PECOS From Folsom to Fogelson: The Cultural Resources Inventory Survey of Pecos National Historical Park

Seven years is a long time. A great many people have been involved in the Pecos survey since its inception in 1995. Their contributions are so significant that these few paragraphs are hardly sufficient to express my gratitude.

The staff of Pecos National Historical Park have been steady and active partners in this project. Foremost, I would like to thank former Park Superintendents Linda Stoll and Duane Alire, Park Archeologist Judy Reed, and former Chief of Interpretation Ann Rasor. They helped set the project on the right track and have been unflagging in their support. The park administrative staff, Lori Roybal and Loretta Lujan, shouldered much of the administrative burden during the field portion of the project and were excellent advisors on camping and shopping in the greater Pecos area.

Facility Managers John Gibson and Vito Spinale and their staff were flexible and good humored throughout our stay at the Forked Lightning ranch house. No crew ever had better digs. Gilbert Ortiz, Joe Dalton, Christina Armijo, and George Valencia kept the house beautiful and all systems running while making us feel at home and less of a nuisance than we probably were. Gilbert and Joe also were most generous with their knowledge of the house and the ranch operations. During our field seasons, it was good to know that Chief Ranger Gary Hartley and Ranger Tim Lacy were on call 24 hours a day—luckily we never had to use any of the stretchers, oxygen, or safety floats they had on hand for us. Wildlife Ecologist Bobbi Simpson helped refine our environmental variables and was always excited about our wildlife sightings.

Special thanks are in order to the stabilization crew—Vivian Lujan, Victor Ortiz, Vicente Quintana, Junior Barela, and Rudy Armijo. Vic and Vivian have kept the church and convento standing for the last 30 years. They were always quick with a laugh, ready to share stories, and happy to explain archeological and historic features on the mesilla that occasionally we found baffling. Even though he missed the field portion of the project, Archeologist Tim Burchett has supported us throughout the write up and analysis phases. I would also like to thank the current Chief of Interpretation Wendy Lauritzen and the enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff of the Visitor Center for their interest and support—they will carry what we learned through the survey to visitors from around the world.

The field crews made the field portion of the project dynamic and memorable. The project could not have begun or been completed without Sue Eininger in her role as de facto Field Director and Chief Crew Chief—her steadiness, consideration, and wisdom kept me from more mistakes than I care to count. Sue's attention to detail taught many new crew members the right way to do fieldwork and her constant grace and gentle humor set the tone for camp life. Melissa Powell served as Lab Coordinator/GPS Maven for two seasons and then as a Crew Chief during our final season. She tackled both positions with fervor, and her critical eye kept our recording as consistent as the efforts of 33 people can possibly be.

As Crew Chiefs, Cynthia Herhahn (1995), Dan Meyer (1996), Loy Neff (1997), Melissa Powell (1997), and Ron Winters (1996, 1997) kept the crews running on schedule. They navigated the flooded river, torrential arroyos, rocky slopes, and often inscrutable archeology of Pecos with elan and saw to it that our work was done and done well. Our in-field ceramic analyses were conducted by Bill Creutz (1995, 1996), Sue Eininger (1995, 1996, 1997), Cynthia Herhahn (1995), Dan Meyer (1996), Matt Chamberlin (1997), Tom Durkin (1997), and Melissa Powell (1997). Bill Creutz was our Sherd Boy and our God of Good Temper and Paste. Bill knows the ceramics of Pecos like no one since Dr. and Mrs. Kidder, and he taught us all well. This report contains the first systematic treatment of archeological lithic materials from the Upper Pecos Valley, and it could not have been done without the in-field analyses performed by Joe Vasquez-Cunningham (1995, 1996, 1997), Jody Patterson (1995, 1996), Joe Keleher (1996), Erica Schoenberg (1997), Houston Rogers (1997), and Erin Baxter (1997). Architectural remains were recorded by Anne Goldberg (1995), Brett Hill (1995), Dan Meyer (1995), Ron Winters (1996, 1997), Dirk Hood (1996), Matt Chamberlin (1996), Loy Neff (1997), Kristen Hagenbuckle (1997), and Ben Vining (1997). The sketch maps they created transform six pages of codes and comments into a rich and understandable site record. In 1995, Eden Welker provided field and lab support and conducted historic research. She created synopses of land history for several sites and lent much appreciated cheer in the field. In 1996, Wendy Nettles shared her knowledge of historic artifacts and sites and her enthusiasm for historic archeology.

One of the most rewarding aspects of running a project like the Pecos survey is the opportunity to work with volunteers. Many thanks to Tom Windes, in his role as the VIP Coordinator, for making sure we had the paperwork right. In the field, we were ably assisted by volunteers Rolf Moore (1995), Amelia Natoli (1995), Rachel Smith (1995), Tom Durkin (1996), Berenika Byszewski (1996), Emily Shillingburg (1996), Houston Rogers (1996), Jenny Dennison (1997), Connie Howard (1997), and Jeremy Moss (1997). As always, it was a delight to work with the inspiring and unflagging Howard Newman (1997), who can out-walk crew members one-fourth his age. Julie Solometo helped out briefly in 1996 and 1997, and Shawn Penman added a bit of high technology to our recording of Pecos Pueblo in 1996, using a total station to map the pueblo structures on the mesilla.

An archeological survey crew works and travels on its stomach, and the loquacious and colorful Peter Wood kept us in Epicurean splendor during 1995 and 1996. In 1997, Paul Vigil blessed us with his good humor and great chile. We were a healthy and happy crew for three summers running because of these two men. To all the members of the field crew—this report is built upon your sore feet, scratched arms, sunburns, and laughter—thank you for your good company and hard work.

In Santa Fe, Sue Eininger's thorough background research began long before we went into the field and guaranteed we knew who had gone before us on each site. She was the major force behind the design and development of the recording forms, and she made sure we had clean data after the last field season. Many thanks to the chapter authors—Sue, Melissa Powell, Joe Vasquez-Cunningham, Jan Orcutt, Karl Benedict, David Kilby, Jeff Boyer, Jim Moore, and Natasha Williamson. They spent long hours in front of computer screens, translating the field data into new knowledge.

Tom Windes got a few of us out of the office, into the Pecos church, and on to scaffolding in the April snow to collect tree ring samples, and I thank him for his energy and enthusiasm, not to mention his summary of wood use included as Appendix E. Jake Ivey has been most generous with his encyclopedic knowledge of the Pecos Mission buildings and Franciscan architecture in general. Charlie Haecker cheerfully identified numerous Euro-American artifacts and provided insights into the Civil War era of the park.

Kate Spielmann, Winifred Creamer, and Keith Kintigh provided valuable critiques and reviews of this report. Rachel Kluender and Cynthia Herhahn worked long hours on the final GIS figures for the volume, and Nancy Lamm provided impeccable professional drafting of our old-fashioned figures. John Hanttula digitized the many photographs the survey produced. Nancy Ford worked editing miracles to bring the report to its present form. Kathleen Havill created the index. Jodi Herrera kept up with the complexities of requisitioning equipment and hiring and paying field crew and office staff. Last, but by no means least, Rose Ortiz kept the project in the black.

The project also owes much to Larry Nordby. Larry's meticulous field notes from the 1970s provided valuable lessons for interpreting the archeology at Pecos, and his personal guidance and involvement in the early stages of the project guaranteed its success. Linda Cordell has been most generous with details of her research at Rowe Pueblo and with her knowledge and enthusiasm for the archeology of the Upper Pecos Valley.

No words can capture the depth of my gratitude to Bob Powers. Bob entrusted me with a large project and as a friend has guided, prodded, and pitched in when needed. Many thanks also to Courtney White, who introduced me to Pecos and provided the support and perspective needed to see this project to its conclusion.

To all those mentioned here, and to any others I have inadvertently and regrettably omitted, my heartfelt and most sincere thanks!

Genevieve Head
Santa Fe, New Mexico
March 2002