Vanishing River Volume 4: Chapter 07: Two Archival Case Studies in Western Apache and Yavapai Archaeology

Chapter 7 documents two previously unpublished events that have figured prominently in Yavapai and Western Apache archaeology in central Arizona. First, Ferg details the Goodwin and Sayles 1937 Verde Survey. He argues that this three-day trip into the Verde Valley in the fall of 1937 marks the beginnings of ethnoarchaeological studies of the Western Apache. He provides thorough descriptions of all the sites located during the survey in an effort to differentiate Yavapai and Western Apache components. Ferg and Tessman then present a thorough discussion of the Skeleton Cave Massacre site, where, on December 28, 1872, the U.S. Fifth Cavalry attacked a group of predominantly Yavapai peoples. The authors examine artifacts and human remains from the site in order to determine the cultural affiliation of the cave’s occupants in the absence of historical information.