Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer Project, lower Gila River valley, Arizona
Type of Services: Cultural resource management (CRM) services
Client and Contact Information: Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District
30570 Wellton-Mohawk Drive
Wellton, AZ 85356
Approximate cost: $1 million
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| Petroglyph boulder on Antelope Hill. |
The Wellton-Mohawk Title Transfer Project focuses on a little-known area of the U.S. Southwest and one of great interest to archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians. SRI was given the opportunity to investigate this region when we provided a variety of CRM services necessitated by the transfer of title from the historic Gila Project in the lower Gila River valley of Arizona. Pursuant to an Act of Congress, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is transferring title to lands, rights-of-ways, and facilities of portions of the Gila Project to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District. The transfer involves nearly 50,000 acres. SRI was contracted to assist Reclamation in meeting its obligations under the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Because of the size of the transfer, SRI performed many related tasks:
- Class I inventory of the entire lower Gila River valley
- Sample-survey design based on satellite imagery and regional geomorphology
- Class II inventory of nonriverine areas
- Class II inventory of historical-period archaeological resources
- Class III inventory of lands adjacent to the Gila River
- Traditional Cultural Properties inventory
- Geomorphic mapping of the lower Gila River valley
- Buried-sites testing program
- Inventory of the historic buildings, facilities, and structures of the Gila Project
- Tribal consultation
- Development of a Programmatic Agreement
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| A geoglyph feature at the project site. |
When the Programmatic Agreement is in place, SRI will be requested to conduct the requisite mitigation, including Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record documentation and archaeological data recovery.
The lower Gila River valley is intermediate between several historical and prehistoric cultures. In ancient times, the valley lay between the enigmatic Patayan culture of the lower Colorado River desert and the better-known Hohokam culture of the middle Gila River and Santa Cruz River valleys. During the historical period, the valley separated the River Yuman peoples of the lower Colorado River region and the Piman-speaking groups of southern Arizona. Archaeologists have tended to interpret the lower Gila River valley based on models typically applied to well-known agricultural villagers such as the Hohokam, but SRI's work demonstrated that other models are more suitable. We used a cultural-landscapes perspective to integrate archaeological, anthropological, and environmental elements and delineate patterns of indigenous land use. Our studies demonstrated the ritual and spiritual importance of the region, as evinced in the abundant petroglyphs and earth figures, and its critical role in the travel and exchange practices of ancient peoples. Our geomorphic investigations documented the first known habitation site in the region, buried beneath the Gila River alluvium.
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| Petroglyph panel on rock face at the Castle Dome Petroglyph site. |
SRI's geomorphic studies and satellite-based survey design demonstrate vividly how innovative methods can streamline CRM work, increase efficiency, and ensure rapid and thorough compliance and simultaneously contribute to ground-breaking research. The Wellton-Mohawk study will be an important research contribution to all interested in the connections among ancient and living peoples of the Colorado River and Gila River valleys, human adaptation to arid environments, and geospatial methods.