The Forgotten Soldiers: Historical and Archaeological Investigations of the Apache Scouts at Fort Huachuca, Arizona

Author(s): Rein Vanderpot; Teresita Majewski

Editor(s): Jeffrey Altschul

Year: 1998

Summary

In the Spring of 1994, Statistical Research, Inc., conducted an archaeological study of the Apache scouts at Fort Huachuca. The project was completed under contract with Fort Huachuca and funded by a Legacy Resource Management Program grant awarded to Fort Huachuca by the Department of Defense. Most of the investigations focused on AZ EE:7:115 (ASM), a site comprising three distinct components: (1) a small, Formative- period prehistoric component; (2) a turn-of-the-century trash dump; and (3) the remnants of a 1930s–1940s adobe “village” housing the scouts and their families in the final era of Apache attachment to the fort. Although little remained of the structures, analysis of artifacts and other materials have contributed to a better understanding of Apache lifeways on a military reservation in times of increasing acculturation.

The study further included a search for earlier wickiup and tepee encampments of the scouts dating from the 1880s to the early 1930s. Although no actual camp remains were found during the survey, two sites (AZ EE:7:65 [ASM] and AZ EE:7:260 [ASM]) were identified as locations of such camps based on documentary sources. (AZ EE:7:65 was not tested, and will not be evaluated for NRHP eligibility here.) Investigations at two other sites (AZ EE:7:64 [ASM] and AZ EE:7:67 [ASM]) originally thought to represent scout camps, yielded no conclusive evidence of Apache occupation.

Fieldwork was followed by historical investigations, consisting of extensive archival research and interviews with members of the scouts’ families. The project successfully documented the rich and colorful heritage of the Apache scouts and their families at Fort Huachuca.

Cite this Record

The Forgotten Soldiers: Historical and Archaeological Investigations of the Apache Scouts at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Rein Vanderpot, Teresita Majewski, Jeffrey Altschul. Statistical Research Technical Series ,71. Tucson, AZ: SRI Press. 1998 ( tDAR id: 441971) ; doi:10.48512/XCV8441971

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Spatial Coverage

min long: -110.679; min lat: 31.34 ; max long: -109.091; max lat: 31.752 ;

Record Identifiers

Delivery Order No.(s): 1

Contract No.(s): DABT63-93-D-0011

File Information

  Name Size Creation Date Date Uploaded Access
71_Forgotten_Soldiers_OCR.pdf 105.02mb Apr 5, 2018 11:52:15 AM Public