An Archaeological Survey for the Ruidosa Water System Improvement Project, Ruidosa, Presidio County, Texas

In July 2002, personnel from the Center for Big Bend Studies of Sul Ross State University conducted an archeological survey in and around the community of Ruidosa, Texas. The project was undertaken to assess expected environmental impacts from construction of a newly designed water system. This project consisted of a pedestrian survey along proposed water line corridors and a well, tank, and chlorinating building pad location. Subsurface inspections of water line corridors in alluvial settings were conducted using backhoe trenches and shovel tests. Two new archeological sites were identified (41PS894 and 41PS895)—both aboriginal open campsites with ephemeral historic scatters—and one included a hearth that dates to historic times. A historic site (41PS412) that contained a structural remnant and a dump was rerecorded. Prehistoric artifactual materials observed suggest utilization of the project area by hunting and gathering groups as well as subsequent people practicing subsistence agriculture. Historic artifacts noted date from the first half of the twentieth century. The portions of sites 41PS412 and 41PS894 that are within the project corridor were determined ineligible for protective designations, although areas of sites extending outside the corridor have unknown eligibility. Testing of the hearth at site 41PS895 provided significant data on the Historic Indian period, thus this site is eligible for both state and federal protective designations. However, excavation of the hearth resulted in full mitigation of the site, therefore, the construction associated with the project will not adversely affect cultural resources eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.