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3.1.6-1 SETTING
Archaeology and Prehistory
The prehistoric chronological sequence in Mendocino County is little known, and is based on work at a small number of sites. The "Mendocino Complex" was initially established based on work at the CA-MEN-500 site in the Russian River drainage. Distinctive elements of this complex include large, lanceolate, concave base and side-notched projectile points, as well as the occurrence of both mano and metate and mortar and pestle grinding stones. This Complex dates from about 3000 B.C. to 500 B.C. (Morotto, 1984:522). There is conjecture that the wide-stem projectile point tradition is indicative of a culture that predated the appearance of the Pomo Indians in Mendocino and Lake counties. The Pomo are linked to the appearance of concave-based projectile point styles.
The ethnographic inhabitants of the Willits vicinity were the Northern Pomo. They were a group of interrelated tribelets stretching across Mendocino County from Fort Bragg in the west to Clear Lake in the east. The most detailed account of Pomo come from the works of Barrett (1908), Kroeber (1970), Stewart (1943), and McLendon and Oswalt (1978).
The nearest known Pomo village to the town of Willits was called Tsaka' and was defined by Barrett (1908:148) as a principal village, although Kroeber (1970: Plate 36) listed the location simply as an "other village". The site is believed to be near the entrance to Brooktrails at Sherwood Road. Most permanent villages appeared to be located inland from dense redwood forests, with smaller, temporary settlements perhaps having been located within the forests. Smaller subsistence-related settlements tended to be tied to larger villages by kinship, economic and social attributes. Inland groups of Pomo travelled to the coast along principal trails which often followed ridgelines, as access was enhanced in those areas.
The redwood forest provided food and raw materials in the form of deer, roosevelt elk, small mammals, and bark for clothing and houses, whereas rivers provided fish and mussels. Stands of Tan Oak and buckeye also provided edible vegetable foods in the appropriate season, most notably acorns, while the coast yielded fish, sea lions, shellfish, seaweed, salt and other food and raw materials.
History
The first contact between Pomo and non-Indian groups may have occurred during the visits of Sir Francis Drake to the coastal Mendocino area in 1579. European trade goods were entering the Pomo area in the late 1700's, and later, Spaniards were raiding the southern Pomo area for labor and potential converts (Bean and Theodoratus, 1978:299).
At about the same time, the Russians had been exploring the Mendocino coastline, eventually establishing a foothold at Fort Ross in 1811. Local Pomoans were employed as farm workers by the Russians, ultimately picking up some cultural and linguistic traits.
By the 1830's, following Mexican takeover of the southern Pomo area the, Indian population began to decline. Disease, enslavement, displacement, massacres, and Anglo-European settlement by the 1850's led to rapid decimation of the Pomo culture. Native Americans of Pomo ancestry still occupy Mendocino, Lake and Sonoma countries, and some reside on Pomo Rancherias, continuing to follow traditional rituals and cultural practices to varying degrees.
The Willits Creek vicinity was first logged in the 1860's by the Blosser Brothers, who built a sawmill "two and one-half miles up Willits Creek" (Mahan, 1975). The sawmill was initially powered by water, then steam. Mr. H.L. Norton took over the Blosser operation in 1877, and soon thereafter was cutting 20,000 board feet a day, totalling nearly 3 million board feet before legal complications shut down the mill.
After several idle years, Northwestern Redwood Company bought part of the land in 1901 and built 40,000 square foot mill which subsequently burned down the following year. It was rebuilt in 1903. By 1909, lumber at Willits invoiced at 10 million board feet. Completion of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad through Willits added to the overall progress of the area, with the town of Willits fairly revolving around the mill at Brooktrails. It closed in 1924 and led to major economic downturn in the local economy (Mahan, 1975).
Current Conditions
The various project components associated with the proposed Willits Creek Reservoir project were surveyed on November 5 and 6, 1990. The sites surveyed included the proposed reservoir area, dam site, access roads and rock borrow areas. A survey transect interval of 15 meters was used in all relatively level, exposed areas. Hillslopes over 20% were given only cursory examination; the majority of acreage in the project area is sloped over 20%. The only evidence of cultural resources noted was that of circa-1900 logging in the area indicated by numerous hand-cut redwood stumps.
A record search of the entire Specific Plan area was conducted at the California Archeological inventory at Sonoma State University in August of 1993. One Native American site,
CA-MEN-383, has been recorded in the Specific Plan area. This site, originally recorded by Omar Stewart in 1935, is believed to be the ethnographic village site of Tsaka', part of the Mitom group of Pomo. The site is located near Sherwood Road and Brooktrails Drive. At the time of recording (1935), the site consisted of two large and nine small housepits, with sweathouse and dwelling pits clearly visible. Burials were reported at the site as well. According to Stewart (1943), the site was abandoned before 1850.
The California Historic Landmark Registry (1982), California Inventory of Historic resources (1976), and National Register of Historic Places (1979) were all consulted as part of the investigation completed for the Willits Creek Reservoir EIR; no resources are recorded for the Brooktrails area.
3.1.6-2 IMPACTS AND MITIGATION MEASURES
Brooktrails Township Specific Plan Policies
The Plan goal specifically related to cultural resources in the Plan area appear in the Cultural Resources Chapter of the Plan as GOAL CR-9.1. The Policies for implementing the Goal are central to the issue of cultural resources and are reiterated here to allow the reader easy reference to the actual language in the Plan.
CULTURAL RESOURCES GOAL CR-9.1: Preserve historical and archaeological resources within the Township.
POLICY CR-9.1A: Establish procedures to be followed in the event that historical resources may be required to be removed or altered to make way for new development.
POLICY CR-9.1B: Establish procedures to be followed in the event that historical or archaeological artifacts or other archaeological resources are unearthed.
Standards of Significance
The significance criteria used to assess potential impacts of the Specific Plan project on cultural resources come from several sources. Generally, a project would have a significant effect on a cultural resource if it would disrupt or adversely affect a "unique" prehistoric or historic archaeological site or a property of historic or cultural significance to a community, ethnic or social group. A "unique archaeological resource" is defined in Appendix K of the State California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines as one which:
is associated with an event or person of recognized significance in California or American history, or recognized scientific importance in prehistory;
can provide information which is both of demonstrable public interest and useful in addressing scientifically consequential questions;
has a special quality such as older, best example, largest or last surviving example of its kind;
is at least 100 years old and possesses substantial stratigraphic integrity; or,
involves important research questions that historical research has shown can be answered only with archaeological methods.
The record search performed at the California Archeological Inventory did not identify any known historic or prehistoric sites recorded within the Specific Plan area. One Native American site, CA-MEN-383, has been recorded in the area.
The field survey completed for the Willits Creek reservoir project included several areas within the specific plan boundaries. In this area, Native American archaeological sites are usually situated in small valleys on terraces adjacent to seasonal and perennial watercourses, on midslope terraces near seasonal drainages and springs, and on ridgelines and associated spurs. Many of the areas surveyed for the Willits Creek reservoir project were representative of these settings. This investigations did not reveal evidence of cultural resources. The only evidence of previous human activity in the area is the numerous, hand-cut redwood stumps indicative of logging that initially occurred in the 1860's.
There is one recorded Native American site in the Specific Plan area. Given the large size of the Specific Plan area, it is possible that additional Native American resources could be located within the Specific Plan area. However, many of the areas that have the qualities (such as a watercourse) likely to support Native American habitation, would not be affected by development that might result from implementation of the Specific Plan.
Impact 3.1.6-1
Construction and grading related to the potential widening of Sherwood Road, could affect cultural resources located on site CA-MEN-383. (PS)
Mitigation Measure 3.1.6-1
Any construction, grading and/or excavation within a 300 meter radius of the MEN-383 site location shall be monitored by an archaeologist. In the event that artifacts or features are discovered, the appropriate disposition of such materials as determined by the archaeologist should be coordinated with local Native American representatives and in accordance with the implementation policies of Chapter 9 of the Specific Plan, Cultural Resources. (I)
Impact 3.1.6-2
Unknown cultural resources may be encountered during ground disturbance activities associated with development in the Specific Plan area. (PS)
Mitigation Measure 3.1.6-2
Should any historic or prehistoric cultural resources be encountered during construction, work should halt temporarily while a qualified archeologist assesses the significance of the find and develops a suitable mitigation plan, if required, in accordance with the implementation policies of Chapter 9 of the Specific Plan, Cultural Resources. (I)
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