By Judy Stoycheff

The Fitzmaurice Ruin, a multi-room prehistoric stone pueblo sits on a hill overlooking Lynx Creek in what is now Fain Park in Prescott Valley.  Over 900 years ago, this pueblo complex was constructed and inhabited by up to as many as 100 people at any given time beginning around A.D.1100 and continuing for 250 years.  Indiscriminate digging or “pot hunting” has caused considerable physical damage to the site and made it difficult for legitimate scientists to gather valid data.  Avocational and professional archaeologists use the artifacts found at such sites to date the habitation era and piece together what activities took place there. Questions as to the religious practices, food types and gathering methods, hunting and/or farming tools as well as trade items and possible trader identification can often be answered using the artifacts found at a site.

So, what of the people and artifacts from the Fitzmaurice Ruin?

It is not definitely known where these prehistoric people came from, why they left or where they went after A.D.1350.  Around that time, all residents of the current tri-cities and the Verde Valley left their homes for unknown reasons, possibly due to a prolonged drought, resulting in a lack of food and drinkable water, leading to illnesses.  Some of them went to the various settlements on Perry Mesa (general location of Agua Fria National Monument east of I-17), others to the Perkinsville area (near the Verde River north of Chino Valley) and still others to the pueblos in Northern Arizona and New Mexico.

During the gold rush days, ruins were routinely looted at various sites by the miners, primarily for grave goods which were in demand, particularly in the East.  It is estimated that wagon loads of goods were removed from this pueblo alone.  It was not uncommon for entire families to spend a day at prehistoric sites and take home whatever they found – and it was all legal.  Many long-time families in this area have collections of arrowheads, pots, turquoise jewelry, etc., which was “found” in a like manner.  It was not until 1979 that removing such artifacts from public or Indian land without a permit from the land managing agency became a violation of Federal law.

In 1936, members of the Prescott Chamber of Commerce were privileged to tour the Fitzmaurice Ruin in what is now Fain Park along Lynx Creek just south of Prescott Valley. When inhabited about a thousand years ago, the pueblo consisted of 27 rooms built into the slope in stair-step fashion with 24 outlying one and two-room pueblos and pit houses (Call Number# IN-PR-1410pd – This image was used in the Fitzmaurice Part 1 article).

The first archaeological excavation done at the Fitzmaurice ruin was around 1930 by J. W. Simmons, an avocational archaeologist/collector who was primarily interested in the burials, 43 in all.  His ‘report’ was never published per se but his notes are on file in Tucson.  The ornamental artifacts were sold to H. S. Gladwin and, according to Louis Caywood’s report in 1935, they were at the Gila Pueblo in Globe, Arizona at that time.  The ceramic wares were saved and purchased by the Arizona Archaeological Center in Tucson, Arizona.

Other materials recovered by Simmons simply disappeared.  Shortly after this semi-professional excavation, a noted archaeologist, Dr. Byron Cummings and the above mentioned graduate student, Louis Caywood, received permission from Mr. Fitzmaurice to excavate 5 rooms and some rubbish heaps (middens).  In the 1970s, Franklin Barnett and his wife Joan, local archaeologists, received permission from the Fain Cattle Company to do a large dig of all the upper rooms with many of the artifacts archived at the Museum of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff and to the homes of his friends and co-workers.  They also excavated individual rooms in conjunction with two colleges and a salvage dig.  Artifacts from these are at the Clarkdale campus of Yavapai College, the Smoki Museum in Prescott, Desert Caballeros Museum in Wickenburg and various homes of friends.  In the Mid 1990s, the property was donated by the Fain family to the town of Prescott Valley.  It was fenced at that time to reduce the potential of vandalism by modern day “pothunters."

This photo, in November 2012 on a scheduled tour of the Fitzmaurice Ruin, was taken from the approximate site of the 1936 photo seen last week. If you compare the photos, you will see the physical devastation caused by years of weather, numerous excavations and simple “theft” (Courtesy Photo from author’s collection – Fitzmaurice Ruin 11-1-2012).

Thus, the Fitzmaurice Ruin artifacts were scattered to many locations over the years, some even unknown.  In Part I of Days Past last week, we noted that the Prescott Chamber of Commerce toured the ruin in 1936 and members actually were encouraged to take home “souvenirs” of their excursion!

If the above mentioned elite group of Prescott’s leaders were to take the same tour today, they would not see the individual rooms and walls as clearly as they did in 1936 shortly after Caywood’s excavation.  Time, weather, frequent excavations, both professional and by “pot hunters,” have changed the configuration of the rooms, plaza and outer structures.  Walls have fallen in and, in some places, disappeared entirely.  Tours and a knowledgeable talk about the ruin are given by members of the Arizona Site Stewards whose duty it is to protect prehistoric and historic treasures.  For information regarding tours for small groups, contact the Prescott Valley Parks and Recreation Department.

You will be invited to take home only photos and information about the site and, above all, an appreciation of the lives led by some who came before us.

Judy Stoycheff is a member of the Arizona Site Stewards and is a Steward for the Fitzmaurice Ruin.