaeological Treatment Plan Archaeology Department, Seth Pilsk at the San for the SR 260 project was to examine the region Carlos Department of Forestry, and Chris Coder at crossed by the highway as a frontier, beyond and the Yavapai-Apache Nation Cultural Resources between more dominant population centers in the office. Scott Wood, Jen Berke, and Michael Sullivan pre-Columbian and the historic eras (Herr 1999). of the TNF offered their knowledge of Apache iv Preface archaeology and history on the forest. Ronald ing those at the McGoonie site, Ponderosa Camp- Louis Stauber provided the cartography, and this ground, and Plymouth Landing interpreted herein, final presentation was produced by Emilee Mead are (or will be) discussed in a series of descriptive and Donna Doolittle of Desert Archaeology. technical reports titled, “Their Own Road.” This report is one in a series of final reports be- ing produced as part of the SR 260 project. The Sarah A. Herr results of the archaeological investigations, includ- Desert Archaeology, Inc. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Western Apache history, as it relates to the area; (2) explanation of how the project area is part State Route 260 (SR 260) Payson-to-Heber project of the Western Apache homelands; and (3) inspec- implemented by Desert Archaeology, Inc., is sum- tion of archaeological sites, maps, and artifacts by marized in this report. This project was conducted Western Apache cultural advisors to determine to mitigate the impact of highway realignment and how they are related to Apache use of the study improvement on cultural resources along a 74-km- area. (46-mile-) long stretch of right-of-way between Data recovery at three archaeological sites ex- Payson and Heber (Milepost 256 to Milepost 302) hibited recognizable Apache or Yavapai remains. (Herr 1999). These include a possible ramada at the McGoonie Ethnohistoric research included preliminary site, AZ O:12:25/AR-03-12-04-743 (ASM/TNF); an fieldwork in 2000 (Ferguson and Anyon 2000), fol- Apache occupation component at the Plymouth lowed by more intensive work to identify Western Landing site, AZ O:12:89/AR-03-12-04-1411 (ASM/ Apache cultural sites and historic places in and TNF); and a roasting pit at the Ponderosa Camp- near the right-of-way. Fieldwork involved consult- ground site, AZ O:12:19/AR-03-12-04-1159 (ASM/ ants from the San Carlos Apache Tribe, White TNF). Ethnographic fieldwork also revealed im- Mountain Apache Tribe, and Yavapai-Apache Na- portant Apache cultural and historical sites, in- tion. To complement the 2000 fieldwork, KenCairn cluding an Apache camp near Milepost 259, an conducted a literature review of Western Apache Apache trail up See Canyon near Christopher history and culture, as well as a series of interviews Creek, an Apache camp at Indian Garden/Kohl’s with consultants from the White Mountain Apache Ranch, and an Apache ceremonial ground near the Tribe and the Yavapai-Apache Nation. Individuals present intersection of SR 260 and Forest Service were chosen for their specific knowledge of the (FS) 512, the road to Young, Arizona. In this study, study area. Three goals guided the research with ethnohistoric interpretations are blended with ar- Apache cultural advisors: (1) documentation of the chaeological investigations to better understand Apache cultural landscapes in and around the project the nature of Apache archaeology. TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface .......................................................................................................................................................................... iii Executive Summary..................................................................................................................................................... v List of Figures.............................................................................................................................................................. ix List of Tables................................................................................................................................................................ xi INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................................1 Project Methods.......................................................................................................................................................5 Previous Research in the Project Area .................................................................................................................6 THE WESTERN APACHE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE ..........................................................................................7 The Mountain People .............................................................................................................................................8 Origins and Migrations........................................................................................................................................10