Community-Based Preservation Saved Mesa Grande

Community-Based Preservation Saved Mesa Grande
The 13 years during which Dave Richins was involved in efforts to create an archaeological park at the Mesa Grande ruins may have seemed like a long time. Thirteen years always does. But it was just a fraction of how long it took Mesa to fully realize its dream of paying tribute to the vanished civilization that in a very real sense paved the way for this modern desert city. “I remember sitting in a neighborhood meeting back in 1999, putting this on our ‘top-five list’ of west Mesa projects,” said Richins, now beginning his second City Council term. “We called it our points of pride,” he told a small group gathered at the site for a media preview early this week. http://bit.ly/VTW0jT

Preservation Partners Preserving Tucson’s Historic Folk Art
The Bates Mansion, on North Stone Avenue and West Franklin Street, is a downtown landmark – well known for three decades as the former home of the Mountain Oyster Club, a private club where Tucson’s elite relaxed and made deals. But lesser known and maybe more important to Tucson’s history is that the old club’s dining room is home to Salvador Corona’s murals. Corona’s work is representative of the folk-art tradition that came to Tucson at a time when the city was trying to redefine itself, said Diane Dittemore, an ethnological collections curator at the Arizona State Museum. Dittemore and her husband, Seth Schindler, are partners with Archaeology Southwest to preserve the murals and convert the property into commercial space.  Next Sunday, Jan. 27, Archaeology Southwest will host a “Corona Tardeada” reception at the Bates Mansion, 283 N. Stone Ave., from 2 to 4 p.m. Speakers will be the author Holm Milton; consulting preservation architect Bob Vint; and Charlie Burton, the consulting painting conservator. There will be a rare showing of Corona’s works from several local collections. Seating is limited. For reservations call 1-520-358-3660. http://bit.ly/XtJbZ9

Crow Canyon to Host Summer Institute for Educators
This three-week summer institute, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) will introduce 25 K-12 school teachers to the history and culture of the Pueblo Indians. The institute takes place in Cortez, Colorado, on Crow Canyon’s beautiful 170-acre campus, with travel to a number of other locations in the Southwest. http://bit.ly/UJd8qj

Mesa Verde Has a Wild Horse Problem
Mesa Verde National Park is struggling with dozens of feral horses and cattle that have moved into the park, trampled archaeological sites, charged at park employees and intimidated visitors. Mesa Verde announced the beginning of a public comment period Thursday that could lead to a roundup of the horses later this year. http://bit.ly/11KuNDf

President Obama Nominates Lynne Sebastian to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Dr. Lynne Sebastian is Director of Historic Preservation Programs at the Statistical Research Inc. Foundation, a position she has held since 2001.  She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico.  Dr. Sebastian was the State Historic Preservation Officer for the State of New Mexico from 1997 to 1999, and she was the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer and the State Archaeologist from 1987 to 1997.  http://1.usa.gov/VU0bMA

Upcoming Meeting about Ongoing Preservation Work at Historic Camp Naco
Huachuca City, owner of the Camp Naco property, has hired a contractor team to fulfill the requirements of a $400,000 Brownfields grant awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of the grant is to remove all asbestos and stabilize the buildings that are still in the best condition. There will be a public meeting to describe the upcoming work and share more information about Camp Naco. The meeting will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 26, at the Turquoise Valley Golf Resort in Naco, Arizona. http://bit.ly/10eqmvm

Short Story Collection Explores Preservation and Geography in the American Southwest
Recapture & Other Stories is a compact volume that compares the real and the replica, memory and the object, preservation and isolation, all amid the geology and geography of the Southwestern desert of the United States. In publishing this first collection of short fiction from writer Erica Olsen (whose “Driveaway” was a finalist in the 2011 Terrain.org Fiction Contest), Torrey House Press has produced a gem, a small collection of stories that is a pleasure to read and consider. http://bit.ly/13W23Gr

Active Research, In-Situ Preservation, and Public Outreach: Preservation Archaeology with Three Bottles of Scotch
Three bottles of rare, 19th-century Scotch found beneath the floorboards of Ernest Shackleton’s abandoned expedition base were returned to Antarctica on Saturday after a distiller flew them to Scotland to recreate the long-lost recipe. But not even Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, who personally returned the stash, got a taste of the contents of the bottles of Mackinlay’s whiskey, which were rediscovered 102 years after Shackleton was forced to leave them behind. http://nyti.ms/WQe8XJ

Lecture Opportunity – Tucson
On Sunday, February 3, at 3 pm in the historic San Pedro Chapel, 5230 E. Fort Lowell Road, Mike Anderson will present “Baseball’s Earliest Days in Arizona.” While the Earps and cowboys stalked each other on the streets of Tombstone in 1881, others in the silver camp were busy forming baseball teams. America’s pastime accompanied the westward expansion and was an integral part of life on the frontier, in a form very much recognizable to us today. Bisbee baseball historian Mike Anderson will tell the story of baseball’s earliest days in the Arizona Territory, tracing its evolution as a game and as a part of community life, using photos taken during the 19th century and early 20th century of players and teams in southern Arizona. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Lecture Opportunity – Santa Fe
On January 28 at 6pm at Hotel Santa Fe, Dr. Laurie Webster, Anthropologist, Textile Consultant, and Research Associate, American Museum of Natural History and Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, will present a public lecture titled Baskets, Hides and Wood: New Research of the Earliest Perishable Collections from Southeast Utah. The lecture is part of the Southwest Seminars Ancient Sites Ancient Stories I Lecture Series. No reservations are necessary and refreshments are included. Admission is $12 at the door or by subscription. Contact Connie Eichstaedt for information.Telephone: 505 466-2775, http://bit.ly/YhJddr

Volunteer Opportunity – Tucson
We rely on dedicated and hard-working volunteers to make our annual Southwest Indian Art Fair a success.  There are a variety of positions available and flexible time slots over the busy weekend (Feb 23 and 24). Volunteers get free admission to the art fair, copious refreshments, and of course the undying gratitude from all your friends at Arizona State Museum.  Sign up today at http://www.statemuseum.arizona.edu/events/swiaf/swiaf_volunteer_reg.shtml or contact ASM volunteer coordinator Annamarie Schaecher at 520-626-3959 or anamarie@email.arizona.edu.

Edge of the Cedars State Park Featured in the Latest Segment Airing on the Archaeology Channel
The latest installment of the Video News from TAC features the following stories: Volunteers catalog artifacts through the Forest Service Passport In Time (PIT) program at  the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Blanding, Utah, and the rocky island of Inishark, off the west coast of Ireland, was inhabited for thousands of years and then abandoned in 1960.  Archaeologists fortunately can bring three former residents to the island to help them document the very visible ruins.  You can see these stories in the January 2013 edition of this monthly half-hour show, available now on our nonprofit streaming-media Web site, The Archaeology Channel (http://www.archaeologychannel.org) as well as on cable TV in cities across the US.

Thanks to Cherie Freeman for contributing to this week’s newsletter.