Theodore Roosevelt Dam and Lake Roosevelt

Part of: Central Arizona Project Regulatory Storage Division

This collection contains the three mitigative data recovery studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The research was necessary to mitigate any adverse effects related to modifying and raising the height of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in the Tonto Basin. The original dam, completed in 1911, is used to store water (for municipal and agricultural use) and to generate electricity for the Phoenix metropolitan area. Most of the sites included in the investigations are located above the level of the original reservoir, at elevations between 2,120 and 2,200 feet. The modifications to the dam were designed to improve the structure for controlling floods. During such flood events, the reservoir could potentially rise 80 feet above its usual elevation of 2,120 feet, which would temporarily inundate many of the sites included in these studies. As the floodwaters drain (generally in a matter of days), the water will recede to its normal level (or less, as water is used for municipal, irrigation, and power-generating purposes).

A planning team planning team composed of archaeologists from the Bureau of Reclamation, Tonto National Forest, and the State Historic Preservation Office developed a program of multiple, parallel projects to complete the mitigtation studies for the Roosevelt Dam modifications. The goal established by the planning team was to treat the prehistoric sites as part of regional systems. Most of the research effort was directed at sites that lay within the limits of the expanded reservoir, but sites beyond the reservoir were also included. This was in part because the improvement of recreational facilities at the reservoir would attract more people to the area, which would increase the potential for disturbance to sites throughout the region. The planning team also recognized that understanding the large sites within the area of the expanded reservoir was enhanced by the collection of data from smaller sites lying in the secondary zone of increased recreation use surrounding the reservoir. Each of the three mitigation projects examined one or more clusters of sites at different locations around the reservoir.

"The Roosevelt Platform Mound Study" focused on sites of the Salado period, especially on platform mounds and the residential compounds clustered around the mounds. The Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource Management (OCRM) conducted the work for the platform mound study. A second project, "The Roosevelt Community Development Study", examined the developments that took place in the centuries leading up to the appearance of platform mounds. This research was conducted at a series of sites on the northern bank of the Salt River opposite the Roosevelt Platform Mound Study's Pinto Creek Complex sites. Desert Archaeology, Inc. conducted the work for the Roosevelt Community Development study. The third project, "The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study", examined small sites located away from the larger prehistoric villages for the purpose of determining the importance of nonriverine settings in the adaptive strategies of the people of the Tonto Basin. It involved work at six different locations around the perimeter of Roosevelt Lake. Statistical Research, Inc. completed the research for the third study.

Site Name Keywords
Meddler Point • AR-03-12-06-1551(USFS) • Eagle Ridge • Hedge Apple • AZ V:5:189(ASM) • Griffin Wash • Pyramid Point • Las Manos • Porcupine • AZ U:8:388(ASM)

Site Type Keywords
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Domestic Structures • Archaeological Feature • Settlements • Hamlet / Village • Midden • Funerary and Burial Structures or Features • Artifact Scatter • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features • Agricultural or Herding

Other Keywords
Projectile Point • Tonto Basin Prehistory • Rural Settlement • Bowl • Awl • Knife • Agriculture • Core • Metate • Mano

Culture Keywords
Hohokam • Salado • Ancestral Puebloan • Historic • Euroamerican • Historic Native American

Investigation Types
Data Recovery / Excavation • Site Evaluation / Testing • Archaeological Overview • Environment Research • Research Design / Data Recovery Plan • Bioarchaeological Research • Reconnaissance / Survey • Historic Background Research • Heritage Management • Methodology, Theory, or Synthesis

Material Types
Ceramic • Ground Stone • Chipped Stone • Shell • Fauna • Human Remains • Macrobotanical • Pollen • Wood • Dating Sample

Temporal Keywords
Roosevelt Phase • Gila Phase • Hohokam pre-Classic period • Hohokam Classic period • Sacaton Phase • Miami Phase • Gila Butte Phase • Classic Period • Ash Creek Phase • Colonial Period

Geographic Keywords
Gila County (County) • Arizona (State / Territory) • United States of America (Country) • North America (Continent) • Roosevelt Lake • Theodore Roosevelt Dam • Salt River • USA (Country) • Tonto Basin • Sierra Ancha

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-24 of 24)

Archaeological Survey of Five Parcels Around Roosevelt Lake Individual Resources
  • Archaeological Excavation of Three Historic Burials at Tonto Basin Ranger Station, Tonto National Forest, Gila County (1994)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Karolyn Jackman Jensen. Sharon Hurlbut.

    At the request of the Bureau of Reclamation, Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. (ACS) exhumed three historic burials encountered near the Tonto Basin Ranger Station at Roosevelt Lake, Arizona. Two historic graves had been disturbed during the excavation of a waterline trench, and a subsequent backhoe investigation confirmed the presence of a third burial. The cemetery was assigned site number AR-03-12-06-299(USFS).

  • Historic American Engineering Record: Theodore Roosevelt Dam (1992)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Donald C. Jackson.

    Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AZ-6 examines the origins and construction of Theodore Roosevelt Dam, the first major project to increase the Salt River Valley's water supply beyond that available from the "normal flow" of the Salt River in south-central Arizona. Sponsored by the Arizona Projects Office of the Bureau of Reclamation, this HAER documentation was undertaken because the Roosevelt Dam was dramatically altered in the early 1990s. The alteration served to increase the...

  • Historic American Engineering Record: Theodore Roosevelt Dam, Power Plant (1996)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Christine Pfaff.

    Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AZ-6A examines the origins, construction, use, and significance of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam Power Plant and Transformer House, located in south-central Arizona along the Salt River. The report contains a narrative description, drawings, maps, and historic photographs of the dam's power plant and transformer house. As the key structure in one of the first major federally sponsored Reclamation projects in the West, Theodore Roosevelt Dam...

  • The Roosevelt Bajada Survey, Tonto Basin, Gila County, Central Arizona (1991)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Richard V. N. Ahlstrom. Mark L. Chenault. Kirk C. Anderson.

    Between October, 1990, and January, 1991, SWCA, Environmental Consultants conducted archaeological survey of approximately 1,800 acres of Tonto National Forest land in the Roosevelt Basin, central Arizona. This project, the Roosevelt Bajada Survey, was done to provide survey data on portions of the Basin that are not being investigated by Arizona State University (ASU) as part of its Roosevelt Lake Project. The survey recorded 111 new sites and rerecorded five previously known sites; four...

Roosevelt Community Development Study-Center for Desert Archaeology
  • Research Design for the Roosevelt Community Development Study (1992)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text William H. Doelle. Henry D. Wallace. Mark D. Elson. Douglas B. Craig.

    The Roosevelt Community Development Study (RCD) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Desert Archaeology, Inc. to complete the research for...

  • The Roosevelt Community Development Study, Number 13, Volume 1: Introduction and Small Sites (1994)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Mark D. Elson. Deborah L. Swartz.

    The Roosevelt Community Development Study (RCD) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Desert Archaeology, Inc. to complete the research for...

  • The Roosevelt Community Development Study, Number 13, Volume 2: Meddler Point, Pyramid Point, and Griffin Wash Sites (1994)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Mark D. Elson. Deborah L. Swartz. Douglas B. Craig. Jeffrey J. Clark.

    The Roosevelt Community Development Study (RCD) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Desert Archaeology, Inc. to complete the research for...

  • The Roosevelt Community Development Study, Number 14, Volume 1: Stone and Shell Artifacts (1995)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Alaina Harmon

    The Roosevelt Community Development Study (RCD) involved the testing and excavation of 27 sites in the Lower Tonto Basin of central Arizona. This is one of three related data recovery projects undertaken in the Tonto Basin for the Bureau of Reclamation prior to the raising of the Roosevelt Lake dam. The results of the RCD project are presented in four Anthropological Papers of the Center for Desert Archaeology: Anthropological Papers No. 12 is the research design; Anthropological Papers No. 13...

  • The Roosevelt Community Development Study, Number 14, Volume 2: Ceramic Chronology, Technology, and Economics (1995)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Keith Kintigh

    The Roosevelt Community Development Study (RCD) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Desert Archaeology, Inc. to complete the research for...

  • The Roosevelt Community Development Study, Number 14, Volume 3: Paleobiological and Osteological Analyses (1995)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Alaina Harmon

    The Roosevelt Community Development Study (RCD) involved the testing and excavation of 27 sites in the Lower Tonto Basin of central Arizona. This is one of three related data recovery projects undertaken in the Tonto Basin for the Bureau of Reclamation prior to the raising of the Roosevelt Lake dam. The results of the RCD project are presented in four Anthropological Papers of the Center for Desert Archaeology: Anthropological Papers No. 12 is the research design; Anthropological Papers No. 13...

Roosevelt Platform Mound Study
  • Roosevelt Platform Mound Study
    PROJECT Arleyn Simon. Peter McCartney. Glen Rice. USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office. Charles Redman. Brenda Shears.

    The Roosevelt Platform Mound Study (RPMS) was one of three mitigative data recovery studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with the Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource...

Roosevelt Platform Mound Study (RPMS): Research Design, Field and Laboratory Manuals, and Background Research
  • Theodore Roosevelt Dam Studies: B & W Map of the Project and Investigation Areas (1997)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: M Scott Thompson

    The Theodore Roosevelt dam studies impact mitigation program consisted of three data recovery studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The research was necessary to mitigate any adverse effects related to modifying and raising the height of the Theodore Roosevelt Dam in the Tonto Basin. A planning team composed of archaeologists from the Bureau of Reclamation, Tonto National Forest, and the State...

Roosevelt Platform Mound Study
  • The Archaeology of Schoolhouse Point Mesa, Roosevelt Platform Mound Study: Report on the Schoolhouse Point Mesa Sites, Schoolhouse Management Group, Pinto Creek Complex (1997)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Owen Lindauer.

    The Roosevelt Platform Mound Study (RPMS) was one of three mitigative data recovery studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with the Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource...

  • Developing Perspectives on Tonto Basin Prehistory (1992)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Alaina Harmon

    This monograph is a collection of papers presented at the 1991 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, New Orleans. These papers present preliminary results after two years of work on the eight year mitigation program investigating Salado Platform Mound Villages in the Tonto Basin, Arizona. Each paper constitutes an individual chapter. They include: 1. Introduction 2. Pursuing Southwestern Social Complexity in the 1990s 3. Modeling the Development of Complexity in the...

  • The Place of the Storehouses: Roosevelt Platform Mound Study, Part 1 (1996)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Owen Lindauer.

    The Roosevelt Platform Mound Study (RPMS) was one of three mitigative data recovery studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with the Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource...

  • The Place of the Storehouses: Roosevelt Platform Mound Study, Part 2 (1996)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Owen Lindauer.

    The Roosevelt Platform Mound Study (RPMS) was one of three mitigative data recovery studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with the Arizona State University Office of Cultural Resource...

Roosevelt Platform Mound Study: Cline Terrace Mound The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study
  • The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, Volume 1: Research Design (1990)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Richard Ciolek-Torello. Steven D. Shelley. Jeffrey Altschul. John R. Welch.

    The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study (RRS) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Statistical Research, Inc. to conduct this study. The RRS was...

  • The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, Volume 2: Prehistoric Rural Settlements in the Tonto Basin, Part 1 (1994)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Keith Kintigh

    The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study (RRS) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Statistical Research, Inc. to conduct this study. The RRS was...

  • The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, Volume 2: Prehistoric Rural Settlements in the Tonto Basin, Part 2 (1994)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Keith Kintigh

    The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study (RRS) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Statistical Research, Inc. to conduct this study. The RRS was...

  • The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study, Volume 3: Changing Land Use in the Tonto Basin (1994)
    DOCUMENT Full-Text Uploaded by: Keith Kintigh

    The Roosevelt Rural Sites Study (RRS) was one of three data recovery mitigative studies that the Bureau of Reclamation funded to investigate the prehistory of the Tonto Basin in the vicinity of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. The series of investigations constituted Reclamation's program for complying with historic preservation legislation as it applied to the raising and modification of Theodore Roosevelt Dam. Reclamation contracted with Statistical Research, Inc. to conduct this study. The RRS was...