CULTURAL RESOURCES TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM TO: Martha McDonnell FROM: Charlane Gross, M.A., RPA, Senior Archaeologist PROJECT: Newcastle Fire Station Project SUBJECT: Cultural Resources Technical Memorandum DATE: December 1, 2017 INTRODUCTION Charlane Gross, Senior Archaeologist with AES, previously prepared a Cultural Resources Study for the Newcastle Fire Station Project in 2014; construction for that project is now underway. The project site is situated at 9301 Old State Highway, Newcastle, California, between Old State Highway and an off-ramp from Interstate 80 (I-80) in western Placer County. The proposed project involves the placement of fill in a deep basin at the project site and subsequent construction of a new fire station on the lot. The basin represents the original ground surface; surrounding construction including roads, railroads, warehouses, and other industrial structures are all located on built-up surfaces, requiring the basin to be filled prior to construction of the new fire station. The original survey, completed in August 2014, identified a concrete slab and a concrete footing/pier as well as modern brush and debris in the bottom of the basin. At the time, Newcastle Fire Protection District representatives indicated that the area had hosted a Chinese community in the first half of the 20th century and a shanty town that was razed in the late 1950s for construction of I-80; that information was confirmed in 2017 by John Mattos, local historian. However, in 2017, Mr. Mattos indicated that the Chinese community was located 300-500 feet north of the project site and that the shanty town was originally a camp for seasonal agricultural workers, possibly constructed in association with the Farm Security Administration (FSA), which constructed 13 large, and many small, worker camps throughout California. In November 2017, grubbing and clearing in preparation for project construction led to the discovery of additional concrete slab features, a hose bib, building rubble, burned and butchered fauna, and bottles and ceramics. Background research indicates that the migrant worker camp existed in 1938, but that those structures were either demolished or added to, as the slabs uncovered in 2017 do not match the 1938 aerial photograph, and were likely built in the 1950s. The fauna could be related to any period of use, but some of the bottles and ceramics are associated with the Chinese community, and most date to the 19th century. The background setting information that was presented in the previous report (Gross, 2014) is incorporated by reference and will not be repeated here. PROJECT LOCATION The project site is located on Assessor’s Parcel Numbers 040-179-001-000 and 040-179-011-000 in Newcastle, Placer County, California (Figure 1). The project site consists of less than two acres within a deep basin situated in Section 19 of Township 12 North, Range 8 East as depicted on the Rocklin, California U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle. REGULATORY SETTING Cultural resources are defined as buildings, sites, structures, or objects, each of which may have historical, architectural, archaeological, cultural, and/or scientific importance. Numerous laws, regulations, and statutes at the federal level govern archaeological and historic resources deemed to have scientific, historic, or cultural value. The pertinent regulatory framework, as it applies to the project site, is summarized below. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) includes directives regarding impacts on historical resources and unique archaeological resources. CEQA states that if implementation of a project would result in significant environmental impacts, then public agencies should assess whether such impacts can be substantially lessened or avoided through feasible mitigation measures or alternatives. This general mandate applies to certain cultural resources. Only significant cultural resources (e.g., “historical resources” and “unique archaeological resources”) need to be addressed. State CEQA Guidelines define a historical resource as, among other things, “a resource listed or eligible for listing on the California Register of Historical Resources” (CRHR) (CEQA Guidelines, Section 15064.5, subdivision [a][1]; see also Public Resources Code [PRC] Sections 5024.1 and 21084.1). A historical resource may be eligible for inclusion on the CRHR, as determined by the State Historical Resources Commission or the lead agency, if the resource: (1) Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of California’s history and cultural heritage; or (2) Is associated with the lives of persons important in our past; or (3) Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values; or (4) Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. December 2017 2 Newcastle Fire Station Project Analytical Environmental Services Cultural Resources Tech Memo PRC Section 15064.5(e) of the State CEQA Guidelines requires that excavation activities be stopped whenever human remains are uncovered and that the county coroner be called in to assess the remains. If the county coroner determines that the remains are those of Native Americans, the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) must be contacted within 24 hours. At that time, Section 15064.5(d) of the State CEQA Guidelines directs the lead agency to consult with the appropriate Native Americans as identified by the NAHC, and directs the lead agency (or applicant), under certain circumstances, to develop an agreement with the Native Americans for the treatment and disposition of the remains. Historic Background Between the Dust Bowl and the Depression, hundreds of thousands of Americans were forced to leave there homes, many headed westward to the golden lands of California. Unfortunately, what they found was discrimination and competition for even the most menial farm work. The “Okies” settled wherever they could find work, often forming what were known as ditch-bank camps; these consisted of the barest essentials, and migrants built their homes out of cardboard, plywood, canvas, or anything else they could get. Frequently arrayed along field ditches, creeks or rivers, the occupants could get water from the ditch, but also used it for bathing and garbage dumping, creating terrible living conditions. John Steinbeck visited a number of ditch bank camps and described a typical settlement thus: “From a distance it looks like a city dump” (Steinbeck, 1936). In part, photographs of the living conditions forced on so many migrants led to government programs designed to help workers. At the same time, a number of programs were developed under what has become known as the New Deal. These included the Resettlement Administration, created in 1935, and designed to assist poor farmers dislocated by the Dust Bowl or the Depression. The plan had socialist overtones that proved unpopular with Congress and the public, and within two years had morphed into a number of different programs, including the FSA (Legends of America, 2003). Active from 1937 to 1942, the FSA was under the Department of Agriculture and designed to help with rural rehabilitation, farm loans, and subsistence homestead programs. The focus was on improving the lifestyle of sharecroppers, tenants, poor landowning farmers, and resettling farmers on government-owned group farms (Legends of America, 2003). Additionally, the FSA assisted families by providing healthcare, education, and training programs for participating families (DPLA, 2016). The FSA was unpopular with large-scale farmers who wanted a tenant workforce, and struck some as a form of socialism. To deflect some of the criticism, FSA constructed 13 migrant labor camps in California (Library of Congress, 2017) of all sizes (O’Reilly, 2012); numerous others were constructed along similar lines, apparently including the project site. December 2017 3 Newcastle Fire Station Project Analytical Environmental Services Cultural Resources Tech Memo 2014 METHODS AND RESULTS Research In 2014, a background record search was completed at the North Central Information Center (NCIC) of the California Historical Resources Information System. That search found that only one archaeological site had been identified within 0.5 miles of the project site, CA-PLA-999H, which included structure remnants and a debris deposit an enameled metal coffee pot, plates, whiteware fragments, and glass fragments. No previous surveys of the project site were noted. Additionally, no pertinent information was derived from an examination of historic maps (Gross, 2014); however, an aerial photograph from 1938 shows four large structures on the project site (Attachment A). Native American Contact Program In 2014, the NAHC was asked for a search of the Sacred Lands Files and for a list of Native American groups or individuals who might have information relating to resources in the project vicinity. Everyone identified by the NAHC was contacted, and a response was received from Marcos Guerrero of the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC), stating that UAIC knew that a roundhouse, Pitelecum, often referred to as the Lizard Roundhouse, was in the project vicinity (Gross, 2014). A site visit by UAIC was planned, but UAIC failed to attend. 2014 Field Survey During the survey, the edge of a concrete slab and a nearby concrete