Figure 1. Overview of the Reynolds Cabin looking south.

Figure 2. Overview of the Reynolds Cabin looking west.

Figure 3. Oak roof beams in the Reynolds cabin.

Figure 4. The Dugout northeast of the Cabin looking northeast.

Figure 5. view to the southeast from Cabin toward the spring.

Figure 6. The cistern above the cabin; view to the northeast.

Figure 7. The steep arroyo cut east of the cabin.

Description

LA 134796, the Reynolds Homestead, is the largest and most complex site in the project area. It contains numerous features, only five of which are mentioned here: the Cabin, the Dugout, the Brush Corral, the Spring, and the Cistern. The Cabin (Feature 1) is a one-room rectangular structure built of horizontal notched logs and milled lumber (Figures 21, 22, 23) with a low gabled roof (now collapsed). Feature 2, the Dugout (Figure 24), is a smaller rectangular structure partially dug into a swale northeast of the Cabin; it was built of vertical support beams, milled lumber window frames, and had a low gabled roof. The Brush Corral, Feature 3, was a semi-circular structure of upright poles, horizontal branches, and wire. Feature 4, the Spring, was a small seep/spring under a sandstone overhang southeast of the Cabin (Figure 25); it was fenced using upright posts and barbed wire. The Cistern, Feature 5, was excavated into the sandstone bedrock above the Cabin (Figure 26). Artifacts on the site include copper tubing, broken earthenware jugs and other ceramics, metal cans, and various types of glass.

We collected a total of 56 tree-ring samples from the site, 37 of which yielded dates. The species used include 29 ponderosas, 14 pinyons, 12 junipers, and one oak, but the species distribution within individual structures is very different.

Feature 1, the Cabin, yielded 30 samples and 23 dates, including three cutting dates. Ponderosa pine (n=27) was used almost exclusively, although single samples of pinyon, juniper, and oak were also identified, Additional oak primary beams were identified, but were not samples because of their poor dating potential. All the major architectural elements are ponderosa, the pinyon and juniper are chinking elements, one of which (BBM-126) was probably procured as dead wood. The dates include three 1920 cutting dates with incomplete terminal rings and eight 1920 noncutting dates; all the other dates are noncutting vv dates that precede 1920. We infer, therefore, that the Cabin was built in a single construction episode in the summer of 1920. There is no dendroarchaeological evidence of subsequent repair or remodeling episodes.

The Dugout, Feature 2, yielded 13 samples and 11 dates, including two cutting/near cutting dates. In contrast to the Cabin, the species used in the Dugout are 12 pinyons and a single ponderosa. The earliest cutting date is 1920G inc (BBM-132) and the latest date is 1929vv (BBM-203). Other significant dates are the two 1921 vv noncutting dates and the 1923+G near cutting date; all other samples are noncutting dates that precede 1920. We infer that the Dugout was constructed in 1923 and repaired in 1929 or later. Other interpretations are possible, such as construction in 1920 and repair in both 1923 and 1929, or construction in 1929 using recycled wood, but we believe our inference is the most parsimonious.

Feature 3, the Brush Corral, yielded 10 samples but only two dates. The collection comprises eight junipers, one pinyon, and one ponderosa—different that either the Cabin or Dugout. The earlier of the dat4es (1817++vv; BBM-173) is obviously an eroded juniper branch, possibly procured as dead wood. The later 1936vv date (BBm-169) is the only ponderosa sample from the structure and probably approximates the date of construction.

The Spring, Feature 4, yielded three samples from the fence posts that limit access to the overhang. All three samples are juniper and only one (BBM-176) yielded a (cutting) date of 1935rLGB comp.

The Reynolds Homestead is a large complex site with many features, only four of which retain dendroarchaeological materials suitable for sampling; our inferences, therefore, are necessarily limited to these features. We infer that the Cabin was built in the summer of 1920 and never remodeled or repaired. The Dugout was probably built three years later (in 1923) and repaired in or after 1929. The Spring fence and Brush Corral were certainly in use in 1935-1936, although definitive construction episodes cannot be identified. How these features, and the entire occupation, related to the development of the large arroyo from the Spring (Figure 27), remains an interesting question. We do know, however, that the Reynolds Homestead was occupied for at least 16 years—the longest occupation span in the project area.