Landscape of a Shootout: A Reexamination of the National Register Nomination for the Power Cabin

Summary

This is a paper/report submission presented at the 2020 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Rattlesnake Canyon in the Galiuro Mountains harbors a historic cabin at the center of one of Arizona’s most infamous shootouts. In 1918 four men were killed in a confrontation between local law enforcement and members of the Power family. The infamy surrounding this shootout and ensuing manhunt secured the site of the Power Cabin a place on the National Register of Historic Places. However, multiple historic sites in Rattlesnake Canyon are absent from the National Register, despite being intertwined with the events of the shootout and enhancing our understanding of the human use of this landscape. Cultural resource specialists from Coronado National Forest have begun efforts to renominate the larger cultural landscape surrounding Rattlesnake Canyon to the National Register of Historic Places, by documenting sites related to the events of the 1918 shootout and the subsequent use of the canyon for mining, ranching, and Forest Service operations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2020 SHA General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2020

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 738