In 1997-8, Charles Haecker of the National Park Service revisited the Pine Springs Camp at the request of the Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Haecker, a military archaeology specialist, confirmed that the rock concentrations were indeed the remains of military hearths and that a ring of rocks on top of a nearby knoll was in fact a former picket station. He found evidence for subsurface artifacts by metal detecting and identified a dump, a temporary structure, and two additional picket stations south of the hearths. Historical records suggested that the camp was primarily occupied by the 9th then the 10th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers in the 1870s. From this brief reconnaissance he proposed further investigations at the site.
The identification of the Camp with Buffalo Soldiers provided the impetus to create a unique archaeological project, sponsored by the National Park Service, with additional support from the Bureau of Land Management, Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Howard University, and the Mescalero Apache Tribe. From 2004-2006, Eleanor King of Howard University and Charles Haecker led teams of students on two-week summer field schools at the site as part of the Mescalero-Buffalo Soldiers Archaeological Project. Participants included undergraduates and graduates from Howard University as well as high school students from the Mescalero Apache Reservation and elsewhere. ther participants included volunteers and staff members from Guadalupe Mountains National Park, who came when they could. The field schools proved successful in documenting Pine Springs Camp. The high point of each season was a visit by the Mescalero Apaches, including a group of elders the first year; Elbys Hugar, Cochise’s great-granddaughter, the second year; and a youth group the third year.
Sources
A bibliography has been collected for this project.
