FS-7 (La Escalera Site)

UTM: Zone 13R, E196XXX N3517XXX (NAD 27) [redacted]

USGS Quadrangle: Victorio Ranch, NM

PLSS: NW ¼, SE ¼, N ½, Section 7, T29.5S R13W

Cultural Affiliation: 19^th c.

Site Type: Tailings Dam and Fishway

Nearest Water Source: Unnamed tributary to Wamels Draw, 0 m

Environmental Setting: Bench Slope

Soil type: Mariner complex, 3 to 45 percent slopes, very rocky

Elevation: 1480 m (4856 ft) amsl

Site Size: 50 x 75 meter (1 acre)

NRHP Eligibility Recommendation: Unknown

Field Site-7 was first identified within visual inspection of the N ½ of Section 7 (T29.5S R13W) which MCD incorporates in this area. Survey transects at 30-m increments were traversed west (270°), perpendicular to the western MCD perimeter fence. The recordation of the site served to ground-truth the reported uranium mine camp identified during the background research as well as interviews with facility personnel (Figures 5.13 and 14). Indeed, an abandoned mine appears in the vicinity of FS-7 on the current USGS quadrangle (Victorio Ranch, NM).

The only physical evidence of the mine camp at FS-7 is the tailings pond. Here, the historic mining operation has dammed a permanent outflow stream from the Sierra Rica as a tailings pond for the cast-off migmatite slag. A fishway (or ladder) has been constructed along the southeastern side of the impoundment, consisting of a series of pools formed of pink migmatite tails to from a rock-ramp-style fishway. Documentary evidence as well as catchment analysis of the uplands suggest the ladder was put in to allow passage of the velvetfish (Mellior conger.), a species of potamodromous eel which formerly flourished in the mountain range.  

The small pond, covering about an acre is located on a bench on the southwestern face of the Cordillera de las Anguilas.[1] The adjacent mountain face as been obscured by rockslides and no evidence of caves or mineshafts are visible. However, the entry was undoubtedly on the bench near the tailings, which would have been transported farther than necessary.

As mapped by Loomis (1975)[2] all soils in the project area defined as loamy melt-out or lodgment till derived from granite and/or schist and/or gneiss. The site is defined as the Mariner complex, 3 to 45 percent slopes, very rocky. This well-drained hilltop deposit covers the northern two-thirds of the project area as well as the southeastern corner, atop the rock face. Bedrock is recorded as between 20 to 80 inches below the ground surface; 40 to 50 percent of this soil unit is classified as rock outcrop. However the site is 100% covered in migmatite tailings (or is inundated) and could not be shovel tested. A single shovel test was excavated near the pond. Soils were comparable to the expected designation for this area. Two general strata can be defined for the site as a whole:

•    Stratum I – 10 cm of dark brown (10YR 3/3) loam (A Horizon) with migmitate pebbles and gravel, ash and unidentified bone mass.
•    Stratum II – 10-15 cm of brownish yellow (10YR 6/8) clay loam (Bt Horizon).

Archaeologists from TCCRC visited the pond in February 2012, but this assessment was cut short by cold water and fast current. While they were unsure whether the construction had three or four pools, they also found remnants of pressurized wood around the two cells on the east side, suggesting it dates to, or was at least reused in, more recent history.  FS-7 is located in a part of the MCD land accessed by several miles of foot trails extending behind into the mountains. The entrance to the trails is gated and generally not accessible by vehicle. The mapped was relocated with some difficulty as coordinates provided by the geo-referenced from the USGS quad proved to be approximately 200 m downstream of the actual site location.

The fish ladder consists of a “W” shaped line of four to five pools formed of 0.5-m to 1.0-m sized rocks that angle across a broad, shallow, part of the stream. It was inundated at the time of study, likely due to a combination of the spring freshet and deterioration over time sand thus could not be thoroughly investigated. This weir is located about 600 m below the summit of Cordillera de las Anguilas where the stream originates from an abscess or void. At this location, the creek is about 10 meters across and an average of just under one-half meter deep. Much of the fishway appears to have been scattered somewhat, reblocking stream. As a result, the fish ladder is inundated and the pond is over-capacity. This is likely accelerated by the fluctuations of the water levels, or the intensity of the ice melt, dislodging rocks.

Figure 5.13. FS-7 shown in N ½, Section 7, T29.5S R13W.

Similar fishway have been identified throughout the Southwest. Keaton (1988)[3] studied 41 fishways, fish weirs and fish dam traps in the Upper Rio Grande basin, and thought that most were probably constructed during the Historic Period. Typically these are defined as “semi-permanent fence-like structures” typically placed in a flowing stream, and intended to capture fish (5).  Of the hundreds known in the Southwest, all of these structures are usually V-shaped stone structures with the apex downstream.  W-shaped ramps often incorporated a sandbar or island in the construction and were common on wide rivers such as the Rio Grande. In a weir or trap, anadromous, catadromous and other types of migrating were chased from upstream into the trap and caught in a box or basket at the apex. Up to thousands of fish could be caught each day in this manner, suggesting the presence of a related preservation technology for salting or drying the excess fish (Keaton 1988: 18). Fishways on the other hand would push migrating fish along the bank, not into a trap. This has been characterized diversely as environmental stewardship in the terms of prehistoric structures and environmental plunder in terms of ones built by historic settlers. Regardless, it is clear that regardless of the nature of the fish migration cycle, and the purpose of the structure, the effective action of using the structure would be to “herd” the fish into a narrowing channel; which way they were traveling prior to their intercept is irrelevant.

Keaton (1988: i-iii) suggests this lack of data creates an underestimation of the importance of fishing to prehistoric populations. Little discussion of the role of fish traps and weirs enters the archaeological literature even though “at one time or another every shoal had a fish trap” (i). The known sites are found on all size streams, though many were destroyed or were made of wood in areas where stone was uncommon. There were over 100 species of fish known in the southwestern desert that schooled, or could be gathered, in numbers large enough to be the targets of fish weirs, ways and traps. They were available throughout much of the year, or during specific seasons with predictable spawning patterns. There are few primary accounts of fishing during the Contact Period, as most populations were likely becoming increasingly dependent upon trade and agriculture, and less on riverine or marine resources. However, fishing would have supplemented the steady diet of lizard, cactus, and insect resources that constituted the traditional prehistoric staples.

There is little physical evidence in the archaeological record for these structures, and what is present is being quickly lost to dredging, channelization, and reservoir construction. To ascertain the difference between prehistoric and historic structures it would require more in-field documentation, such as underwater survey, where associated artifacts such as nails, pegs, bolts, and stakes might be dated. However, wooden parts deposited below the apex are usually washed away or covered in silt. What are left are only the stones, which are hard to date. Additionally, fish bones and wood are not generally preserved in the river or in acidic soils, and are not found in during typical (1/4-inch) archaeological screening. However, in the case of FS-7, we have historic documentation pointing to the construction of the pond and fishway. In addition to the aforementioned map references, a mine with a dam and fish way is referenced in the 1880s diaries, of prospector Adam Maitland (USGS 1903).[4]

Maitland and his partner and his partner Charles Deetz appear to have first visited Loteria Township in 1882 conducting geological survey for the Department of the Interior. It is clear from Maitland’s writings that an “ulterior motive was exploration and assay of potential significant mineral deposits” which were found in abundance in the Sierra Rica (USGS 1903: 23, 47), Maitland and Deetz resigned their post shortly after and by 1885 had returned to Loteria Township as prospectors and soon laid claim to a uranium vein below the summit of “Angles Mountain.” By 1887 the Betelgeuse mining company OF Loteria Township boasted a modest crew of 10 locals, largely Mexican nationals and apaches (USGS 1903: 47-83). By the spring of 1888, Maitland writes of the travails surrounding the tailings pond, which had impounded the spring. The growing pond was hopeless infested with “serpientes fresquitas,” some kind of cave fish unable to move down into the Hachita Valley to spawn. By August Maitland writes that one could walk across the pond on the backs of these packed fish. The serientes, believed to be the aforementioned velvetfish turned largely cannibalism, resulting in fewer, if fatter eels but are also blamed for the disappearance of the mines mascot, a spaniel named Juno, as well as Otho, one of the hired hands, The problem was solved in the short term  with sever sticks of dynamite. However, excavation of the mine was halted through the winter toc construct the rock ramp fishway (USGS 1903: 90-102).

Given that the known documentation, further investigations of FS-7 may provide valuable information on historic mining in Loteria Township and southern New Mexico in general. Particularly further examination of the fishway may provide significant information on prospecting and environmental engineering in this remote area.

However the NRHP eligibility of this site cannot be firmly established at the Phase I level of data collection. Further Phase II investigations, including additional documentation, sampling and research in riparian rights and eel migration  in the southwestern desert, is required to fully assess this site’s potential significance. Therefore pending additional study, FS-7 remains of unknown eligibility for the NRHP.

Figure 5.14. View of submerged migmatite fishway within FS-7, looking southeast.

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[1] Believed to be roughly translated as the English or “Yankee” Mountain, likely a name given by the Mexican squatters due to the presence  American mining pioneers in the disputed territory.

[2] Loomis, Sandy. 1975. Soil Survey of Loteria Township, New Mexico. Loteria Township Provisional Government, Occasional Publication XIV, Roswell Junction, New Mexico.

[3] Keaton, M. 1988. Weirs, Ways and Traps: Traditional Fishing in the American Southwest.  Sandworm Press, Tremor, AZ.

[4] United States Geological Survey. 1903. Dairy of Adam Maitand, and the Survey of the New Mexico Terriotry.  U.S. Government Printing Office. Washington, DC.