Romero Ruins Trail

 

Romero Ruins Trail

The day after the fire scare at Catalina State Park, we decided to follow a trail that we’ve not been down before.  We knew the trail said it was the Romero Ruins Trail, but we never knew of any such ruins in the park. In the middle of the 1800s, Mexican rancher Francisco Romero had a home in this area for a short time.  Apache Indian raids on his cattle might have led to his brief stay..  Only a small portion of the village has been excavated and restored.  Part of the enjoyment of this area is to use your imagination and imagine the whole from the tiny portion visible.

The trail is the entrance to about 1,500 years of history.  For nearly 800 years, the residents of the Hohokam village would travel this trail, with food and water loads upon their backs.  And, of course, we saw saguaro cactus up close on the trail – they were all over the place!!  In part, the Hohokam survived here because they learned about and wisely used what the environment gave them.  Water could be found for most of the year from the Southerland Wash and Canada del Oro.  These two water drainage areas (now dry) came together close to the village.  The villagers dug small wells at the bottom of the drainages in order to have water during the dry times of the year when the drainages could offer no new water.  The villagers grew corn (maize) and beans, and even used the weeds as greens to eat, and some of the seeds from various weeks and cacti.

Sometime after 1150 AD, the Hohokam villagers built a large wall of earth and rocks, enclosing the village.  Most people lived inside the wall, although some did live outside the wall.  It is estimated that although as many as 300 people lived in the village, by the time the wall was built, fewer than 100 people lived in the walled village..  In 1990, archeologists from the Center for Desert Archelogy exposed a portion of the wall seen in the photo above.  From the somewhat scattered rocks in the area (believed to have fallen off the wall), archeologists believe the wall was at least 5 feet tall during the years the Hohokam people lived there.

Early residents of Tucson associated the ruins with the Spanish occupation of Tucson in the late 1700s and early 1800s.  Myths of a mission and a treasure soon took root and grew.  Research has shown no evidence of either a mission nor a treasure,  but the legend of the “Lost Mission of Ciru” continued and some of the area’s destructiion has been attributed to “pot-hunters” or treasure hunters..  When the pot-hunters would search through the area, they would move artifacts from one area to another, destroying the relationship between objects and make it very difficult for archeologists to piece together the history of the area..

The ruins of Francisco Romero’s ranch are the youngest finds in this area., dating to the time before 1850.  It was a (then) lonely 12 miles from the town of Tucson.  It endured many raids by the Apache.

People who lived in the walled village typically would have a one-room rectangular home.  The above image is of such a home.  The rocks are what remain of the foundation of the home, and posts were placed next to and around the rock foundation.  An adobe earthen wall was then built around the posts.  Because there wasn’t much substance to them, none of the walls are still in existence – only the rock foundations.

The above image was taken while standing on what once was a mound of trash, accumulated over 1,000 years!  The ancient people’s trash is truly a treasure for archeologists, as the trash tells them quite a bit about how life was lived. The trash can consist of pottery that was used at the time.  It can also tell archeologists the types of food that were eaten by the people.  When they poured water through a bucket of ground taken from the trash mound, they found several different types of plants, with agave and corn being the most common.  Also found in the trash mound were clues to the types of meat that were eaten.  Bones from deer and bighorn sheep were found, although the most common meat seemed to be jackrabbits.

In this area, it is believed that a pithouse village existed here from around 500 to 1100 AD.  The homes were built within a large, flat bottomed pit.  They were constructed with a pole and brush frame, covered with mud to make it weatherproof.  There was generally an open doorway, with either a step down or perhaps a ramp.  Just inside the doorway, was generally a hearth.  Since there were no windows, the only way for smoke to leave was through the open doorway.  In all likelihood, the hearth was only used to warm the interior of the house, and cooking was primarily done outdoors.  Several houses were frequently built in a cluster, opening into a courtyard shared by the homes.  Usually, extended families lived in these clusters, with several clusters forming the village.  In the center of the village, one could usually find a plaza.  Since the homes were all built of perishable materials, archeologists have determined where the village most likely was by studying their trash.

Although this area may not look like much, archeologists have determined this was most likely the site of a Hohokam ballcourt.  These ballcourts are only found in larger villages throughout southern Arizona, where the Hohokam lived.  The Romero Ruins are one of only a few that had two. Ballcourts are oval shaped depressions, with either rock or earthen berms on the sides.  They have ranged from 60 – 200 feet in length, with some berms as high as 10 feet.  This particular ballcourt is about 80 feet in length.   Three rubber balls have been found at Hohokam sites.  The balls were most likely made from guayule, a plant that is native to northern Mexico.  This ballcourt dates back to between 750 – 1050 AD.  It was a way to bring different villages together and promoted cooperation and even as a way to resolve conflicts.

Enjoy!!