SAGUARO Historic Resource Study

D. The Civilian Conservation Corps

Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) camps were established in or near both units of Saguaro National Monument. From these camps members of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) performed work in building picnic sites, roads, dams, fences, and trails as well as obliterating the scars of old roads, and removing delapidated homestead and squatter buildings. These projects were accomplished between November 17, 1933 and June 21, 1941.

One camp (Camp Pima, SP-6-A), five picnic areas, thirteen dams, and two facilities to supply water for wildlife remain in the Tucson Mountain Unit. These sites and structures will be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. Not only do they have significance by association with the CCC, but they are some of the few structures and sites now within a National Park Service unit which were designed and built by the Park Service State Parks Division for a county park. The picnic facilities are typical of a design adopted by the State Parks Division for the desert southwest.

Accomplishments of the men from Camp Tanque Verde (SP-11-A) in the Rincon Mountain Unit were not quite so evident. Many of their projects involved removal of old roads, trails, and homestead and squatter buildings, and filling in mines and prospect holes. The construction projects, on which they worked, consisted of building the loop road, several miles of fence, several dams, and an administration building which upon completion became the custodian's residence and visitor contact station. The fence and building have been removed and the dams have been greatly altered over the years by the ranchers holding grazing allotments. Although the loop road exists, it has been upgraded and paved. As a result of these changes, nothing remains of the CCC work in the Rincon Unit which is worthy of nomination to the National Register.

1. Tucson Mountain Unit

Pima County, which operated the Tucson Mountain Park, applied for two ECW camps in August 1933 for that park. The CCC men were to be used to improve the recreational potential of that area. The request was approved, and Camp Pima (SP-6-A) and Camp Papago (SP-7-A) were authorized. The former of these two camps was located in the northern part of the park, which today comprises the Tucson Mountain Unit of Saguaro National Monument, while the latter was built toward the southern end. Camp construction was accomplished by local men chosen by the Pima County Reemployment Committee. The CCC enrollees for Camp Pima arrived in Tucson several months before their camp was completed and so were occupied with work at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds. On November 17, 1933 they were moved to the Tucson Mountain Park where they lived in a temporary tent camp until the permanent camp was completed on December 22.

Camp Pima, like other CCC camps, was initially composed of a set complement of frame buildings. These included four barracks, one mess hail, one kitchen, one recreation hall, one officers' quarters, a hospital, a latrine, and several bathrooms. The other structures such as an equipment shed, repair shops, laundry, barber shop, and reading room came later. A number of the structures built later were adobe. Presumably, some of the subsequent buildings were constructed by the enrollees, but the records mention them making adobe to erect only one. The CCC men also had a swimming pool and golf course for their use. By the time it was abandoned, Camp Pima contained thirty-two buildings.

The operation of the camp and the work performed was overseen by several groups. Although Pima County had requested the camp, it had little control except to suggest some projects. The 8th Cavalry of the United States Army administered Camp Pima and provided the commanding officer, adjutant, physician, and education adviser. The State Parks Division of the National Park Service approved and oversaw the work projects. To accomplish its end, the Park Service hired a camp superintendent, project engineer, three senior foremen, three junior foremen, a blacksmith, and a mechanic. In addition a landscape architect from the Park Service Region Three in Santa Fe made a monthly inspection of the work and reported on its progress.

Camp Pima was constructed to house 210 men, but that number was never achieved. The camp enrollment usually ranged from 150 to 200. It was not occupied on a year-round basis. During the three hottest summer months the men were taken to cooler climates. One exception to this practice occurred in the 1934-35 period. In 1934 extra money was allotted to employ more young men in what were called drought camps. In order to accommodate them in Arizona, they had to be installed in the camps vacated during the summer. As a result, Camp Pima housed DSP-1-A for ten months starting in August 1934. After that time SP-6-A returned. The camp, however, was officially known as CP-1 from November 3, 1940 until it was abandoned on June 21, 1941.

In 1942 the CCC gave the Camp Pima buildings to the army. The army dismantled the frame structures and transported them to Phoenix to be reconstructed in a mechanics center. Only the foundations and some concrete floors remain. The adobe structures were left in place and have deteriorated to the point that only walls of various heights still stand (Photos 23-25).

Photo 23. Remains of Camp Pima May 1986. Photograph by Berte Clemensen The remains of a concrete floor from a frame building and decaying adobe walls are visible.

Photo 24. Remains of Camp Pima May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen The remains of concrete foundations from frame structures are shown.

Photo 25. Adobe Wall Remains at Camp Pima May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen

Upon arriving at Camp Pima most of the men were put to work gathering several hundred tons of rock to be used in the various construction projects. In January 1934 the enrollees began to build picnic sites which consisted of ramadas, tables, benches, fireplaces, and bathrooms. The ramadas were termed "unique and attractive" because the roof support posts, with a core of reinforced steel and concrete, were covered at the base with stonework while the upper part was enveloped with woody saguaro skeleton. The timber roof trusses were also covered with saguaro ribs. Tables were made of uncoursed stone piers which supported a concrete top, while the benches were uncoursed stone capped with concrete. Fireplaces were built of uncoursed stone as well. Bathrooms were sometimes constructed of coursed and other times uncoursed stone. Since the CCC camp superintendent's monthly reports often do not specify which picnic sites were in the process of construction at any given time, one cannot be certain of the specific dates the five picnic areas in the Tucson Mountain Unit were completed. At best one can only observe that the Ez-Kim-In-Zin and Signal Hill facilities were constructed between January and May 1934, while the Sus, Cam-Boh, and Mam-A-Gah picnic areas were built in the September 1934 to June 1935 period (Photos 26-38).

Photo 26. Ez-Kim-In-Zin Picnic Ramada May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen Although the structure received a new roof in the early 1960s, the rest of the ramada remains the same.

Photo 27. Ez-Kim-In-Zin Bathroom May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This bathroom, which is well designed into a rocky hillside, has not changed from its original appearance.

Photo 28. Signal Hill Picnic Ramada May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This ramada has changed considerably. The roof has been replaced and the stonework for the roof support posts has been taken apart and reassembled. Only one support post is now covered with saguaro ribs.

Photo 29. Signal Hill Picnic Table and Fireplace May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen Here one can see a typical CCC stone picnic table and fireplace. The table top, bench top, and fireplace have been recovered with concrete while the stone has been pointed.

Photo 30. Signal Hill Enclosed Picnic Facility May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This stone structure is the only one of its kind found at the five picnic sites. The roof has been replaced and the rock repointed, but it essentially remains the same as when built.

Photo 31. Signal Hill Bathroom May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This uncoursed stone bathroom retains the same appearance as when it was constructed.

Photo 32. Man-A-Gah Picnic Ramada May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This ramada has been extensively changed with a new roof and reassembled rock work.

Photo 33. Mam-A-Gah Picnic Tables May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen These tables and benches have been recovered with concrete and the stone pointed.

Photo 34. Mam-A-Gah Fireplace May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen As with other fireplaces the tops of the stone have been recovered with concrete and the stones pointed.

Photo 35. Mam-A-Gah Bathroom May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This uncoursed stone structure retains its original appearance.

Photo 36. Cam-Boh Picnic Ramada May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This ramada has also been changed with a new roof and reassembled rockwork.

Photo 37. Cam-Boh Bathroom May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This stone building has suffered little change.

Photo 38. Sus Picnic Ramada May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This structure has totally changed in reconstruction. Although there are typical tables, benches, and fireplaces at this site, the picnic area has changed enough to not merit nomination to the National Register.

After the National Park Service gained control of the Tucson Mountain Unit in 1961, it found that the five picnic grounds it acquired were in a state of decay, especially the ramadas. As a result in 1963 a repair program was begun. The ramada roofs were removed along with the corner posts. The rock work in which the corner posts were set crumbled when the posts were removed. As a result, the ramadas were almost entirely rebuilt except for the one at Ez-Kim-In-Zin which only received a new roof. Concrete floors were also poured in each ramada. Picnic tables, benches, and fireplaces had the concrete on them renewed and pointing was done where necessary. The only structures that have survived in their original appearance are the bathrooms. As a result, it would be tempting to not include the reconstructed ramadas on the National Register. Since they do occupy the site of the original ramadas and some bear a slight resemblance to their archetypes, they will be included.

Twenty-six check dams were constructed throughout Tucson Mountain Park of which thirteen were located in the Tucson Mountain Unit. These dams were basically of two types. Earth-filled dams were placed in the lower elevations for flood control and to store water for wildlife. Six such dams are found in the monument. Masonry dams were constructed in canyons and arroyos to prevent erosion and provide water for animals. Six of these dams are located throughout the monument with the one near Sus picnic area in the most pristine condition (Photo 39). The last dam is a rock (porphyry) dam in the lower elevations of the northeast corner of the monument.

Photo 39. CCC Stone Masonry Dam near Sus Picnic Area May 1986. Photograph by Berle Clemensen This remains the most pristine of the CCC dams.

The final two CCC projects involved the construction of the Red Hills and Dobie Robinson facilities to supply water to game animals and birds. The CCC developed the two facilities in 1937. Each site included a windmill and galvanized water storage tank. In 1941 a reinforced concrete water storage reservoir was added at each location. These reservoirs remain along with the windmill tower at the Red Hills facility.

2. Rincon Mountain Unit

University of Arizona President Homer Shantz succeeded in getting a company of CCC to work on the University owned and controlled land within the monument by designating it as Saguaro Forest State Park. These men arrived in July 1935 and stayed at Camp Tanque Verde (SP-11-A) just north of the monument boundary. Their main effort concentrated on the construction of the skyline loop road which took three years to complete. That road was regraded and hard surfaced in 1951. Their other work on the University land was basically designed to be inconspicuous, for it involved removal of any trace of roads, trails, mines, and old buildings. Gone are the fence and custodian's residence they built. Perhaps mention could be made of their work in the interpretation of the historical activity in that unit.