AUGUST 15, 2013
Smoke Signals 5
Evidence off female presence at Foirtt YamhfiDD
Oregon State students
continue annual work at
important historical site
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
Being stationed at Fort Yamhill
between 1856 and 1861 was a
lonely existence for a Union sol
dier, says Dr. David Brauner, an
Oregon State University anthropol
ogy professor who has supervised
archaeological excavations at the
site since 2004.
"Nobody wrote about these guys,"
he says while 16 Oregon State
students excavate two locations at
the fort on Thursday, Aug. 8. "From
1856 to the outbreak of the Civil
War, these troops were isolated ...
at the end of the supply lines."
However, items long buried that
have been unearthed this summer
during an annual eight-week field
trip for archaeology students have
confirmed a much more frequent
female presence at the fort than
first imagined.
Students unearthed perfume
bottles, baleen hair pins, the heel
of a woman's shoe, dress buttons
and a pendant that indicate women
were frequent visitors to the fort.
They also found a porcelain marble,
indicating that every now and then
children might have been present.
"There is so much to learn here,"
Brauner says. "This is an amazing
archaeological site."
Fort Yamhill was constructed in
1856 on a saddle between two hills
overlooking the Grand Ronde Val
ley with a dual purpose - to keep
the Native Americans forced on to
the Grand Ronde Reservation in
check and to also protect the Natives
from the continuing influx of white
settlers, miners and farmers arriv
ing in Oregon. Approximately 70
soldiers, officers and a surgeon were
regularly stationed at the fort.
A row of six whitewashed officer's
quarters four full-sized and two
half-sized - sat at the apex of Fort
Yamhill, giving officers an unob
structed view of the Grand Ronde
Valley to the west, the Yamhill
River Valley to the south and any
approaching visitors coming from
the east.
"The fort had a huge impact on
the landscape," says Matt Huerter,
park ranger at Fort Yamhill State
Heritage Area. "The flag flew 200
feet high and the white buildings
all in a row ... you could see the
buildings from miles away. For
-wait r tjv
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Cayla Hill, who is working on her master's degree in historical archaeology
at Oregon State University, displays buttons that were recently excavated at
Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area on Thursday, Aug. 8. The buttons are from
female clothing, indicating that women were present at the fort. Also on
display are additional artifacts that have been unearthed this summer.
the Native peoples, it was a con
stant reminder that their lives had
changed forever and they were not
in control."
When the fort was decommis
sioned in 1866, only one of the
officer's quarters buildings was
preserved, moved down the hill
and used as a residence by the
property's new owner. All of the
other buildings were dismantled or
purchased at auction and moved.
Brauner's students this summer
have excavated the area behind the
commander's house, as well as the
foundation of the second house in
officer's row, which is half the size
of a standard officer's quarters.
Oregon State students have
worked for eight weeks, Monday
through Friday, carefully scraping
off layer and layer of dirt with shov
els and jostling the dirt through a
wire mesh sifter. They will wrap
up their work at Fort Yamhill on
Aug. 23.
Their other finds have included a
champagne bottle, bulk ink bottle,
shards of tea cups and plates,
parts of a cast-iron stove and coffee
grinder, and many nails. They also
found two military uniform buttons
from the Dragoons, the precursors
of the cavalry and the earliest sol
diers stationed at the fort.
Brauner's theory about the arti
facts indicating a female presence
at the fort leans toward the second
house being used as a place to put
up guests, such as fellow Army of
ficers on their way to Fort Hoskins,
which was located in King's Valley
in Benton County.
"There is not a scratch of evidence
that Native women were used as
servants," Brauner says, adding
that even if Lt. Phil Sheridan had a
Native American mistress while he
was stationed at the fort, he would
not have had her living in officer's
quarters.
"They would not have had women
who were not their wives here,"
Brauner says.
From their work since 2004, Or
egon State students have found the
sandstone foundations for most of
the buildings at Fort Yamhill, giv
ing the Oregon Parks & Recreation
Department a definitive layout of
the fort circa the middle of the 19th
century.
"Archaeology is the first time we
have been able to create an accurate
map of the fort," Brauner says.
Huerter says that the depart
ment hopes to move the surviving
officer's quarters building back up
the hill and place it in its original
location. The building features a
bay window facing north, which
overlooked the Killimuck Trail,
the main trade route between the
coast and Willamette Valley used
by Native Americans since time
immemorial.
"More 'We're in control,' " Huerter
says about the fort's commander be
ing able to look out the bay window
and see who is coming and going
without stepping outside.
Additional plans call for ghost
buildings being added and a perim
eter fence erected to give visitors a
better visual idea of how large the
fort was and how imposing it must
have been to Natives on the Grand
Ronde Reservation.
"This place is in its infancy,"
Huerter says. "There is so much
potential for this to become an
amazing heritage site and the ar
chaeology is helping us decide what
stories to tell."
Dennis Willey, Willamette Dis
trict manager for the Parks &
Recreation Department, said about
$35,000 is needed to move the com
mander's house back to its original
site. Money for the move is not in
the department's current biennial
budget and a fundraising effort is
beginning.
Brauner says the archaeologi
cal work left to do at Fort Yamhill
will last beyond his already 38
year career at Oregon State, but
that continuing the excavations is
important for the history of Fort
Yamhill, as well as Oregon and the
myriad Tribes moved to the Grand
Ronde Reservation in the 1850s.
"Archaeology is the intersection
between the past and the modern
public. Only two diaries of men who
served here survived. Military re
cords can be hit or miss. This is the
only way to bring these guys back
into the history books," he says.
And the women, too. D
We will be hosting an informational booth, so be sure to
stop hy and find out more about becoming a foster parent!
it
r 1
I y
if
Youth Education closed
between Aug. 12-23
The Tribe's Youth Education Department will be closed between
Monday, Aug. 12, and Friday, Aug. 23.
The department will resume programming on Monday, Aug. 26,
with a K-12 "last blast" to the beach.
For more information, contact Tiffany Mercier at 503-879-2101.
Community members wanted
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's 477 Employment and Training
Program and Land and Culture Department have resources that can be
utilized along with community members who have a passion for gardening
or want to learn the art of agriculture.
If you are a Grand Ronde Tribal community member and want to be a
part of the planning, preparation and cultivation of the Tribal garden and
orchard site for next year's planting season, contact Barbara Gibbons at
800-242-8196, ext. 2135, or e-mail barbara.gibbonsgrandronde.org. B