El Rio Bonito : an ethnoecological study of the Bonita Creek Watershed, southeastern Arizona

320 Pages·1993·14.2 MB·English

by  Hadley, Diana

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XI
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El Rio Bonito: Ethnoecological
Study of the Bonita Creek Watershed,
Southeastern Arizona
Diana Hadley
Richard V. N. Ahlstrom
Scott Mills
CULTURAL RESOURCE SERIES No. 8
1993
SC-653, BLDG
50
DENV£R, CO UREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, ARIZONA
80225-004^
The Bureau of Land Management's Arizona cultural resource publications series consists
of the following documents:
No. 1 Deceptive Desolation: Prehistory of the Sonoran Desert in West Central
Arizona Connie L. Stone (1986). NTIS Accession No. PB87 220216/AS.
.
A
No. 2 The Archaeology of Southeast Arizona: Class I Cultural Resource
Inventory Gordon Bronitsky and James D. Merritt (1986). NTIS Accession No.
.
PB87 220224/AS.
A
No. 3 Ground Stone Implement Quarry on the Lower Colorado River.
Northwestern Arizona Bruce B. Huckell (1986). NTIS Accession No. PB87
.
220232/AS.
No. 4 The Pinenut Site: Virgin Anasazi Archaeology on the Kanab Plateau of
Northwestern Arizona Deborah A. Westfall, with contributions by Mark C.
.
Bond, William E. Davis, Linda J. Scott, and Margaret A. Van Ness (1987). NTIS
Accession No. PB90 106154/AS.
No. 5 People of the Desert. Canyons and Pines: Prehistory of the Patavan
Country in West Central Arizona Connie L. Stone (1987). NTIS Accession No.
.
PB90 106147/AS.
No. 6 The Linear Oasis: Managing Cultural Resources Along the Lower
Colorado River Connie L. Stone (1991). NTIS Accession No. PB92-155027.
.
No. 7 Environmental Change in Aravaipa. 1870-1970. An Ethnoecological Survey
.
Diana Hadley, Peter Warshall, Don Bufkin (1991). NTIS Acession No. PB92-
188028.
These publications can be obtained from the National Technical Information Service
(NTIS), in microfiche or paper copy, for a fee. The NTIS accession numbers are
indicated above for each document and should be used when ordering copies from NTIS.
The address of NTIS is: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Technical Information
VA
Service, Springfield, 22161.
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El Rio Bonito: An Ethnoccological Study
of the Bonita Creek Watershed,
Southeastern Arizona
Submitted by
SWCA,
Inc.
Environmental Consultants
Prepared by
Diana Hadley
Richard V. N. Ahlstrom
Scott Mills
Cultural Resource Series No. 8
Published by the Arizona State Office of the
Bureau of Land Management
3707 N. 7th Street &^<
Phoenix, Arizona 85014 .^
x
September 1993 ^/

EDITOR'S FORWARD
"Ecosystem management" is a term used frequently in land managing agencies today. It
signals a shift in focus from managing resources separately on the landscape, to managing
resources holistically as interconnected parts of environmental systems. The notion that
components of an environment function together and affect one another is not new, but
the manner in which it is being emphasized by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
is changing the way our resource management professionals approach their work and
interact with each other.
The BLM's cultural resource program is uniquely equipped to provide the kind of
information, and the long-term perspective, that can help land managers understand how
the ecosystems they manage have changed through time, how human land uses have
modified them over the past hundreds or thousands of years, and how present-day land
We
use proposals are likely to affect the health of those ecosystems. can and should
learn from the successes and mistakes ofthe past to help us more effectively manage our
resources in the present and plan responsibly for the future. The document you are
reading is a contribution to responsible ecosystem management.
This is the second ethnoecology study funded by the BLM. The first such study was
BLM
published as No. 7 in the Arizona cultural resource series. Both studies were
conceived of and overseen by an inter-disciplinary team in our Safford District. The
funding for both studies was contributed by several resource programs in keeping with
their cross-program benefits. With the publication ofElRio Bonito, Safford District has
once again led the way in applying cultural resource information to the management of
other resources.
We are pleased to offer this latest addition to our cultural resource series. Our hope is
that it will encourage similar studies of environmental change on other public lands
consistent with the Bureau's new emphasis on ecosystem management.
Gary Stumpf, Series Editor
Arizona State Office
Bureau of Land Management

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The documentary search took the project historian to the Graham County Historical Society in
Safford, the Graham County Recorders Office, the Family History Library ofthe Church ofJesus Christ of
Latter DaySaintsinSafford, theArizonaStateArchivesinPhoenix, theArizona HistoricalSocietyinTucson,
theArizonaHistorical FoundationinPhoenix, theManuscripts andArchives, Division ofthe HaydenLibrary
atArizonaStateUniversity, SpecialCollections atthe UniversityofArizonaLibrary, DocumentaryRelations
of the Southwest at the Arizona State Museum, the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Phoenix, the Arizona
Department of Water Resources in Phoenix, the Bureau of Land Management Records Department in
Phoenix, the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, the Los Angeles Public Library, and several
documentrepositories ontheSanCarlosReservationatSanCarlos,Arizona, includingtheReal EstateOffice
of the San Carlos Tribe, the office ofthe San Carlos Cattle Associations, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs
ConservationDivision. Personnel atthese organizations providedgenerous assistance. The project historian
is particularly grateful for the assistance of the many informants who shared their recollections of Bonita
Creek. Informants included Jesse Henry Baker, Lois Claridge, Vic Christensen, Kennedy Curtis, Clyde
Daringer, CowboyEarven,Jim Earven, ErnieGarcia,SuzyGeorge,Ted Lee, RuskinLines,Warner andJane
Mattice, Macaria Bianes Melendrez, Ramon Melendrez, Reg Melendrez, and Harold O. Stevens. Safford
historian Frank Quinn was as always very helpful. Sara Stevens provided a great deal ofuseful information
in a brief telephone conversation. Larold Aday, Clark Richins, and John Fanta of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (B.IA.) at San Carlos were very helpful in ascertaining the sequence of change on the San Carlos
Reservation, the secondary study area. Pierre M. Cantou of the Phoenix B.IA., who has an extraordinary
memory,providedvaluablerecords andshared importantunderstandings ofSan Carloshistory. LarryShiflet,
former Safford resident and local historian, now with the Bureau of Land Management in Boise, Idaho,
shared information and numerous documents with the project historian. He conducted a tour ofthe Bonita
Creek area in which he shared his sophisticated observationsofthe land changeshe had observed duringhis
years ofvisiting the creek. His assistance was invaluable. Without the cooperation and support of Bonita
Creek's former residents and admirers, this report could not have been written.
Valuable dataonBonita Creek andusefulcommentson earlierversionsofthisreport were provided
by Bureau ofLand Management personnel; Mike McQueen, Al Bammann, Gay Kinkade, Hana West, and
JohnWelch. GregSeymour ofSWCAshared hisextensive knowledge ofthe historyandhistoric archaeology
of Bonita Creek. The authors are grateful for the assistance of these individuals.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
i
TABLE OF CONTENTS
iii
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS v
LIST OF TABLES xi
LIST OF FIGURES xiii
CHAPTER THE BONITA CREEK WATERSHED ETHNOECOLOGY STUDY
I. 1
CHAPTER II. BIOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL SETTING OF BONITA CREEK 21
CHAPTER III. PREHISTORIC USE OF BONITA CREEK 41
CHAPTER IV. APACHE OCCUPATION OF THE STUDY AREA 53
CHAPTER V. LIVESTOCK GRAZING, OPEN-RANGE RANCHING: 1876-1934 69
CHAPTER VI. HISTORIC PERIOD SETTLEMENT ON BONITA CREEK 113
CHAPTER VII. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ON EL BONITO 149
CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION 201
BIBLIOGRAPHY 271
SOURCES 285
INTERVIEWS 285
APPENDICES:
APPENDDC SETTLERS
I.
APPENDDC MISCELLANEOUS CLIMATE AND WEATHER DATA
II.
in
IV