1.0 Introduction

As per U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Contract, No. W91278-12-D-1313, Task Order 013, Phase I cultural resources investigations of at the Mountweazel Chemical Depot (MCD), Loteria Township, New Mexico were conducted by Thunder Creek Cultural Resources Consulting (TCCRC) in 2012. This facility is to be closed under the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2012 under the recommendation of the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC). This action requires a full cultural resources inventory be completed for compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended through 2004), the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s implementing regulations (36 CFR Part 800), and Department of Defense Directive 4710.1. TCCRC (Akron, Ohio) was contracted by the El Paso District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE-EP), through the facility’s operator, GloboMax, Inc. (Alexandria, Virginia), to complete the investigations in February 2012.

MCD is a government-owned, contractor-operated facility, managed by the Chemical Weapons Division of GloboMax, Inc. Based on the guidelines provided in the Cultural Resources Management Plan (CRMP) (Foss 2001)[1] by Third Square Consulting, LLC. (Philadelphia), in conjunction with discussions between the New Mexico State Historical Society (SHS) and USACE-EP, the entire approximately 30, 000-ac facility was considered for the investigation. Much of the base has been heavily disturbed by prior construction of the facility in 1947 or was considered to have lower probability for cultural resources and was eliminated from the survey at the discretion of the Principal Investigator in conjunction with the advice and consent of GloboMax, Inc.

During the course of this survey, the entire 30, 000-ac project area was systematically shovel tested and/or subject to intense visual survey at 30 meter (100-foot) intervals in order to identify prehistoric and historic cultural resources throughout the undisturbed portions of the MCD facility. A review of the MCD facility infrastructure itself was not considered during the investigations however, as a review of the Cold-War era-buildings was included in the CRMP (Foss 2001); all buildings and structures within the facility (1947-1951) were of historic (50+ years) age at the time of the writing and were reviewed internally by GloboMax, Inc. and, with the concurrence of USACE-EP, recommended not eligible for National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and therefore not subject to further management as historic properties.

Phase I cultural resources survey of MCD resulted in documentation of 54 previously unknown (Field Site [FS] 1-54) cultural resources. This includes numerous prehistoric and historic sites, as well as standing buildings and structures. Pending review and comment by the federal regulatory agencies, these resources will be registered with SHS. As a whole, these 54 resources represent the cultural history of the Southwestern Closed basin of New Mexico from the Clovis Period over 12, 000 years ago through the present day, and beyond. However, pending additional Phase II assessment, these 54 resources are of unknown eligibility for NRHP. Therefore avoidance and preservation in place in the near term is recommended for these resources.

This draft report summarizes the project scope and effect, environmental and cultural contexts. We describe the cultural resources survey efforts undertaken, the field methods, the findings of the survey and resources delineation, and our preliminary recommendations of eligibility of newly documented cultural resources to the NRHP. Additional historical background and map research was carried out at both state and local facilities, including the Loteria Township Historical Society and the on-site facility archives. Work was conducted in accordance with Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as amended, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), and SHS guidelines. USACE-EP provided support and management for this undertaking.

The purpose of this document is to provide a full discussion of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) evaluation of all newly recorded cultural resources within the study area for review by the BRAC assessment board and the SHS. This report is organized into numbered chapters and lettered appendices. Following this overview of the project and summary of various administrative details, Chapter 2 describes the research design and methods guiding the current investigations. Chapter 3 provides a regional and local environmental overview that establishes the environmental context for the project. Chapter 3 provides an overview of the regional prehistory and history of the project area and thus establishes a cultural context for the project. Chapter 4 describes the findings of the records search and literature review and includes discussions of the previous area archaeological research and previously recorded archaeological resources within a 2 mi radius of the project. Chapter 5 presents the findings of the Phase I investigations. The conclusions, recommendations, and preliminary evaluations are presented in Chapter 6. Appendix A provides the historic and prehistoric artifact inventories for the sites reported herein. Appendix B includes the completed Archaeological Site forms for newly recorded resources. Appendix C contains the resume of the project principal. Relevant correspondence is presented in Appendix D.

[1]Foss, Gene 2001. Mountweazel Chemical Depot Cultural Resources Management Plan. Prepared for the GloboMax, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, under contract with US Army Corps of Engineers,

El Paso District. Third Square Consulting, LLC., Philadelphia.