Cultural Resource Inventory IV

Evidence of prehistoric occupation around the Painted Pony Resort is widespread.  Evidence of Mogollon (including Mimbres), Hohokam, Casas Grande, and possibly Trincheras cultures may be found throughout the San Simon valley.  This intersection of cultural influences in the valley is reflected today in the native (Pima to the west, Zuni and Apache to the north), hispanic, and anglo cultures who now occupy the boot heel of New Mexico and southern Arizona.  As an intersection of cultural groups through time the San Simon valley offers insights into cultural interactions not found in areas with a single predominant cultural group and thus offers unique perspective on prehistoric cultural interactions.  While the Dynamics of Southwest Prehistory is a recent attempt to integrate information about prehistoric cultures of the southwest into an overall conceptual framework, the more localized approach such as the Malpi Borderlands is more appropriate for those trying to understand land use and occupation through time along the San Simon valley.

An example of documented land use in the San Simon valley, the graph below shows the distribution of pottery types on a large ruin in the San Simon valley versus time.  Found along a north/south route through the valley, this ruin was part of a network of sites occupied in the past.  Using a simplified contextual seriation technique allows the occupation to be dated from 1200 to 1350, a span of about 150 years which is consistent with ground stone wear patterns on metates found on the site.  Beginning at the end of the Mimbres reorganization, or after, this Animas phase site demonstrates the cultural influence from from a number of surrounding groups as demonstrated by differing pottery types.

Although little painted pottery is found on the 320 acres of the Painted Pony Ranch (Gila black on white was documented from the property), the distribution of an abundance of stone tools found on the property suggest a number of small occupation sites existed during this late prehistoric period.

Cultural resource inventory III
Cultural resource inventory II
Cultural resource inventory I

A Quote about Blogging

Creating interesting blog posts often combines visual images with words, but blogging is fundamentally about the written word and while images are important in creating a feeling or adding to the story, the ability to manipulate the written word is crucial to engaging readers. Some days though no matter how hard one writes, rewrites, and edits, the words just do not seem to order themselves in a way that captures the authors intent. On those days I remind myself that language is our common currency but some days my wallet is empty and move on.

A Potential Meal or a Story of Life in New Mexico

The expansion of the Painted Pony Resort to include an additional 216 acres of San Simon Riverbed outside the isolated twin hamlets of Portal and Rodeo in southern Arizona and New Mexico meant fencing.  Not a particularly attractive proposition but cattle love good grasslands and a herd of 40 or so had moved into the area, grazing on the tall native grasses of the river bottom.  To protect the existing native grasses and allow re-growth of over grazed areas the owner had decided to fence the land and my job was to make it happen.  Fortunately only a mile and half of fence was required to completely enclose the newly acquired property since existing fence was in place on north and east sides so it was time to get busy.  Throughout December and January the daily sound of hammering t-posts was heard across the San Simon Valley as new t-posts and then barbwire was installed.  It was a busy time and although new at fencing, a rhythm was quickly established along the flat terrain allowing rapid progress, but the far side of the riverbed was another matter.  A steep bank rose from the riverbed which was cut by several deep arroyos, presenting a problem.  Driving t-posts into rocky ground along the bench above the riverbed proved to be a much slower task but stringing barbwire across arroyos proved even more challenging.   When strung, the wire was upwards of 20 feet above the bottom of each arroyo and just the right amount of tension was required to allow each of the 4 strands to be pulled down to the awaiting t-posts along the bottom of the arroyo and clipped in place.  To little tension and the fence line would sag and not do its‘ job keeping the cattle at bay, to much tension and it was impossible to pull each strand down and clip it to the t-posts.  The process of adjusting tension and pulling down wire was repeated with each strand of barbwire as work slowly progressed through the rocky arroyos. 

One afternoon while stretching wire along the bottom of one arroyo a particularly memorable event occurred.  After adjusting the tension on a strand of new barbwire crossing an arroyo the process of pulling the wire down to attach it to t-posts began.  Having misjudged the amount of tension required the wire would not reach its’ place on the t-post.  It was just a few inches short of its intended position but no matter how it was pulled the wire would not quite reach.  The prospect of hiking back to the end post and loosening the wire again was not particularly appealing late in the afternoon after a full day of fencing, so dropping one glove to get a better grip on the wire and putting my full weight on the wire one more attempt was made to get the barbwire to its intended location on the t-post and clipped in place.   It was at that moment the barbwire broke pulling through my ungloved hand.  As the barbwire suddenly parted several barbs raked through my closed ungloved palm that was gripping the wire.  That sinking feeling one gets when things go wrong immediately started to set in and the sight of blood only compounded the situation.  More in shock and angered at a preventable mistake I cursed.  I cursed the wire, the fence, and myself for the error.  Opening the injured hand there seemed less damage than expected.  Although there was blood, it was dripping and not spurting so shaking off the excess and pulling the glove back on it was back to work. 

A slight breeze from the north had made working conditions pleasant throughout the day and figuring only about an hour of good light left it was back to clipping the bottom unbroken wire to t-posts along the bench top.  Repair of the broken strand of barbwire would be put off till another day.  After climbing back out of the arroyo and working from t-post to t-post the bottom strand of wire was clipped in place which required kneeing down and pulling the wire up from the ground to install the clip.  After about 20 minutes of clipping wire across the bench top and upon arising from the ground while simultaneously turning around I found myself face to face with a well fed young coyote.  With a shiny coat this coyote did not appear spooked by my presence but rather he seemed to be sizing me up as a potential meal.  The sudden realization hit that I had been bleeding, was upwind of this coyote, and had been down on the ground not moving but clipping wire.  The smell of fresh blood indicated a meal and the coyote had come to investigate a potential stroke of  good luck.  We stared at one another for perhaps 30 seconds or so, neither of us moving, just staring.  Deciding to speak to this unexpected visitor, I first let him know I did not consider myself a coyote meal, then secondly apologizing for having nothing for him to eat.  Moving on to the weather I commented on the pleasant day for working outside while the coyote, not taking his eyes off me, explored a small mesquite that stood between us.  After several minutes of staring, the coyote seemed to realize that his potential good luck was actually bad luck, not a meal, and he slowly turned and quite casually began to saunter away.  I watched the coyote for about another 5 minutes as he descended back into the San Simon riverbed, crossing it heading towards some cattle but never looking back at his misfortune and lost meal opportunity. 

Across the riverbed

Up the river bank

Down in an arroyo

Cultural Resource Inventory III

Prior to the 1917 topographic map of area, the San Simon Valley was utilized primarily for cattle.  The best known operator in the area was the San Simon Canal and Cattle company, although other ranches grazed cattle throughout the valley.  Established in 1885 and surviving until 1920 the San Simon Canal and Cattle company was founded by James Harrison Parramore and Claiborne Walker Merchant.  While the open grasslands were inviting to ranchers, water was always an issue.  The approach utilized by the San Simon Cattle company was to gain control of local water resources while ignoring the open grasslands.  Since open range was the rule, this approach allowed the cattle company to use forage on the public domain while not incurring any liability for the land upon which its' cattle grazed.  While maximizing investment return the long term consequences for the landscape were negative but this approach allowed them to stock between 20,000 and 30,000 head of cattle in the valley during this period.

The time frame between the establishment of corporate ranches and the Gadsden Purchase the Chiricahua Apache were the predominant group living on the landscape.  This period is may be best characterized as one of conflict between the US government and those indigenous peoples living on in the area.  The end of this period of conflict was in 1886 with the surrender of Geronimo at the mouth of Skeleton Canyon. 

Evidence of the Chiricahua Apache may still be found on the landscape, although no evidence of occupation has been found on the Painted Pony Resort, a granary of sticks and mud enclosing a small shelter cave exists on the east side of the Chiricahua mountains near a narrow canyon with other evidence of occupation which likely dates from this period.

As Spain, then Mexico, and then the United States claimed the area maps were produced by each party claiming the area and were used in treaty negotiations.  A number of these maps were compiled into a video as part of the inventory showing the relationships between current landmarks and the landscape as visualized by the mapmakers of the time spanning the period from the late 1700's to the first territorial map produced in 1857.

Cultural resource inventory II
Cultural resource inventory I

Digital photography workshop

Below is a pdf of the Power Point presentation from the digital photography workshop presented for the Sew What Club in Portal.  The links to the software sources are listed on the individual slides.  I look forward to seeing everyone's application and modifications of the techniques presented.


The pdf file may also be found here and may be downloaded or the link kept for reference.

Another Wedding at the Painted Pony Resort

A busy and fast paced week at the Painted Pony Resort in preparation for another wedding.  A front moved through while cleaning the grounds, courtyards, and outdoor furniture which required a second re-cleaning after the front passed but fortunately the cleaning was finished in time for the bride and grooms arrival from Maine.  The family began gathering with the wedding scheduled for Saturday afternoon.  Saturday morning began with a hike for family members in Cave Creek Canyon and an Elegant Trogon hunt.  The group covered 4.5 miles along the riparian habitat in Cave Creek canyon, built some balancing stone sculptures, and walked up to the bridge in South Fork hoping for a Trogon siting.  The presence of several vehicles at the bridge indicated others were also hoping for a Trogon sighting.  Unfortunately, no evidence of the Trogon was found and the group hiked back down canyon and headed back to the resort to finish preparations for the wedding.

The photographer arrived from Las Cruces and the ceremony got underway about 5:00 PM.  The bride and bridesmaids used the large mirrored bath in the bungalow for their preparations and the brides parents escorted her to the courtyard for the ceremony.  Held under the cabana in the courtyard of the main house under the deep blue New Mexican sky the officiant was a Quaker pastor, a family member.  The wedding banquet which followed was also held in the courtyard with a scrumptious southwestern buffet after the photography session.

After dinner it was time for fireworks in the front parking area followed by a pickup game of basketball at the instigation of a bridesmaid who played in college.  The festivities continued late into the night but I retired for sleep.  Sunday morning was quiet as one might expect after a long day.  In all another successful event at the Painted Pony Resort with happy newlyweds.

The bride and parents at the Painted Pony Resort

ceremony under the cabana in the courtyard

The happy couple in Cave Creek Canyon

Digital Photography Workshop Announcement

Flyer for digital photography workshop

Sew What Forum

Saturday, April 27th - 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. (AZ time)

Portal Rescue Classroom

Speaker: Bruce Thompson, Photographer

With the popularity of inexpensive digital cameras and the ability to easily capture images of the world around us, photography remains a popular activity.  But what makes an interesting photograph?  Professional photographers routinely make interesting and captivating images but this is not about professional photography it is about the rest of us who are exploring the world as we see it and capturing images that reflect our perception.

The goal of the workshop is to explore the idea of “how people see” from an individual and personal perspective.  While the biology of vision is the same in all humans, the neural processing of those images differs between people. In other words, what I like you may not like and vice versa, so what do people like?

The workshop will cover:

1.  Composition 

Location or viewpoint

Scale 

  Single images

The little picture and mid scale picture

The outside is just as important as the inside

The edges of your scene

Don’t just stick it in the middle

  Multi image panoramas

The big picture - How to digitally make a panorama

Drawing the viewer into your photograph

2.  Image processing (Photoshop is not a bad word)

Software

Photoshop

Gimp

Panorama software

Image processing

The color curve

Saturation

Levels and contrast

Depth

Desaturation (old school)

Tilt shift

3.  Online image storage

  Places to store and show off your work

Storage sites

How to get your work indexed on the web

Renaming files

Alt tags and descriptions

Participants should bring their personal digital camera, laptop/tablet/paper and pencil for notes and references.  We will make 3 images together from the Portal Rescue Station as demonstration pieces and I will show the processing steps discussed.

Bruce Thompson uses the online nom de plume of “BAlvarius” for his online photography and currently manages the Painted Pony Resort outside Rodeo NM.  A Biologist by training, molecular geneticist by trade, pilot by avocation, and estate manager by necessity he was a visitor to the Chiricahua Mountains starting in the late 1980’s.  Becoming a permanent resident at the end of 2006 specializing in low level aerial photography and videography, his photographic interests center on landscape photography.

Cultrual Resource Inventory II

The Painted Pony Resort and Ranch currently encompasses 316 acres of high New Mexico desert.  The 80 acre resort estate was built, owned, and occupied by a software entrepreneur, John Mcafee, while the rest of the property was part of a wolf sanctuary.  Previous to its subdivision the land was part of the Ned Hall cattle operation which operated until the passing of Ned Hall in the 1990's.

Prior to becoming part of a cattle operation there is evidence the land was farmed.  Old fence lines and the foundation of a house are still visible on the southern end of the property.  Evidence for farming as opposed to ranching is in the form of 2 pieces of farm equipment still on the property.  A baler sits at the entrance to the resort expansion on the east side of Painted Pony Rd and a hay rake was discovered in the riverbed.  In addition to an old wind mill a 23' hand dug well still exists just north of the homestead, see below.  This homestead is shown on the 1917 topographic map of the area and the discovery of an electric range burner  in the foundation of the home site is consistent with the house existing after rural electrification which reached Rodeo and the San Simon valley in 1953 (Jr. Gomez, personal communication).  Based on these observations, a farm existed for at least 35 years in this location.  Farming in the boot heel of New Mexico with its arid climate was the result of a series of homestead acts which allowed citizens to claim land for personal use to encourage the settlement of public lands and beginning in the 1870's small farms began to appear on the landscape in southern New Mexico.  Unfortunately the allotment size was not adequate to support farming in an arid climate and many small farm holdings in the desert southwest eventually failed with the land returning to cattle ranching (1).

316 acre Painted Pony Resort and Ranch 

Topographic overlay on satellite imagery showing building locations

The location of old fence lines and structures

old well next to the San Simon riverbed

interior of the 23' dug well

(1) Hadley, Diane. 2005. Landholding Systems and Resource Management in the Sky Island Borderlands.  USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-36.  http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_p036/rmrs_p036_015_025.pdf

Chalcedony, Cyrptocrystalline Quartz

Chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz, is a frequent find while out on the landscape around the Painted Pony Resort.  Pieces of various sizes are often found in association with archeological sites or found siting isolated on the surface.  Chalcedony forms from low temperature silica rich solutions and exhibits a pleasing convoluted form which is easy to spot while walking.  Generally smooth in appearance with a waxy luster, in some cases the specimen will be covered in a layer of small quartz crystals which sparkle in the sunlight further highlighting the specimen on the ground.  Unlike large single or multiple crystals commonly associated with quartz the crystalline formation of Chalcedony results in smaller crystals and the overall appearance is a translucent light colored rock with convolutions.  Formed in veins, chalcedony is found in a variety of host rock (including basalts) filling cracks and crevices.  Although no veins of chalcedony have been located in either mountain range the presence of specimens in the valley suggest veins of chalcedony exist somewhere locally. 

Evidence of the use of chalcedony by prehistoric peoples in the area is shown in the second image below.  The base of a translucent chalcedony lanceolet projectile point found about 1 mile west of PPR in the Amigos del Cielo air park suggests that not only did earlier residents find chalcedony pleasing in shape and appearance but also a useful source material for tools.

a 2" x 4" Chalcedony specimen

Chalcedony arrowhead base

Living with the Wildlife in New Mexico

Living in the high New Mexican desert has plenty of advantages but with life there are occasional downsides.  With wide open spaces and an extremely low human population density the other species that share the local environment are up close and personal frequently doing damage in their daily browsing.

First it was the cattle (an introduced species), congregating at the entrance and jumping the cattle guard.  That issue was resolved with fencing the new property and building walls along the road.  This left only the road leading to the Painted Pony Resort for cattle to wander along.  With no feed or water they have chosen to stay elsewhere.  Then large holes began to appear around the buildings foundations and along irrigation lines, even several new trees were dug out.  Although no animal was ever observed digging (the damage occurred at night), the best guess was a badger had moved in.  It dug up numerous irrigation lines (presumably hearing flowing water) and made a general mess of things.  Cayenne pepper proved to remedy that problem.  Purchased from My Spice Sage, liberal amounts sprinkled around the diggings appeared to deter the mystery animal.  Now a new species has arrived, Javelina.  On several occasions a small herd of 6 Javelina were observed on the property and while entertaining for guests, the low rainfall this winter means less available natural forage and the Javelina have expanded their range.  Reports from the neighbors, a mile west, reported the Javelina were eating all the available succulents and cactus on their property indicating the problem was not limited to the estate.

So the animals took to raiding the front planting area as well as other spots on the estate.  First, all the spineless prickly pear planted last year disappeared from along the driveway.  The animals just hopped over the chicken wire placed to keep the rabbits out and devoured each cactus  (a local bobcat observed this spring by guests was keeping the rabbits in check).  Then upon coming outside one morning this heard of Javelina were all standing around finishing off all the Agave that were raised for use at the front entrance.  Finally, they moved onto the front planting area.  They were caught in the act several times and they rapidly moved off when approached, but they returned.  So out came the Cayenne pepper again in the hopes they would find it so unappealing they would move on.  The pepper had some effect and many plants survived foraging attempts, but the Javelina would always manage to get one plant (in this case a small species of Yucca).  So it was time for physical barriers, t-posts and barbwire.  Each tender and appealing yucca was surrounded with t-posts and barbwire strung starting several inches off the ground.  The idea was to create a physical barrier in addition to the olfactory barrier (cayenne pepper) to discourage the Javelina from browsing in the planting area and destroying the vegetation.  

Javelina leftovers

One solution to protect plants

Cultural Resource Inventory 1

While fencing the expansion of the Painted Pony Resort evidence of former inhabitants both historic and prehistoric came to light prompting the initiation of a cultural resource inventory of the property.  The goal of this resource inventory is to build and understanding of the various uses of the property through time and gain insight into those who used the land in the past. 

Geographical setting:
The Painted Pony Resort lies in the alluvial San Simon Valley along the San Simon Riverbed in southwestern New Mexico just north of Rodeo, New Mexico's most western town.  It is situated about 3 miles from the base of the Peloncillo mountains to the east and 6 miles from the base of the Chiricahua mountains to the west at an elevation of 4100' msl.  The Peloncillo mountains rise to an elevation of 6000' just east of the resort while Portal Peak in the Chiricahua mountains rises to over 8000'.  Antelope pass and access to valleys and mountain ranges to the east is located several miles north east of the estate.  Located at the confluence of an old drainage from Cave Creek Canyon and just downstream of the confluence of drainage from Sulphur Draw the San Simon riverbed runs through the center of the expanded estate.

Painted Pony Resort and the San Simon Riverbed

Portal Peak in the Chiricahua mountains

view of the Peloncillo mountains

Geological setting:
The land encompassed by the Painted Pony Resort lies on the alluvial San Simon valley floor in the basin and range province of the southwest. Both mountain ranges are composed of volcanic tuff interspersed with segments of limestone and intrusive granite at various points along their length, 1 and 2.

The mining history of the area includes prospects and mines at Granite Gap in the Peloncillo mountains and a number of mines in the Chiricahua mountains.  Recovering mostly base metals these mines are now abandoned.  The closest prospect to the Painted Pony Resort lies 2.5 miles to the east, known as the Purple Spar Prospect, a reference to flourite.

Hydrological setting:
The aquifer serving the San Simon valley around the Painted Pony Resort is composed of several units.  An upper alluvial aquifer, a lower aquifer separated by a lens of blue clay (bentonite).  This resulted in a pressurized artesien aquifer which fed several cienegas, one at the mouth of Cave Creek Canyon and the San Simon cienega, both now dry as the water pressure dropped.  The water table at the Painted Pony Resort lies at 110' below the surface, with 2 wells on the property both producing several gallons/minute for use.  The south well produces water with a temperature of about 100 degrees F.

Climate setting:
The climate in the high New Mexican desert is characterized by low precipitation, primarily occurring in the winter and late summer monsoon season, averaging about 20"/yr. While the temperatures are milder than lower elevations in the neighboring Sonoran desert summer temperatures may reach above 100 but cools rapidly after sunset.

Biological setting:
The San Simon Valley lies at the northern end of the Chihuahuan desert and the plant and animal communities reflect the desert environment, including Prong Horn antelope and Big Horn sheep.

1.  http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/geology-SEAZ/chiricahuas/Chiricahuas-list.htm
2.  http://geoinfo.nmt.edu/publications/bulletins/57/

Next: modern history of PPR.

What is CoCoRaHS

Volunteer weather reporting is an important tool in understanding local rainfall patterns and how they affect the valley and surrounding mountains.  There are primarily 2 rainy seasons in the southwest, winter rains and the late summer monsoon which together account for the majority of the yearly precipitation in the desert southwest.  Strong winter rains result spectacular wildflower displays in the spring while strong monsoons result in a general greening of the desert and recharge the San Simon aquifer providing for year round water supplies.

CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network) is a nation wide volunteer precipitation reporting organization composed of citizen scientists with the goals:
"1) provide accurate high-quality precipitation data for our many end users on a timely basis; 2) increasing the density of precipitation data available throughout the country by encouraging volunteer weather observing; 3) encouraging citizens to have fun participating in meteorological science and heightening their awareness about weather; 4) providing enrichment activities in water and weather resources for teachers, educators and the community at large" (mission statement). 

In Hidalgo county NM there are 5 active CoCoRaHS reporting stations and 2 of these are in the San Simon Valley, one at the Painted Pony Resort and one at the Chiricahua Desert Museum.  Although only 2.8 miles apart this can make for a significant difference in rain fall totals.  Rain can vary significantly across the valley as evidenced by a local rainfall reporting group and in the photograph show below.  Frequently rain showers are isolated and while one area may experience significant rainfall areas close by may receive little or no rain.  So the more reporting stations, the more data available for analysis, resulting in a better the understanding of local climate.

Isolated storm in the Chiricahua Mountains

CoCoRaHS rain gauge at the Painted Pony Resort