Archaeology Southwest has been very pleased to partner with our friends at the Cascabel Conservation Association (CCA) to protect Baicatcan, formerly the Taylor parcel. The site is located in the lower San Pedro River valley, where Archaeology Southwest has conducted research, site protection, and outreach for more than two decades.
Former Archaeology Southwest Preservation Fellow Jim Vint undertook research at the site in 2001. He documented 34 Sobaipuri house foundations, among other features. Based on his findings, Vint identified the place as the likely site of San Salvador de Baicatcan where Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino visited in 1692. Andy Laurenzi, our Southwest Field Representative, wrote about the history of the site in a blog post during an earlier phase of the partnership.
The history of our mutual involvement is summarized in the 2017 newsletter of the Cascabel Conservation Association (download PDF here):
“[This] is a good example of how CCA partners with others in an effort to integrate the human and natural community in sustainable ways. When the Taylors put their property up for sale, CCA staff searched for a conseation buyer and found them in five CCA (formerly CHA) members. Four of them were ultimately successful in procuring a conservation easement with the Bureau of Land Management on the basis of its environmental and cultural significance. In 2012 a buyout made CCA, Brandon and Jodi Wert, and Daniel Baker as each one-third owners in the property. When Daniel offered to donate his share to CCA, it was recommended and approved by the CCA board and members to donate it to Archaeology Southwest.
“Archaeology Southwest president Bill Doelle gratefully accepted Daniel’s donation and agreed to partner with CCA on the property. Working together, CCA and Archaeology Southwest facilitated an agreement with the Werts, who will sell their share to CCA and Archaeology Southwest while maintaining a lifelong lease on one of the three-acre building envelopes. CCA and Archaeology Southwest will then become parity nonprofit owners and will be able to seek county property tax exclusion.”
The Cascabel Conservation Association manages a campground, community garden, and orchard on the property.
