The Archaeology of Crooks Canyon:
Native Lifeways
| Recent archaeological investigations in the upper reaches of Crooks Canyon, above the battle site of Infernal Caverns, have identified three major encampments. While these sites were occupied just prior to, and probably during, the hostilities with the U.S. Army, they provide a snapshot of Native lifeways as they existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Reflected in these sites are traditional forms of house construction and village organization, food gathering and processing, tool making, and hunting practices. |
Remarkable for such a rugged and remote locality, the Crooks Canyon sites contain the remnants of 17 late-dating house structures. The houses are recognized today by their circular rock foundations, created by two to three courses of stacked basalt cobbles. These foundations probably supported conical or domed-shaped wood or brush enclosures. Their interiors generally measure between nine and twelve feet in diameter, and probably sheltered a single family, or a small extended family. Some appear to have been the focus of more intensive use - they contain central hearths, charred structural posts, and large quantities of artifacts and animal bones. Others appear to have been more informal dwellings, or occupied for only several episodes, lacking hearths and containing only a handful of artifacts and bone. |
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Rock ring features. These circular alignments of rock - sometimes occurring in pairs- are the foundations of Native American house structures.
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