The Apache prisoner-of-war project, funded by the Legacy Program, was a unique study combining the results of ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and archaeological investigations. Historical/archival investigations were conducted at several repositories, including the National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Ethnographic data were collected, and interviews were conducted with six former prisoners of war, who were living at the time of this project, and with 10 first-generation descendants. Archaeological recording of the former sites of the villages was conducted.

A close working relationship with members of the Chiricahua/Warm Springs Fort Sill Apache Tribe and employment of a tribal member as a consultant and researcher culminated in both an extensive, in-depth analysis of an event that had previously received little scholarly attention and the preservation of historic sites important in the history of U.S./Native American interaction. The project’s primary purpose was to nominate the 12 former Apache prisoner-of-war village sites (identified through archival and archaeological research conducted by GMI) at Fort Sill Military Reservation for inclusion in the NRHP.

Ethnographic and ethnohistorical research was conducted to determine the existence and potential impact to traditional cultural properties (TCPs) and sacred sites of a proposed military flight (bomber) training corridor across central Utah. After ethnohistorical research, consultations were arranged with members of the Paiute and Ute tribes to solicit their concern for TCPs and sacred sites. Subsequent consultations were arranged between representatives of Air Combat Command and members of the Paiute and Ute tribes. The successful implementation of the consultation and early input from Native American tribes enabled Air Combat Command, the Paiute, and Ute to establish an alternative training corridor that was less likely to impact areas of concern to the Paiute and Ute, yet still meet the needs of Air Combat Command.

The primary objective of this project was to document the history of ranching families associated with historic sites located on Holloman AFB. The project involved accumulating a comprehensive list of pre-military historic sites on Holloman AFB and associating their location with pre-1942 grazing allotment boundaries. Based on these and archival data, local informants who were associated with these historic properties were located and interviewed (audio and video) to learn about the early ranching and farming history of the Tularosa Basin and the material remains these activities left behind. These data were then used to re-evaluate the NRHP eligibility of previously recorded historic sites on Holloman AFB.