Dead Horse Ranch State Park
Dead Horse Ranch State Park is located adjacent to Cottonwood, Arizona. The mission of the park, which it shares with the 26 other parks in the Arizona State Parks system, is to manage and conserve Arizona's natural, cultural, and recreational resources for the benefit of the people, both in its parks and through its partners.
The park originated in 1973 with a 325-acre purchase from Calvin Ireys, but it has expanded to include over 350 acres in 2000. The park, located on the Verde River at 3300 feet, includes a riparian area and is the home to over 300 different species of plants and 100 different species of grasses. There are creosote stands, mesquite bosques, and the junipers are growing back. Rare plants include the Arizona cliffrose and Ripley Wild Buckwheat.
The park provides to the public space and facilities for recreational and cultural activities. The already extensive trail system is constantly expanding. Park officials hope to connect their trails with an old wagon road that extended from farming/ranching areas in Sedona (Red Rock Crossing area), across the Valley and up to Jerome.
Park facilities include picnic areas with tables and grills and as well as camping areas. There are 45 sites in the main campground, and the group camping area has 22 double sites. Park officials are currently developing a new area with 82 sites. Campsites have access to modern restroom facilities and showers, and many have electric hookups.
The Verde River Greenway exists as a separate unit under the auspices of the Dead Horse Ranch State Park. The Verde River Greenway, which focuses on land preservation, was set up in the early 1980s but began purchasing land in 1986 with an initial allocation of two million dollars. In an effort to acquire additional parcels of land appropriate to the system's mission and goals, officials have partnered with The Nature Conservancy, which facilitates the purchase of parcels that the State will eventually acquire.
History of the area
The land the park occupies has a rich history and prehistory. The Verde Valley, in which the park is located, was once the home to between 4,000 and 10,000 people now identified as Sinagua. The park contains many remnants of that culture, including pithouses and the walls of aboveground structures. Potsherds and projectile points, which visitors may not remove, are abundant in the area. Many similar artifacts, excavated from construction and road relocation projects, are now housed at the Arizona State Parks office in Phoenix. Human bones and at least one skeleton have also been excavated and, park officials assume, repatriated under NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (Public Law 101-601, 1990).
One finds little evidence that the Sinagua were in the area after about 1425 when they abandoned the Verde Valley or were incorporated into various Native American tribes. Later, other Native peoples undoubtedly utilized the abundant water, plant and animal resources located in the Verde Valley.
Toward the end of the 19th century, new settlers came to the area. Thousands worked in the mines located in the Black Hills around Jerome, while others were attracted by the same amenities that drew Native Americans. When the mining camp boomed, the farmers and ranchers who peopled the Verde Valley had a ready market for their goods.
These ranchers and farmers engaged in practices that probably altered the terrain a great deal. Prior to their coming, the Verde River may have been no more than a slough area. However, very rapid overgrazing in the early 1880s followed by a drought (1884-86) killed off much of the native grass, which led to severe soil erosion. When rainfall was exceptionally high for the next several years, there was no grass to hold the water back. A major flood most likely created the channel for the river.
A title document form 1912 indicates that Louis and Marie Reyes were among those early agriculturalists. They homesteaded the property now called Dead Horse Ranch. Later the Perez family purchased the land, and Richard Perez sold the property to Calvin Ireys in 1950. He is the one who gave the ranch its name.
According to the Arizona State Park Profile for Dead Horse Ranch State Park, the Ireys family had looked at several ranches, and on one they discovered a large, dead horse lying by the road. After several days of searching, Mr. Ireys asked his children which ranch they preferred. They said they liked the one with the dead horse. The Ireys family kept the name and made it a condition of sale to Arizona State Parks in 1973. The home the Ireys family built in 1952 is now the residence of the Park Manager.
There are several significant historic features within and adjacent to the park.
An old lime kiln is located just off park land. The kiln supplied much of the lime incorporated into mortar used to construct the brick houses in Cottonwood. An old wagon road extending from the kiln to the town of Cottonwood, now called "Lime Kiln Trail," is a major feature of the park's trail system.
Also within the park's boundaries is a cemetery. Early in the 20th century, Mexicans living in the area could not bury their dead in the same cemeteries as "Anglos", so they established separate burial areas. As members of the Hispanic/Mexican community, the original owners deeded several acres to the San Luis Rey Cemetery, which is now an inholding of the park. This particular cemetery has at least 30 gravesites, a few of which are maintained by area descendants of the deceased. It was common for miners in Jerome to be buried in what the Scott/McMillan Mortuary records indicate as the Cottonwood Mexican cemetery "across river."
Although the park houses no small artifacts, it contains several large ones.
ARTIFACTS
I. Structures:
Buildings
Pithouse, Sinagua, excavated: about 15'x 25' oblong, with two bell shaped storage pits (connected by an underground tunnel)
Pithouses, various, unexcavated
Wall structures (remnants)
Shallow caves that were once larger with blackened roofs
