The region of southern Arizona near modern day Quartzsite became attractive to ranchers in the second half of the nineteenth century, with cattle ranching becoming prominent in the Palo Verde area as well as the area around Blythe, California. Farming, wood-collecting, and mining quickly followed. By the 1920s, the Bureau of Reclamation had become involved in water control projects along the lower Colorado River. Its efforts included levee and channel construction and dredging (USDOI 1981). With the discovery of minerals in the 1850s, Arizona began to draw a significant number of settlers, including prospectors, miners, military personnel, farmers, ranchers and salespeople (Stein 1994; Edwards 2015).

In 2015, Cornerstone archaeologists surveyed a portion of the Kingman Army Air Field (KAAF: Figures 1 and 2) prior to construction of two photovoltaic renewable energy projects. Given that the area was known to be within the KAAF, and near to the headquarters (on the east side of Route 66), the surveyors were not surprised to find that the ground surface was littered with bullets. Local residents are familiar with these findings, as there are hundreds of thousands of bullet slugs commonly found for many square miles around the project area.

One of Arizona's most fascinating ghost towns, Goldroad is located along the zig-zags of Historic Route 66 in the mountains between Sitgreaves Pass and Oatman. This route was initially a well-traveled trail frequented by Native Americans for thousands of years. The locale has been witness to numerous notable individuals including Francisco Garcés, Antoine Leroux, Lorenzo Sitgreaves, Joseph Christmas Ives, Edward "Ned" Beale, and Mohave Chief Iretaba.

The Verde River Sheep Bridge (Figure 1), also known as the Red Point Sheep Bridge, is located along Bloody Basin Road, approximately 100 km north of Phoenix, Arizona, in Yavapai County. This suspension bridge was constructed to allow sheep to be driven between grazing ranges on either side of Arizona’s Verde River. Historical activities in the Bloody Basin were characterized by itinerant sheep herding, primarily staffed by Basque shepherds and laborers.