SIX The Gaiette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thursday, August 2, 1979
MelVs Half Acre full of Indian and
early
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Photo Credits
Clockwise from top left: Artifacts found Friday in a trip through the Heppner
Ranger District were held up in the sunlight by the group's guide, Orville Cutsforth.
Professor Joe Feather, an anthropologist temporarily hired by the U.S. Forest
Service to locate "significant cultural and historical sites" in order to preserve
them from timber cutting operations headed the search through Hell's Half Acre.
Displayed at right are black obsidian projectile points dating from 3,000 to 4,000
years old; flint projectiles and mano or broken off pieces. Below the group gathers
in one of the gold mines abandoned in the area. According to the Antiquities Act, it is
illegal to remove artifacts for private reasons, although Feather hopes to display
items found in a future museum.
istory; sites to be mappe
d
A priVate land owner and
the U.S. Forest Service co
operated Friday in a joint
search for significant cultural
and historical sites within the
Heppner Ranger District Fri
daysites which will escape
damage from future timber
cutting. Guiding the anthropologist,
Dr. Joseph Feather, Professor
Emeritus of Lewis and Clark
College, Lewiston, an expert
in Native American culture
and one of three researchers
hired by the Umatilla, Mal
heur and Walla Walla Nation
al Forests to identify cultural
sites within planned timber
sales was Orville Cutsforth of
Heppner, an advocate of
preservation of the Willow
Creek Watershed or "Hell's
Half Acre" and knowledge
able about the county's histor
ical treasures. The pair was
accompanied by Orville's
wife, Barbara, Assistant Dist
rict Ranger Earl Fisburn and
Gazette-Times News Editor
Jim Hackett.
The Cutsforths showed the
group several historic and
early-day Indian sites where
"projectile points" (arrow
heads, spear points) and stone
implements were collected in
paper bags by Professor
Feather. The oldest projectile
found was estimated to be
about 3,000 to 4,000 years old.
I" the same area it was found,
a wealth of artifacts turned
up. Several were projectiles
made of black obsidian, a
black shiny mineral not found
locally and thought by Feath
er to have originated from
Lake Lampina, flint project
iles, "pestles" or round rocks
worn smooth by the grinding
action of long-ago Indian
tribes grinding up grass seed,
animal scrapers and "manos"
or parts broken in half.
Prof. Feather said pieces
collected at this site and
several others during the full
day of searching would be
turned over to the Pendleton
headquarters of the Umatilla
National Forest. He had
recommended to Forest Ser
vice officials that the artifacts
be placed in a Forest Service
established museum at Pen
dleton or at a museum on the
Umatilla Indian Reservation.
In the area where the
greatest number of artifacts
were found, there were signs
of present day human garbage
such as beer bottles, styro
foam cups, an old glass
pitcher even a campfire. As
members of the group found
the artifacts, they were turned
over to Professor Feather who
identified them and marked
the area on a map.
According to the federal
Antiquities Act of 1906, it is
illegal to remove historical
artifacts from national forest
lands. However, fossils and
rocks may be taken for
private collections.
The Cutsforths led the group
to a number of historic sites,
an earthquake fault line which
according to Orville, extends
200 miles to the Prineville
area and marked by pinnacles
of rock thrust out of the
ground and an interesting
variation of rocks lying along
each side of the line; two gold
mines which were once mined
and before that, used by
Indians as shelter (later day
Indian projectiles were found
mostly from the keen obser
vation of Fisburn 5, two coal
mines, two Indian graves near
a Forest Service road, which
Feather believes may be that
of an adult and child (Barbara
Cutsforth stumbled across the
site while hunting elk) and a
morter bowl' or hollowed out
places in a large rock used by
Indians long ago to grind their
grass seed (again, one of
Barbara and Orville's discov
eries while hunting and track
ing through the Ranger Dist
rict). Twenty years ago, Orville
found a rock apparently
smoothed out in a grinding
operation, placed it against a
tree, but in Friday's search
was unable to relocate it.
The Cutsforths also pin
pointed the site of an old still
on one stream which the group
did not see.
That's not the only such still
Feather has located. In fact,
in his survey of over 20,000
acres in the Heppner Ranger
District, he has mapped and
indentified three still opera
tions. At one still site, he found
65 barrel hoops (metal rims
around wooden whiskey bar
rels) two 1903 fruit jars, a pig
house and from talking to
long-time natives of the local
area, he has fixed the date of
the illegal whiskey operations
at between the 1920's and
1930's when the Prohibition
Era caused bootleggers to
take to the hills to escape
revenue agents.
District Ranger Ben Simi
noe said the site with the 65
hoops would be classified as
an historic site, and timber
operations kept free from the
boundaries drawn up by
Feather.
Also found at the site were
Zeroline cans, an old-time
motor fuel used in the Pro
hibition period.
Feather's work consists of
first finding historic and
cultural sites such as the
many shown by local residents
such as the Cutsforths, then
going back and properly
mapping out their boundaries
as significant sites to be
Story and photos by Jim Hackett
protected from man-made
disrupting and compiling his
torical forms with the Umatil
la National Forest.
Simino said the Western
Region of the Forest Service
which includes Forest in
Oregon, Washington, Califor
nia, Idaho and Alaska is trying
to have all cultural and
historic sites identified by
1985. In the Heppner Ranger
District, sites are being iden
tified in the Coal Sale, Horse
Timber Sale, Ukiah and Hell's
Half Acre or Willow Creek
Drainage.
Inorganic artifacts such as
projectiles can be dated with
Carbon 14, said Feather, but
by observing their presence
with material tested, scien
tists have arrived at their
estimated age.
The scene of the Friday's
greatest find of artifacts will
be identified with Cutsforth 's
name.
Before making the tour,
Cutsforth showed his fireplace
to Feather, an acquaintance of
his when the latter was Supt.
of Schools in Lexington from
1947-1950. Set in the rock
fireplace was a magnolia leaf
fossil dated at 23 million
years.
Feather received a PHD
from the University of Train
ing and has also taught a total
of 22 years and served as
anthropology professor at
Weston Montana College and
Lewis and Clark College,
specializing in native Ameri
can culture. He has written
two books, "These Are the Nez
Perce Nation" and "These
Are the Coeur d'Alene
Tribes."
The work of Feather and
other anthropologists is hoped
by the Forest Service to
enable preservation of the
cultural heritage of forest
lands from logging operations.
Siminoe welcomes people
with information and know
ledge about the local district's
historic treasure to help
identify the sites to be saved.
.
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