Kaibab National Forest

Heritage and Cultural Resouces

South Zone Archaeologist Neil Weintraub has been working with members of Northern Arizona University's Ecological Restoration Institute on a project to compare forest conditions in the past to those in the present. Weintraub gathered historic photos of heritage resource sites on the Kaibab National Forest and then re-shot photos of the same areas. Differences in forest conditions from the past to the present are subtle in some photo sets and striking in others. Historic Photos on the Kaibab National Forest (5.2mb .pdf file) (Power Point Presentation, 12 mb .pps format)

The archeologist's role has changed a lot during our Forest Service tenure. Originally hired to conduct archeological surveys in advance of timber sales, we now coordinate the forest's Arizona Site Stewards program, assign projects to volunteers, conduct educational programs across Northern Arizona, conduct Passports in Time (PIT) projects, handle tribal consultations for the Forest, maintain Heritage databases in the Forest's GIS (Geographic Information Systems), nominate sites to the National Register of Historic Places and still survey, record, and protect sites in accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

Over 6000 archeological and historic sites have been recorded on the Forest. The majority of these sites are associated with "Cohonina," who occupied the Kaibab between AD 700 and AD 1100. They left stone houses, pottery sherds, stone tools, grinding stones and rock art across the Forest. Our Williams Region Arizona Site Stewards monitor many of these sensitive sites, helping to report and deter vandalism.

We are also mapping many of the logging railroad grades on the forest which date to the late 1800s. Long since abandoned, their rotting wooden ties and volcanic rock paths remain.

You can learn about the forest's prehistory and history at numerous interpretive sites. Hikes to Keyhole Sink and Laws Spring lead you to prehistoric rock art sites. Bike down Old Route 66 to revisit the road which helped open the west or, for longer ventures, try hiking the Overland Trail or Beale Wagon Road. In addition, our Forest Historian Teri Cleeland has nominated several of our most important sites to the National Register of Historic Places, including Hull Cabin, Big Springs Administrative Site, Laws Spring, Route 66, the Jacob Lake Ranger Station, Williams District Ranger Station and eight rock art sites in Snake Gulch.

We are currently reconstructing a prehistoric Cohonina ruin located at the Williams District Ranger Station. During our 1993 and 1994 Passports in time project, 40 volunteers helped us unearth the history of this 1000 year old site. We found numerous projectile points, axes, pot sherds and grinding stones. We also found more recent items such as horseshoes, nails and even an imported french toothbrush! Click here to view our 1993 PIT first week crew.

We organized our first Passports in Time project in September 1991. Twenty volunteers helped us locate 50 rock art locations in Snake Gulch. We camped in the forest and hiked 2 miles to the project area, locating and making scale drawings of rock art. Many of these sketches will be used to nominate additional rock art sites to the National Register of Historic Places. Eight sites in Snake Gulch are on the National Register of Historic Places. Many of these paintings may date to the Basketmaker Period, about 2000 years ago!

Our fall 1992 project took us deep into the heart of the Saddle Mountain Wilderness area on the North Kaibab Ranger District. Here, 18 volunteers spent a full week camped in the wilderness helping us survey and record 20 new prehistoric pueblo sites.

In October 1996, we conducted a Passport in Time rock art recording project south of the Grand Canyon. Twenty volunteers helped us record 23 new rock art sites in Rain Tank Wash. These folks drew more than 100 scale drawings.

Our latest Passports in Time project took place in Snake Gulch between September 28 and October 3, 1997. Seven volunteer artists helped us record 23 prehistoric site locations, and they made 72 drawings. We also make numerous presentations on primitive technology, including the construction of split-twig figurines and throwing atlatls.

Related Stories:

House Rock Valley PIT Project
Eleventh Passports in Time (PIT) Project
1999 Coconino Rim Passports in Time

Passport in Time Volunteer Projects:

Volunteers Contribute To Understanding Of Prehistoric Peoples
Charles Cave in Snake Gulch
Documenting the Lives of Ancient Pueblo People
Investigating Cohonina Migration in the Upper Basin
PIT on the Coconino Rim
Snake Gulch 1997
Historic Copper Mines and Logging Railroads Documentation near the Grand Canyon
A Volunteer's Perspective on Historic Copper Mines PIT

NEW!! Posters:

Archaeology is for Everyone (.pdf file 2.5 mb)
Archaeology Has A Story To Tell (.pdf file 2.9 mb)
11,000 Years of Human History (.pdf file 3.2 mb)
Rock Art of the North Kaibab Ranger District 2 (.pdf file 2.1 mb)
Rock Art of the North Kaibab Ranger District (.pdf file 2.2 mb)
What is Archaeology? (.pdf file 1.8 mb)
Northern Arizona Changing Forest Landscapes (.pdf file 373kb)
Artifacts and other Traces of the Past at Clover Ruin (.pdf file 202kb)
Unearthing the Past at Clover Ruin: The 1993-1994 Passport In Time Project (.pdf file 202kb)
Kaibab National Forest Heritage Resources Volunteers (.pdf file 372kb)
Kaibab National Forest Tribes in their Historic Landscapes (.pdf file 1.12 mb)

Yavapai - Apache Language Presentation (12mb .ppt file ***Large File Size***)

USDA Forest Service - Kaibab National Forest
Last Modified: Monday, 03 November 2008 at 18:15:00 EST