Appendix-C-Cultural-Resources-Assessment-06-18

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DRAFT CULTURAL RESOURCES INVENTORY SNOW DROP ROAD IMPROVEMENT PROJECT UNICORPORATED SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Submitted to:

Albert A Webb Associates

3788 McCray Street Riverside, CA 925096 (951)-320-6052

Submitted by:

Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure, Inc

3120 Chicago Avenue, Suite 110 Riverside, California 92507

Gini Austerman, M.A., RPA – Principal Investigator Cynthia Morales – Project Archaeologist

June 2018

Amec Foster Wheeler Project No./Proposal No 1855400743

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USGS Cucamonga Peak, Calif 7.5' quadrangle Approximately 2 miles

Keywords: Phase I Cultural Resources Inventory; Township 1 North, Range 7 West, Section

14; no historical resources per CEQA

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Snow Drop Road Improvement Project

Unincorporated San Bernardino County, California

Amec Foster Wheeler No 1855400743

June 2018

MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Amec Foster Wheeler was contracted by Albert A Webb to conduct a Cultural Resources Assessment for the Snow Drop Road Project The proposed Project involves improvements to the existing Snow Drop Road that are associated with the Rancho Hills Estates Tract 15952 The project site is situated along Snow Drop Road west of Haven Avenue, east of Archibald Avenue, in an unincorporated area of San Bernardino County Specifically the Project is in Township 1 North, Range 7 West, Section 14, and as depicted in the U.S Geological Survey

Cucamonga Peak, California, 7.5’ quadrangle The cultural resources survey was conducted in June 2018

The study is being conducted as a part of the environmental review process for proposed road improvements San Bernardino County is the lead agency for the Project and required the study

to support the preparation of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)-compliant documentation for the proposed Project The purpose of this study is to provide the County with the necessary information and analysis to determine whether the Project would cause a significant adverse impact to any “historical resources,” as defined by CEQA, that may exist in

or around the Project Area In order to identify such resources, Amec Foster Wheeler conducted historical background research, completed an archaeological and historical resources records search, and carried out a Cultural Resources Assessment

Through the research approaches listed above, this study did not encounter any “historical resources.” Amec Foster Wheeler recommends to the County that no historical resources

exist within the Project for the purposes of CEQA No further cultural resource studies are

necessary at this time If resources are encountered during the undertaking, all work shall cease and the County will be notified immediately and will task a qualified archaeologist with assessing the nature of the find

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June 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

3.0 CULTURAL SETTING 6

Prehistoric Context 6

Ethnographic Context 6

Historic Context and Overview 7

4.0 METHODS AND RESULTS 8

Record Search 8

Resources 9

Reports 9

Additional Research 10

Field Survey 10

5.0 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 11

Discussion 11

Recommendations 11

6.0 REFERENCES 12

LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Cultural Resources Documented Within 1 Mile of the Project……… 8

LIST OF FIGURES APPENDIX A: RECORDS SEARCH BIBIOGRAPHY MANAGEMENT SUMMARY 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

2.0 NATURAL SETTING 4

Hydrology .4

Biology 4

Geology 4

Figure 1 Project Area Overview 2

Figure 2 Aerial Map 3

LIST OF APPENDICES

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is located in the foothills below the San Bernardino Forest and immediately north of the city of Rancho Cucamonga Specifically, the project is located in Township 1 North, Range 7 West, Section 14 of the San Bernardino Baseline and Meridian as depicted on the United States

Geological Survey (USGS) Cucamonga Peak, California 7.5 topographic quadrangle map The

study is part of the environmental review process for a proposed road improvement project San Bernardino County (County), as lead agency for the project, required the study in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; PRC § 21000, et seq.)

AMECFW conducted this study to provide the County with the necessary information and analysis to determine, as mandated by CEQA, whether the proposed project would cause substantial adverse changes to any historical/archaeological resources that may exist in the project area In order to identify and evaluate such resources, AMECFW conducted a historical archaeological resources records search, pursued historical background research, and carried out an intensive-level field survey This report is a complete account of the methods, results, and final conclusion of the study Native American consultation was conducted by the County and is outside the scope of this effort

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Topographic Map Snow Drop Rd

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Survey Area Map Snow Drop Rd

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Biology

At an average elevation of 2,700 feet above mean sea level (AMSL), the project area is within the Upper Sonoran Life Zone, which ranges from about 500 feet AMSL to an elevation of approximately 5,000 feet and is represented in valleys and low mountain slopes with a predominantly chaparral community Common native plants include oak and scrub oak, sycamore, chamise, cacti, agave, yucca, species of sage, chía, and various grasses (Munz and Keck 1968) The vegetation observed included sycamore trees, oak trees, eucalyptus trees, gypsum weed, buckwheat, yucca whipplei, and sage Common animals include deer, coyote, rodents, as well as endemic species of birds and reptiles (Schoenherr 1992)

to produce a thin horizon of Holocene and recent soil

Snow Drop Road parallels, then turns to cross a series of small west-facing ridges separated by steep ravines and drainages that empty into the alluvial fan toward the Santa Ana River These drainages and surface-sheet-flow have been intermittently active in historic and recent time, subjecting the Project and surrounding area to surface-disturbing erosion This surficial erosion likely disturbed or removed cultural resources that may have been along the ridgelines Therefore, the project retains little potential for intact surface archaeological resources

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June 2018

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Figure 3 Overview of the Project Area, View Northwest

Figure 4 Overview of the Project Area, View to the East

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Ethnographic Context

The project is located within the traditional territory of the Gabrielino (Kroeber 1925; Bean and Smith 1978) Like other Native American groups in Southern California, the Gabrielino were semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers who subsisted by exploitation of seasonably available plant and animal resources and were first encountered by Spanish missionaries in the late 18th century The first written accounts of the Gabrielino are attributed to mission fathers and later documentation was by Johnston (1962), Blackburn (1962–1963), Hudson (1971), and many others

The Gabrielino were hunters and gatherers who utilized food resources along the coast as well

as inland areas of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties during ethnographic times (Kroeber 1925; Heizer 1968)

The lifestyle of the Gabrielino was considered semi-sedentary, living in permanent communities near inland watercourses and coastal estuaries They caught and collected seasonally available food, and moved to temporary camps to collect plant resources such as acorns, buckwheat, berries, and fruit as well as conducting communal rabbit and deer hunts Seasonal camps were also established along the coast and near estuaries where they would gather shellfish and hunt waterfowl (Hudson 1971)

Social organization for the Gabrielino was focused on families living in small communities Patrilineally organized, extended families would occupy villages; both clans and villages would marry outside of the clan or village (Heizer 1968) The villages were administered by a chief whose position was patrilineal, passed from the father to the son Spiritual and medical activities

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June 2018

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were guided by a shaman; group hunting and fishing were supervised by individually appointed male leaders (Bean and Smith 1978)

Historic Context and Overview

In California, the historic era is generally divided into three periods: the Spanish or Mission Period (1769 to 1821), the Mexican or Rancho Period (1821 to 1848), and the American Period (1848 to present) For the bulk of the Spanish and Mexican periods in California history, the entire San Bernardino Valley, including the Rancho Cucamonga area, was considered a part of the land holdings of Mission San Gabriel In the 1830s–1840s, during secularization of the mission system, the Mexican authorities in Alta California made a number of large land grants

on former mission properties in the valley One of these grants, the Rancho Cucamonga, consisted of 13,000 acres of land granted to Tiburcio Tapia in 1839; the Project is located north

of the rancho lands near the northeastern boundary (City of Rancho Cucamonga n.d.; GLO 1874) Tapia built an adobe home on Red Hill about three miles southwest of the project area where he raised cattle and established a successful winery (ibid.) In 1848, the Mexican/Rancho Period came to a close when California was annexed to the United States, becoming the nation’s 31st state in 1850

Due to its favorable climate, the western San Bernardino Valley soon became known for the cultivation of citrus, olives, and grapes The vineyards and the wineries figured prominently in the region’s social and economic identity, but citrus, which was first planted in western San Bernardino County in 1857, also played a major role (Brown and Boyd 1922) By the early 1880s packinghouses came into being and by the mid-1880s growers began organizing (ibid.)

In 1889, the refrigerated train car was put into use and trademarks and labeling were being considered (ibid.) The landscape at the base of the foothills, just south of the Project, was dominated by tracts of citrus and grapes bordered by windrows of eucalyptus Despite the housing boom of the post-World War II period, this area held onto its agricultural properties through the 1960s (Historicaerials.com var.)

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as well as a review of known cultural resource survey and excavation reports In addition, the California State Historic Property Data File (HPD), which includes the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), California Historical Landmarks (CHL), and California Points of Historical Interest (CPHI)

Table A (below) lists the cultural resources and reports within a one mile radius of the Project area that are mapped, documented on DPR forms, and on file at the SCCIC A more detailed discussion of these reports and resources is provided below

Table 1 Cultural Resources Documented Within 1-Mile of the Project

36-000895

Prehistoric roasting pit and associated lithic artifacts; listed on the NRPH; not relocated in 2014

36-001593 Prehistoric campsite with associated lithic artifacts

36-007694 Victorville-Century 21 Line 2 transmission lines; eligible for the NRHP

36-009000 Historic orchard and water conveyance features; ca 1930

36-021688

9720 Wilson Avenue, Rancho Cucamonga; Krysto Ranch garage and shed, built in

1954 36-031683H Historic flood control feature; construction date unknown

36-031684H Historic flood control feature; construction date unknown

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June 2018

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Resources

Data from the SCCIC noted 18 cultural resources within the one mile radius of the project; one

of which (36-007694, a transmission line) crossed the southern ends of the project alignment Noted within the one-mile radius of the project, but outside of the project alignment, are 9 residential and ranch properties south of the project, 5 water conveyance/flood control features, and 1 field stone rock pile within Deer Canyon Wash northeast of the project The nearest historical-period site is P-36-09000 which is an orchard property with field-stone and concrete water conveyance features of an unknown construction date located less than ¼ mile southeast

of the project’s terminus at Archibald Avenue The remaining historic sites are more than ½ mile from the Project

Of the 18 cultural resources within the 1-mile search area, 2 prehistoric resources were noted, both are habitation-related sites These are discussed below

CA-SBR-895.This site was originally recorded in 1975 by N Leonard as consisting of roasting

pits and associated flaked and ground stone artifacts The site was located within a trench during the course of a construction project at the base of a foothill within the Deer Creek Wash The existing transmission line straddles the site location The site was tested by Dr Pat Martz in 1976; Dr Martz was unable to relocate the roasting pits yet identified various flaked stone artifacts during the testing program In 2014, ECorp conducted a study within the area and were unable to relocate the site and suggested that the site had been destroyed during local development in 1982

CA-SBR-1593 This site is reported to have been originally documented in 1953 by Sayles;

however no records on file In 1976, Gerald Smith noted the presence of artifacts in close proximity to a spring and documented it as a temporary campsite This site is located approximately ½ mile west of Archibald Avenue at the base of a foothill within the mouth of Thorpe Canyon Mr Smith remarked at the time that the site had been almost completely destroyed by Thorpe Ranch buildings, cultivation and an almond orchard

Reports

Data from the SCCIC indicates that there have been 33 previous cultural resources studies conducted in the records search area, none of which includes the project The list of studies is included as Appendix A

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