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Was sorting through hundreds of back issues of Arizona Highways at the thrift shop today and came across some photos (maybe 50 or 60 years ago...so many magazines...I may have the dates wrong :doubt: ) of this site. It was taken up on a mesa and showed where an Indian fort had been built and you could see across the valley where Gila Bend is located.

I didn't have time to read the article, but it looked so interesting I was wondering who has visited this site. Fortaleza apparently means fort in Portuguese....

:budrose:

Cathy do you happen to know the month & year
or maybe a ballpark on the year of the magazine date?

No, I don't...may also have been in 1997. I will be at the thrift shop on Monday and will look then (we are in summertime mode and I don't have access to the ts until Monday).
Here is a website:
http://www.cdarc.org/pages/heritage/heisey_sites.php.

I guess Fortaleza also means fort on a hill in Spanish.

That oughta spark Schulhauser's interest!

Been there, very difficult access at the time. No roads or trails and you had to hike thru a very dense forest/jungle of salt cedar, desert broom and tamarisk.

Was reading in Ruins Seldom Seen today and it described Fontaleza just about like Nighthiker. The picture I saw was probably taken from the air; however, cameras are not allowed at the site. Thanks for the information.

First visit was in the late 60's, with the big thick walls I thought it was a fort. I remember that I was told that it was an old abandoned spanish presidio. Visited several times since, used a compass to navigate thru the dense underbrush.

joe bartels wrote:That oughta spark Schulhauser's interest!

I've been traveling on business all week so this may be a little late. I'm familiar with the description of this site in Dave Wilson's "Hiking Ruins Seldom Seen" pp27-31. I haven't been to this site myself, probably due to the convoluted permit requirements and photo restrictions. I see from the posts others have visited the site. Maybe one day we'll get out there. Also hear there are multiple rock art panels between the ruins and the Painted Rocks Petroglyph Site and Sears Point Site and Antelope Hill further downstream along the Gila River. See HAZ Hike descriptions...

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=787 for Painted Rocks

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=868 for Sears Point

http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=892 for Antelope Hill

Thank you so much, :p , I enjoy the history and information I have learned on this site.

I also am enjoying the weather report! What a great addition to this site.

Thanks again.

A group of us drove out to Fortaleza today. It was a great drive (4x4) but the ruins are strictly off limits. They are located on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation and are kept under survelliance. We respected the signs posted and didn't even get that close and we were flown over twice! It's really beautiful out that way and there's plenty to see and do even if you have to miss out on the ruins. You can see them from the road and worship them from afar.

Found this today while researching some rock art and ancient tool making items on the net. Recalled this Forum string on Fortaleza...

Hmm, interesting!

cathymocha wrote:I also am enjoying the weather report! What a great addition to this site.

Am I missing something? Weather report?

Michaelynn wrote:A group of us drove out to Fortaleza today. It was a great drive (4x4) but the ruins are strictly off limits. They are located on the Tohono O'odham Indian Reservation and are kept under survelliance. We respected the signs posted and didn't even get that close and we were flown over twice! It's really beautiful out that way and there's plenty to see and do even if you have to miss out on the ruins. You can see them from the road and worship them from afar.

Wow, very interesting...my first knowledge of Fortaleza. So am I right here in that you can't even visit the site with a permit?

Interesting side note about the Tohono O'odham reservation...I didn't realize until this post that they had some non-contiguous rights to land in Maricopa County. Wikipedia's article on "Tohono_O'odham" shows that there are 304 of them living in the San Lucy District in Maricopa County. They also hold a small parcel of land in Pinal County, called the Florence Village District, where at last count there were 54 living.