AUGUST 15, 2013 Smoke Signals 5 Evidence off female presence at Foirtt YamhfiDD Oregon State students ing the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department a definitive layout of continue annual work at the fort circa the middle of the 19th important historical site century. "Archaeology is the first time we By Dean Rhodes have been able to create an accurate Smoke Signals editor map of the fort," Brauner says. Being stationed at Fort Yamhill Huerter says that the depart- between 1856 and 1861 was a ment hopes to move the surviving lonely existence for a Union sol- officer's quarters building back up dier, says Dr. David Brauner, an --wait tjv the hill and place it in its original Oregon State University anthropol- r location. The building features a ogy professor who has supervised bay window facing north, which archaeological excavations at the overlooked the Killimuck Trail, site since 2004. the main trade route between the "Nobody wrote about these guys," coast and Willamette Valley used he says while 16 Oregon State by Native Americans since time students excavate two locations at immemorial. the fort on Thursday, Aug. 8. "From "More 'We're in control,' " Huerter 1856 to the outbreak of the Civil says about the fort's commander be- War, these troops were isolated ... ing able to look out the bay window at the end of the supply lines." and see who is coming and going However, items long buried that without stepping outside. have been unearthed this summer Additional plans call for ghost during an annual eight-wee- k field buildings being added and a perim- trip for archaeology students have eter fence erected to give visitors a confirmed a much more frequent better visual idea of how large the female presence at the fort than fort was and how imposing it must first imagined. have been to Natives on the Grand Students unearthed perfume Photo by Michelle Alaimo Ronde Reservation. bottles, baleen hair pins, the heel Cayla Hill, who is working on her master's degree in historical archaeology "This place is in its infancy," of a woman's shoe, dress buttons at Oregon State University, displays buttons that were recently excavated at Huerter says. "There is so much and a pendant that indicate women Fort Yamhill State Heritage Area on Thursday, Aug. 8. The buttons are from potential for this to become an were frequent visitors to the fort. female clothing, indicating that women were present at the fort. Also on amazing heritage site and the ar- They also found a porcelain marble, display are additional artifacts that have been unearthed this summer. chaeology is helping us decide what indicating that every now and then stories to tell." children might have been present. the Native peoples, it was a con- from the Dragoons, the precursors Dennis Willey, Willamette Dis- "There is so much to learn here," stant reminder that their lives had of the cavalry and the earliest sol- trict manager for the Parks & Brauner says. "This is an amazing changed forever and they were not diers stationed at the fort. Recreation Department, said about archaeological site." in control." Brauner's theory about the arti- $35,000 is needed to move the com- Fort Yamhill was constructed in When the fort was decommis- facts indicating a female presence mander's house back to its original 1856 on a saddle between two hills sioned in 1866, only one of the at the fort leans toward the second site. Money for the move is not in overlooking the Grand Ronde Val- officer's quarters buildings was house being used as a place to put the department's current biennial ley with a dual purpose - to keep preserved, moved down the hill up guests, such as fellow Army of- budget and a fundraising effort is the Native Americans forced on to and used as a residence by the ficers on their way to Fort Hoskins, beginning. the Grand Ronde Reservation in property's new owner. All of the which was located in King's Valley Brauner says the archaeologi- check and to also protect the Natives other buildings were dismantled or in Benton County. cal work left to do at Fort Yamhill from the continuing influx of white purchased at auction and moved. "There is not a scratch of evidence will last beyond his already 38-ye- ar settlers, miners and farmers arriv- Brauner's students this summer that Native women were used as career at Oregon State, but ing in Oregon. Approximately 70 have excavated the area behind the servants," Brauner says, adding that continuing the excavations is soldiers, officers and a surgeon were commander's house, as well as the that even if Lt. Phil Sheridan had a important for the history of Fort regularly stationed at the fort. foundation of the second house in Native American mistress while he Yamhill, as well as Oregon and the A row of six whitewashed officer's officer's row, which is half the size was stationed at the fort, he would myriad Tribes moved to the Grand quarters four full-size- d and two of a standard officer's quarters. not have had her living in officer's Ronde Reservation in the 1850s. half-size-d - sat at the apex of Fort Oregon State students have quarters. "Archaeology is the intersection Yamhill, giving officers an unob- worked for eight weeks, Monday "They would not have had women between the past and the modern structed view of the Grand Ronde through Friday, carefully scraping who were not their wives here," public. Only two diaries of men who Valley to the west, the Yamhill off layer and layer of dirt with shov- Brauner says. served here survived. Military re- River Valley to the south and any els and jostling the dirt through a From their work since 2004, Or- cords can be hit or miss. This is the approaching visitors coming from wire mesh sifter. They will wrap egon State students have found the only way to bring these guys back the east. up their work at Fort Yamhill on sandstone foundations for most of into the history books," he says. "The fort had a huge impact on Aug. 23. the buildings at Fort Yamhill, giv And the women, too. D the landscape," says Matt Huerter, Their other finds have included a park ranger at Fort Yamhill State champagne bottle, bulk ink bottle, Heritage Area. "The flag flew 200-fee- t shards of tea cups and plates, high and the white buildings parts of a cast-iro- n stove and coffee Youth all in a row ... you could see the grinder, and many nails. They also Education closed buildings miles away. For found two military uniform buttons from between Aug. 12-2- 3 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, r 1 with a K-1- 2 "last blast" to the beach. For more information, contact Tiffany Mercier at

I y Community members wanted We will be hosting an informational booth, so be sure to The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's 477 Employment and Training stop hy and find out more about becoming a foster parent! 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 it part of the planning, preparation and cultivation of the Tribal garden and orchard site for next year's planting season, contact Barbara Gibbons at if 6, ext. 2135, or barbara.gibbonsgrandronde.org. B