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Hohokam Pima National MonumentA pair of round-tailed ground squirrels
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Hohokam Pima

 

 

Hohokam Pima National Monument was authorized by Congress on October 21, 1972, to protect an ancient Hohokam village known today as "Snaketown." Excavations in the 1930's and again in the 1960's revealed the site was inhabited from about 300 BC to around 1200 AD and may have had up to 2,000 inhabitants. Following the last excavations, the site was completely recovered with earth, leaving nothing visible above ground.
 

The Monument is located on the Gila River Indian Reservation and is under tribal ownership. The Gila River Indian Community has decided not to open the extremely sensitive area to the public. There is no park brochure, passport stamp, picture stamp or other free literature available.
 

For further information, two books are highly recommended: Excavations at Snaketown, Material Culture, by Harold S. Gladwin, 1965; and The Hohokam: Desert Farmers and Craftsmen, by Emil Haury, 1978.  There are also two articles in National Geographic 131 (May 1967):  "The Hohokam: First Masters of the Desert," by Emil Haury, and "Magnetic Clues Help Date the Past," by Kenneth F. Weaver.

 
 
Photo image of a circa 1800s Union Pacific Railroad engine.  

Did You Know?
It is estimated that between 350,000 and 500,000 people emigrated to the west between the 1840s and 1870s. They came by ox drawn wagons, on foot, & pulling hand carts until the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads completed a rail line in May of 1869 at Promotory Point in Northern Utah.
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Last Updated: June 15, 2007 at 19:57 EST