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T 53.22/82 % BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMEN | / ARIZONA 7 J ) j \ ~ El Rio Bonito: An Ethnoecological Study of the Bonita Creek Watershed, Southeastern Arizona Diana Hadley Richard V. N. Ahlstrom Scott Mills ) lH it — AO *) CULTURAL RESOURCE SERIES No. 8( ‘f, Pub 44: A493 1993 Red 44- (360 BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, ARIZONA The Bureau of Land Management’s Arizona cultural resource publications series consists of the following documents: No. 1 lation: Prehis f th in W Arizona. Foes L. Stone (1986). NTIS oie No. PB87 720216/AS. Inventory. Gordon Bronitsky and aa D. Merritt (1986). NTIS Accession No. PB87 220224/AS. No. 3 A Ground Stone Implement Quarry on the Lower Colorado River, Northwestern Arizona. Bruce B. Huckell (1986). NTIS Accession No. PB87 220232/AS. No. 4 The Pine ite: Virgin Anasazi A : Northwestern Arizona. Deborah A. Westfall, with sauiialion oy 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: Prr ehiosf ttheo Pratyaya n Country in West Central Arizona. Connie L. Stone (1987). NTIS Accession No. PB90 106147/AS. No. 7 Er 1 vey. Diana Hadley, Peter Warshall, Don Bufkin (1991). NTIS Acession No. PB92- 188028. These publications cai: 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 Service, Springfield, VA 22161. El Rio Bonito: An Ethnoecological Study of the Bonita Creek Watershed, Southeastern Arizona Submiited 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 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 hoiistically 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 use preposals are likely to affect the health of those ecosystems. We can and should learn from the successes and mistakes of the 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 published as No. 7 in the Arizona BLM 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 of E/ Rio 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 cl of 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 of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Safford, the Arizona State Archives in Phoenix, the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson, the Arizona Historical Foundation in Phoenix, the Manuscripts and Archives, Division of the Hayden Library at Arizona State University, Special Collections at the University of Arizona Library, Documentary Relations 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 document repositories on the San Carlos Reservation at San Carlos, Arizona, including the Real Estate Office of the San Carlos Tribe, the office of the San Carlos Cattle Associations, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs Conservation Division. Personnel at these organizations provided generous 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, Cowboy Earven, Jim Earven, Ernie Garcia, Suzy George, Ted Lee, Ruskin Lines, Warner and Jane 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 of useful information in a brief telephone conversation. Larold Aday, Clark Richins, and John Fanta of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (B.1.A.) 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.I.A., who has an extraordinary memory, provided valuable records and shared important understandings of San Carlos history. Larry Shiflet, 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 of the Bonita ZA 'a | a Creek area in which he shared his sophisticated observations of the land changes he had observed during his years of visiting 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 data on Bonita Creek and useful comments on earlier versions of this report were provided by Bureau of Land Management personnel; Mike McQueen, Al Bammann, Gay Kinkade, Hana West, and John Welch. Greg Seymour of SWCA shared his extensive knowledge of the history and historic archaeology of Bonita Creek. The authors are grateful for the assistance of these individuals. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER II. BIOLOGICAL AND ECOLOGICAL SETTING OF BONITA CREEK ...... CHAPTER III. PREHISTORIC USE OF BONITA CREEK ................00000eeuee CHAPTER V. LIVESTOCK GRAZING, OPEN-RANGE RANCHING: 1876-1934 ........ CHAPTER VI. HISTORIC PERIOD SETTLEMENT ON BONITA CREEK ............. CHAPTER VII. ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE ON EL BONITO ...............000055 CHAPTER VIII. CONCLUSION . 1.0... ccc ccc ccc cece cece cence eeesesseseseeees BIBLIOGRAPHY .... re ef ee eeneeeemermhmlUcrlmUlUcrOrhUchhUcrhhUchCUchOCUh}}HLCUc $H TR HOO HOhUhOChUhChUhChUchChUhOChUchhUrhhUchChUchChUchChUhChUcrhrhUcrhhUchChUhChUhhUchhUrhhUcrhhUrhhUrhChUrhhUrhhUlUrhhUlUrhhUrhhUlUhrhhUlUrhUrhhUrhlUm oe veeeeetene eee e emUmetmUcrOrhUCUc OrhUCUcrOhUCUchChCUCUchrhUCUchhUCUchOChCUchhUCUchhUchChUchChUchOhUCUchrhUCUchhUrhChUchChUrhChUchhUhhUhhUchhUchhUchrChUchOrhUcrhhUcrhrhUchOhUlUrhrhUlUchhUlUrhhUcrhhUrhhUlUrhhUlUrhhUlUrhhUlUrhhUlUrhhUlUrhhUrhUm *efeteteeeeeeeete#eekejs* #«*# #*# #*# #*# #*# ##*# #*# # *# ## #*# # *# # # # # # # # « # # # # # # # # APPENDICES: APPENDIX I. SETTLERS APPENDIX II. MISCELLANEOUS CLIMATE AND WEATHER DATA LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS Photo 1. Chiricahua Cattle Co., herd crossing the ...........c.ec.e .e.ee-ee2ee e Gila River, 1909, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 2. Cattle corrals and loading pens, San Carlos ................0.00-000055 Apache Reservation, 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 3. ChirCaittlce Cao.,h pauck haors es, .. 2.2.2... ccc eeeee eee Photo 4. Chiricahua Cattle Co., branding on the ..... 2.2.0. eee San Carlos Apache Reservation, 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 5. Chiricahua Cattle Co., branding on San Carlos ..... 2... 0... Apache Reservation, 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 6. (Chiricahua Cattle Co., horse herd im corral, .... 2... 0. eee ee San Carlos Apache Reservation, 1911, photob y Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 7. Chiricahua Cattle Co., Dad Hardiman, ....... 2... eee eee Hal Young, and ?, San Carlos Apache Reservation, 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 8. Chiricahua Cattle Co., Freman and ?, ... 2... eens San Carlos Apache Reservation, 1911, photo Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 9. Chiricahua Cattle Co., horse herd, Blue River, ...... 2... oe ee ee eee San Carlos Apache Reservation, 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 10. Chiricahua Cattle Co., rope corral, San Carlos 2... 2... eee Apache Reservation, 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 11. Chiricahua Catile Co., horse herd in Gila... 1. eens River (note lack oi down cutting) 1911, photo by Dane Coolidge (Arizona Historical Society). Photo 12. Watering the herd in the Gila River, nd. ..... (enkeenneeeseeeesueeeens (Arizona Historical Society). LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS (Cont'd) B Photo 13. Bonita Creek, looking north, 1960s ........ vere fe fe eeeeeneneneneeeneeee ee ee (courtesy Kennedy Curtis). Photo 14. “Colored” George’s cabin in Johnny Creek, . constructed 1933-34, photographed 1960 (courtesy Kennedy Curtis). Photo 15. North facing slope near West Ranch, 1960s _ . 237 “eee eeeeeeeneeneene eevee © eee (courtesy Ker:nedy Curtis). 2 Photo 16. The West Ranch, ca. 1960 (courtesy Kennedy Curtis) . 2... eee 8 Photo 17. Wash by West Ranch home, ca. 1960... .... ee @eeesvreeeeeeneene ee ee ee *&e © © © © s Photo 18. Original buildings, West Ranch eeereieeeereneeeneteneeenee #*# © # *# *# © © (courtesy Kennedy Curtis). Photo 19. Bonita Creek, "The Narrows,”ca . 1960 .... 241 ee erereneneee eee eeeeeeeeeeee eee (courtesy Kennedy Curtis). Photo 20. Aftermath of flood in Bonita Creek, 1967 .. 242 ee ee eeeeeeeeeeeeeee#ee #*# # # «@ (courtesy Kennedy Curtis). Photo 21. Aftermath of flood in Bonita Creek, 1967 .. 243 (courtesy Kennedy Curtis). Photo 22. Cattle on Ash Flat, early 1940s........... (courtesy John Lasicy). Photo 23. Catile near tank on Ash Flat, early 1940s_.. (courtesy John Lasley). Photo 24. Wild cattle trap on Slaughter Mountain Unit, 245 early 1940s (courtesy John Lasley). Photo 25. Apache cowboys, Saa Carlos Reservation, .. early 1940s (courtesy John Lasley). Photo 26. House at Turner West Ranch, John West .. 246 ef ee eeeeeee#e#* *e* * *« *# # # *# # # # # # «# in door (courtesy Velma West). Photo 27. Prize winning registered bull, Ash Flat .... 247 eer eeeeeeeneeeeneeeeeee#eee* # # # # # # headquarters in background, early 1940s (courtesy John Lasley).