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Contextual Background for Archaeology in the Northwest

1. History of Archaeology in Washington
   
   1. Early explorers and others made observations and some collections
      1. Lewis and Clark
      2. Alice Fletcher
   2. No systematic site survey or excavation until Jessup North Pacific Expedition Late 1890s-1900s
      1. American Museum of Natural History (New York City)
      2. Jessup, railroad millionaire and museum founder
      3. Boas, curator of ethnography
      4. Interested in whether first Americans crossed over Berengia
      5. Needed to do field work to study
         1. Similarities and differences between people on either side of the land bridge from Siberia to Washington
            1. Cultures
            2. Physical traits
            3. Languages
      6. Important ethnographic work done by several, including James A. Teit (British Columbia)
      7. Archaeological work in Washington done by Harlin I. Smith
         1. First published work on archaeology "Archaeology of the Yakima Valley"
            1. May to August 1903
            2. Cle Elum to Kennewick, east slope of the Cascades to mouth of the Yakima and Snake rivers
            3. Looked at private collections
            4. Recorded rock art
            5. Recorded a chert quarry
            6. Excavated graves
               1. Most likely to yield many objects
               2. Human remains, interested in physical characteristics of early people
            7. Decided there wasn't much time depth in the Plateau
   3. 1920s and 1930s
      1. Kroeber students (environmental interest)
         1. Strong, Schenk, and Steward excavated at the Dalles
         2. First relatively long-term, comprehensive study and publication
      2. 1934 Herbert W. Kreiger (Smithsonian)
         1. Surveyed area and excavated housepits and burials along the Columbia River
         2. First pre-reservoir study
      3. 1933 first academic archaeologist at NW University (Oregon) Luther Cressman
         1. University of Oregon became head quarters for River Basin Surveys
         2. Worked mostly in Oregon
         3. First long-term study of prehistory of region
         4. Coordinated work behind Grand Coulee Dam in 1942
            1. Included students from UW and WSU
            2. Judgmental survey and local informants
            3. Located fewer than fifty sites
            4. More than 1,000 burials removed by Spokane undertaker
   4. WWII hiatus in archaeology and dam building
      1. After war back to work
      2. 1947 Daugherty and Riddle O'Sullivan or Pot Holes reservoir
         1. Lind Coulee site
      3. 1947 Daugherty also did first survey of Washington Coast
         1. Recorded Ozette and other sites
      4. 1949 Daugherty joined WSU faculty
      5. 1948 Douglas Osborne joined RBS
      6. Osborne joined UW faculty 1950
      7. 1957 Osborne study and publication on archaeology in McNary Reservoir set a new standard
      8. Project areas in Washington State divided between UW and WSU
         1. UW Columbia River
         2. WSU Snake River
   5. National Park Service parks/historic and prehistoric sites studied
      1. Louis Caywood
         1. Fort Vancouver, Fort Clatsop, Spokane House
      2. Thomas Garth
         1. Waiilatpu Mission (Whitman)
         2. Fort Walla Walla
      3. Arden King
         1. San Juan Island National Historical Park
   6. 1950s-1960s
      1. Academic programs expanding Washington, Oregon, British Columbia
      2. Daugherty, WSU, Snake River
         1. Excavated rock shelters in Palouse canyon
         2. Began systematic surveys of river shores and adjacent canyons
   7. Late 1950s early 1960s
      1. First attempts at regional synthesis, ie. cultural historical sequences
         1. Robert Butler 1958, "Old Cordilleran culture"
         2. Suggested cultural connections between coast and interior
      2. Richard Daugherty 1962, "Intermontane Western Tradition"
         1. Noted general similarities between archaeological cultures between Rockies and coast mountains from southern B.C. to northern Mexico
   8. 1960s major federally funded highway projects
      1. Also west side/east side division between UW and WSU
      2. More work at sites away from major rivers
   9. At the same time (early 1960s) reservoir work expanded
      1. Reservoir salvage act (authorized spending)
      2. Four dams built on lower Snake River, and Dworshak on North Fork of the Clearwater River
      3. More dams built on the Columbia River and older dams, Grand Coulee and Bonneville "modified"
      4. Academic programs grew
         1. Field schools with graduate students as crew leaders
         2. Excavation reports in the form of masters thesis and dissertations
            1. Limited dissemination of information
      5. Large scale excavations
      6. 1970 Leonhardy and Rice proposed lower Snake River cultural historic sequence still most used today
   10. 1970s dam construction finished
       1. Agencies started to have staff archaeologists to manage cultural resources on agency lands
       2. Scale of individual projects smaller, but many more smaller programs   
   11. 1980s rise of private sector CRM
       1. Most University CRM programs gone by mid-1990s 
   12. Schism between goals of CRM and goals of academic archaeology
       1. Academics doing the synthesis
       2. Less funding, fewer people, less productivity
       3. CRM folks doing most of the field work, more funding, great "productivity"
          1. Work largely descriptive with limited distribution
          2. Emphasis on resource protection not study
   13. 1980s-1990s rise of tribal involvement

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© 2003-04 MATRIX
Project Director: Anne Pyburn
Indiana University Bloomington