A set of tire ruts found along the east side of the Copper Queen Store was designated Feature 37 (Figures A.21 and A.39). The center of these ruts is at 168 North and l46 East. These ruts were uncovered after the backhoe-scraped surface was swept. Four ruts are visible, as is a well-preserved horseshoe impression. Two of the ruts originally passed across the land where the Copper Queen Store was built. When the east wall foundation trench was excavated, these ruts were cut through.

The horseshoe impression was from a medium-sized horse, probably a riding horse. The circa 1916 photograph of the store reveals that riding horses were still being used at that time. The date of this particular horseshoe imprint is unknown.
 

Feature 38 is a small pit located east of the northeast corner of the Copper Queen Store at 178 North and 231 East (Figure A.21). The pit is 14 inches long and 11 inches wide, and only 3.5 inches deep. It was filled with a reddish brown, sandy silt that was moderately compact. All of the fill was removed and screened. No artifacts were present. Although the function of this pit is unknown, it may represent a rodent burrow.
 

Feature 39 is a north-south water line trench located east of the Copper Queen Store (Figure A.21). This water line once ran to a well in Naco, Sonora, and it is depicted on the 1904 Sanborn map. Whereas the map claims that a 4-inch water main carried water into Naco, Arizona, a 1-inch-diameter pipe was present in one area of the trench.

The pipe trench is 32 inches wide, and it was filled with a red sandy clay with numerous pebbles and cobbles. Artifact density was low on the north side and higher on the south side. Several artifacts, including a reconstructible pitcher, were recovered during backhoe scraping at the south side of the site (Figure A.40).

Feature 39 was in place before either Feature 31, the brick-lined ditch, or Feature 3, the post-1931 adobe brick compound wall, were constructed. As noted earlier, it is depicted on the 1904 Sanborn map and was probably put in place between 1900 and 1904.

Three artifacts were collected from Feature 39. A reconstructible hardpaste earthenware pitcher (Figure A.40) was found while stripping an area southeast of the Copper Queen Store. The pitcher had a raised, curlicue design on each side. Two bottle bases were also unearthed. One was made from aqua-colored glass and the other from light green glass. Both bottles probably held beverages.
 

A series of postholes was found around the Feature 6 equipment mount (Figure A.21). The postholes run from 223 to 227 North and from 254 to 271 East. Designated Feature 40, these postholes could have held posts that once supported a ramada or possibly stakes used to hold piles of sawn wood. A total of seven postholes was delineated, and an eighth post survived in place. Five of the postholes are round and quite small, about 6 inches in diameter. Two pairs of these posts are present along the west side and middle of the mount. The fifth is in line with the northern posts of these pairs; however, it lacks its corresponding southern posthole.

Three larger posts stood along the front (east side) of the buzz saw mount. The intact post measures 7 inches square. In October of 1993, a matching post stood on the south side of the mount, but this post had been burned by March 1994. Adjacent to this post is a 14-inch by 12-inch posthole that is filled with concrete and an orange-brown, sandy clay.
 

Feature 41 is a pit located north of the Copper Queen Store at 185 North and 220 East (Figure A.21). The pit was uncovered during backhoe scraping and was visible due to its burned edges. The pit is 25 inches long and 24 inches wide. It is 4 inches deep at its deepest point; however, the base is not flat, and the center of the pit is only about 2.5 inches deep.

The fill was completely removed, revealing a roughly oval pit that had been completely burned.
A distinctive oily smell came from the fill of the pit. At its base lay a piece of charred wood. It was obvious that something had been burned in the pit; otherwise, its function is unknown.

Forty-one artifacts were found in Feature 41. All were nails-3 complete and 38 broken.
 

Repeated sweeping failed to uncover Feature 42, an almost square pit filled with red clay (Figure A.21). It was only after the sun had dried out the exposed ground surface that this feature became dearly visible. It is located at 183 North and 135 East, and it is 30 inches long and 26 inches wide. The depth of this feature is uncertain because excavation was halted at 16 inches below ground surface. At this point, the fill of the pit appeared to end. The pit's fill was identical to the natural sterile subsoil, making the excavation of the pit particularly difficult.

Feature 42 is partially inside Feature 28, the middle army tent. It was not possible to discern whether the pit pre- or post-dates the tent placement. The function of this pit is unknown.

Eleven pieces of glass were recovered from this feature. Three were window glass, and the remaining eight pieces were small bits of bottle glass from clear, turned-purple, and aqua bottles. The small size of the pieces prevented identifying the function of these containers.
 

Feature 43 is yet another pipe trench (Figure A.21). This trench was located during excavation of Feature 21, a rectangular pit. The pipe for Feature 43 was found to cut across the pit. Examination of the walls of the pit indicated that the 1-in-diameter pipe was put in place after the pit (Feature 21) had been dug. The pipe trench is about 18 inches wide. Because Feature 43 and Feature 26 appear to merge, the confluence area was excavated. It was discovered that the Feature 43 pipe had been abandoned after Feature 26 was put in place.
 

Feature 44 was uncovered during the program of metal detecting (Figure A.21). As the crew examined the area along the south side of the Copper Queen Store, the detector signaled the presence of a metal artifact. Troweling exposed a lead bullet. Further sweeping resulted in the discovery of an amorphous pit next to the foundation wall of the store at 143 North and 170 East. The pit is 51 inches long, 43 inches wide, and 8 inches deep with an irregular base. The pit was filled with an ashy gray-brown, silty sand, quite compact.

Artifact density was high. Feature 44 is interpreted to be the location of a drain spout; the hole was created by water pouring out of the spout.

A total of 141 artifacts was present in this feature. Most common were nails, with 124 examples. About one-half were roofing nails, strengthening the suggestion that this feature represents a gully where water draining from the roof collected. Other items present included three nuts, seven can fragments, a fired bullet, a piece of chalk, a fragment from a lamp chimney, a fragment from an aqua beverage bottle, and a clear bottle base bearing the mark "Carlsbad." A single large mammal (probably cattle) long bone shaft fragment was also present in the feature.
 

Feature 45 was encountered during backhoe scraping in the area between the east compound wall and the abandoned railroad side track (Figure A.21). A large quantity of coal was discovered, and the area was subsequently identified by an informant as the location of a coal shed. The coal area was at 147 to 185 North and 395 to 427 East. This structure is present on the 1931 Sanborn map, appearing as a hay warehouse. It does not appear on the 1904 Sanborn map.

Careful hand-scraping failed to locate any structural remains of the building. Presumably, the wood-frame structure was salvaged, leaving behind a layer of coal that was about 1 ft thick in the center of the building area. The area with coal was about 45 ft long and 30 ft wide.
 

An informant pointed out the location of a second outhouse inside the compound area (Figure A.21). Located in the northeast corner of the compound, this outhouse was described by the informant as being the "old outhouse." The informant, who was 58 years old, indicated that it was in use until the "new outhouse," the one found in the southeast corner (Feature 8), was built. Feature 8 is thought to have been in use into the 1970s, but the date of the construction of Feature 46 is unknown. This feature is located at 315 North and 340 East.

The modern debris around Feature 46 was cleared, and the edge of the outhouse pit located. It was filled with modern trash, including pieces of cement, bricks, plastic, and other relatively recent trash (including great quantities of animal excrement). A piece of metal, possibly used to line the seat of the structure, was uncovered. However, due to the recent nature of the fill, excavation was terminated without cutting into the outhouse pit. This area of the site is slated to become a parking lot, and the contents of the pit, which appear to date to the 1960s, will be preserved for future archaeologists.
 

A variety of artifacts were scattered about the Copper Queen Store site. An assortment of these items were collected, including a horseshoe, a suspender buckle, a spent bullet, a token (script unreadable), clothing rivets, a crown cap, a champagne bottle with a hand-applied finish, a medicine bottle with a hand-applied finish, a fragment of leather from a harness or belt, and a button.
 

A metal detector was used to examine several areas of the expansion property (Figure A.41). The testing plan had emphasized the importance of a metal detector for locating spent ammunition from the Mexican Revolution periods. Also, the detector was found useful for delineating water pipe trenches that were not visible after scraping and for determining whether certain features were completely excavated.

The first area examined for ammunition was the south side of the Copper Queen Store. It was thought that ammunition might have been fired from Naco, Sonora, struck the brick wall, and then fallen to earth. A single lead bullet was found, lying in the upper fill of Feature 44 (Figure A.42). Dozens of other metal artifacts were noted by the detector. Most of these were nails, but nuts and bolts were also found.

Detecting then moved to the area south of Feature 3, the compound wall. A total of nine .22-caliber cartridge shells marked "U" were found. These cartridges were manufactured by the Union Metallic Company from 1885 to the present (Hull-Walski and Ayres 1989:132). The area north of the compound wall was then examined, and six .22-caliber cartridge shells were found. These shells probably predate the construction of the compound, which occurred between 1931 and 1946.

The area along the eastern side of the compound, within the gate, was then investigated. The numerous detector signals were found to be from nails and other artifacts, although a probable bullet was also collected. This example was badly deformed, perhaps due to its presence in a high traffic area.

Several areas along the railroad sidetrack and within the coal shed area (Feature 45) were subsequently examined. The only artifacts encountered in these areas were a few nails. Other ammunition was recovered from Feature 20 and from the original ground surface (Figure A.42).

In general, the metal detector was a useful tool for locating ammunition. Unfortunately, only four of the recovered pieces probably date to one of the Mexican revolutions. Discussions with employees of the Naco, Arizona Port of Entry indicates that it is not unusual, after heavy rainfalls, to discover ammunition in the parking lot to the west of the customs house and along the border fence area.
 

Two east-west backhoe trenches were excavated, one on each side of the railroad sidetrack. Trench 1 was 51 ft long and was located at 187 North and from 444 to 496 East. Trench 2 was 57 ft long and was placed at 152 North and from 332 to 289 East. Each was excavated to a depth of 4 ft, with the eastern end of Trench 2 excavated to 5 ft in one small area. The fill was identical in each trench. The upper foot of fill was a loose, brown-red, sandy clay with a high organic content. Below that were about 3 ft of reddish orange, sandy clay with a moderate amount of pebbles and cobbles. This strata was moderately compact. The sediments below this layer were increasingly compact until at about 4 ft below ground surface, the strata became very dense. The small area excavated in Trench 2 below this level was very compact and slightly lighter in color.

No cultural materials were visible below the mixed, disturbed upper sediments. Examination of the ground surface during both the original survey and during the testing program failed to locate any prehistoric artifacts. In all likelihood, none exist on the property.

Both backhoe trenches were backfilled immediately after being examined.
 

Five tasks were delineated as part of the Naco, Arizona Port of Entry expansion project. Each was successfully completed as part of the archaeological testing.
 

Scraping around the Copper Queen Store and the concrete slab (Feature 2) uncovered numerous features associated with the store and with the army occupation of the area. Scraping was conducted by Dan Arnit, a backhoe operator with considerable archaeological experience. It was quickly discovered that a fill layer, put down to cover a muddy surface, could be easily peeled away, exposing a cultural surface dating to before 1920.

The store was built in 1900, was in operation until the 1930s, was used as storage in the 1950s, and was accidentally set on fire around 1989. Among the features associated with the store are nine postholes for a porch where an ice machine once stood (Feature 17), seven postholes for a loading dock on the north side of the ell (Feature 23), three hitching posts visible in the 1916 photograph (Feature 9), and numerous water-line trenches (Features 15, 26, 27, and 43).

Several postholes from the Copper Queen hardware and wagon storage building were uncovered north of the store (Feature 32). A small portion of its corrugated iron wall remains intact.

Two features associated with the circa 1916 Army use of the area were also uncovered. The 1916 photograph documents the presence of three tents lined up along the north wall of the store. Two of the tents could be traced through tent stakes and tent-stake holes (Features 11 and 28). The tents shared a common wall. The photograph indicated that the tents varied in shape; this was observed in the tent-stake patterns for each.

Other features around the store include postholes (and Features 10 and 36), two large rectangular pits (Features 21 and 22), several small pits (Features 12 and 41), a large trench (Feature 29), and holes and ditches associated with rain spouts (Features 20, 25, and possibly 44). Three bullets, possibly from German-manufactured Mauser rifles, were uncovered in two of these features and are believed to have been fired during the first Mexican Revolution, when Naco, Sonora, was the site of intense battles.

A total of approximately 7,760 ft² was cleared with the backhoe blade. It had been intended to clear 760 ft², but the ease with which the historic surface could be located made it possible to uncover a significantly larger area.
 

Task 2 called for the recording of the adobe-walled compound (Feature 3) and the scraping of a portion of its interior, as well as the testing of a large hole in its southeast corner. This hole (Feature 8) was discovered to be an outhouse. The recovery of plastic bread wrappers and a "Tang" bottle indicated that the outhouse had been filled after 1969. An informant subsequently indicated that the feature had been in use during that time period. A backhoe cut was made along its western edge. Very few artifacts were present in the fill, and all dated from at least the 1950s. Informants indicated that a second outhouse was located in the northeast corner of the compound (Feature 45). Examination of the artifacts in the upper portion of pit indicated that it had been filled in during the 1950s.

Scraping along the north and south sides of the south wall of the compound resulted in the discovery of several sets of postholes (Feature 40) associated with the buzz-saw mount (Feature
6), as well as the continuation of a probable sewer line running from the Copper Queen Store
(Feature 31).

A total of 400 ft² had been planned for stripping. Again, it was possible to scrape a much larger area, and a total of approximately 3,445 ft² was scraped with the backhoe.
 

Three excavation units were placed in Feature 5, a trash dump located east of the compound. Two units contained between 18 and 20 in. of dense garbage dating from the 1930s onward, with occasional artifacts that might have been earlier. Among the items recovered were medicine and cosmetic bottles, Euro-American and Mexican ceramics, tin cans, toothpaste tubes, turkey and cattle bones, walnut shells and peach pits, and light bulb fragments. The third unit, placed off of the trash area, yielded significantly fewer artifacts.
 

A metal detector was used in several areas in search of ammunition fired during the Mexican revolutions. The area to the south of the Copper Queen Store was examined first, since it was thought that bullets might have struck the brick wall and fallen to the ground. One bullet was, in fact, recovered. The second area examined, to the south of the adobe compound wall, yielded nine .22-caliber cartridges. Six more were uncovered immediately north of this wall. All were manufactured by the Union Metallic Company and had been fired prior to the construction of the wall, which took place after 1931. Other artifacts uncovered using the metal detector were nails, rivets, washers, and bolts.
 

Several areas were stripped with the backhoe in search of buildings not located during the original survey. The location of one building identified on the l931 Sanborn map as a hay warehouse was found. An informant indicated that the building had been used as a coal house, and a large amount of coal was present along the former railroad siding. No structural remains were uncovered.

Also uncovered was the original water main for the town of Naco (Feature 34). This main originally ran across the border to a well in Naco, Sonora. No traces were found of the tank once used to hold water for railroad engines.

The ice house was not located, despite extensive scraping in its location. It is probable that few traces of this wood frame building survive. One building located along the border fence, a warehouse, was also not located. It was not possible to strip dirt in this area without damaging the border fence and creating problems for the border patrol, since the area was within an active road used by the border patrol. It is likely that the only surviving traces of the structure would have been postholes.

Two east-west backhoe trenches were cut across the eastern portion of the site in search of deeply buried cultural remains. None were located. The subsurface stratigraphy consisted of a loose layer of red sand and organic material overlying increasingly consolidated layers of red clay and gravel. Each trench was dug to a depth of 4 ft.

In summary, all five tasks were accomplished as planned. The 46 features and the small set of recovered artifacts represent the physical remains of the early use of the property, which dates back to 1900. Recommendations regarding the site are presented in Chapter 5.