Bringing Water to the Desert: the Civilian Conservation Corps at Petrified Forest National Park

Author(s): William T Reitze; Melyssa Huston

Year: 2018

Summary

Over the last four years Petrified Forest National Park has begun to replace the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) installed waterline which carries drinking water to the original headquarters complex at Rainbow Forest. At the completion of the project in 1940 the Rainbow Forest Waterline represented the longest CCC hand-dug waterline in a National Park. Survey and recording, currently in progress, along the complete 26 mile corridor has documented a detailed archaeological record of the lives of the CCC crews as they worked their way across the badlands and grasslands of the Painted Desert. This paper will use the results of this survey project, coupled with historical references, to provide a detailed look into the daily lives of the CCC crews; from typical camp life, to remote backcountry work, and even relaxing afternoons playing golf on a course they built for themselves above the then under construction headquarters complex. 

Cite this Record

Bringing Water to the Desert: the Civilian Conservation Corps at Petrified Forest National Park. William T Reitze, Melyssa Huston. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441591)

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 1052