NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, July 21, 2022
Public dig in John Day shines light on Kam Wah Chung
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
JOHN DAY — Archaeologists
from Southern Oregon Univer-
sity held a public dig on Saturday,
July 16, to wrap up their weeklong
excavation of the land adjacent to
the former site of Gleason Pool.
The excavation was part of an effort
to prepare the space for the expan-
sion of the Kam Wah Chung State
Heritage Site.
The Kam Wah Chung building is
all that remains of a once-sprawling
and vibrant Chinese community
that lived in Grant County starting
in the mid-1800s. At one time, the
Chinese population in John Day
numbered more than 2,000. Once a
general store and apothecary, Kam
Wah Chung was the only Chinese-
owned business in Eastern Oregon
to survive the racist undertones of
the time coupled with the influx of
non-Chinese clients.
The public was not allowed to
dig at the site on July 16 but did get
to watch archaeologists in action
and ask questions about the exca-
vation process and the fate of any
artifacts the excavation unearthed.
Exhibits by Southern Oregon
University, Oregon State Parks,
Malheur National Forest, John Day
Fossil Beds National Monument
and Friends of Kam Wah Chung
also were on site to provide infor-
mation about local history.
The public dig began at 9 a.m.
and lasted until 3 p.m. The dig was
followed by a free public lecture
from artist and poet Sam Roxas-
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Archaeologist Keoni Dicamos explains the process of an archaeological dig to attendees at the Kam Wah Chung
public dig on Saturday, July 16, 2022, in John Day.
Chua Yao from 4 to 6 p.m. at the
Canyon City Community Center.
Chelsea Rose, a Southern
Oregon University historical
archaeologist and director of the
SOU Laboratory of Anthropol-
ogy, said the excavation over the
past week gave archaeologists fresh
insights into the history of the site.
“There has been excavation on
this property for almost 20 years
now, and I feel like this time we
really kind of broke through to a
new level of understanding of what
was happening here. It’s a very,
very complicated site,” Rose said.
One reason for that complex-
ity, Rose said, is the site’s location
at the confluence of the John Day
River and Canyon Creek.
“We now know Canyon Creek
flooded pretty extremely in 1890,
and it almost wiped out China-
town,” she said. “Some of what
we’re seeing is from that. We
also know that the residents of
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this community were mining —
the reason Chinatown is here is
because of its proximity to the
creek, and they were mining on
both sides of this little neighbor-
hood.”
Rose said all of this information
helps archaeologists understand
when the community was estab-
lished, how long it was there, why
there aren’t more buildings that
survived and where residents were
distributed on the landscape.
She added the goal is to be as
transparent as possible and to
communicate how important this
resource is, not only to John Day
and Oregon but also to the history
of the Chinese diaspora in the
United States.
“We want the people in the
community to be invested in it and
to be good stewards and to care
about the site and understand that
it is important,” she said. “The only
way to do that is to share what we
are finding and to let people feel
like they have a stake in this story,
because they do.”
Most of the artifacts found
during the excavation were shards
of glass and broken bottles, along
with nails from the period. Rose
said most people would see those
things and think they aren’t very
important, but those artifacts
provide valuable insight if looked
at through an archaeological lens.
“It’s not Indiana Jones; it’s not
the movies. The treasure we find is
much more humble in appearance,
but it’s still priceless. It’s not a gold
statue, but the broken bottles, if we
can date to when they were made or
figure out what’s in them ... to us,
that’s treasure,” she said.
“That is a direct connection to
a person that lived here a hundred
years ago that made a purchase or
drank a soda or whatever. That’s
what we’re looking for is the
human connection. It’s not about
monetary value or what would look
cool on a museum shelf. Really
we’re after the data, and that’s the
priceless thing to us.”
Actor Jack Black visits Wallowa Lake
By JEFF BUDLONG
Wallowa County Chieftain
Mostly sunny
Breezy in the
morning; sunny
99° 66°
90° 58°
Hot with plenty of
sunshine
Plenty of sunshine
Plenty of sunshine
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
100° 65°
96° 63°
93° 61°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
101° 67°
95° 61°
101° 67°
99° 63°
96° 61°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. Wed.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
69/58
89/56
98/60
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
97/66
Lewiston
79/57
102/67
Astoria
67/56
Pullman
Yakima 97/61
79/54
98/64
Portland
Hermiston
85/59
The Dalles 101/67
Salem
Corvallis
81/53
Wednesday
Normals
Records
La Grande
96/61
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
84/54
97/54
98/57
Ontario
103/67
Caldwell
Burns
100°
58°
94°
60°
108° (1931) 45° (2019)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
83/55
0.00"
0.03"
0.08"
7.48"
2.46"
5.10"
WINDS (in mph)
100/63
97/53
0.00"
0.31"
0.25"
11.13"
4.32"
8.20"
through 3 p.m. Wed.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 93/56
86/56
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
HERMISTON
Enterprise
99/66
95/65
99°
60°
91°
60°
110° (1931) 42° (1932)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
81/53
Aberdeen
92/61
96/66
Tacoma
Wednesday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
80/56
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
97/59
Fri.
WSW 8-16
W 7-14
SW 8-16
W 8-16
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
93/47
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2022
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
5:26 a.m.
8:36 p.m.
12:26 a.m.
2:50 p.m.
New
First
Full
Last
July 28
Aug 5
Aug 11
Aug 18
NATIONAL EXTREMES
JOSEPH — “School of
Rock” star Jack Black proved
to be a quick study when it
came to fishing lessons
during his weekend trip to
the Wallowa Lake Marina.
Black, and his family,
were in Wallowa County
where they dined and enjoyed
a day on the lake with the
help of marina staff.
“(Store manager) Duncan
Christman met him down at
the (Glacier Grill) and offered
to have him come out on a
pontoon boat with us the next
day,” said Brandon Keeling,
who is the Wallowa Lake
Marina Inc. vice president.
“We took them around the
lake, we took them fishing
and they went swimming.”
Black was there with his
family — which included his
parents, siblings and aunts
and uncles — because his
father previously visited the
area with a hiking group. A
member of the group recently
died, leading to the Blacks
choosing Wallowa County
as a place to come together
as a family.
Keeling said the entire
party picked up on fishing
fast after he gave a quick
Wallowa Lake Marina/Contributed Photo
Movie actor and musician Jack Black, fourth from left, poses
for a photo while visiting Wallowa Lake during the weekend
of July 16, 2022, with his family for some fishing, swimming
and sightseeing.
lesson with Black snagging
the biggest rainbow trout
of the group and his father
a close second. The entire
family reeled in at least
one fish with Black’s father
snagging the first within 30
seconds of dipping his line.
And, yes, both Black and
his father cleaned the fish
they kept.
“The family was abso-
lutely wonderful and a joy
to be around,” Keeling said.
“He was out here picking up
kids and taking pictures with
everybody. He is out here
spending hours out of his day
doing photo ops around the
community.”
A quick search of Face-
book reveals the numerous
Wallowa County residents
and visitors who got to snap
a picture with the actor. Keel-
ing credited Black for his
down-to-earth nature and
willingness to engage with
everyone who approached.
Black isn’t the first celeb-
rity to take in the impressive
nature views the area has to
offer. “Napoleon Dynamite”
star Jon Heder has hiked in
the area, but did not make it
to the marina.
The experience is some-
thing the marina’s staff,
including Wallowa Lake
Marina Inc. president Casey
Barstad’s daughter, Jaiden,
won’t forget anytime soon.
“It made our week pretty
dang awesome,” Keeling said.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 113° in Needles, Calif. Low 34° in Yellowstone N.P., Wyo.
IN BRIEF
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Hereford woman dies in
4-wheeler accident
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
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0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
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cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
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BAKER COUNTY — A Hereford
woman died in a four-wheeler accident west
of Dooley Mountain Summit late last week.
Kathleen Marie “Kate” Sullivan, 66, was
killed when her four-wheeler rolled in the
Bald Mountain area, about 2 miles west of
the summit on Highway 245, said Ashley
McClay, public information officer for the
Baker County Sheriff’s Office.
Members of the county’s search and
rescue team found Sullivan’s body about
10:43 a.m. on Saturday, July 16, McClay
said.
Her dog, who had accompanied her on
a ride to set out salt blocks for cattle, had
stayed with Sullivan, and was not injured,
McClay said.
The search started about 6:15 a.m. on
July 16 after Sullivan’s relatives reported
that they hadn’t been able to find her after
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searching earlier that morning and the night
of July 15, McClay said.
Sullivan was supposed to meet family for
an event in Baker City the evening of July 15,
but she didn’t arrive.
No one had talked with Sullivan since
July 14, when she planned to distribute salt
blocks in the Bald Mountain area, McClay
said.
After family and friends were unable to
find Sullivan Friday night or early Saturday,
they called the sheriff’s office at 4:17 a.m. on
July 16, McClay said.
Sheriff Travis Ash activated the search and
rescue team at 5:11 a.m. A dozen searchers,
including Ash, went out with 15 to 20 relatives
and friends of Sullivan, to resume the search.
McClay said Sullivan had been riding
cross-country when the four-wheeler rolled.
It appeared she had died July 14.
“It was not the outcome that we hoped for,”
McClay said.
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