Trans-Pecos Archeological Program

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Investigations on the Holguin Ranch

Over the past three and a half years the CBBS has been assisting landowner Jim Olson in assessing and documenting archeological sites at the Holguin Ranch in southern Presidio County. Mr. Olson's original contact with the Center was facilitated by Jim Corbyn, a retired National Park Service archeologist, who conducted test excavations and assessed a few sites at the ranch in the late 1990s. Olson has placed the artifacts recovered by Corbyn and himself with the Center so that they can be studied and curated. Although Olson resides in Arizona, he visits the ranch often and regularly discovers sites on exploratory hikes. During these ventures he has found a stone quarry; open sites with ring middens, structural remnants, and hearths; a cave; rockshelters with rock art; and several intriguing sites with corral-like stone walls.

Most of the structural remnants on the ranch appear to relate to the Cielo complex, a Late Prehistoric to Protohistoric period (ca. A.D. 1250-1680) culture found across a large portion of the Big Bend and extending into adjoining portions of Mexico (Mallouf 1999). This complex is characterized by Perdiz arrow points and circular-to-oval, stacked-stone wickiup foundations in slightly to moderately elevated settings (Mallouf 1999). These locations provide vantage points of the surrounding area which suggests defense was an important factor in campsite selection. At least four Cielo complex sites have been documented on the Holguin Ranch and several other sites may reflect activities of this cultural group. One such site, C. D.'s Vista, is on top of a small butte which is the highest landform on the ranch. It contains several Cielo complex structures, all but one woven into the boulders and bedrock outcrops that characterize the butte top. The most interesting aspect of this site is related to a series of low rock walls along the perimeter of the landform. Most of these are relatively short or consist of only a few stones placed on top of a boulder or bedrock outcrop-implying that defending the butte top was of paramount importance. The other Cielo complex sites on the ranch have a combination of classic and somewhat unusual features for this cultural manifestation.

While the cave on the ranch lacked rock art, it did contain 12 boxes of dynamite dating to 1940 (stenciled date on boxes), plastic fuses, and fuse cable. Local lore indicates these materials were "disposed of" in the cave when mining operations ceased at the nearby Shafter mine. Apparently the mine foreman was dating the daughter of the ranch owner when the mine closed and the cave was a convenient resting place for these items. Mr. Olson recently had the appropriate authorities dispose of these materials.

Two rockshelters with a variety of pictographs have also been inspected. One has a single panel on the wall, and the other, located immediately above the aforementioned cave, has numerous wall panels and one on the ceiling. Anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, and geometric designs were found, with red the dominant color used in the paintings.

Isolated stone walls at the ranch likely represent different activities through time. Some may have been used by prehistoric peoples for hunting, while at least one, with a rectangular shape, a single entrance, and walls 4-5 feet high, was probably used as a pen or small corral during the historic period.

On several occasions members of the J. Charles Kelley Anthropology Club at Sul Ross have helped document sites on the ranch. During these trips Jim and his wife Evelyn have graciously provided hot lunches for our group-burgers and hot dogs cooked in the field on a hibachi! The CBBS would like to applaud the Olsons for their continuing efforts to document and preserve the archeology at the Holguin Ranch.

— William A. Cloud

References Cited

Mallouf Robert J
1999 - Comments on the Prehistory of Far Northeastern Chihuahua, the La Junta District, and the Cielo Complex. Journal of Big Bend Studies 11:49-92.