The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona

Summary

In June 1986, the Bureau of Reclamation awarded a three-year contract for historical archaeological studies as part of the mitigation program for the Central Arizona Project's Regulatory Storage Division, designated as Plan 6. These studies involved investigations at approximately 50 archaeological sites in 7 localities. The sites were destroyed, damaged, or altered as a result of constructing Plan 6, which created a regulatory reservoir for the CAP as well as repaired or replaced other dams jointly with the USBR Safety of Dams program. Most of the sites studied relate to the original construction of seven storage and two diversion dams from the 1890s to the 1940s. These dams were replaced or repaired in the course of Plan 6.

The primary goal of mitigative research is the reconstruction of a social history of life in the temporary construction camps that sprang up at these dam sites in central Arizona. This work attempts to tell the story of the ordinary workers who accomplished the quite extraordinary task of building the water control system that was a key for much of the agricultural and urban development of Arizona.

Cite this Record

The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona. ( tDAR id: 378146) ; doi:10.6067/XCV81R6RW3

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Euroamerican • Historic • Historic Native American

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Fauna • Glass • Metal • Textile • Wood

Site Name
Avis Homestead • AZ T:3:1:b(ARS) • AZ T:3:11(ARS) • AZ T:3:12(ARS) • AZ T:3:1a(ARS) • AZ T:3:39(ASM) • AZ T:3:4(ARS) • AZ T:3:40(ASM) • AZ T:3:49(ASU) • AZ T:3:54(ASM) • AZ T:3:55(ASM) • AZ T:3:56(ASM) • AZ T:3:57(ASM) • AZ T:3:58(ASM) • AZ T:3:59(ASM) • AZ T:3:6(ARS) • AZ T:3:8(ARS) • AZ T:3:9(ARS) • AZ T:4:54(ASM) • AZ T:4:55(ASM) • AZ T:4:56(ASM) • AZ T:4:57(ASM) • AZ T:4:58(ASM) • AZ T:4:59(ASM) • AZ U:2:140(ASU) • AZ U:2:300(ASU) • AZ U:2:39(ASM) • AZ U:2:40(ASM) • AZ U:2:41(ASM) • AZ U:2:42(ASM) • AZ U:2:8(ARS) • AZ U:4:1(ARS) • AZ U:4:26(ASM) • AZ U:6:194(ASM) • AZ U:6:195(ASM) • AZ U:6:26(ASM) • AZ U:6:51(ARS) • AZ U:6:53(ARS) • AZ U:7:4(ASM) • AZ U:7:5(ASM) • AZ U:8:133(ASU) • AZ U:8:139(ASM) • AZ U:8:140(ASM) • AZ U:8:141(ASM) • AZ U:8:142(ASM) • AZ U:8:143(ASM) • AZ U:8:144(ASM) • AZ U:8:145(ASM) • AZ U:8:146(ASM) • AZ U:8:147(ASM) • AZ U:8:148(ASM) • AZ U:8:157(ASM) • AZ U:8:158(AM) • AZ U:8:159(ASM) • AZ U:8:160(ASM) • AZ U:8:161(ASM) • AZ U:8:162(ASM) • AZ U:8:163(ASM) • AZ U:8:164(ASM) • AZ U:8:165(ASM) • AZ U:8:166(ASM) • AZ U:8:167(ASM) • AZ U:8:168(ASM) • AZ U:8:169(ASM) • AZ U:8:170(ASM) • AZ U:8:171(ASM) • AZ U:8:172(ASM) • AZ U:8:173(ASM) • AZ U:8:174(ASM) • AZ U:8:2(ARS) • AZU:8:21(ASU) • AZ U:8:3(ARS) • AZ U:8:36(ASU) • AZ U:8:4(ARS) • AZ U:8:5(ARS) • AZ U:8:51(ASU) • AZ U:8:52(ARS) • AZ U:8:53(ASU) • AZ U:8:6(ARS) • AZ U:8:60(ASM) • AZ U:8:63(ASU) • AZ U:8:64(ASU) • AZ U:8:65(ASU) • AZ U:8:7(ARS) • AZ U:8:70(ASU) • AZ U:8:77(ASM) • AZ U:8:8(ARS) • AZ U:8:85(ASU) • AZ U:8:87(ASU) • AZ U:8:9(ARS) • AZ V:5:1(ASU) • AZ V:5:117(ASU) • AZ V:5:118(ASU) • AZ V:5:83(ASM) • AZ V:5:84(ASM) • AZ V:5:85(ASM) • AZ V:5:86(ASM) • Bartlett Lower Construction Camp • Bartlett Upper Construction Camp • Beardsley Canal • Brown Homestead • Bullpen • Cableway • Camp Dyer • Camp Pleasant • Cement Mill • Cement Mill Camp • Clay Quarry • Clay Quarry Camp • Construction Camp and Dude Ranch Trash • Corral Camp • Cottonwood Creek Camp • Cottonwood Creek Foundation • Cottonwood Ditch Rider's House • Dam Tender's Residence/Construction Camp • Dam Tender's Trash • Deadman Canyon Trash • Decker Homestead • Diversion Dam Camp • East Annex • Globe High Road • Government Hill • Grapevine Construction Camp • Grapevine Residences • High Road Camp • Horse Mesa Construction Camp • Horseshoe Construction Camp • Humbug Creek Hydraulic Mining Complex • Jail • Joe Roderick Complex • LC 1176 • LC 1229 • LC 1230 • LC 1253 • LC 1255 • LC 14 • LC 18 • LC 2 • LC 22 • LC 24 • LC 27 • LC 28 • LC 29 • LC 296 • LC 428 • LC 58 • LC 618 • LC 746 • LC 825 • LC 827 • LC 829 • LC 832 • LC 835 • LC 837 • LC 839 • LC 842 • LC 855 • LC 873 • LC 892 • LC 894 • LC 895 • LC 909 • LC 916 • LC 919 • LC 921 • LC 929 • LC 944 • LC 946 • LC 996 • Lee-Cooper Ranch • Lime Kiln • Lopez Homestead • Mormon Flat Construction Camp • Newtown • Newtown Camp • Newtown Trash • Old State Route 188 • Phoenix-Prescott Road • Powderhouse & Water Tank • Power Canal • Rock Creek Trash • Roosevelt Cemetery • Sand Box Residence • Sand Plant • Solo Spring Ranch • Stewart Mountain Construction Camp • Tonto Creek Road • Two Shoe Ranch • Unnamed Section 26 Habitation • Vineyard Canyon Trash • West Annex • West Boulder Creek Complex • Windy Hill Trash • Wood Homestead Show More

Site Type
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Resource Extraction / Production / Transportation Structure or Features

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Collections Research • Data Recovery / Excavation • Ethnohistoric Research • Heritage Management • Historic Background Research • Reconnaissance / Survey • Site Evaluation / Testing • Systematic Survey

General
Central Arizona Historic Sites • Dam Construction Camps • Historic Dam And Reservoir

Geographic Keywords
Agua Fria River • Central Arizona • Humbug Creek • New Waddell Dam • Roosevelt Dam • Salt River • Verde River

Temporal Keywords
Historic Period

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1890 to 1940

Spatial Coverage

min long: -112.692; min lat: 33.372 ; max long: -111.088; max lat: 34.579 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office

Field Director(s): Everett Bassett; Cindy L. Myers

Principal Investigator(s): Cindy L. Myers; A. E. Rogge

Sponsor(s): USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office

Permitting Agency(s): US Forest Service; Arizona State Museum

Repository(s): Western Archeological and Conservation Center; National Park Service

Prepared By(s): Dames & Moore

Submitted To(s): USDI Bureau of Reclamation, Phoenix Area Office

Record Identifiers

Bureau of Reclamation Contract No.(s): 6-CS-30-04360

Resources Inside this Project (Viewing 1-9 of 9)

  • Documents (9)

Documents

  1. Historical Archaeological Investigations at Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona: First Annual Report (1987)
  2. Historical Archaeological Investigations at Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona: Second Annual Report (1988)
  3. The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona, Volume 1: Synthesis (1994)
  4. The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona, Volume 2A: Sites in the Roosevelt Dam Area (1994)
  5. The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona, Volume 2B: Sites in the New Waddell Dam Area (1994)
  6. The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona, Volume 2C: Sites at Other Dams Along the Salt and Verde Rivers (1994)
  7. The Historical Archaeology of Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona, Volume 3: Laboratory Methods and Data Computerization (1989)
  8. Humbug! The Historical Archaeology of Placer Mining on Humbug Creek in Central Arizona (1922)
  9. A Plan for Archaeological Investigations at Historic Dam Construction Camps in Central Arizona (1987)