What was known about the Presidio before excavations began?
 
     Most of what we know about the location of the Tucson Presidio comes from this map of Tucson drawn in 1862. The map was drawn for Major Fergusson of the Union Army, and was used to locate the homes of confederate sympathizers during the Civil War.

     The presidio was decommissioned 8 years before this map was made, so the main walls of the presidio were already torn down.  However we can still see the outline of the fortress in the position of the buildings that were not demolished.

       Can you see the square shape of the presidio in this map of historic Tucson? Roll your mouse over the map to expose the projected locations of the presidio wall