Analysis and Technical Report of Remote Sensing Data for the Uss Kinsman
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Cultural Resources Report Series CEMVN/PM-99/06 US Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District ANALYSIS AND TECHNICAL REPORT OF REMOTE SENSING DATA FOR THE USS KINSMAN Final Report January 2000 EARTH SEARCH, INC. P.O. Box 850319 New Orleans, LA 70185-0319 Prepared for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District P.O. Box 60267 New Orleans, LA 70160-0267 20000331 071 1. AGENCY USE iü January 2000 Final Report, 1999 .: 4, TITLE AND SUBTITU Analysis and Technical Report of Remote Sensing Data for the USS Kinsman DACW29-R-97-0017 D.O. 14 6. AUTHQRi'Si Allen Saltus, Jr., Benjamin Maygarden, and Roger T. Saucier Earth Search, Inc. P.O. Box 850319 New Orleans, LA 70185-0319 ci SPONSOR Y'-* V! "ü'.;'1 r ' < "'v'VMi;/' r U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans District P.O. Box 60267 CEMVN/PM-99/06 New Orleans, LA 70160-0267 Unclassified. Distribution is unlimited. This report details the results of research and analysis of remote sensing data for an area of approximately 25 acres south of Morgan City along the south bank of Bayou Boeuf at a point where it enters Berwick Bay in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. Earth Search, Inc. (ESI), was contracted by the New Orleans District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (NODCOE), to conduct background research and analyze side-scan sonar, magnetometer, bathymetry, multi-beam swath sonar data for the study area, which is near to the NODCOE's maintenance dredging area in Bayou Boeuf where it enters Berwick Bay. The dredging, which has been ongoing since 1973, now appears to be very close to a possible historic shipwreck, possibly that of the USS Kinsman. Analyses revealed a total of 17 anomalies, seven of which may be associated with the Kinsman. It is recommended that Phase II investigations be undertaken on these seven anomalies to determine their nature, age, significance, and National Register eligibility. USS Kinsman, Col. Kinsman, Gray Cloud, Civil War, shipwreck, St. Mary Parish, 115 Bayou Boeuf, Berwick Bay, side scan sonar, magnetometer, bathymetry, multi- beam swath sonar, remote sensing, underwater archaeology, Morgan City 17. SECURITY CL/YY OK ABSTRACT OF F.r-PQRT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified UL (Rev, .2-39 DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY NEW ORLEANS DISTRICT. CORPS OF ENGINEERS P.O. BOX 60267 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70160-0267 REPLY TO ATTENTION OF: November 2, 1999 Planning, Programs, and Project Management Division Environmental Planning and Compliance Branch To The Reader: This cultural resource effort was designed and guided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, as part of our cultural resource management program. The report documents the results of a U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (NOD) remote sensing investigation and analysis of the reported location of the USS Kinsman. We concur with the authors' recommendations to physically inspect the seven anomalies noted in the report. These efforts will hopefully determine the presence and/or absence of the USS Kinsman. The Louisiana State Historic Preservation Officer also concurs with authors' recommendations. f n -I Kenneth"A. AshwoE^h Howard Bush Contracting Officer's Acting Chief, Environmental Representative Planning and Compliance Branch TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION l Summary of Previous Investigations 1 Definition of the Study Area 2 Report Organization 2 CHAPTER 2 GEOMORPHIC SETTING AND HISTORY OF THE MORGAN CITY/BERWICK AREA 5 Geographic and Physiographic Setting 5 Previous Investigations and Information Sources 6 Geologic Framework 6 Subsidence and Sea Level Rise 8 Landforms and Depositional Environments 9 Geomorphic History and Chronology 12 Bankline and Channel Changes in the Project Area, 1842 to Present 15 CHAPTER 3 HISTORIC BACKGROUND 22 Prehistory 22 The Colonial Period to 1803 22 The Antebellum Period, 1804-1861 24 The Civil War, 1861-1865 26 The Late-Nineteenth Century 33 The Twentieth Century 37 CHAPTER 4 POTENTIAL CULTURAL RESOURCES AND THE SIDEWHEEL STEAMBOAT GRAY CLOUD OR U.S.S. COL. KINSMAN 43 The Sidewheel Steamboat Grey Cloud or U.S.S. Colonel Kinsman 44 Private Service, Upper Mississippi Trade, 1854-1855 44 Federal Government Service, Sioux Expedition, 1855-1856 45 Federal Government Service, Coast of Florida and Third Seminole War, 1856-1859 45 Private Service, Gulf Coast and Mobile to New Orleans Trade, 1859-1861 46 Confederate Service on the Gulf Coast, 1861-1862 46 Union Service, Pontchartrain and Atchafalaya River Basins, 1862-1863 47 Loss of the Kinsman, February 23, 1863 48 Description of the U.S. Colonel Kinsman 50 CHAPTER 5 PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS 54 Jackson (n.d.) 5 Gagliano et al. (1975) 54 Table of Contents, Continued. Gagliano (1976) 54 Neuman and Servello (1976) 54 Rivet 55 Gibson (1978a) 55 Gibson (1978b) • 56 Weinsteinetal. (1978) 56 Giardino and Davis (1981) 57 Gibson (1982) 57 Floyd (1982) 58 Goodwin and Selby (1984) 58 DeFrance (1985) 58 Goodwin et al. (1985) • 59 Deshotels (1987) 59 Kelley(1988) 59 Pearson and Saltus (1989) 59 Pearson and Saltus (1991) 60 Weinstein and Kelley (1992) 61 CHAPTER 6 THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF METHODOLOGY FOR REMOTE SENSING AND SURVEY 62 Global Positioning System (GPS): Trimble Navigation Model 4000 RL 62 Fathometer: Innerspace Model 448 62 Side Scan Sonar: Geo Acoustical Side Scan Sonar Model SS941 Transceiver And model SS942 Side Scan Sonar Tow Fish 63 Multi-Beam Sonar 63 Magnetometer: Geometries Model G-806A 63 CHAPTER 7 RESULTS OF REMOTE SENSING SURVEY 66 Analysis of Magnetic Anomalies 77 CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 87 Summary of Anomalies 87 Bank Anomalies 87 Anomalies Possibly Associated With the Col. Kinsman 88 Other Anomaly Sources 90 Recommendations 90 REFERENCES CITED 92 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Excerpt from the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) showing the study area 3 Figure 2. Excerpt and enlargement from the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) showing the dredge area defined and provided by Captain Mistrot 4 Figure 3. Survey of Berwick Bay by the U.S. Army Engineer Department, 1842 (Morgan City Archives) 15 Figure 4. Diagram Showing the Position Of Our Works At And About Brashear City by the U.S. Army Engineer Department, 1863 (Morgan City Archives) 16 Figure 5. Excerpt from Atchafalaya Bay, Louisiana by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, 1890 16 Figure 6. USCGS 1890 survey overlaid on Abbot 1963 survey 17 Figure 7. Abbot 1863 survey overlaid on excerpt from the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) 18 Figure 8. USCGS 1890 survey overlaid on excerpt from the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) 19 Figure 9. Depth soundings (1987) from the 1986-1988 Hydrographie Survey of the Atchafalaya River 20 Figure 10. Excerpt from Plan of Field Works At Brashear City by the U.S. Army Engineer Department, 1865 (Morgan City Archives) 32 Figure 11. The approximate route of the Kinsman's last voyage 51 Figure 12. The Fight at Corney's Bridge, Bayou Teche, Louisiana, and the Destruction of the Rebel gun-boat 'Cotton,' January 14, 1863 from Harper's Weekly, February 14, 1863 depicting The Kinsman in the foreground 52 Figure 13. Brashear City, Berwick's Bay, LA, Base of General Banks's Operations from Harper's Weekly, May 9, 1863 possibly depicting the Kinsman in the center 53 Figure 14. Excerpt and enlargement from the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) showing 1990 post plot survey lines 60 in Figure 15. Excerpt and enlargement of the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle showing the 1990 bathymetric contours in 10 foot intervals 67 Figure 16. Excerpt and enlargement of the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle showing magnetic contour lines from 1990 survey 68 Figure 17. Post plot points (1998) in the study area 70 Figure 18. Bathymetric contour map (1998) of the study area in smooth 5 foot intervals... 71 Figure 19. Magnetic contour map (1998) of the study area in 10 gamma intervals 72 Figure 20. Magnetic contour map (1998) of the study area in 10 gamma intervals showing the seventeen magnetic areas or anomalies 73 Figure 21. Side scan sonar, Line 24, Section A, showing Anomaly Areas 1 and 6 74 Figure 22. Side scan sonar, Line 24, Section B, showing Anomaly Areas 3 and 4 75 Figure 23. Side scan sonar, Line 46, showing Anomaly Areas 6 and 7 76 Figure 24. Multibeam image showing overview of project area and locations of area A . and B insets 78 Figure 25. Multibeam image of project area from the northwest to the southeast 79 Figure 26. Multibeam image showing insert area A and Anomalies 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7 80 Figure 27. Multibeam image showing insert area B and Anomalies 11 and 12 81 Figure 28. Side scan sonar in area of Anomaly #7 at 600 kz 84 Figure 29. Excerpt from Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) showing shoal location 88 Figure 30. Multibeam image in the area of Anomaly #7 89 Figure 31. Multibeam image in the area of Anomaly #1 with overlay of Kinsman outline in the same scale 89 IV LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Oysters Shipped from Morgan City and Berwick, 1908-1909 (from Southern Pacific Rail Road 1910:7) 39 Figure 2. Excerpt from the Morgan City, LA 7.5' quadrangle (1994) showing the study area as defined in the scope of services 43 Table 3. Selected Magnetic Signatures of Known Objects 65 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This report details the results of research and analysis of remote sensing data for an area south of Morgan City along the south bank of Bayou Boeuf at a point where it enters Berwick Bay. Earth Search, Inc. (ESI), was contracted by the New Orleans District, U.S.