AZ-3690
Ongoing (including weekends)
Must commit to one month
We are seeking friendly but independent caretakers for two historic sites on the Coronado NF. At each site, caretakers will be responsible for greeting the public and answering questions, as well as maintenance (e.g., adobe patching, light carpentry, grounds-keeping, cleanup of the site and facilities, etc.) and work with FS archaeologists on stabilization and interpretive projects.
Kentucky Camp, once the headquarters for an early-20th-century mining operation, is located on the eastern slope of the Santa Rita Mountains at an elevation of 5200 feet. Four of the five adobe buildings at the site are in the process of stabilization, restoration, and interpretation.
Brown Canyon Ranch was built a century ago by a local pioneer family and includes their ranch house, storeroom, corrals, water system, and a pond that is the habitat of an endangered frog species. At an elevation of 5000 feet, it is just north of Ramsey Canyon, a renowned birding and nature preserve in the Huachuca Mountains.
Number of openings: One person, a couple, or a family is needed at each site; multiple volunteers will be needed to fill out the schedules. Selection will consider both qualifications and compatibility with facilities requirements (see below).
Special skills: Must be independent, self-reliant, interested in history, and willing to communicate with the public; general handyperson skills required
Minimum age: 21 years old for the responsible adult(s); families encouraged
Facilities: At Kentucky Camp, caretakers will have use of a 34-foot, 1-bedroom travel trailer with electricity, phone, water, heat, cooling, and a small kitchen and bathroom. Brown Canyon Ranch is for self-contained volunteers; the only amenities provided are hookups to propane and a small, propane-powered generator for recharging batteries; and septic service (in conjunction with servicing the on-site porta-potty). Potable water is available at the Sierra Vista Ranger District Office, 3.5 miles from BCR. Volunteers are responsible for their own food at both sites; minimal services in Sonoita; full services in Tucson, Sierra Vista, and Nogales.
Nearest towns: Kentucky Camp is ~9 miles from Sonoita and ~45 miles from Tucson, Sierra Vista, and Nogales; Brown Canyon Ranch is 10 minutes from Sierra Vista
Applications due: Ongoing
AZ-3717
May 23–June 12; June 13–July 10; July 11–July 31, 2008 (including weekends)
Must commit to 1 full session
We are seeking friendly-but-independent caretakers for the Columbine Visitor Center, located in a high elevation meadow in the Pinaleno Mountains in southeastern Arizona. Once the site of a Civilian Conservation Corp Camp, it is now a Visitor Information Center during the summer. The site consists of the visitor center, several small cabins, a barn, and corrals. The caretaker would be responsible for operating the visitor center Thursday through Sunday and on major holidays, greeting the public and answering questions. Caretakers could also do some maintenance on the property (light carpentry, maintenance and grounds keeping).
Number of openings: 1 person or a couple per commitment; multiple volunteers will be needed to fill out the schedule.
Special skills: Must be independent, self-reliant, interested in history, and willing to communicate with the public; general handyperson skills helpful, but not required
Minimum age: 21 years old
Facilities: A small cabin with separate cooking and showering facilities available on site
Nearest towns: Safford, 30 miles, Tucson, 150 miles
Applications due: Ongoing
AZ-3716
July 1–September 1, 2008 (including weekends)
Must commit to 1 month
We are seeking friendly and independent caretakers to staff the Portal Visitor Center in the Chiricahua Mountains in southeastern Arizona. The Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the Portal Ranger Station, which housed the ranger that managed the eastern side of the Chiricahua Mountains. The site consists of a residence (which houses the visitor center), a bunk house, and a barn. At an elevation of 5000 feet, it is situated at the entrance to Cave Creek Canyon, a renowned birding and natural area. Tasks include staffing the visitor center (Friday through Sunday and major holidays), greeting the public, and light maintenance and grounds keeping.
Number of openings: 1 person or a couple per commitment; multiple volunteers will be needed to fill out the schedule.
Special skills: Must be independent, self-reliant, interested in natural history, and willing to communicate with the public; general handyperson skills helpful, but not required
Minimum age: 21 years old
Facilities: Housing is available in the residence in back of the Visitor Center; an RV pad with full hook-ups is also available
Nearest towns: Project in Portal; Douglas, 60 miles; Tucson, 175 miles
Applications due: Ongoing
AZ-3715
April 21-25, 2008
Must commit to full session
In numerous past Passport in Time projects, intrepid volunteers have built walls, patched adobe buildings, made adobe bricks, repaired floors, plastered with mud, constructed furniture, re-connected electricity, reconstructed porches, recorded historic mining sites, built trails, learned how to make tortillas, and more! But it’s a big site, and more exciting adventures (and s’mores) await.
The focus in 2008 is adventure carpentry (fitting and re-fitting doors, and repairing/replacing wood floors); ceiling work (replacing manta ceilings); lime plastering (replastering adobe walls and benches); and adobe work (mud-plastering interiors).
Number of openings: 8
Special skills:Carpentry, including wood floor repair and replacement, wiring, plastering, or adobe experience helpful, but not required
Minimum age: 18 years old
Facilities:Tent camping on-site or nearby, water and a pit toilet and/or chemical toilets provided; self-contained RVs welcome, parking approximately 1 mile from site; option to contribute a nominal fee and cook together available to everyone
Nearest towns: Sonoita, 9 miles; Tucson, 45 miles
Applications due: February 18, 2008
AZ-3711
September 21-27, 2008 (including weekends)
Must commit to full session
Around AD 1000, people known to archaeologists as the Cohonina, built ballcourts and large round masonry structures near the northern rim of Sycamore Canyon in north-central Arizona. In 2004, employing Geographic Information System technology, archaeologists on the Kaibab National Forest explored the distribution of 3,348 ceramic-bearing Cohonina sites on the Coconino Plateau in northern Arizona. Results of the analysis suggested a large-scale, multi-directional migration from the Plateau during the late Pueblo II period (ca. AD 1100). Only 40% of the sites under scrutiny, however, contained datable, decorated trade ware ceramics; thus, most sites in the analysis could not be dated with any appreciable precision—a circumstance that weakens the plausibility of our model.
Recently, however, a former Kaibab archaeologist's thesis study demonstrated that the average sherd thickness of local grayware pottery known as Deadmans Gray can be used to more precisely date Cohonina sites. Previously, archaeologists could only assign these to the general Cohonina occupation of the Plateau between AD 700–1100, because the lack of trade ware ceramics limited more precise dating. Our goal will be to revisit many previously recorded sites and test if dates derived using the new technique accord with traditionally determined site dates in this poorly studied area.
Number of openings:12
Special skills: No special skills required
Minimum age: 18 years old
Facilities: Volunteers will car camp; composting toilets and potable water; no RV hookups available
Nearest towns: Williams, 20 miles; Parks, 20 miles; Flagstaff, 35 miles
Applications due: July 20, 2008
AZ-3794
February 23-27, 2009
Must commit to full session
This PIT project was formerly known as the Silver King Mapping Project. The late 1800s mill and mining towns of Pinal and Silver King, located east of the Phoenix Metro area at the base of the Superstition Mountains, have been the focus of continuing studies over the past decade. Site mapping, documentation, and artifact identification began last year along the main historic route of Queen Creek that connected the towns to the outside world. To date, PIT volunteers have completed the documentation of material remains from the core of the two towns, but many more historic components in the area remain to be inventoried. The primary wagon road between the towns and an associated military road in the vicinity known as the Stoneman Grade (ca. 1870s) will be the focus of our investigation this year. Additionally, we will attempt to trace out the waterline between Silver King and its source above the town. Volunteers and other project personnel will use metal detectors during the survey to locate historic structures, features, and artifacts, and will assist in continued mapping and documenting of sites.
Number of openings: 10
Special skills: Must be physically fit and able to hike over moderate to rough terrain; basic mapping skills, archaeological field techniques, and metal detecting experience helpful but not required; please indicate on your application if you have a metal detector and are willing to bring it, helpful but not required
Minimum age: 18 years old
Facilities: Camping near project site; pit toilets, no water or electrical hookups; volunteers responsible for personal camping equipment, solar showers, and water; limited accommodations in Superior (one motel); Phoenix Metro area and Globe are full service communities with a full range of hotels/motels and restaurants
Nearest towns: Superior, 2 miles; Globe, 24 miles; Apache Junction, 25 miles
Applications due: December 22, 2008
AZ-3790
October 20-24, 2008
Must commit to full session
A projection of Forest land known as "The Thumb" is a long overlooked area of the Tonto National Forest. Beyond elective inventory surveys performed by Forest archaeologists and a few fuelwood surveys, no formal research has been conducted in the area. What little is known of the area suggests a prehistoric (ca. AD 800–1400) cultural frontier, with ties to the Hohokam, Anchan, Mogollon, Anasazi, and later Salado traditions. Historically, the area was home to the Apache Peaks band of the San Carlos Western Apache as well as later Euro-American mining and ranching. This year, we will continue the documentation of the historic silver mining town of McMillenville, occupied from 1876 into the late 1880s. We will use metal detectors and other survey techniques to look for evidence of an attack on the town in July of 1882 by renegade Apaches from the nearby San Carlos Reservation. Volunteers will assist Forest archaeologists in locating and recording structures and features of this historic town, and will also prepare maps and document artifacts.
Number of openings: 8
Special skills: Must be physically fit and able to hike over moderate to rough terrain; previous experience with archaeological mapping and documentation skills and the use of metal detectors preferred but not required; please indicate on your application if you own and can bring a metal detector
Minimum age: 12 years old; under 18 with a responsible adult
Facilities: Globe is a full service community with numerous motels, stores, and restaurants; Jones Water Forest Service campground is located approximately 3 miles northeast of McMillenville; tents, pickup camper and small camping trailers only at campsite; pit toilets; informal camping at site area; volunteers responsible for personal camping equipment, food, and water (there is no potable water at any of the camping options)
Nearest towns: Globe, 18 miles
Applications due: August 18, 2008