South American Archaeology: Problem Oriented Historic Archaeology in the Northwest

Problem Oriented Historic Archaeology in the Northwest

Fort Walla Walla case study
1. Fort Walla Walla case study
  1. Timothy Riordan 1984 WSU PhD project
2. Historical background of Ft. Walla Walla
  1. Ca. 1902-1904 Black, ninth cavalry stationed at Ft. Walla Walla
  2. Ca. 1909-1910 white first cavalry stationed at Ft. Walla Walla
3. Riordan wanted to see if he could detect, archaeologically, differences in the economic and by extension social status of blacks versus whites
  1. Existence of such differences well known
    1. Wanted to see if these differences were expressed at Ft. Walla Walla
    2. Wanted to know what these differences would look like in the archaeological record
4. Some general background on race and the U.S. Army
  1. Black Americans have served in the US military for +/- 300 years
    1. Colonial period 1619-1775
      1. First blacks arrive in Virginia colony
      2. Indentured servants and hired laborers not slaves
      3. Fought Indians along with white community members
    2. 1660s-1680s blacks stripped of all rights and enslaved
    3. Revolutionary war-early Federal period, 1776-1860
      1. +/- 350,00 black Americans in 13 colonies
        
        Mostly southern States
        
        Free blacks unknown in south, rare in north
        
        About 5,000 free black militiamen out of a total of 300,000 militiamen fought in revolutionary war
        
        Early on blacks were not separated from whites in militia units
        
        Slaves were not given weapons
        
        1777 Rhode Island and Maryland , all black units formed with white officers
        
        Segregated units given most unpleasant work and most dangerous battlefield positions
        
        After revolutionary war blacks were excluded from army service
        
        After War of 1812 in navy
        
        Back in the army toward end of war of 1812, but dropped after war
    4. Civil War 1861-1865
      1. Policy against arming free or enslaved blacks until 1862
      2. September 1862 first all black regiment formed, again with white officers
      3. 1863 US War Department established "Bureau of Colored Troops"
      4. By the end of the was 178,975 black men had served in US army
        
        68,178 died
        
        Sixteen Congressional Medal of Honor winners
    5. Reconstruction and Indian War years, 1866-1890
      1. During Civil War all regular units were withdrawn from the west for the war effort
        
        They had been exploring, mapping, building roads (including local Mullen Road), protecting settlers, keeping American presence strong to keep English and Spanish out (recall English camp on San Juan Island).
      2. Post civil war government had to deal with all of the displaced soldiers
        
        Did not want a large standing army
        
        Army Reorganization Act of 1866
        
        Included creation of four permanent black regiments, ninth and tenth Cavalry and 245th and 25th Infantry
        
        Viewed as reward for good service during civil war, still all white officers
        
        Because it was not considered a good idea to send black troops into the south during reconstruction, they were sent to the west "Buffalo Soldiers"
    6. Spanish American/Philippine Wars 1890-1902
      1. First international conflict to include black troops
    7. 1902-1910 troops in the west used to deal with labor unrest and forest fires
5. Fort Walla Walla major military post in NW frontier 1856-1910
  1. Constructed by Col. Steptoe
  2. Located in modern town of Walla Walla, near Whitman Mission
  3. Base of operations for Plateau Indian treaties and wars
  4. Provided protection for settlers, major supply depot
6. Archaeological excavations at the Fort in the 1970s
  1. Work concentrated in the area of the garbage dump
  2. Different parts of the dump were used at different times
    1. Allowed separation of the garbage by periods when different regiments were there
      1. Temporally sensitive artifacts and military insignia allowed archaeologists to determine which garbage was associated with which time and regiment
        
        Black cavalry 1902-1904
        
        377 enlisted men and 13 officers
        
        White first cavalry 1909-1910
        
        340 enlisted men and 15 officers
      2. Approximately same sized groups of people, closely placed in time, and there for nearly equal duration
      3. Most of the recovered materials were "standard military issue"
  3. Question was, can status differences be seen in the archaeological record?
    1. Types of materials found
      1. Construction materials; bricks, nails, window glass
      2. Domestic items; ceramics, cans, jars, bottles
      3. Military equipment; horse gear, clothing, fire arms and ammunition
    2. Comparison of different garbage areas found:
      1. First cavalry (white)
        
        27% more artifacts per cubic meter of area excavated
        
        Military issue items constituted 30% of assemblage
        
        Ceramics more decorated, more expensive types
      2. Ninth cavalry (black)
        
        Fewer artifacts per cubic meter of area excavated
        
        Military issue items constituted 10% of assemblage
        
        Ceramics less decorated, less expensive
        
        Even though non-military issue, and military pay equal for whites and blacks, store keepers may have charged blacks more or higher class stores closed to blacks