A Cultural Resource Inventory of 247 acres of the Old Fort Lewis, La Plata County, Colorado By Mona C. Charles James Gustine Danielle Sheptow Alexis Schank Department of Anthropology and Office of Community Services Fort Lewis College 1000 Rim Drive Durango, CO 81301 Report Prepared for the State Historic Fund SHF 2007-02-019 Deliverable 3 Denver, CO September 2008 Abstract A cultural resource inventory of 247 acres surrounding and including the Old Fort Lewis Complex near Hesperus, Colorado, was undertaken by the Anthropology Department at Fort Lewis College. The archaeological inventory was but one component of a larger State Historical Fund grant awarded to the Office of Community Services, at Fort Lewis College. The goal of the project is to establish a multi-year program to protect the historic and archaeological resources at the Old Fort Complex while accommodating the existing use of the facility. The other components of the assessment and preservation plan include a historic buildings survey of standing architecture and a structure conditions assessment of the buildings. As a result of the cultural resource inventory, 21 newly recorded archaeological sites were identified, 14 isolated finds were recorded, and a single site 5LP1968 was reevaluated. One prehistoric site was recorded and the remaining sites are historic. The dominant historic site type is general artifact scatters. The sites are related to the use of Fort Lewis from its incipient occupation in 1881 as a military outpost through its tenure as a junior college until the college moved to its present location in Durango in 1956. The 21 newly recorded sites are recommended as contributing to a potential historic district under Criterion A of the National Register of Historic Places. Each site is also evaluated individually for potential nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The 14 isolated finds are not recommended as eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic places. The Old Fort Lewis Complex, which includes both the educational and military facilities, is assigned one site number-Smithsonian number 5LP1968. Twenty-eight features were recorded within the Complex. These include building foundations, side-walks, artifact scatters, ski-lift, skating pond, rodeo grounds, entrance gates, and a retaining wall. i Table of Contents Introduction . 1 Culture History . 3 Prehistoric . 3 Protohistoric . 7 Historic . 7 Literature Review . 8 Methods . 9 Results . 11 Conclusions and Management Recommendations . 73 References Cited . 77 Appendix I Feature Msps, 5LP1968 Appendix II Site Forms ii List of Figures Figure 1. General location of the Old Fort Lewis archaeological inventory . 2 Figure 2. Cultural resources documented for the Old Fort Lewis archaeological survey 12 Figure 3. Site 5LP1968, Educational Complex, Old Fort Lewis . 13 Figure 4. Conversion of survey data to the GIS Geodatabase . 20 Figure 5. Southern entrance gates (Feature 1) looking north at 5LP1968 . 21 Figure 6. Portion of sidewalk on the main campus (Feature 4) at 5LP1968 . 22 Figure 7. Portion of the old ski lift (Feature 5) at 5LP1968 . 23 Figure 8. Foundation of Feature 8 at 5LP1968 (old carriage house in background) . 24 Figure 9. Grass outline of foundation of Feature 9 at 5LP1968 . 24 Figure 10. Unknown foundation of Feature 12 at 5LP1968 . 25 Figure 11. Feature 13, experimental farm at 5LP1968 . 26 Figure 12. Feature 18, former faculty residence at 5LP1968 . 28 Figure 13. Foundation attached to a sidewalk (Feature 19) at 5LP1968 . 28 Figure 14. Headgate of the H & H Ditch (Feature 1) . 31 Figure 15. Plan map of Feature 1, site 5LP8426.1 . 32 Figure 16. Headgate for the H & H Ditch (Feature 2) . 33 Figure 17. Recording Station for the H & H Ditch (Feature 3) . 33 Figure 18. View of 5LP8427 looking east . 34 Figure 19. Plan map of 5LP8427 . 35 Figure 20. View of 5LP8428 . 36 Figure 21. Plan map of 5LP8428 . 37 Figure 22. View of 5LP8429 . 38 iii Figure 23. Plan map of 5LP8429 . 39 Figure 24. View of 5LP8430 . 40 Figure 25. Plan map of 5LP8430 . 41 Figure 26. Site overview of 5LP8431 . 42 Figure 27. Plan map of Locus A at site 5LP8431 . 43 Figure 28. Overview of 5LP8432 . 44 Figure 29. Plan map of 5LP8432 . 45 Figure 30. View of 5LP8433 . 46 Figure 31. Plan map of 5LP8433 . 47 Figure 32. View of rock-lined features (graves?) at 5LP8434 . 49 Figure 33. View of depression features (graves?) at 5LP8434 . 49 Figure 34. Plan map of old cemetery, site 5LP8434 . 50 Figure 35. Overview of the main dump area, 5LP8435. 51 Figure 36. Plan map of 5LP8435 with Features A through D . 52 Figure 37. Wooden structure (Feature 1) at 5LP8436 . 53 Figure 38. Plan map of 5LP8436 . 54 Figure 39. Site overview of 5LP8437 . 55 Figure 40. Plan map of 5LP8437 . 56 Figure 41. View of 5LP8438, looking north toward Red Mesa Power Station . 57 Figure 42. Plan map of 5LP8438 . 58 Figure 43. View of 5LP8439 . 59 Figure 44. Plan map of 5LP8439 . 60 Figure 45. View of 5LP8440 . 61 iv Figure 46. Plan map of 5LP8440 . 62 Figure 47. Concrete and cobble feature at 5LP8441 . 63 Figure 48. Plan map of rock and concrete feature, 5LP8441 . 64 Figure 49. Site overview of 5LP8442 from the east . 65 Figure 50. Plan map of 5LP8442 . 66 Figure 51. Overview of broken down plow at site 5LP8443 . 67 Figure 52. Plan map of 5LP8443 . 68 Figure 53. Lory Spring gate, site 5LP8444 . 69 Figure 54. Plan map of headgate at Lory Spring site 5LP8444 . 70 Figure 55. Site overview of 5LP8445 looking southwest . 71 Figure 56. Plan map of 5LP8445 . 72 Figure 57. Overview of target staging area at site 5LP8446 . 73 Figure 58. Plan map of 5LP8446 . 74 List of Tables Table 1. Cultural Resources documented, Old Fort Lewis archaeological survey . 14 Table 2. Collected Artifacts from the Old Fort Lewis archaeological survey. 17 . v 1.0 Introduction A cultural resource inventory around and including the Old Fort Lewis complex was conducted in May through July of 2007 as part of State Historical Fund grant 2007-02-019 awarded to the Office of Community Services (OCS) at Fort Lewis College (FLC). The first documented use of the Old Fort Lewis in Hesperus, Colorado was as a U.S. military post. In August of 1880 the original Fort Lewis in Pagosa Springs moved to the Hesperus location where it was active until it was decommissioned in 1891. At this time, the land and the buildings were transferred to the Secretary of Interior to be used as an Indian boarding school. The boarding school operated until 1911. Declining enrollment in boarding schools in general along with the construction of schools on the reservations brought a close to the period of Indian boarding schools. Many of the buildings constructed by the military were reused during the boarding school tenure while others were demolished. New buildings were constructed to accommodate the boarding school staff and students. In January 1911, the boarding school closed and the 6318-acre military reservation and infrastructure were transferred to the state of Colorado where it was converted to a rural high school. In 1927, college courses were added to the high school curriculum and it became a two-year college in 1933. The two-year college was housed at the Old Fort Lewis until 1956 when it moved to its present location in Durango. Throughout this time, many new buildings were added and a few older ones were destroyed or remodeled. Today the campus houses Colorado State University’s San Juan Basin Research Center (SUBRC), one of ten experimental stations in the state. Other uses of the campus include hands-on teaching by the biology and physics departments at Fort Lewis College and general use of the campus by members of the community at large. The Mesa Verde Interagency Helitak fire crew and the San Juan Hot Shots used the property for office space, living quarters, and training grounds. Prior to the military’s presence, this part of the La Plata Valley was used extensively during prehistoric and protohistoric times. Archaic, Basketmaker, and Puebloan sites are found on.