Don  Lancaster's Guru's Lair 2011 Blog Canal Excerpts
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A new video of San Carlos falls can be found here.
And other unusual local dayhikes here and here.

Managed to visit yet another mile of prehistoric hanging
canal yesterday. This one was a "more of the same"
western feeder to the Twin Boobs ponding area. And
had been previously surveyed by others. 

Included was a fairly distinctive "S" turn to get across a 
wash. Very similar to several others. The present score
is something like eighteen canals for a total of over 
sixty miles. 

Field mice and funding are definitely needed to give these
new and stunning world class rediscoveries the attention they 
surely deserve.

Its source could be the three way switch on Deadman
Mesa via Lower Deadman tank. But this remains to 
be proven. 

Much more here.

While I remain extremely impressed with the new Garmin 
eTrex-30 GPS handheld with barometric altimeter, I have
not yet been able to resolve some slope direction issues
in our prehistoric hanging canals.

Yes, the display gooes up on foot on a one foot rise and
down one foot on a one foot drop from belt level. But
some of the longer term drift seems disconcerting.

Altitude performance can be greatly improved by setting
the unit stationary and flat in the shade and waithing a minute or
so for a reading. And by noting any pre- or post- longer term 
drift caused by barometric variations.

Returning to the initial point should give you a reliability
check on the readings. Averaging can be useful, but only if
your time out equals your time back.

GuruGram #121 is newly released on Some Little Known Gila 
Valley Day Hikes.

I'll also be doing a talk on this Saturday December 10th in
Safford's EAC Discovery Park at 6:30 PM.

Additional GuruGrams can be found here and here.

There's a bizarre collection of "castellated" CCC dam projects
in a seldom visited area an eighth of a mile northwest of the
Discovery Park turnoff. Such as this example. 

There's at least six of these. Typically, they consist of an 
earthen dam about six feet high and dozens to hundreds of
feet long. Each end will often have a hand laid stone "tower"
protecting the dam ends. 

From either end, a cable runs many hundreds of feet. Tied
into short chunks of vertically driven railroad track. And
supporting a mostly buried two foot high steel fence.

Apparently the goal was to spread and slow flood waters.
For no apparent rhyme or reason.

To me, these appear almost ( but not quite ) as monumentally
stupid as more modern economic stimulus spending. At least
some Texan young men got their first pair of shoes out
of the deal.

An early heads up... 
================================================ 
"Gila Valley Day Hikes" subject of Saturday December 10th Free
Discovery Park Talk 
================================================ 
Local author and researcher Don Lancaster returns to Discovery 
Park this Saturday December 10th at 6:30 PM in the Jupiter Room. 
As part of director Paul Anger's ongoing fall lecture series. 

The presentation will zero in on some of the "secret" little known 
insider exciting things to do within or near the Greater Bonita-
Eden-Sanchez metropolitan area. Such as the 60 miles (!) of newly 
rediscovered prehistoric hanging mountain stream fed canals. Or 
our own El Capitan slot canyon. Or the impressive cliffs of 
Fisherman's Point. Or the phyically challenging San Carlos Falls. 

Or the UFO "fish fillets" of Taylor Canyon. 

Other topics might include the Montez and Weech toll roads, the 
loops and tunnels of the former Morenci Southern Railway, the 
tens of thousands of our prehistoric agricultural grids, seldom 
visited Oak Grove Canyon, extremely remote Hanna Hot Spring, 
and, of course, the Mount Graham Aerial Tramway. 

Many of these dayhikes can now be easily previewed at Don's 
< https://www.tinaja.com/gilahike.shtml > web page.  More than 
365 intriguing destinations are listed, so there should be enough 
here to keep you busy for at least the next year. Additional details 
can be found at  < https://www.tinaja.com/tinsamp1.shtml > 

There is no charge and families with children are welcome. 
Discovery Park is located at the corner of Safford's Discovery 
Park Boulevard ( formerly 32nd street ) and 20th avenue. 
You can get more info by calling Paul or Jackie at (928)428-6260 
or visiting their < discoverypark@eac.edu > website

Curious factoid of the day: The Canary Islands were
named after a large dog.

Here's a revised and updated summary of our ongoing Safford 
Basin prehistoric hanging mountain stream fed canal research to date. 

A total of 17 canals are reasonably known or believed to exist
with an estimated  total distance exceeding 60 miles! With 
engineering clearly beyond world class.

From east to west...

0. - P Ranch - remains speculative with only a short 
V section of canal, favorable terrain, and persistent 
rumors. Not included in totals.

1 - Ledford - total length of 3 miles. Difficult access.
Initial hanging portion from Smith Dam. Needs
further exploration. Studied and reported on by Neely. 

2 Henry's - Recently visited portions end in modern 
stock tank. Connection to Marijilda unproven. The
known length is 2 miles, likely length is 4 miles. 

3 Lebanon - A modern canal that likely closely follows a
prehistoric origin. Marijilda fed east from Lebanon
Reservoir #2. Possible length is 2 miles. Prehistoric
origins not yet conclusively proven.

4. Marijilda - Well researched with spectacular hanging
portion. Historic rework flows to this day. 5 miles long.
Includes "aquaduct" portion a meter high by a hundred long.
Studied and reported on by Neely. 

5a. Twin Boobs West- Fields area appears to be fed by two
distinct canals. Western "clockwise" feeder may be derived 
from Marijilda via Rincon Canyon. 3 miles estimated length. 
Parallel feeders newly discovered in the Twin Boobs area. 
Extensive rock alignments, grids, mulch rings, field houses,
and similar ag development.

5b. Twin Boobs East- Apparently sources in the Lebanon
Resorvoir #2 area, then climbs "up" and "under" the Labanon
Cemetary leading to a terrain following spectacular "S" turn. 
Strong hanging portion seems to end up feeding the Twin
Boobs area from the east in a "counterclockwise" direction. 
Length at least 2 miles. Slope remains to be proven.

6. Tranquility- Amazingly close to 5b, approaching within
30 feet easterly and vertically. Might be artesian sourced.
Somewhat over one mile long. Apparently routes water to 
fields in the Cooks Reservoir area. Portions rebuilt to
puddled high aggregate concrete similar to the Marijilda
rebuild. A strong candidate for proving "stole the plans".
Significant hanging portions.

7a . Deadman - Initial hanging portion speculatively covered
by modern pipeline. Possible 3-way switch mid channel.
At least 5 miles with possible extensions into Longview area. 
Original canal flows to this day.

7b Longview - Hints of canal structures in the Freeman Flat
area below Longview Ruin. Which could have been Deadman
fed via switching. Highly speculative. Not included in totals. 

8. Robinson - Reworked to feed cattle tanks by anglo
pioneers. Excellent topo traces, well hung. Destination
not currently known, but likely Robinson Flat.. At least 
3 miles long. 

9. Allen - Sources from Spring canyon, runs under Allen
resevoir to an unknown destination. Several key but 
small segments unproven and unexplored. Exceptionally
large "Culebra" cut two meters deep and a hundred long.
At least 6 miles long.

10. Mud Springs - Sources in upper Ash Creek and impressively
climbs "up" the Mud Springs bajada. Some impressive hanging
portions and a companion structure. Several pieces missing.
Believed to source the Jernigan Canal. Final destination
unknown. At least 7 miles long. Ten inch diameter mesquite
tree midstream and overrun by SCS dam strongly supports
prehistoric origins.

11. Jernigan - Apparent branch of Mud Springs seems to terminate
in the Central Dump area. Has a triple "U" turn to maintain
slope. Small but crucial portions missing and unexplored.
Possibly 3 miles long. Possible branch with short aquaduct. 

12 Shingle Mill - Newest "rediscovery" appears to source
in Shingle Mill canyon and deliver to the Cluff Ponds area.
While only a few hundred feet have been visited to date,
projected length is 3 miles. Still under active exploration.
Modern rebuild as the Minor Webster Ditch System. Prehistoric
origins remain unproven, but in a compelling location for total
Mount Graham stream water recovery.

13. Lefthand - Studied and reported on by Neely. Includes
plant nurseries and other intensive ag. Projected length is
2 miles. Possible associated canal feeding Lamb Tank.

14. Carter/Nuttall - Possible continuum with other 
hanging canals remains largely unproven and unexplored.
Includes Taylor Terraces which likely are CCC 
but may have prehistoric origins

More hanging canal info here.

Rediscovered yet another of our prehistoric mountain stream
fed hanging canals. Depending upon who is keeping score, this
makes Canal #17 for a total length over sixty miles!

We might call it the Tranquility Canal. It may be artesian sourced
and likely delivered water to prehistoric fields in the Cook's
Resevoir area. It seems a little over a mile long. Portions have
apparently been "steal the plans" rebuilt with a puddled high
aggregate concrete lining remarkably similar to ( and likely
contemporaneous with ) the Marijilda rebuild.

There are hints of an old canal beside the rebuild, and this
instance may be a useful route to proving that nearly all of
the pioneer mountain canals were "steal the plans" rebuilt by
digging out an old ditch. Such evidence is sorely needed in
the Minor Webster Ditch Systen refind. 

Curiously, the canal comes within thirty feet (!) easterly and 
vertically to the Twin Boobs eastern feeder canal. But the 
two appear totally unrelated. There are several other instances
where nearby canals only differ by a few feet elevation, yet
may take miles to build up the needed elevation offset.

How can you prove if an old canal is prehistoric?

My own belief is that virtually all of the pioneer hanging canal
activities simply "stole the plans" and just "dug out an old ditch."

Especially if only a fraction of the canal was "repurposed" by
feeding a new cattle tank or irrigation reservoir or becoming 
part of a city water system. And since evidence supports the
premise that the prehistoric populations was much, much higher 
than the few hundred pioneers in the area. 

It certainly helps if there are large cacti or ten inch mesquite
trees repeatedly growning mid channel. Or that 1930's dams
and similar projects ran roughshod over the canal routes without
any accomodation whatsoever. Same goes for obviously older
roads or fences.

Desert varnish, patina, caliche, and lichens also reveal distinctly different
patterns with their age of disturbance.

Under certain circumstances, fingerprints can last a rather long time.
But certainly not multiple centuries. Could new forensics find 
fingerprints under rocks that the CCC could have left but clearly
could not have been prehistoric? 

The goals and purposes of the canals also seem to me to much
better support prehistoric goals of small dispersed fields, rather than
the modern ones of cattle wattering or large linear ag areas. And
with thusands of Gila River acre feet safely available to modern users, 
there did not seem to be all that much point in exploiting every drop 
of water from minor mountain streams. Unless the canal was already 
there and nearly ready to reuse. 

Even the earliest anglo pioneers had access to concrete, iron, wheelbarrows,
winches, prybars, mules, and, of course, picks and shovels. Many portions of 
many canal routes do not seem to support even the slightest evidence
that such tools were being used in any manner. 

But I very strongly feel that the canal architecture itself can strongly
support a prehistoric origin. The canals are often hung on mesa sides
to make their slope independent of terrain. There is a conspicuous 
absence of long linear segments.

Most of all, the prehistoric population had no horses or other means
of conveying rock or dirt moderate distances with a reasonable
energy expense. And certainly no wheelbarrows, scrapers, or
Gradealls. Many of the canals also have a conspicuous absence
of any companion service road or maintainence trail. 

Thus, most construction activity went ACROSS the canal rather than
along it. With cuts and fills avoided when and where possible. 
And an obvious major goal being maximizing the energy efficiency
of construction.

The canals thus tended to follow an "optimal terrain" and "minimal 
energy" routing rather than a "shortest distance" one.

Even if it meant adding a mile of canal simply to gain or lose a few feet 
of elevation. There are also several instances of very elaborte 
"U turn" or even "S turn" routes that could easily have been avoided 
with more modern ( but far more energy intensive ) tools and techniques.

Found a curious happenstance in my new Garmin eTrex 30.
Not sure if it is a bug or a feature.

On a supposedly turned off unit, the display flashes for a 
fed milliseconds every ten minutes or so. Very disconcerting
the first few times it happens.

This could be an emergency locator beacon for a dropped or
lost unit. But only works if it fell rightside up and is not
covered.

Added another Dr. Neely paper to our Tinaja Questing 
Library.

This one is on the Gila Valley lowland canals.

The Garmin eTrex-30 can in fact real time register a one foot
altitude display change for a one foot raising or lowering of the
device.

You do have to preset the Barometer Mode to Variable 
elevation and be in the Trip Computer mode.

I am still not sure whether this will be good enough to
resolve some crucial prehistoric canal slope issues. 

Its user manual can be found here.

A reasonable question is that "If I am having so much
difficulty measuring the slope of a prehistoric canal,
how did they do it?"

No obvious instruments seem to survive, but it seems to
me that there isa possibility that the canal itself couold
form a water level.

Assume a one percent slope is desirable. Cut or find a
stick 25 inch equivalents long. Make a mark or notch.
at 3 inch equivalents. Use this as your canal standard.

Assume a properly sloped canal segment is being extended.
Measure off twelve stick lengths and dig the new 25 foot 
channel. Chances are a very good slope guess can be made
based on the previously completed 25 feet through simple
sighting.

Just to be sure, run just enough water into the new portion 
so it just barely overflows at the far end. The water level 
at the start end of the new portion should be three inches 
lower in 25 feet. Or one notch short of overflow.

If needed, adjust the slope accordingly.

Finally got my new Garmin eTrex 30 today. It is
smaller and significantly better performing than the 
original eTrex. I am generally very impressed.

The barometric elevation display seems fairly stable short 
term and displays to one foot resolution.

But it apparently can not resolve the difference in a three
foot vertical shift. Which I was sorely ( and likely
unreasonably ) hoping for to resolve some prehistoric
canal issues. 

Back to the Brunton.

A reminder that my favorite bed and breakfast of all
time remains the Black Range Lodge, cleverly hidden
in the part of New Mexico that you cannot get to.

Their Kingston Frisbee Festival runs from January 1st
to December 31st this year. And the Percha Creek
Salmon run remains as spectacular as ever.

Another place of interest is the Casitas De Gila outside
of Cliff ( Check out their real time planetarium simulator
above the hot tub. And the art gallery. )

Just came back from a New Mexico trip and discovered a major
new wind energy facility in a dead calm area with zero net generation.

The wind all the rest of the way home was blowing just fine.

Thinking this somewhat strange, I dug up this New Mexico wind potential
map. They classify areas as Superb, Outstanding, Excellent, Good, Fair, 
Marginal, and Poor. This site seems to me to weigh in at Fair. 

Thus suggesting that 100 percent of all Superb, Outstanding, Excellent, 
and Good New Mexico sites are already fully in use. News to me.

I'm wondering if some county commisioners got greedy, or if
this is an outright scam, or a ploy to steal federal founds. At the very least,
somebody seems to be confusing the nameplate capability of a windmill
with its actual long term net amortitized energy potential. 

More on similar topics here

At least two of our prehistoric hanging canals ( Twin Boobs 
and Jernigan ) now clearly have multiple sharp "U" turns 
in them forming major "S" shaped routes.

The apparent goal was to be able to cross a wash or drainage
at grade. The "backwards" and "uphill" parts are certainly
counterintuitive and have beeen very hard to find.

Both the engineering and the societal infrastructure involved
are clearly world class and utterly mind boggling. 

Several viewers have asked about making foreign sales to
New Mexico, Besides the language barrier and the hassles 
at customs, another traditional problem was that their truck
tires were a different size and spacing, requiring everything
to be reloaded at the border crossings .

Fortunately, new reversible truck tires have been developed that
can simply be insided out at the inspection stations.

Additional details here. And here.

Made a subtle and difficult find of more feeder for the Twin
Boobs hanging canal area. In a crucial area right where it
had to be. Subtle but almost certainly definite. In an unexpected
"S turn route" reminiscent of the Jernigan Canal. Hidden in
dense cactus and similar grunge. 

One present premise is that the Boobs themselves are a water
use area, rather than part of a "move it elsewhere" water 
delivery system. 

Evidence seems to me to point to a pair of "normal" two walled 
hanging canals feeding the area from both the southeast and 
the southwest. Quite a world class find. 

The Boobs area itself seems to have far too little slope for
long distance water delivery. There also appears to be 
parallel canal channels, and the single walled structures 
more suggest "ponding" rather than delivery areas.

No truely single walled structures are known along any
of the other long distance mountain stream delivery canals.
In addition, the Boobs area has grids, rock alignments,
and mulch rings common to use areas but exceptionally
rare in delivery areas. 

Curiouser and curiouser.

Here's an update on the prehistoric hanging canal status:

Some spectacular recent finds have newly identified a 
stunning group of mountain stream fed hanging canals
in the Gila Valley. Over a dozen examples are now 
known whose total length is approaching fifty miles!

Funding and ( especially ) field mice are needed to diccover,
map, and document this unique world class discovery of 
utterly mind boggling prehistoric engineering. Whose
goal appeared to be to literally exploit every available
drop of Mount Graham water. 

A present problem is picking up some precision elevation
measurement capability. Besides a good old Brunton
compass, we now have an automatic level that needs 
a tripod or adaptor, and a Garmin eTrex-30 which has
yet to be delivered.

Some current issues...

TWIN BOOBS CANAL - This now appears to be a use rather
than a delivery area, owing to parallel channels and rock
alignments. Several exact key locations remain unresolved,
although the area appears to be fed both from the east and
the west.

ALLEN CANAL - Several reaches remain unexplored, as
does its ultimate termination. The mesa to dam segment remains
particularly frustrating. The "Culebra Cut" is spectacular.

JERNIGAN CANAL - Two large holes are conspicuous
in the probable route. In addition, there is a not yet interpreted
possible aquaduct and a possible prehistoric headgate that
still need extensively studied.

MUD SPRINGS CANAL - A key early crossover portion has been
located after several false starts. The exact Ash Creek supply
point remains to be found, and an obvious mile remains
unexplored. There is also the 3000 foot "Black Hole of Central"
and determination of just where this whole work is headed.

SHINGLE MILL CANAL - Extensive historical rework has
pretty much been established as fact. The issue is whether
the plans were stolen from a prehistoric original. The 
location, slope and overall plan strongly suggest so.

Please email me if you want any part of this.

Win a few, loose a few. The apparent reason the Shingle Mill
Canal looked so new was that it really was an anglo project called
the Minor Webster Ditch System. Many thanks to Cluff Ponds
historian George Hayes for clarifying this for me.

It still remains a fascinating entry for our Gila Valley Day Hikes.

A second anglo project called the Robinson Ditch very clearly had
solid prehistoric origins. Judging by its location, its "hanging canal"
orientation, and its stunning similarities to adjacent known prehistoric
water projects. Clearly, they "stole the plans".

Does the Minor Webster system also have prehistoric origins?
It certainly is in an expected place and not having a canal
here would leave a glaring and obvious gap if "their" goal was
to exploit every drop of Mt. Graham water.

There are a few potsherds there and there and an apparent
mono fragment or two present, but these can be reasonably
expected most anywhere in the Gila Valley. 

Proving this one way or another might be tricky. Due to the
extensive rework and heavy brush.

GPS Receivers have gotten amazingly compact and low in cost.
Such as this latest example. 

A good GPS free trade journal can be found here.

I was very surprised to see that barometric pressure for
many specific regions has strong diurnal components whose
slope and shape tend to repeat from day to day, even 
over months or years.

In the basin and range southwest are earth tides and 
canyon winds. The classic wind patterns are upcanyon
during the day and downcanyon at night.

This suggests measuring the average slopes and then
making your altitude measurements at appropriate 
times. Locally, this seems to translate to a zero slope
between 8 and 9 am. 

This site can give your local variations, their slope, and
their history. Just change your local airport call letters
These will be the luggage tag with a K in front.

( Continuing yesterday's entry on how good a barometric
altimeter can become... ) 

If we take the canals at a nominal 3500 feet, we see from
this reference that a tenth of an inch of mercury barometric 
variation translates to a hundred feet of elevation. 

The nearest barometric history reference I could easily
find was from Safford. Where we find that rapid variations
seem rather less common here than this Phoenix barometric
history. 

Phoenix fairly routinely will show a tenth of an inch per
hour variation, although the norm is much less. Safford
only rarely has a slope steeper than a tenth of an inch 
in two hours.

Thus, our normal expected local barometric altitude drift 
would be at worst something like fifty feet per hour. 

However, some correction techniques are possible.
The simplest is to close the loop and return to the
initial point, averaging the results. Next simplest is
to repeat the measurement closed loop a dozen times
and average the results.

Making the measurements on a dead run to minimize
any time delays would also surely help.

Curoiusly, the Safford barometric pressure seems to
be flattest betweeen 8 and 10 am. This appears to be
reasonably consistent from day to day. 

Going true differential would likely be needed for more
accuracy. In which one eTrex-30 would sit on the initial
point and a second would be carried between the 
measurement points. And continual correction being
made by the measured drift.

All of which predicts that special effort will likely be needed
to get anything remotely near a one foot resolution .

The obvious next step is to receive one or more
barometric altimeters and record their drift rate and
their differential drift rate. And their internal noise.

The radio control model folks surely must be working
on this as well. 

We definitely need some accurate differential altimetry to
resolve several hanging canal problems. GPS vertical resolution
is pretty much worthless as it can be off by 400 feet or more. A
one foot differntial resolution sure would be nice.

Some painful older solutions would be to use a Brunton Compass,
an automatic optical level, a laser level, or full survey gear. 
But these can prove expensive, bulky, inconvenient, or painful.

I just ordered a Garmin eTrex-30 which has a barometric based
altimeter. The obvious question is how accurate can barometric
altimetry be?

New mems and piezo low cost sensors are now available, and it
is reasonable that Garmin would use something similar.
Some useful tutorials and conversion sites appear here, 
here, and here. The actual sensors can be found here. 
These devices can in theory offer a nine inch resolution.

Factors which affect resolution are the micro and macro weather,
the noise of the sensor, the number of measurements, and
whether the loop is closed on itself to allow averaging.

Barometric pressure sometimes can vary half an inch of 
mercury in a day, which translates to an absolute 500 feet
at an elevation of 3500. Which might be 50 feet per hour.
And might be significantly reduced by closing the loop and
averaging. Or with repeated faster measurements.

But average barometric variations should be much, much lower
than this. Especially on the upper Sonoran Desert on a cloud 
free and wind free day.

More on this when and if the eTrex-30 shows up.

Here's a summary of our ongoing Safford Basin prehistoric canal
research to date. A total of 12 canals are reasonably known with
an estimated total distance of 51 miles! Projections suggest at
least 16 hanging canals with a total distance of 60 miles. 

From east to west...

0. - P Ranch - remains speculative with only a short 
V section of canal, favorable terrain, and persistent 
rumors. Not included in totals.

1 - Ledford - total length of 3 miles. Difficult access.
Initial hanging portion from Smith Dam. Needs
further exploration. Studied and reported on by Neely. 

2 Henry's - Recently visited portions end in modern 
stock tank. Connection to Marijilda unproven. The
known length is 2 miles, likely length is 4 miles. 

3. Marijilda - Well researched with spectacular hanging
portion. Historic rework flows to this day. 5 miles long.
Includes "aquaduct" portion a meter high by a hundred long.
Studied and reported on by Neely. 

4. Twin Boobs - Many mysteries remain and possible
Marijilda branch origin remains speculative and unproven. 
Quite obvious on Aerial photos. Significant hanging portions.
Projected possible length is 5 miles. Includes apparent field area.

5 Deadman - Initial hanging portion speculatively covered
by modern pipeline. Possible 3-way switch mid channel.
At least 5 miles with possible extensions into Longview area. 
Original canal flows to this day.

5A Longview - Hints of canal structures in the Freeman Flat
area below Longview Ruin. Which could have been Deadman
fed via switching. Not included in totals. 

6 Robinson - Reworked to feed cattle tanks by anglo
pioneers. Excellent topo traces, well hung. Destination
not currently known, but likely Robinson Flat.. At least 
3 miles long. 

7 Allen - Sources from Spring canyon, runs under Allen
resevoir to an unknown destination. Several key but 
small segments unproven and unexplored. Exceptionally
large "Culebra" cut two meters deep and a hundred long.
At least 6 miles long.

8 Mud Springs - Sources in upper Ash Creek and impressively
climbs "up" the Mud Springs bajada. Some hanging
portions and a companion structure. Several pieces missing.
Believed to source the Jernigan Canal. Final destination
unknown. At least 7 miles long. Ten inch diameter mesquite
tree midstream and overrun by SCS dam strongly supports
prehistoric origins.

9 Jernigan - Apparent branch of Mud Springs seems to terminate
in the Central Dump area. Has a triple "U" turn to maintain
slope. Small but crucial portions missing and unexplored.
Possibly 3 miles long. Possible branch with short aquaduct. 

10 Shingle Mill - Newest "rediscovery" appears to source
in Shingle Mill canyon and deliver to the Cluff Ponds area.
While only a few hundred feet have been visited to date,
projected length is 3 miles. Still under active exploration.

11. Lefthand - Studied and reported on by Neely. Includes
plant nurseries and other intensive ag. Projected length is
2 miles.

12. Carter/Nuttall - Possible continiuum with other 
hanging canals remains unproven and unexplored.
Includes Taylor Terraces which likely are CCC 
but may have prehistoric origins.

At first glance, these Taylor Terraces seem like a UFO 
fish filet recipe. But a more credible explanation is that they
were likely a CCC project.

Onsite inspection shows many lichen covered rocks where the
lichen edge is non-horizontal and not in ground contact. Which
strongly suggests recent construction or disturbance.

There are also similarities to other CCC worthless boondoggle 
projects, but none I know of that are quite this monumental. 

Similarities to recent stimulus spending are stunning.

Google Maps just upgraded the newness and the resolution of
much of Southeastern Arizona. Acme Mapper also uses and offers
this service, among many others.

Here's a split between the old and new resolutions. Note that you have
one more click of resolution, but the old stuff goes green on you. 

You can easily recognize telephone poles and wires. But it is still
hard to tell if the hawk on the crossarm is missing any tail feathers. 

New coverage seems to range from Artesia to Portal and from
the new mexico line to the San Pedro River.

Garmin just announced an eTrex 30 handheld GPS unit
that includes a barometric altitude sensor. Presumably 
something similar to to the Bossch BMP085 or its Sparkfun
SEN09694 breakout. 

I have yet to find its specified resolution or when it will be
available. But it clearly should be ridiculously better than
GPS elevation readings. Whether it will be useful for finding
missing portions of our prehistoric canals remains to 
be seen.

The theory goes something like this: In absence of 
sheet flooding or other terrain mods, a canal can 
reasonably be expected to continue at its previous
slope. The area in question can be no higher than the
entry point nor any lower than the exit point. And the
midpoint elevation should be somewhere near half the 
difference between the entry and exit heights.

When these constraints are placed on the current 
topography, candidate areas should often be
dramatically limited. 

Much more here.

It is fast becoming apparent that a prehistoric mountain stream fed
canal system existed in the Safford valley that seemed to attempt
to exploit every drop of Mount Graham water. At least twelve 
canals are known with a total length in excess of forty miles! 

A distinguishing features of these world class engineered canals is
that they are often "hung" on the edges of steep sided mesas.
Giving precise control of slope independent of terrain!

A reasonable question might be why these canals and their significance
to Southwestern Archaeology have not been previsiously discovered.

First and foremost, despite a few superb papers such as this one and
this one, the Safford basin has largely been a backwater of Southwestern
Archaeology. Owing to the powers that be lying elsewhere. While the
local community college has an entry level archaeology program, they
are not in any manner a major recognized research institution. 

Secondly, there seems to have been a local cultural bias against the
abilities of the stone age inhabitents. Suggestions that anglo pioneers
"stole the plans"or "dug out an old ditch" are often met with anathema. 

Thirdly, most of the canal routes lie on state lands of difficult access
and sharply limited current interest or development. Physical 
evidence of many canal reaches are subtle or missing entirely. Yet
others flow to this day. 

Fourth, the very concept of the magnitude and scope of this canal
system demands a population and a political system vastly in excess of
what was previously believed to exist. 

Fifth was the difficulty in recognizing continuums. A hanging canal on
a 200 foot high mesa is obvious, while one on a 20 foot mesa might not be 
Nor is a hanging canal that was long buried by an anglo pipeline. 

Sixth was the dearth of recognizable artifacts beyond the often filled in 
canal reaches themselves. 

Emerging technology also became considerably important.. Centralmost of
which was Acme Mapper. This image of the Twin Boobs Canal played
a central role in greatly expanded current discoveries and exploration.
The Garmin eTrex handheld GPS receiver also continues to serve as
a key resource. 

Much more here.

The next step in the Shingle Mill Canal research    
would be proving or disproving its prehistoric origins. 
The canal is certainly in an expected place, an expected
size, seems to fill an expected need, and has the expected 
engineering. 

And "fairly large" mesquite trees mid channel certainly 
suggest little recent use. But the adjacent "service road" 
raises serious questions. As does its overwhelming 
obviousness on Acme Mapper compared to the others. 

The canal and road combination already occurs nearby
in Marijilda Canyon. Where we clearly have an anglo
rebuild and reuse of a known prehistoric ag feature.

But following a prehistoric canal would be a rather
obvious "steal the plans" route for a much more
modern road. Perhaps one that was Weech Toll Road,
McEniry Scam, Cluff Ponds, or CCC related. Or
even had something to do with the shingle mill itself.

Cluff Pond access from the west was cut off in the 1980's
by locked gates. The amount of "overgrownedness" on
this "lost" road is consistent with this time frame. But
the two could certainly be unrelated.

Logical next steps are to visit the portions of the canal
that do not have an adjacent road to see what differences
if any exist. And to check any road crossings ( at least one
is suggested by Acme Mapper ) to see if they run roughshod
over the canal without accomodation. As is the case in
many nearby examples.  

A closer look at the actual road construction might prove
useful. At first glance, it does not seem graded, nor does
it have any evidence of heavy equipment cuts and fills.
But there are nicely arranged edge rocking in places.

Obvious direct CCC involvement seems absent, although 
there clearly are other minor CCC works in the area.

Totally separate would be a historical approch with
appropriate interviews and family journals common
to the area. 

Your participation is welcome,

Managed to actually visit and verify the Shingle Mill
Canal. It appears to be an anglo rework of a prehistoric
water project similar to the dozen others that seemed to
use world class engineering to exploit nearly every drop
of available Mount Graham water with as much as FIFTY 
MILES of water channels!

Using a mix of stone age technology and mind-boggling
engineering. . 

As usual, the find raises many more questions than it resolves.
The site appears to clearly be pre Cluff Ranch and not at
all in the CCC style. Five and six inch diameter mesquite
trees are common in the middle of the water channel.

While clearly sited exactly where a needed prehistoric 
canal would be expected, there seems to be an adjacent
roadway that raises issues. Just to complicate matters
further, this "lost" or "forgotten" roadway could in some
manner be associated with the Weech Toll Road or the
McEniry scam.

Aerial photos also show some rather ambiguous areas 
further south that could be grids or  sites. These remain unvisited. 

Only about a mile has been verified. The source is believed
to be Shingle Mill Creek, and delivery is believed to be 
in the area of one of the smaller and now drained Cluff Ponds. 

Your assistance in both field work and funding would be 
most certainly welcome

A credible source for global warming appears to have
been located  Per this analysis.

A new variation on GPS appears to be tested and ready
for commercial rollout. It seems to offer dramatically improved
sub-inch resolution, especially vertically.

What you do is build a few fake GPS satellites at WiFi
frequencies and spread them at the edges of your farm
field or survey area or wherever. Much higher resolutions
can cheaply result. The fake satellites can track each other's
stability for much cheaper time accuracy.

Here's some of the local Gila Valley VHF comm frequencies.
Many of these are now plain talk and newly narrow band...

122.8000      SAD Safford Airport 
146.8600      Heliograph Ham Repeater
146.8800      Ham Radio Skywarn Net 
146.9000      Heliograph Ham Repeater 
151.3175      RAC East ( Transmit )
151.4975      RAC West ( Transmit ) 
151.4000      AZ State Forestry Helio ( Receive )
153.0200      Pima Schools
153.6800      Graham County Electric 
153.7400      Safford Utilities 
153.7850      Graham County H2 ( Transmit ) 
153.9500      Fort Thomas Fire Department
153.9950      Graham County SO1 ( Transmit )
154.0400      Safford Municipal
154.0850      Thatcher Fire Department
154.1150      GC Search & Rescue ( Transmit )
154.2125      RAC East  ( Receive ) 
154.2800      Fire Mutual Aide 
154.3250      Safford Fire Department ( Receive ) 
154.4250      U/A Observatories 
154.7250      EAC Secuirty
154.8750      Safford Police Department 
154.9100      Thatcher Public Works 
155.0400      Bylas Police Department 
155.0550      Graham County H2 ( Receive ) 
155.1450      Pima Municipal 
155.1750      Southwest Ambulance
155.1900      AIRS5 ( Transmit )
154.4525      VTAC12
155.4750      AIRS5 ( Receive ) 
155.7150      Graham County SO1 ( Receive ) 
155.7600      Pima Fire Department ( Receive )
155.8350      Gram County SO3
156.8175      RAC West ( Receive ) 
158.8050      GC Search & Rescue ( Receive ) 
159.0825      Pima Fire Department ( Transmit ) 
159.1050      Graham County H4 ( Receive ) 
159.4050      AZ State Forestry Hekio ( Transmit ) 
162.1625      BLM Law Enforcement 
168.1500      USFS Fire Helio  ( Receive ) 
168.5375      BLM ( Receive )
169.6000      Coronodo NF Fire Net 
172.2750      USFS Fire Helio ( Transmit ) 
172.4250      San Carlos & Phx Fire Dispatch 
173.8250      BLM ( Transmit )

Traffic on most of these channels is quite infrequent. Reception
is usually limited to line-of-sight from the Gila Valley. Some
additional frequencies may appear here. 

Arizona law allows you to listen but in no manner interfere.

I'm wondering if there might not be yet another hanging
canal linking the Shingle Mill drainage with the area around
Cluff Resevoir #3.

The topography is favorable and canal systems are known
to the east and west. Others have mentioned this possibility.
Acme Mapper does give some tantalizing hints.

I'll be giving a talk on the Mount Graham Tramway tomorrow
Thursday June 30th as a BLM Brown Bag presentation at
12:00.

BLM is located at 14th Avenue and 8th Street in Safford AZ.
You are welcome to bring your own brown bag lunch.

The definitive location of the Mount Graham Tramway is a
knob once called Alabam Point. This name apparently has
fallen into disuse, but can be found on current topo maps as
an elevation point 7565. 

Looking North from Alabam Point, the entire tramway
route down shingle mill canyon can be viewed at once.
Looking South across a deep canyon, the Graham 
Escarpment looms above you. Crossing the canyon
was done in a single spectacular tram jump that was 
2600 feet horizontally and 800 feet vertically.

There are hints of a tension station on this point
as well. 

The access terrain to Alabam Point would make a 
marine drill seargent blanch. You can't get there from
here. Which is one reason that numerous artificats
still remain in the area. Most buried in high brush.
Amazingly, recent fires have pretty much spared 
the Shingle Mill canyon area.

One of the more inspirational messages to come out
of the Wallow firecamps:

"Courage is being willing to try again tomorrow."

I've long been fascinated by "Rules of Thumb".
Approximations that can greatly simplify getting
useful numeric results.

Some ferinstances: The daily watthour energy output 
of a solar panel on a good day will be numerically equal
to four to five times its noontime peak power in watts. 

On a 60 Hertz full wave rectifier, it you use a 8300
Microfarad filter capacitor, the volts of ripple will
equal the amps of currrent. 

Back from my radar days, by far the hardest system
improvement to acheive is three decibels.

A crystal oscillator can typically be pulled in frequency
by one tenth of one percent. 

For a surprisingly high number of situations, one percent
of what happens nationally happens in Arizona, and one
percent of what happens in Arizona happens in the 
Gila Valley. 

But the ultimate rule of thumb is the literal hazmat one:

Hold your thumb extended at arm's length and close one eye.
If you can still see the scene, you are too close.

I continue to be utterly astounded at the monumental
engineering that went into our mountain stream fed
prehistoric canal systems. Especially Mud Springs.

The canal started in Ash Creek and climbed "up"
a steep canyon wall only to change watersheds into
the Mud Springs Bajada. The crossover opportunity
was only about twenty feet wide and was made at
the lowest possible altitude and the shortest possible
routes. 

The crossover, of course, was precisely centered in
the crossover opportunity.

Projecting present trends, I expect around sixteen
canals total with fifty miles of extended length. All done
with stone age technology.

Geologists usually recognize three kinds of rocks:
Sedentary, Metaphoric, and Ingenious.

This site seems to be a fascinating and complex directory
of abandoned or little known airports and airstrips.

Curiously, Thatcher International is not included. Probably
because of continuing nightly DC3 service to Columbia.

Sharp eyed pilots may note minor debris on the runway,
such as refrigerators or evaporative coolers.

Similar info here.

Found another short chunk of the prehistoric Mud Springs
Hanging canal. This part is near the Ash Creek takein and
centers on the shortest and most efficient watershed crossing
route. On a narrow and rather non-obvious saddle transect.

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.79288,-109.85294&z=16&t=T&marker0=32.79083%2C-109.85472%2C10.0%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker1=32.79166%2C-109.85348%2C10.1%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker2=32.79288%2C-109.85294%2C10.3%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ >

The find was well north and west of where it was expected. Its
location predicts a significant hanging portion between its
saddle and the takein. The takein also appears to be located
at the present above-ground Ash Creek water limit. As seems
typical of several other canals in the complex. 

The sheer brilliance of the engineering on these stone age canal 
systems continues to utterly amaze and confound me.

More here.

More energy fundamentals here.

There are still many "holes" in our prehistoric canal
exploration. Precision altimetry could possibly aid
in their resolution.

If a "black hole" exists with one canal going in and
one canal coming out, Ockham's Razor tells us it
is likely they are one in the same. 

It is further reasonable to assume that the first
canal enters the black hole with a resonably 
continuous direction and slope. And that the
second canal similarly leaves.

It is unlikely ( excepting rare aquaducts ) that
the canal will be located anywhere in the black
hole that is above its entry height or below its
exit height.

Further, an assumption can often be made that
the halfway distance of the canal will often be at 
an elevation halfway between the entry and exit
altitudes.

When these assumptions are measured with
some sort of precision altimeter or laser level
and plotted against the actual terrain, very
definite limits of canal possible location will
often result.

Causes of the black hole can be (a) looking in the
wrong place, (b) sheet flooding, (c) stream piracy,
(d) modern obliteration, or, of course (e) not being
there in the first place. 

I am currently evaluating this altimiter that has
a nine inch theoretical resolution.

I was recently asked for an update on our prehistoric
Canal research status. The latest links can be found 
here.

Mud Springs Canal:  Much of it located and verified. 
Found a twelve inch mesquite tree mid channel. Also 
run over by a dam. Spectacular hanging portion 
"climbs" out of canyon. Pristine Troll house in 
association. Black hole of Central now under 3000 
feet and enigmatic mystery section linked. Some 
CCC confusion. Ultimate destination still unknown. 
Ash Creek takin still unvisitied. Evidence to date of 
first two miles is weak.

I am left with the feeling that Mud Springs is the 
earliest, longest ( SEVEN miles! ) , and most 
important of the known western canals. Much of its
route remains pristine.

Jernigan Canal:  Major portions located and tentative 
route traced. Two gaps. Probable link with Mud 
Springs found. 2000 foot gap. Possible short aquaduct in 
association as a side venture. Seven inch mesquite tree 
mid channel. Triple "U" turn shows spectacular 
control of slope.

Allen Canal: Half of reach between Hawk Hollow Tank 
and original discovey point now covered. Portions missing, 
but now includes several hundred feet of one meter deep 
cut. Very nice midsize point in Basketmaker II class 
found, not in direct association. Major mystery remains 
as to how and where canal leaves mesa and heads to dam. 
The "Culebra Cut" below Allen Dam is the most spectacular
known, being two meters deep and several hundred long.
Modest extension north of dam makes a northward turn 
down canyon. No evidence of canal going anywhere useful 
beyond that. Remote unassociated shards from corregated 
tradeware. Small hillock rises discredit any reasonable 
linking to mud springs. 

Robinson Canal: Pretty much explored. Stream greatly 
restricts destination.

On the eastern end, the Henry Canal is apparently a
thirteenth branch of the Marijilda complex. Other
hanging evidence seems to be on rare private land
and on the wrong sides of fences and postings. 

Definitely need to make "them" aware of the spectacularly 
underappreciated potential here.

Summary papers are now up and linkable at
< https://www.tinaja.com/tinsamp1.shtml > Canal papers are 
"professionally" but not peer reviewed published at
< http://www.wesrch.com/  >

Did make a random presentation to a commercial 
salvage archaeology crew. Hal Herbert has their names.
Did pass papers on to ADOT highway developers.
Unable to create much EAC interest, but did do a student 
canal lecture and a noncanal field trip.

Totally ignored to date by Amerind, Center for Southwestern 
Archaeology, Arizona Highways, and History Channel.

Now have received two precision altimeter sensors, but 
they are sensors only to date. NINE INCH resolution!

Definitely could use many field mice, high energy researchers, 
a working precision altimeter, and a Draganfly.

Present prediction: At least fifteen hanging canals 
approaching fifty miles total length. Absolutely and 
unquestionably world class stone age engineering.

Beyond beyond.

Added a new fast access directory to our Prehistoric 
Canal, Gila Hike, and Tinaja Questing web pages.

Find this on our home page. About one screen down.

I've pretty much decided that the mystery canal segment
near N 32.83893 W 109.81104 is really just a normal and
expected piece of the Mud Springs Canal.

What seemed to be a chunk heading off in the wrong
direction now seems to be some ATV damage heading 
down a natural and rather steep drainage. At the top of 
the drainage, a very subtle ( but barely convincing ) 
canal route has just the needed routing and slope to 
properly match up. 

Thus, the Mud Springs Canal goes more along the 
fence rather than across it and source routes somewhat 
east of expected.

3000 feet remain in the Black Hole of Central. 
Alternate explanations seem weaker than before,
with Allen Canal staying well north and east, ( and
possibly somewhat lower ) and zero on-ground 
evidence to date for a lower Hawk Hollow canal.

Bosch has replaced their super precision older altimiter with
a nine inch (!) resolution BMP085. The improved performance
appears to be a tech step backwards as the old unit was
MEMS and the new one is "only" piezoresistive.

Sparkfun has breakout boards and the sensor for around $20
as their part SEN09694.

Note that these sensors must not be directly soldered, that they
are light sensitive and their port must be totally dark and
that some access to ambient pressure ( such as GoreTex )
must be provided. 

Note also that considerable interface is needed to get from a
pressure sensing to a useful and field reliable digital differential
altitude display.

I'm not sure what the real world resolution will be, but this seems
far and away the best route for prehistoric canal research.
Repeated measurements ( especially differential ) should
improve the resolution, and "out and back" round trip
measurements should minimize drift caused by most
barometric weather shifts.

GPS resolution, of course is pretty much useless. Being
hard to get under a hundred feet vertically.

A valid premise on our prehistoric canals is that "they"
fully exploited every drop of water coming off of Mount
Graham and transported it three to five miles north.
Which begs the question of how many unknown canals
remain and where are they?

Why stop at twelve and a mere 40 miles of length? We
are already ridiculously beyond world class and clearly
have the finest high tech anyime ever in the Gila Valley.
This makes the LBT look like a tinkertoy set, given the
available stone age tools and techniques. 

So far, I have not found the slightest hint of evidence that
a Hawk Hollow canal exists. But (1) it has about the
same drainage and watershed height as Spring Canyon.
(2) At one point, water could reasonably be shunted between
the two drainages. (3) The terrain simply has not been
carefully looked at ( you can't get there from here ), (4) Hawk 
Hollow tank is mysterously misnamed, since its water sources 
from Spring Canyon, and (5) There is a mystery canal stub 
well downsteam around N 32 50.333' W 109 48.673'  that
presently defies explanation.

Field mice needed. email me if you have any interest.

The problem of unwanted email spam has been eliminated
completely with today's long awaited passage of House
Bill 27-234. Which places a tax on anyone admitting to
reciving any unwanted email. Initially 35 cents per email
on a sliding scale up to $4.37 in June of 2013.

Because it would place an unfair burden on the spammers
themselves and because of ISP considerations, the tax
was placed on the sendee rather than the sender. The
number of admitted unwanted emails is expected to
shortly and dramatically drop.

Thus eliminating unwanted spam once and for all.
Additional details are found here.

Found some possible extensions to the Allen Canal 
near...

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.83443,-109.80465&z=18&t=S&marker0=32.83321%2C-109.80572%2C4.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ
&marker1=32.83518%2C109.80428%2C4.5%20km%20WxSW
%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker2=32.83443%2C-109.80465%2C4.6%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ >

The canal appears to make a right angle turn, hugging the west side
of Central Wash. Evidence here is scant and intermittent.
One guess is that it is headed to the siphon on the
modern lowland Union Canal. Low rises and hillocks
would seem to largely prevent any merger with the Mud
Springs canal 2000 feet further to the west.

Another canal between Allen and Mud Springs cannot yet be
completely ruled out. Sourcing on Hawk Hollow and 
converging near the Central Dam.

Field mice are definitely needed. email me if you are
interested.

Our posting of the Mud Springs Canal info missed some
of the detail that we later provided with the Jernigan
Canal info and the Allen Canal info.

Here is sort of an addemum to the previous info...

The Mud Springs Canal is possibly the earliest of the
dozen or more known prehistoric canals. It likely
sources high on Ash Creek, works its way "up"
the Mud Springs Bajada, and apparently sources
The Jernigan Canal as well as feeding lowland
irrigation systems. Total known length exceeds
six miles, well preserved portions of which are 
"hung" on the edges of steep sized mesas. Age
is supported by large Mesquite trees midchannel
and 1930's flood control dams covering without
accomodation.

Reach #1 From Ash Creek takein to the actual 
Mud Springs. Status 0 of 5.

Largely ( and inexcusably ) unexplored 
because of brush and 4WD hassles. No other
logical or reasonable place for the canal to
begin. Route rancher vetted with PVC pipe.
Some promising unchecked Acme Mapper
aerial photos.

Reach #2 from Mud Springs to the Mud Springs
expressway crossing. Status 4 of 5.

Much of the route is easily traced but
fairly unexceptional. Expressway crossing
was the original discovery point. A
diverting branch seems to shortly go
into a wash. Possibly used for mud 
control or flood prevention.

Reach #3 goes from Mud Springs expressway to
the super climb. Status 3 of 5.

Route starts out fairly tracable, disappears
near a pair of CCC dams, possibly reappears,
vanishes in a canyon bottom thru stream 
priacy, and then becomes exceptional at the start 
of the super climb.

Reach #4 goes from the superclimb to the huge mesquite.
Status 4 of 5.

The superclimb shows exceptional engineering
where the canal leaves a canyon bottom with
a spectacular hanging section going "up" the
canyon wall. Becomes ill defined near an old
east-west fence, then erratically resumes. 
Eventually does a large "S" loop, temporarily
going back south. Reach ends with a twelve
inch mesquite tree mid channel. Age of tree
strongly supports prehistoric origins.

Reach #5 shows obvious CCC interference above the
failed flood control dams. Status 4 of 5.

Several canal routes are tracable between the
huge mesquite and the dams. Portions have
been expanded into very large CCC feeders.
A mid-sized hanging portion is halfway. The
failed dams themselves completely run over
the canal, again suggesting a prehistoric origin.

Reach #6 goes from the Dam to the Troll House. Status 5 of 5.

One of the most spectacular sections climbs "up" from
under the dam, and cliffhangs, eventually becoming
quite wide and well defined. Ends at a mysterous
and well defined pithouse structure in obvious association.

Reach #7 is the projected Jernigan Diversion area. Status 2 of 5.

Canal here becomes rather nondescript, identifiable largely
throug dead flowers and linear features that have no
ceosote bushes. A western branch appears to become
the Jernigan Canal source. A short southern branch 
appears to be anglo rework that ends in a very
small and disused cattle tank. The main Mud Springs
canal can be followed on Acme Mapper, but is rather
vague on the ground, disappearing into the Black Hole
of Central.

Reach #8 is the black hole of Central. Status 0 of 5.

A 3000 foot square has three canals going in and two
or more coming out, with zero intermediate evidence
to date. At one poing three canals appear to parallel
each other within 300 feet of each other and very
small elevation differences. A major mystery.
Could be a field area, stream piracy, prehistoric
fields, or sheet flooding.

Reach #9 goes from the Ocotillo Crossing to the Central Cemetary.
Status 4 of 5.

Canal is well defined and easily traced over most of
this area with a significant but rather low hanging
portion. Easy access.

Reach #10 may or may not exist and may or may not feed
the prehistoric equivalent of the Union Canal. Status 0 of 5.

Area shows considerable modern activity including
cemetaries, power lines, ATV routes, disturbance, 
and other rework. Purpose of Allen Canal is thus
presently unknown.

What needs done next: (1) map and videotape entire canal. 
(2) Resolve Ash Creek source and takein. (3) Find credible
routes through the Black Hole of Central. (4) Verify intent
and purpose of canal system, (5) Resolve interrelation with
the Allen Canal. (6) Resolve why three canals go to 
exceptional constructs only to parallel each other.

I'm trying to resolve the purpose and end point of the
Allen Prehistoric Canal. Running a transect that was
intended to intercept at least something ended up with
a short piece of canal at N 32 50.322' W 109 48.595'
but no other likely candidates. 

The canal section appears only tracable for a meager 
distance. But suggests both the Allen Canal and the
Mud Springs canal may merge just north of the 
fence. As usual, the discovery raises more questions
than it answers.

Field mice are very much needed to explore these
and similar questions. email me if you have an interest .

BLM has some new local Arizona web pages up 
here, here, here, and here. 

Much more on Gila Day Hikes here.

Here is a summary of the current exploratory status of the
Jerningan Canal:

This is one of a dozen prehistoric canals totaling nearly
40 miles (!) that delivered Mt. Graham stream water to 
more northerly fields. These are often characterized by
being "hung" on the edges of steep sided mesas, include
aquaducts, diversions, French drains, and route switching.
All the while representing utterly astonishing world class 
engineering. Apparently crucially based upon a hanging 
canal having its slope largely independent of terrain. 

The Jernigan Canal appears to be approximately three miles
long. It appears to be a higher and western branch of the Mud 
Springs Canal, sourcing water from well up Ash Creek and
delivering water to a group of fairly well documented
prehistoric fields in the Central Landfill area. With possible
extensions to lowland riverine canal systems.

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.83620,-109.81305&z=16&t=S&marker0=32.82879%2C-109.81920%2C6.1%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker1=32.83694%2C-109.81517%2C5.5%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker2=32.83917%2C-109.81562%2C5.4%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker3=32.84219%2C-109.81477%2C5.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker4=32.82774%2C-109.81980%2C6.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker5=32.83986%2C-109.81340%2C5.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker6=32.84162%2C-109.81624%2C5.5%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker7=32.84285%2C-109.81295%2C5.1%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker8=32.83039%2C-
109.81842%2C6.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ >

The canal may be broken down into eight reaches, based
upon its present degree of exploration and state of 
condition...

Reach #1  N 32 49.664' W 109 49.188' to
N 32 49.727' W 109 49.152' Status: 2 of 5.

Canal apparently starts as a subcanal
of Mud Springs. Very shallow in this 
area and rather nondescript. Most 
evidence consists of dead flowers and
a linear absence of creosote bushes.
No obvious diversion feature. Vanishes
into short sheet flood area near north reach end.

Reach #2 N 32 49.727' W 109 49.152' to
N 32 49.823' W 109 49.105' Status: 3 of 5.

Fairly well defined and easily followed
in this area. Typical depth of less than
half a meter. Close and west of 4WD track. 
More distinct Vee shape than most areas. 
Disappears entirely at north and south ends.

Reach #3 N 32 49.823' W 109 49.105' to
N 32 50.216' W 109 48.910'  Status: 0 of 5.

Vanishes without a trace in this entire area,
despite extensive exploration. Topography
is credible and Ockham's Razor somewhat 
precludes alternate explanations. Possible
sheet flooding or stream piracy.

Reach #4  N 32 50.216' W 109 48.910'  to
N 32 50.392' W 109 48.804' Status: 1 of 5.

The modern waterbar on West Layton
Road suggests a credible crossing of
appropriate size and topography.
Evidence of a possible shallow canal 
route is just barely there. Extensive
erosion and possible stream piracy.
No other known routes in this area
appear remotely as credible.

Reach #5 N 32 50.392' W 109 48.804'  to
N 32 50.350' W 109 48.937' Status: 2 of 5.

Weak evidence of a possible western 
diversion, presently ending in what
might be a badly damaged aquaduct once 
crossing a fairly major wash. Might
service candidate fields somewhat
further to the west.

Reach #6 N 32 50.392' W 109 48.804'  to
N 32 50.571' W 109 48.777' Status: 4 of 5.

Excellent example of fairly typical,
well preserved, and easily followed
prehistoric canal route. Fairly
shallow. Easily seen west of road. 
The Mud Springs canal parallels
some 300 feet easstward and slightly
lower; Another canal ( possibly Allen )
parallels some 600 feet eastward and
slightly more lower. As is typical of
most of the higher portions of most of
the hanging canals, any along-route ag 
uses or cultural remains are conspicuously
absent. With an apparent singular
goal of delivering water ever northward.

Reach #7 N 32 50.571' W 109 48.777'   to
N 32 50.531' W 109 48.886' Status: 0 of 5.

A large postulated semicircular loop to
the north is devoid of all evidence, despite
careful exploration. Possible sheet
flooding. Route is totally topographically
credible. Possibly resolvable with precision
altimetry.

Reach #8 N 32 50.531' W 109 48.886'  to
N 32 50.497' W 109 48.974' Status: 5+ of 5.

All of the stunning good stuff in an amazingly
compact area. Starts with a TRIPLE loop
to preserve slope. Has a 7 inch Mesquite
tree growing mid-channel, largely precluding
CCC and somewhat strongly discrediting pioneer
origins. Several hanging portions and fairly
deep cuts, some half a meter or more. Very
obvious and easily traced, once you know where
to look. Ends in a French Drain above candidate 
prehistoric fields. May extend to lowlands.

What needs done next: (1) Map and videotape entire route
to acceptable accuracy. (2) Resolve mysteries of Reaches
#3 and #7. (3) Reinforce validity of Reach #4. (4) Study
possible aquaduct in Reach #5. (5) Resolve why three
canals parallel each other so closely despite major
construction effort to do so. (6) Prove or disprove lowland
extensions.

email me if you want to help.

Here is a summary of the present status of the prehistoric Allen 
Canal research...

This is one of a dozen prehistoric canals totaling nearly
40 miles (!) that delivered Mt. Graham stream water to 
more northerly fields. These are often characterized by
being "hung" on the edges of steep sided mesas, include
aquaducts, diversions, French drains, and route switching.
All the while representing utterly astonishing world class 
engineering. Apparently crucially based upon a hanging 
canal having its slope largely independent of terrain. 

The Allen Canal appears to be approximately seven miles
long (!). It sources water from a preannual stretch of Spring
Creek and either delivers it to yet unknown fields or 
lowland riverine canals in the Central area. Or else merges
with the Mud Springs canal further to the west. Portions
are extremely well defined, while others remain enigmatic
mysteries.

http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.83142,-109.78586&z=13&t=S&marker0=32.78237%2C-109.83541%2C9.6%20km%20NxNE%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker1=32.78536%2C-109.83305%2C10.0%20km%20NxNE%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker2=32.79050%2C-109.82856%2C9.2%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker3=32.79619%2C-109.82361%2C8.5%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker4=32.80270%2C-109.81824%2C7.6%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker5=32.82596%2C-109.80329%2C4.9%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker6=32.83274%2C-109.79500%2C3.9%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker7=32.83575%2C-109.79822%2C4.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker8=32.83330%2C-109.80625%2C4.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker9=32.83883%2C-109.81081%2C5.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker10=32.85782%2C-
109.79599%2C3.6%20km%20WxNW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ

The canal may be broken down into ten reaches, based
upon its present degree of exploration and state of 
condition...

Reach #1 N 32 46.942' W 109 50.125'to
N 32 47.122' W 109 49.983' Status: 4 of 5.

The takein point is very well defined at the
last current preannual stretch of Spring 
Creek. It is quite obvious and easily
followed, but may have had some later
rework in the CCC or SCS overlaying
the canal with the Hawk Hollow Tank.
There is no evidence of modern headgates,
iron, or concrete work.

Reach #2 N 32 47.122' W 109 49.983' to
N 32 47.430' W 109 49.714' Status: 0 of 5.

This route from the obvious CCC masonry
work on the Hawk Hollow Tank oveflow 
northward has not yet been visited. Portions
of the route are expected to have vanished.
Likely due to stream piracy or sheet flooding.
No related ag features are expected.

Reach #3 N 32 47.430' W 109 49.714 to
N 32 47.771' W 109 49.417' Status: 4 of 5.

This portion is a curious mix of the well
defined and the vanished completely. A
rather large and long cut that is a meter
deep and a hundred long is centered here.
The route is missing near an obvious 
older east-west fence. There are numerous
CCC check dam projects in the area
that appear unrelated .

Reach #4 N 32 47.771' W 109 49.417' to
N 32 48.162' W 109 49.094' Status: 4 of 5.

This portion is relatively small but 
easily and consistently followed. It 
ends at the initial discovery point.

Reach #5 N 32 48.162' W 109 49.094' to
N 32 49.558' W 109 48.197' Status: 4 of 5.

This was the original discovery portion
of the Allen Canal, and is readily traced
except for a few shorter dropouts.
Several older barrel cacti can be found
growing midstream, discrediting any
more modern possible origins. A
side dumping route appears near the
northern limit, apparently used for
flood control or mud maintenence. It
is readily observed on the aerial photos
by a white caliche. No water use below
the caliche has been observed.

Reach #6 N 32 49.558' W 109 48.197' to
N 32 49.964' W 109 47.700' Status: 0 of 5.

This is a crucially enignatically missing
portion of the Allen Canal. It is not yet 
clear exactly how the canal gets from
its mesa top to the bottom of the Allen
Reservoir. Yet the route is steep but
credible, and alternate explanations
suffer from Ockham's Razor. The Allen
Reservoir itself runs roughshod completely
over the canal without accomodation.
Providing strong evidence of the canal's
prehistory. There is a possible prehistoric
pond or lake in this area, either canal or
cienega driven. The Allen watershed drainage is
otherwise rather small and has no significant
access to snowmelt or other significant
water.

Reach #7 N 32 49.964' W 109 47.700'' to
N 32 50.145' W 109 47.893' Status:5+ of 5.

This reach includes a significant hanging
portion and a spectacular, world class
cut two meters wide, two meters deep,
and several hundred long. It is fairly
easily 4WD accessed.

Reach #8 N 32 50.145' W 109 47.893' to
N 32 49.998' W 109 48.375' Status:4 of 5.

The canal is fairly large and rather
easily traced in this area. A large
loop is made at the conspicuous 
north-south fence, with the canal
considerably to the south of the
dirt track.

Reach #9 N 32 49.998' W 109 48.375' to
N 32 50.330' W 109 48.649' Status:1 of 5.

The canal vanishes without a trace
over much of this partially unexplored
route. A short stretch at the north
is fairly well defined but ATV damaged.
Its location raises more questions than
it resolves. At this point there are 
apparently THREE parallel canals
within 300 feet of each others. There
relative elevations and linkability
remain unknown.

Reach #10 N 32 50.330' W 109 48.649' to
N 32 51.469' W 109 47.759' Status:0 of 5.

Postulated continuance of Allen Canal
to merge with prehistoric version of
modern lowland Union Canal. A
credible alternate would be a merging 
with the Mud Springs Canal to the west.
Modern rework including cemetaries and
dams makes interpretation problematic.

What needs done next: (1) Map and videotape entire route 
to acceptable accuracy. (2) Resolve mysteries of Reaches
#2 and especially #6 and #9. (3) Resolve whether the Allen
reservoir had prehistoric beginnings, (4) Resolve why
three parallel canals existed and their interaction. (5) Seek
preservation of world class reach # 7.

Filled in more of the gaps in the Mud Springs Canal...

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.82198,-109.80783&z=14&t=S&marker0=32.82689%2C-109.82137%2C6.4%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker1=32.80402%2C-109.83894%2C9.0%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker2=32.82813%2C-109.81983%2C6.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker3=32.81633%2C-109.83144%2CN%2032%2048.980%27%20W%20109%2049.886%27&marker4=32.82786%2C-109.81918%2C6.1%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker5=32.80953%2C-109.83648%2C8.5%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker6=32.85351%2C-109.80459%2C4.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker7=32.78560%2C-109.85442%2C9.5%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker8=32.80686%2C-109.83815%2C8.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker9=32.83154%2C-109.81491%2C5.6%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker10=32.78864%2C-109.85242%2C9.8%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker11=32.81931%2C-109.82912%2C7.4%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker12=32.81140%2C-109.83395%2C8.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker13=32.84367%2C-109.81153%2C5.0%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker14=32.82056%2C-109.82791%2CN%2032%2049.234%27%20W%20109%2049.674%27&marker15=32.82383%2C-109.82445%2C6.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker16=32.83896%2C-109.81120%2C5.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ >

There's some interesting features just north of what was the 
"middle gap", starting at N 32 48.980' W 109 49.886'.

A gap to the South is apparently caused by stream piracy
where the canal was at the bottom of a drainage. Just to the
North, the canal is a real cliff hanger, "climbing" well out of
the wash. Both the presrvation and engineering here is
exceptional. 

The canal briefly vanishes near an obvious east-west fence.
The likely crossing is at a pair of Mesquite trees just west
of an obvious and only "five boulder" lower fence retainer.. 

The canal then resumes in a hard to find but reasonably
obvious path. It then drops into a second wash via a 
sweeping "S" curve in which the canal actually briefly
heads back South again.

Just past the wash, there is a Mesquite tree that appears to
be growing mid channel. The tree is a foot in diameter and
largely stunted, suggesting a hundred year age. This
would largely discredit any CCC or anglo pioneer
construciton dates.

A fairly deep and fairly long cut follows, perhaps a meter
deep by twenty long. Beyond that, there appears to
be some obvious CCC rework of the canal, leading into
flood control dam feeder channels. 

There are numerous other checkdam projects in the area. 
These are believed CCC but prehistoric origins cannot be ruled out.   

A very large and spectacularly failed dam follows, likely
SCS rather than CCC. This dam runs roughshod over the
canal without any accomodation whatsoever. Giving
independent strong evidence the canal is in fact prehistoric.

Below the dam, the canal once again "climbs" out of
the wash and is quite distinct. Near a 4WD track crossing 
is an apparently associated and somewhat pithouse looking
structure presently named the "Troll House".

Evidence further north gets a tad thin. In places the
presence of dead flowers and no creosote bush
linear features only suggest the canal route. Aided
by topographic credibility.

In midst of the weaker evidence, the canal is
believed to go through a three way switch, one
the continuance of Mud Springs, one the beginning
of Jernigan, and a third ( presumed Anglo ) short
route into a disused and very small cattle tank.

Three of the existing canal breaks are fairly minor,
but many thousands of feet remain to be explored
at the far South. Including the crucial Ash Creek
take-in point,

Here is an interesting but somewhat pricey precision
altimiter. It has an accuracy of a tenth of an inch 
anywhere in a 100 foot circle, reading,to plus or 
minus forty feet in elevation.

It completely blows most of the other altimeter
schemes away for its resolution. 

This is my guess how it works: It is nothing but a 
fancy water level. A 100 foot hose is filled with
water(?), and its differential pressure from end to 
end is sensed.

Each foot of height makes an end-to-end pressure
differential of 0.434 psi. 80 feet measured to 
1 part in 8192 (or 13 bit) accuracy gets you just
under a tenth of an inch resolution.

To deal with positive elevations, the entire water
column is probably pressurized to, say 20 psi at
the main machine end. Which is the equivalent of
adding a 46 foot vertical column of water at the main 
machine end. Making all measurements positive.

Cute.

Found a key missing chunk of the Mud Springs Canal.

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.81600,-109.83097&z=19&t=S&marker0=32.81633%2C-109.83144%2Cn%2032%2048.980%20w%20109%2049.886&marker1=32.81601%2C-109.83125%2C7.7%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker2=32.81572%2C-109.83090%2C7.7%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ >

This includes a very well hung portion purposely (!) on 
the very edge of a 15 foot high cliff.  Also a stunted Mesquite 
tree mid channel with an enormous ( but oddball ) trunk. 

This section is not yet linked to either known continuance. 
Gaps of 600 feet north and 1500 feet south remain.

There's some CCC projects in the area, but they seem to
be separate and unrelated ( and, as usual, spectacularly
failed ) check dams. 

The shortest vehicle route eats tires for lunch.

The scope and degree of preservation of this canal system
utterly and totally boggles the mind. There is probably 
nothing comparable anywhere in the world. Except for
its dozen nearby companions that are approaching
forty miles (!) in length.

A reasonable question on our prehistoric canals is
"What survey instruments did they use?" 

None seem to have survived. Yet controlling the
exact slope of a canal is crucial. Especially a six
mile long prehistoric one built with stone age
technology. A constant slope of about one percent
or five feet per mile is often in the optimum range. 

"Trial and error" won't hack it over such a major project.
Especially since everything else involved shows an
extreme efficiency of effort and structure. And since
the entire route shold be preknown to prevent boxing
themselves in a topographic corner. 

My own belief is that "they" could easily have come
up with any of a number of schemes that are fully 
consistent with the available tools and thought patterns.
And from which survivable artifacts might not be expected. 

Ferinstance, say you have a hundred feet of existing canal
of known and correct slope that is to be extended. One
native kneels at a reference end. A second kneels at the
old end. A third kneels another hundred feet further downslope.
Native number one simply centers native number three's
head behind native number two's head. 

Or, the 1300's had well developed ceramics. Take a large
bowl and fill it nearly to the top with water. Create a flat
bottomed ceramic" boat" around ten inches long. Scrape
reference marks on either boat edge. A one tenth inch
difference in ten inches would be a one percent slope.

Now, neither of the solutions is likely to have been
actually used. But the key point is that there are 
sighting tricks that could easily have been used that
either result in no survivable artifacts. Or unrecognized
ones.

I may have found one of the key missing pieces of the
Jernigan Canal...

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.83564,-109.81288&z=16&t=S&marker0=32.84248%2C-109.81513%2C5.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker1=32.82762%2C-109.81971%2C6.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker2=32.84215%2C-109.81494%2C5.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker3=32.84203%2C-109.81425%2C5.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker4=32.84083%2C-109.81279%2C5.2%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker5=32.82985%2C-109.81874%2C6.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker6=32.84241%2C-109.81582%2C5.4%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker7=32.84264%2C-109.81544%2C5.4%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker8=32.82895%2C-109.81901%2C6.1%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker9=32.83894%2C-109.81412%2C5.3%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker10=32.82848%2C-109.81936%2Cunnamed&marker11=32.84201%2C-109.81465%2C5.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker12=32.84182%2C-109.81596%2C5.4%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker13=32.84223%2C-109.81392%2Cn%2032%2050.534%20%20w%20109%2048.835&marker14=32.83027%2C-109.81835%2C6.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker15=32.84151%2C-109.81263%2C5.1%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker16=32.83706%2C-109.81515%2C5.5%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker17=32.84265%2C-109.81414%2Cn%2032%2050.559%20%20w%20109%2048.848 >

The problem was that there apparently are THREE "U" 
turns (!) in the canal in an apparent attempt at maintaining 
extreme slope control. And that a portion of the delivery 
end of the canal ended up surprisingly far east and NORTH
of where it was reasonably expected.

While there are two huge gaps unverified, the probability 
seems quite high that the Mud Springs Canal is in fact the 
water source for the Jernigan Canal. And that high up
Ash Creek is in fact the water source for the Mud Springs
Canal, routed "up" and "over" the Mud Springs bajada. 

The Jernigan Canal seems to parallel the main Mud 
Springs Canal for a surprising distance, done only 
for a very small elevation difference. The two canals 
are consistently only a few hundred feet apart.

There is one 7 inch diameter Mesquite tree centered
in the Jernigan water channel. There is one 12 inch
diameter Mesquite tree centered in the Mud Springs
water channel. These strongly argue for prehistoric
canal origins.

The Jernigan engineering boggles the mind. The triple
U turm is reminiscent of the Twin Boobs Canal further
to the east.

There might be an aquaduct associated with a smaller
side branch of the Jernigan Canal. And possibly a 
diversion channel back to the lower Mud Springs Canal..

The ultimate destination of the Allen Canal remains
a big mystery, as does two intermediate huge gaps. 

More here and here.

I'll be speaking tonight ( Wednesday February 2nd ) at 7:00 PM
in EAC Academic Programs Room 108 in yet another talk on 
our stunning prehistoric hanging canals. 

Visitors are welcome. No charge. The AP building is just 
North of Admin near Stadium Avenue and the RR tracks.

A reminder that I'll be presenting a talk on our Hanging Canals
at the ARA Paper Regional in the Mouer Building on the Tempe 
ASU  Campus on Saturday January 29th in Tempe. Mouer is just 
Northeast of Gammage Aditorium.

Not sure of the exact time, but will be between 9AM and 4 PM . 
No admission charge and parking garages are free on Saturday

I'll be presenting talks on our Hanging Canals this
thursday at Noon as a BLM Brown Bag lecture at
14th street and 8th avenue in Safford.

And at the ARA Paper Regional in the Mouer Building
on the ASU Campus on Saturday Januayry 29th in
Tempe. Mouer is just Northeast of Gammage. 

Here's the BLM announcement...

=============================

PREHISTORIC "HANGING CANALS" SUBJECT OF NEXT
THURSDAY'S BLM "BROWN BAG" FREE LECTURE

Some recent archaeological discoveries have revealed an astonishing
series of prehistoric canals just South of the Safford area. These
mountain stream fed canals have the remarkable property that
portions are literally "hung" along the steep edges of remnant
Quatranary bajada mesas. Some as much as ninety feet above
their valley floor.

At least twelve hanging canal systems are known. Their total
explored length now exceeds thirty miles. Other amazing
features of these canals are that some include above-grade
aquaduct portions. Others provide for elaborate switching to
route water between different drainages. And most include
a "breakaway" feature that makes flood repair fast and simple.

The stone age technology involved seems well beyond world-class.
Reaches of at least some of these canals still flow to this day.

Some engineering details on these hanging canals will be
presented as a talk in the continuing BLM "Brown Bag" lunch lecture
series by local author Don Lancaster. This free presentation will
begin at 12:00 PM on Thursday, January 20th in the BLM main meeting
Room.

The lecture may be previewed at < https://www.tinaja.com/glib/hangcan1.pdf >
and at < https://www.tinaja.com/glib/hangshow.pdf >

Everyone is invited to these general public-oriented talks. BLM is
located at the corner of 14th Avenue and 8th Street in Safford, AZ.
Bring your own "brown bag" lunch.

For more details, contact BLM's Diane Drobka at (928) 348-4400
Or visit < http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/fo/safford_field_office.html >

I'll be presenting talks on our Hanging Canals this
thursday at Noon as a BLM Brown Bag lecture at
14th street and 8th avenue in Safford.

And at the ARA Paper Regional in the Mouer Building
on the ASU Campus on Saturday Januayry 29th in
Tempe. Mouer is just Northeast of Gammage. 

Here's the BLM announcement...

=============================

PREHISTORIC "HANGING CANALS" SUBJECT OF NEXT
THURSDAY'S BLM "BROWN BAG" FREE LECTURE

Some recent archaeological discoveries have revealed an astonishing
series of prehistoric canals just South of the Safford area. These
mountain stream fed canals have the remarkable property that
portions are literally "hung" along the steep edges of remnant
Quatranary bajada mesas. Some as much as ninety feet above
their valley floor.

At least twelve hanging canal systems are known. Their total
explored length now exceeds thirty miles. Other amazing
features of these canals are that some include above-grade
aquaduct portions. Others provide for elaborate switching to
route water between different drainages. And most include
a "breakaway" feature that makes flood repair fast and simple.

The stone age technology involved seems well beyond world-class.
Reaches of at least some of these canals still flow to this day.

Some engineering details on these hanging canals will be
presented as a talk in the continuing BLM "Brown Bag" lunch lecture
series by local author Don Lancaster. This free presentation will
begin at 12:00 PM on Thursday, January 20th in the BLM main meeting
Room.

The lecture may be previewed at < https://www.tinaja.com/glib/hangcan1.pdf >
and at < https://www.tinaja.com/glib/hangshow.pdf >

Everyone is invited to these general public-oriented talks. BLM is
located at the corner of 14th Avenue and 8th Street in Safford, AZ.
Bring your own "brown bag" lunch.

For more details, contact BLM's Diane Drobka at (928) 348-4400
Or visit < http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/fo/safford_field_office.html >

Or visit < http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/fo/safford_field_office.html >

Found another 1600 feet of the Mud Springs canal.

This section seems quite spectacular in that it changes
its architecture every 200 feet or so. It also has some
very wide sections and some very deep cuts.

Very conveniently, there is a 100 year old Mesquite
Tree growing smack in the middle of the water channel.
Which is strong evidence that the canal is in fact
prehistoric. 

The end of this reach also gets run over by a 1930's
flood control dam that spectacularly failed. The canal
was simply ignored, without any attempt whatsoever
of preserving its flow or providing piping or headgates
or whatever. Or any other accomodation. 

Overall, this part looks "too good to be true". But there 
is no sane reason for CCC or other rework. And it is
located exactly where it is expected. Independent
verification is obviously needed.

Please email me if you have any interest in this project

Here's a summary of the prehistoric Allen Canal status...

The url is... 

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.82724,-109.81298&z=13&t=S&marker0=32.78246%2C-109.83586%2C9.6%20km%20NxNE%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker1=32.78556%2C-109.83264%2C9.9%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker2=32.79720%2C-109.82287%2C8.3%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker3=32.80391%2C-109.81760%2C7.5%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker4=32.82631%2C-109.80311%2C4.9%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker5=32.83335%2C-109.79478%2C3.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker6=32.83543%2C-109.79737%2C3.9%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker7=32.83362%2C-109.80240%2C4.4%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker8=32.83277%2C-109.80529%2C4.7%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker9=32.85143%2C-109.79975%2C3.9%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ > 

Patience in loading may be required. A "slow script" box may need verified more than once. 
If all else fails, strip out a few flags and keep trying. 

=============================================== 

Assuming the flags are still lettered A to the south and J to the north.... 

A - is the verified Spring Canyon headgate at the normal active stream flow limit. 
B - is the "steal the plans" Hawk Hollow Tank and the northern end of verified Reach I. 
C - is the southern limit of verified Reach II. 
D - was the original discovery point and mid Reach II. 
E - was the end of verified Reach II. A cutout may head west. 

E to F remains an enigmatic mystery. Considerable elevation 
drop is involved between mesa top and Allen Dam. 

F - is the southern limit of verified Reach III where it exits Allen Dam. 
G - is a spectacularly deep and long cut following a hanging portion. 
H - is where Reach III works its way around an old fence. 
I - is the northern limit of verified Reach III. 
J - is along the unverified but assumed credible northern route. 

Going from I to Mud Springs Canal seems unlikely because of 
intermediate washes and I apparently being 30 feet or so BELOW the 
other canal. 

Visual "canal" images near Central Dam have proven to be 
quad tracks to date. 

Crucial further exploration is B to C, and particularly E to F and I to J. 

The sudden turn at FGHI is more than justified by the typography. 

The total length approaches FIVE miles!

Added another thousand feet to the middle of the Mud
Springs canal. There seems to be CCC "interference"
with a possible aquaduct or buildup across a wash.

Here's a summary of the Mud Springs status...

=========================

The url is 

< http://mapper.acme.com/?ll=32.82782,-109.81359&z=13&t=S&marker0=32.78560%2C-109.85442%2C9.5%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker1=32.78864%2C-109.85242%2C9.8%20km%20N%20of%20Mount%20Graham%20AZ&marker2=32.80402%2C-109.83894%2C9.0%20km%20SW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker3=32.80686%2C-109.83815%2C8.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker4=32.80953%2C-109.83648%2C8.5%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker5=32.81140%2C-109.83395%2C8.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker6=32.82383%2C-109.82445%2C6.8%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker7=32.82689%2C-109.82137%2C6.4%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker8=32.82813%2C-109.81983%2C6.2%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker9=32.82786%2C-109.81918%2C6.1%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker10=32.83154%2C-109.81491%2C5.6%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker11=32.83896%2C-109.81120%2C5.0%20km%20WxSW%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker12=32.84367%2C-109.81153%2C5.0%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ&marker13=32.85351%2C-109.80459%2C4.3%20km%20W%20of%20Thatcher%20AZ > 

Patience in loading may be required. A "slow script" box may need verified more than once. 
If all else fails, strip out a few flags and keep trying.. 

Total length exceeds at least SIX MILES! 

Assuming the flags are still lettered A to the south and N to the north.... 

A - is the presumed Ash Creek headgate, presently unvisited and unverified. 
B - is unverified but has a rancher PVC pipe route validation. 
C - is the southern limit of verified Reach III. 
D.- is a short spur side canal ( mud or flood control? ) 
E - is a wash crossing with a possible aquaduct or CCC interference. 
F - is the northern limit of verified Reach III. 
G - is the southern limit of verified Reach II, buried under modern flood control dam. 
H - is the "troll house" circular structure in intimate association. 
I - is the believed diversion point for the Jernigan Canal, separately mapped. 
J- is a short spur to a believed modern "steal the plans" tank. 
K - is the northern limit of verified Reach II. 
L - is the southern limit of verified Reach I. 
M - is the West Layton Road crossing of Reach I 
N - is an ill defined northern limit of Reach I. 

The canal is presumed to extend another thousand feet north to lowlands in the 
modern Union Canal region. This area is extremely disturbed with modern 
activities. 

The relationship with the Allen Canal to the east remains speculative. 
Best present guess is the Allen Canal is in fact separate and runs under 
the Central Dam. "Obvious" canal image tracks in this area are really 
quad runs. 

The "black hole of central" is about 3000 feet square and has three 
canals going in and two coming out. With no internal evidence to date. 
In particular, the Jernigan sourrcing evidence remains scant and vague. 

As does the purpose and destination of both Mud Springs and Allen.

Feel free to jump into "BC" "FG" or "KL" and see what you can find. 

The world class engineering on this is beyond beyond. 
Much more here and here.

What is the display resolution of, say, GPS or Acme Mapper?

One display option is degrees and minutes to three place 
accuracy. Considering North first, the earth is roughly
25,000 miles in circumference and there are 90 north 
degrees in 6250 miles..

For 69.44 miles per degree. Or 1.157 miles per minute.
Or 0.00157 miles per thousandth of a minute.

Or 6.94 feet North/South per thousandths of a minute.

Considering east/west at the equator, there are 180 degrees
in roughly 12,500 miles. Or 69.4 miles per degree.
Or 1.157 miles per minute. Or 0.00157 miles per
thousandths of a minute.

Or 6.11 feet East/West per thousandths of a minute
at the equator. And getting better as you head north
or south. 

Curiously, when you use the Link to This Page feature of
Acme Mapper, it reports to a display resolution of five
decimal places. This is "surveyor accurate" to under an inch.

Naturally, your reporting accuracy has very little to do with
your measuring accuracy.

Found a few hundred more feet of the Mud Springs
Canal, acutally inside the "black hole of Central". The
full story is eventually likely to unfold as follows:

The Mud Springs canal is 7 miles long and a feeder to 
a 3 mile long Jernigan Canal. It likely sources from far
up Ash Creek. Its early portions remaiin unverified, But
a rancher's PVC pipe verifies the route credibility and
there is no sane alternative to "Where else could it 
have come from?"

A case can be made that this was possibly the first of
at least a dozen prehistoric canals. Owing to its entire
route being viewable at once from certain points. And
to the absence of certain fancier features, unusual
terrain, and nonobvious routes of the others.

There is a short stub canal that apparently dumps into
a wash midway at the Mud Springs Expressway crossing.
A possible explanation is that this is for mud control or
dealing with flood overflows. 

Further downstream is a large and failed flood control dam.

Smaller and different from Allen Reservoir. The dam completely
runs roughshod over the canal without any accomodation of
any type. Which suggests extremely strong evidence that the
canal is in fact prehistoric.

A very well definied "hanging" portion follows, going "up"
a wash wall to continue. Just past where the canal once
again reaches the bajada is a strange circular structure.
Very pithouse looking, but probably centuries newer. And
only half a meter from the canal. Until proven otherwise,
this is the "troll house".

Somewhat further southeast, the canal appears to branch to
source the Jernigan Canal. Evidence in this area is somewhat
weak and consists primarily of long linear arrays of dead flowers
combined with the same linear array studiously avoided by the Creosote
Bushes. But all three ends connect to more credible evidence. 

A small spur in this area leads to a small and obviously Anglo
tank. This is presumed to be a "steal the plans" and "dig
out an old ditch" similar to Hawk Hollow Tank.

The two canals parallel each other for a surprisingly long time
over very minor spacing. Presumably this was needed as a 
"setup" to maintain slope on the two routes. The canals
never seem to get more than 800 feet apart. Sometimes
much closer. 

The west spur vanishes into the Black Hole of Central to
emerge as the well defined Jernigan Hanging Canal. The
east spur also vanishes into the Black Hole of Central to
emerge as a well defined continuance that appears to
be headed for river bottomland near the Union Canal.
The final thousand feet is indistinct and largely trashed.

Slopes and terrain inside the Black Hole are eminently
credible. Possible explanations for the absence of hard
evidence are incomplete exploration, sheet flooding, or
stream piracy. 

Meanwhile, the Allen Canal enters the Black Hole of Central
from the east. Where it goes and whether it merges with the 
Mud Spring canal has yet to be determined. The only other 
route would be unlikely as it is heading towards a cineaga.

Kiddies, we are dealing with utterly spectacular world class
stone age engineering here. Orders of magnitude beyond beyond.

Yet, with one or two grateful exceptions, I cannot seem to interest
the powers that be in the Southwestern Archaeology hierarchy.
Just because I skipped one too many compulsory faculty teas 
half a century ago.

          << Earlier Material can be found here >>

 

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