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!!
