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DIGGING UP
THE PAST
Archaeologist at Lewis and
Clark National Historical Park
works to preserve local history
Story and photos by
DWIGHT CASWELL
W
Wearing her National
Park Service uniform, Rachel
Stokeld unloads the govern-
ment pickup and lugs equip-
ment down a gravel road:
pruning shears, shovel, trowel,
bucket, sifting screen, clip
board and a GPS navigator
to show her precisely where
she is, which is four feet into
Lewis and Clark National His-
torical Park and not on private
farmland. The park service
calls the location the East
Netul site; it is near the Lewis
and Clark River and upstream
from Netul Landing.
Then comes the glamorous
part of the job. She takes the
shovel and measuring tape out,
checks the GPS and the pa-
perwork, a plan that has been
submitted to and approved by
the Oregon State Historical
Preservation Ofice. Then she
begins digging a hole. Not
just any hole, she explains as
she measures its diameter, “A
40-centimeter shovel probe to
a minimum of 50 centimeters
depth.” That is, a hole about 16
inches across and 20 inches or
more deep.
Stokeld is digging at the
base of a dike that was built
in the irst half of the 20th
century to create pasture.
Salmon habitat restoration has
been going on for several years
in this area, and the park is ex-
ploring opportunities for more
restoration projects within its
boundaries. Stokeld’s exca-
vations are one in a series of
Above: Rachel Stokeld is the cultural resources specialist for Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.
Left: Rachel Stokeld excavates a hole in the park to see if a proposed salmon restoration project
is compliant with cultural resource protection laws.
Below: Rachel Stokeld sifts through dirt from an excavation hole, searching for any sign of a
cultural resource.
important preliminary steps the
park must take to determine if
the restoration design moves
ahead.
She digs to a depth of about
10 centimeters or 4 inches,
places the dirt on the sifting
screen, and then shakes the
screen. She breaks up dirt
clods with the trowel and
watches carefully for any sign
of a cultural resource.
“A cultural resource is
anything relating to human
activities,” Stokeld says. “It
might be a Native American
village site or artifacts from
European exploration or early
settlement. It might be a place
for spiritual or other cultural
practices.”
Or there might be nothing.
That’s why Stokeld is out here
sifting dirt. She’s the cultural
resources specialist for the
park. “Cultural resources pro-
tection is a fundamental part of
the National Parks mission,”
she says.
One day she might be look-
ing for evidence of a site found
in old documents or oral his-
tories. Another day you’ll ind
her working in the museum, or
consulting with Native Amer-
ican tribes, or answering a
local resident’s question about
an artifact
he’s found.
‘CULTURAL
She’s usually
RESOURCES
working
PROTECTION IS A
behind the
FUNDAMENTAL
scenes, but
PART OF THE
she has
NATIONAL
PARKS
also taught
workshops
MISSION.’
for teachers
about how to use park resourc-
es to teach history.
“Today I’m working ahead
of the initial steps for a pro-
posed salmon restoration proj-
ect to see if it is compliant with
cultural resource protection
and three U.S. states. Her
laws,” she says. It’s her job to
irst work in this park was
determine if any resources ex-
over a decade ago, on a ield
ist and, “if the next preliminary excavation at Middle Village/
steps should move ahead or be Station Camp near Chinook.
modiied or abandoned.”
She then began volunteering
Stokeld came to her current at Fort Clastsop as a museum
position after experience as
technician, cataloging and pro-
cessing artifacts. That became
an archaeologist in Portugal
a seasonal position while she
worked on her master’s degree
in anthropology. “I’ve just
inished defending my thesis,”
she says, “and now I’m
transitioning to a position as
a full-time cultural resources
specialist.”
Archaeology isn’t as
thrilling as depicted on the big
screen. It involves attention
to detail, persistence, knowl-
edge of laws governing the
work, and, of course, digging.
Stokeld is digging up, preserv-
ing and organizing our history.
And it’s a good thing she is,
because we live atop so much.