Finding Aids

 

Using these Materials

Please contact the Center of Southwest Studies Archives Manager at archives@fortlewis.edu for more information about reproductions and accessing the collection.

 

Access Restrictions: There are no access restrictions on the use of this collection. The collection is non-circulating but open to the public for use in the Delaney Southwest Research Library at the Center of Southwest Studies.

 

Reproduction and Copyright: Materials held by the Center may be protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Reproduction does not constitute a transfer of copyright or publication rights. Researchers are solely responsible for complying with copyright law and for obtaining any necessary permissions for reproduction or publication. The Center assumes no liability for unauthorized use of materials.

 

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Collection Title], [Collection Number], Center of Southwest Studies, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado.

 

 

Collection Description

Historical/Biographical Note: The San Juan Basin Archaeological Society (SJBAS), established in 1979, is a vital amateur group that has assisted in much local archaeological research and has helped Florence Lister publish two books on area archaeological sites.

The original San Juan Basin Archaeological Society was begun in the 1930s as an active group of amateur archaeologists in the Durango area.  The chapter carried out a series of sit surveys and excavation within the city limits and in Ridges Basin in cooperation with Fort Lewis College.  World War II was the primary cause of the group’s closure in the 1940s.

In 1978, Chuck Brockway and Helen Daniels decided to revive the original organization, which led to a series of meetings in early 1979 devoted to setting up such an organization.  In March 1979 the SJBAS submitted a successful petition to become a chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society.  Mr. Brockway served as the first president.  Later, the group adopted the kokopelli figure as its logo/ emblem. 

These are the group’s three major objectives: to learn about archaeology, especially the pre-history of the Four Corners locale; to combat the vandalism of historic artifacts; and to cooperate with and aid professional archaeologists working in the region.  Currently (2004) the group includes monthly lectures, and ten to twelve field trips each year.  Public education about vandalism, as well as opposing various forms of industrial development affecting archaeological sites, is one of the group’s primary efforts.  The SJBAS also works closely with the U.S. Forest Service to inventory remains and to conduct site surveys.

Source: Email attachment from John Sanders, SJBAS Vice-President and Newsletter editor since 1985.

 

Scope & Contents: These are records and documents pertaining to the San Juan Basin Archaeological Society.  The records include site reports, newsletters, grant proposals, and (forthcoming) photographs.

 

Acquisitions Information: This collection was begun with the Center of Southwest Studies' accession 2002:11002, donated by the Society on November 4, 2002.

 

Processing Information: This collection was arranged and described by student archival assistants and J. Todd Ellison, Archivist, in September of 2003.  This inventory was produced by Todd Ellison in September of 2003.  The historical sketch was prepared by archival assistant Olivia Everett, December of 2004.

 

 

Detailed Description of the Collection

Box 1	Folder description
Folder 1	Colorado Archaeological Society constitution as revised 1975, and code of ethics as revised 1978.
Folder 2	San Juan Basin Archeological Society bylaws, first draft compiled by Chuck Brockway, adopted Apr. 12, 1979, and amended through Sept. 11, 1980.
Folder 3	San Juan Basin Archeological Society newspaper clippings, 1979-.
Folder 4	The San Juan Basin Chapter and How it Grew: historical sketch/ by John Sanders, 1985 June.
Folder 5	San Juan Basin Archeological Society chapter activity programs and field trips lists, 1979-2001.
Folder 6	San Juan Basin Archeological Society outings ethics and liability affidavit form, ca. 2001.
Folder 7	San Juan National Forests cultural resources report: Animas and Dolores Districts: field assessment of the Rico-Rockwood Wagon Road/ by Louis Newell, with comments by Robert York, report of field work done Summer – Fall of 1985, 1986 January.
Folder 8	The scattered artifacts of Falls Creek: report of a research project…, 1994.
Folder 9	Falls Creek Project #94-02-127 Colorado State Historical Fund Mini-Grant project proposal and project records, 1994.
Folder 10	Cannonball Ruins (McElmo Canyon, Montezuma County, Colo.) preservation assessment grant proposal and letter to Chris Zeller, 1998.
Folder 11	Machinery Bottom Site (Colorado River, near Loma, Mesa County, Colo.) investigation of some historic mining artifacts, report, 1999 May.
Folder 12	The Moki Messenger: newsletter of the San Juan Basin Archeological Society, 2002 October.
Folder 13	"War in the Southwest, War in the World," article by Stephen H. Lekson, in American Antiquity (Society for American Archaeology, Vol. 67, No. 4, 2002), pages 607-624.