An Assessment of the Archaeological Potential of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, Makah Indian Reservation, Washington

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF THE NEAH BAY CHANNEL DEEPENING PROJECT AREA, MAKAH INDIAN RESERVATION, WASHINGTON

GARY C. WESSEN, Ph.D.

Prepared for the

Port of Neah Bay 1321 Bayview Avenue Neah Bay, WA 98357

Wessen & Associates, Inc. 905 56th Street Port Townsend, Washington 98368

March 2017 MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

The Makah Indian Tribe has proposed to undertake a project at the entrance to the Port of Neah Bay in order to improve navigation in this area. The principal focus of the plan is to dredge an approximately 5,200 foot channel, to a depth of -25 MLLW, at the port entrance. The dredge spoil obtained from this effort will then be used for beach nourishment on lower intertidal to shallow subtidal surfaces on the south side of the port entrance. Planning for this project there-fore included an assessment of the archaeological potential of the affected areas. This study has concluded that the archaeological potential of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area is probably very low. I believe that two fundamentally different types of archaeological resources could be encountered here: (1) potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits and (2) re-deposited archaeological objects. Examples of the first are very likely to be significant archaeological resources; examples of the second are much less likely to be. With specific reference to the project area, I believe that potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits are very unlikely to be present. The presence of re-deposited archaeological materials is considered to be more likely, but practical experience here suggests that such objects are probably present in only very small quantities. The latter lack clear cultural contexts and are therefore of limited analytical value. In sum, I believe that the proposed dredging of a subtidal channel at the entrance to Neah Bay and depositing the resulting dredge spoil on a nearby shoreline as beach nourishment will have no impact on potentially significant archaeological resources. This judgement is based in the view that such resources are very unlikely to be present in the project area. Further, the planned activities are very unlikely to have any impact on any of the three recorded historic archaeological sites located close to the project area. Given these circumstances, I recommend that the Makah Tribe be allowed to proceed with this project without archaeological restrictions. Neither additional archaeological studies nor construction monitoring appear to be warranted in this case.

The cover picture is an aerial view of the mouth of Agency Creek and the Neah Bay shoreline just to the west of Bahaada Point. The lower intertidal and shallow subtidal zones here are a portion of the beach nourishment area for the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project. View is to the south. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Management Summary ...... ii 1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1 2 BACKGROUND ...... 1 2.1 The Project Area ...... 1 2.2 Environmental Setting ...... 3 2.3 Cultural Setting ...... 5 2.3.1 The Traditional Makah Presence ...... 6 2.3.2 The Euro-American Presence ...... 8 2.4 Archaeological Setting ...... 9 2.4.1 Archaeology Research on and near the Makah Indian Reservation . . . 9 2.4.2 Previous Archaeology near the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area . 11 3 RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 13 3.1 Research Goals ...... 13 3.2 Research Methods ...... 13 4 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . 14 5 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 15

iii 1 INTRODUCTION

2 BACKGROUND

Appropriate areas of background consideration for this presentation include the basic character of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area and its environmental, cultural, and archaeological settings.

2.1 The Project Area

The Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area is located at the eastern end of Neah Bay (see Figure 1). Most of the area is located in the eastern half of Section 11, Township 33 North, Range 15 West, but a small portion of it extends into the western half of Section 12. In fact, the project area consists of two distinct locations: the dredged channel and the beach nourishment area (see Figure 2). The proposed channel is the principal feature of the project. It will be a dredged corridor beginning at the entrance to Neah Bay. The feature will begin at about the middle of the existing channel between Bahaada1 Point and the southern end of Waadah Island and extend approximately 5,200 feet to the west. All but the westernmost 600 feet of this dredged corridor will be approximately 400 feet wide. The western end will be 600 feet wide in order to provide a turning basin. The entire feature will be dredged to a depth of -25 feet MLLW. The large volume of marine sediments to be removed from the channel will be deposited on a section of the nearby southeastern shoreline of Neah Bay as a beach nourishment effort. The beach nourishment area is located directly south of the eastern half of the dredged corridor. It is an approximately 3,000 by 300 foot area extending westward from the west side of Bahaada Point. The dredge spoils will be deposited on the existing lower intertidal to shallow subtidal surfaces, beginning at elevations between +5 and +3 feet MLLW. In some places, the filling will

1 The locally prominent rocky point on the south side of the entrance to Neah Bay is identified as “Baada” Point on most modern maps. The place name is a word in the Makah Language and the Makah Cultural and Research Center prefers to render it as: “Bahaada”. This spelling is used here.

Figure 1 The location of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, Makah Indian Reservation, Washington.

Figure 2 The Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, Makah Indian Reservation, Washington.

2 extend out to subtidal surfaces as deep as -10 feet MLLW. Presumably, this material will be deposited with only very limited or no impact to the underlying beach surface. When completed, the nourished beach surface will have an elevation of +10 feet MLLW. There are currently no built features in the channel, but the beach nourishment area is marked by a shoreline dominated by a large boulder bulkhead approximately 20 feet tall and two large docks (see Figures 3 and 4). The base of the bulkhead is at +5 feet MLLW.

2.2 Environmental Setting

The Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, as just described, consists of two linear zones located at the entrance to Neah Bay. The bottom of the channel to be dredged is com- pletely subtidal and currently ranges from approximately -19 to -23 feet MLLW. Most of the sediment to be effected by the dredging is expected to be sand and gravel, although a large boulder just beyond the northern edge of the alignment may also be addressed (Michalsen 2012). The beach nourishment area begins in the lower part of the intertidal zone, but most of it is also subtidal. While most of the shoreline here is dominated by a large rock bulkhead, the eastern end of the nourishment area abuts extensive bedrock exposures at Bahaada Point. This point, and the southern end of Waadah Island, are parts of the Makah Formation; a sequence of folded sedimentary rocks that range from Late Eocene to Oligocene in age (Parke et al. 1980 and Muller et al. 1983). The mouth of Agency Creek is located immediately to the west of Bahaada Point and then the bulkhead begins at the west side of the creek. Given these locations, there is no developed Holocene soil anywhere in the project area. All portions of it are expected to contain only marine sediments. Thus, while various species of marine plants are probably present at both locations, no terrestrial plant communities exist here. No wildlife observations were made during the study, but it is assumed that the area hosts, or formerly hosted, most animals common to nearshore areas on the northwestern Olympic Peninsula of Washington. While this discussion of the project area’s environmental setting has focused on its current conditions, it is also worthwhile to briefly consider the character of past environments here in two different respects. First, it is useful to address how long term environmental change has affected the project area and then consider recent historical changes here as well. All of Makah Indian Reservation was covered by the Juan de Fuca Lobe of the Cordill- eran Ice Sheet in the Late Pleistocene, but the Neah Bay area was probably ice free by ca. 13,000 to 14,000 years ago (Armstrong et al. 1965 and Booth 1987). While there have been significant changes in the vegetation of this region during the Holocene, pollen data suggests that forest communities much like those of the early historic period have probably been present on Makah Indian Reservation for the last ca. 3,500 to 5,000 years (Whitlock 1992). In brief, the most important environmental variable affecting the project area has undoubtedly been changes in local sea level. A broad view of this matter suggests that relative sea levels on the northwestern Olympic Peninsula were probably lower than at present during the Late Pleistocene and then rose rapidly during the Early Holocene due largely to isostatic rebound. More recently, vertical movements in this area have been driven by tectonic and seismic affects. Of particular note, multiple recent studies have reported that the northwestern Olympic Peninsula has been uplifting

Figure 3 The western end of the beach nourishment area in the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, Makah Indian Reservation, Washington. View is to the east.

Figure 4 The eastern end of the beach nourishment area in the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, Makah Indian Reservation, Washington. Bahaada Point is visible in the left middle distance. View is to the east.

4 at a rate estimated to be between 1.5 and 4 millimeters per year (e.g., Holdahl et al. 1989, Mitchell et al. 1994, Bird and Schwartz 2000, and Shugar et al. 2014). This process has been raising older beaches in this region, stranding them in nearshore forest settings. While subsidence episodes occurring during some earthquakes have dampened the effect, the vicinity of Neah Bay has still been experiencing an emergent shoreline for at least the last few thousand years (Peterson et al. 2013). This means that it is extremely unlikely that submerged Holocene terrestrial deposits will be encountered beneath marine sediments in the project area. A second aspect of the former environmental setting of the project area concerns historic changes to its setting. The terrestrial surface immediately adjacent to the beach nourishment area - - behind the shoreline bulkhead - - contains a thick accumulation of fill materials. A map of this area prepared in 1935 predates the filling and shows that much of the backshore here was formerly quite low lying (see Figure 5). At least some wetland areas were probably present at this time. It should also be noted that the precise location of the bulkhead relative to the old shoreline is uncertain, beyond the observation that the bulkhead was clearly built in the intertidal zone and has thus extend the terrestrial surface at least slightly further to the north.

Figure 5 The vicinity of the shoreline adjacent to the proposed beach nourishment area (indicated by the red dashed line), as shown in a 1935 map of Neah Bay, Washington.

2.3 Cultural Setting

The cultural setting of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area includes both the traditional Makah presence and early historic and later Euro-American presence in this area. Brief accounts of each are present below.

5 2.3.1 The Traditional Makah Presence

The Neah Bay study area is situated within the traditional territory of the Makah Indians (Swan 1869, Renker and Gunther 1990). The Makah people speak a Wakashan language closely related to the Nitinat and Nootkan languages spoken on Vancouver Island. There do not appear to be any estimates of the pre-contact Makah population, but Boyd (1999:264) puts that the combined Makah and Ditidaht pre-contact population at approximately 5,400 people. Thus, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the Makah population in ca. 1700 AD was between 2,000 and 3,000 people. Makah people had a traditional economy much like those of most of their Wakashan- speaking neighbors to the north. They were skilled fishermen, marine hunters, and plant material gathers who possessed great knowledge about the resources available in their environment. While resources like whales, seals, salmon, and halibut can safely be considered to have been a major focus of their economic activities, they undoubtedly exploited a wide range of other fish, shellfish, mammal, bird, and plant food resources. Swan (1869:6) reports that they followed a subsistence pattern characterized by a series of seasonal movements determined by the availability of different seasonal resources. A typical annual cycle of movements included a substantial winter village and one or more seasonal camps which supported such activities as plant or shellfish collecting, hunting, and fishing. Winter villages were marked by the presence of large plank longhouses; residential structures in the seasonal camps were usually relatively small pole frame lodges covered with brush or woven mats. Swan (ibid) specifically reported five winter villages - - “Neeah” (Deah), “Bäada” (Bahaada), “Wäatch”, “Tsuess”, and “Hosett” (Ozette) - - and a number of other settlements occupied in other seasons. The traditional Makah village of Bahaada is of particular interest to the present study as this settlement was located near the southeastern end of the beach nourishment area, in the vicinity of the mouth of Agency Creek. Unfortunately, Bahaada Village was abandoned relatively early in the historic period and, as such, relatively little is known about this community. What may be the first historic documentation of the village was recorded during Charles Wilkes brief visit to Neah Bay in early August of 1841 (Blumenthal 2009). While neither Wilkes nor any of his associates have much to say about Bahaada Village, a map of the area he prepared shows a village on the west side of Bahaada Point - - referred to as “Village Point”- - (see Figure 6). The indicated location is in the immediate vicinity of the mouth of Agency Creek, but the creek itself is not indicated, and so it is not possible to precisely describe the village’s position with respect to the creek. Some additional information about Bahaada Village comes from James Swan. Swan first noted the existence of the village in September of 1859 (Katz 1971:70), but he provided no information about it other than that it was located “at the foot of the hill” near buildings owned by Henry Webster and Charles Strong (see Section 2.3.2). Swan briefly mentions the village again 10 years later. He (1869:6) places Bahaada at “the eastern point of the bay”, notes that it no longer exists, and adds that individuals from this community were now living at Deah. An important additional record provided by Swan is a watercolor sketch of Bahaada Village made in 1862 (see Figure 7). This picture clearly places the village on the Neah Bay shoreline, on the west side of the mouth of Agency Creek.

Figure 6 Detail of the 1841 Wilkes map showing the vicinity of the Neah Bay Channel Deep- ening Project Area. Note the village indicated on the west side of “Village Point”.

Figure 7 Swan’s 1862 sketch of Bahaada Village. Note the Agency Creek channel in the lower left corner. His viewpoint is clearly up on Bahaada Point, looking to the west.

7 2.3.2 The Euro-American Presence

The earliest written history of Neah Bay is essentially the history of Europeans, and later Euro-Americans, intruding upon the traditional life of the Makah people. This period is not well documented and written records describe it largely from the eyes of the intruders. While other Europeans may have sailed by earlier, the first to actually land in Neah Bay was Manual Qumiper in July of 1790 (Wagner 1933). Qumiper named the bay: “Bahia de Nunez Gaona” and claimed the surrounding lands for Spain. Two years later, in May of 1792, a small Spanish force under the command of Salvador Fidalgo returned to Neah Bay in order to establish a fort. While details regarding specific size and form of the settlement are sketchy, it couldn't have been very large and there are conflicting accounts of its contents (Whitlam 1990). The Spanish proved to be poor neighbors and quickly got into difficulties with the local residents. After an altercation in early July which cost the lives of one Spaniard and perhaps a dozen or more Makahs, Fidalgo was made to feel unwelcome and, on September 26, 1792, the Spanish abandoned their fort and sailed away. The following several decades saw increasing European and Euro-American traffic in this region, both as a part of the Spanish-English rivalry and as a part of the early 19th Century fur trade. Contact between Makahs and outsiders surely occurred during this period, but there are few specific records and no reason to believe that any such contacts were associated with a sustained presence of non-Makahs, on the ground, in the Neah Bay area. Charles Wilkes briefly visited the area in 1841, but his records indicate only very limited interactions with local people (Blumenthal 2009). More sustained contacts with Euro-Americans began in the late 1840s (Washburn 1972). Samuel Hancock arrived in the fall of 1849 and attempted to establish a trading post, but the effort did not thrive and he left the area the following spring (Hancock 1927). He returned again in 1852, was somewhat more successful as a trader this time, but left again within a year. Washington Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens held a treaty council with traditional Makah leaders in Neah Bay in January of 1855 which resulted in the Treaty which would subsequently establish the Makah Indian Reservation. The treaty was ratified in 1859. In the interim, Henry Webster, William and Charles Winsor, and Charles Strong arrived in the Neah Bay in August of 1857 and made a more successful effort to open a trading post. The Makah Indian Agency was established in 1862. Henry Webster became the first Indian Agent and one of his early priorities was a boarding school which operated here from 1862 to 1896 (Whitner 1981). James Swan served as a teacher at this school in the 1860s. Another important Federal presence was established with the arrival of the U. S. Life Saving Service in 1878. This facility moved twice in subsequent years, ultimately becoming the current U. S. Coast Guard Station in Neah Bay. The Makah people were granted U. S. Citizenship in 1924 and established their own Tribal Government in 1934. The U. S. Army had a significant presence in the area during World War II. They undertook extensive modifications to the area at that time, including the construction of a breakwater between Waadah Island and the western side of the bay, shoreline armoring, and the filling of low lying areas just to the west of Bahaada Point.

8 Several of the latter historic occupations were located close to shoreline near the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area. These include the trading posts of Hancock, and later of Webster and his associates, the Makah Indian Agency boarding school, and the U. S. Life Saving Service. Relatively little is known about Hancock’s trading post, but it may have been located at, or close to, Bahaada Point. When the Makah Indian Agency was established in 1862, it began to operate from this complex of structures and then established a larger presence on the hillside behind (i.e., interior to) the point. The U. S. Life Saving Service first established a station on the south end of Waadah Island in 1878 (Hanable 2008). The service operated from this location until 1908, when their facilities on the island were damaged by a storm. In 1910, they moved to a new station to the Neah Bay shoreline to the west of the mouth of Agency Creek. This facility - - initially referred to as the Baaddah Point Life Saving Station - - became a part of the U. S. Coast Guard in 1915; it is shown in Figure 5. The station was badly damaged by a storm in 1967 and it was subsequently moved to its present location approximately 1,000 feet to the west. Also, note that the 1935 map of the vicinity of the project area (Figure 5) shows a large dock extending into the bay about halfway between the Coast Guard Station and Baaddah Point. The indicated location is at, or close to, the former Cape Flattery Fish Company Dock. The 1935 map shows a railroad track beginning at this dock and extending to the south up the Agency Creek Ravine. This suggests that the dock was associated with logging activity in the area. Finally, at least a few vessels have sunk in Neah Bay during the historic period, but there are no reported early historic wrecks here. In fact, the DAHP’s WISSARD data base shows several shipwrecks in Neah Bay. None are well dated, but all appear to be 20th Century features. None are located within, or near, the project area.

2.4 Archaeology

Appreciation of the archaeological context of the present study requires a brief review of the history of archaeology research on and near the Makah Indian Reservation, followed by a somewhat more detailed consideration of previous archaeological activities at Bahaada Point.

2.4.1 Archaeology Research on and near the Makah Indian Reservation

The lands of the Makah Indian Reservation and its general vicinity have received more archaeological attention than almost any other similar-sized area in western Washington. Nevertheless, what we don’t know about the prehistory of this area still remains impressive and much about the history and character of this work parallels larger regional patterns. The history of archaeological investigations on the reservation began early in the 20th Century, yet most of the work occurred within the last 30 years. Albert Reagan (1917) was the first person to publish an account of shell midden deposits on shorelines near Cape Flattery. Reagan offered some brief observations about the structure and contents of these middens and noted a number of specific site locations. He apparently made minor cuts into some of the sites, but gave few details of the effort. There was no further investigation of archaeological sites in

9 the area until Richard Daugherty undertook a site survey of the Washington Coast in 1948. Fred Pennoyer began to record additional shell midden sites along the Strait of Juan de Fuca a few years later. Neither Daugherty nor Pennoyer excavated sites, but they were the first to prepare modern Archaeological Site Inventory Forms for sites in the area. Archaeological site survey efforts specifically focused upon the Makah Indian Reservation began with Ed Friedman (1976). Working as a part of the Ozette Archaeological Project, Friedman recorded cultural deposits at a number of ethno-historically reported sites and conducted test excavations at five of them. In the years since Friedman’s work, archaeological survey associated with land development (i.e., CRM archaeology) has become common on the reservation. Development-driven CRM archaeology has included the first efforts to investigate portions of the reservation other than shorelines and has recorded a number of archaeological sites. Much of the latter work was done by this author as a contractor. In 2001, the Makah Tribal Historic Preservation Office was established and it assumed the responsibility for inventorying archaeological resources here. Archaeological site survey efforts on the Makah Indian Reservation, to date, have resulted in an inventory of approximately 35 sites. Another 25 sites have been recorded on lands near the reservation. The vast majority of these sites are shell midden deposits associated with modern marine beaches. Many of them are physical remains at locations which are also the subject of Makah oral history. Also present in smaller numbers are lithic sites, petroglyph sites, culturally-modified trees, and sites containing evidence of the historic activities of non-natives peoples. There have also been a number of important archaeological excavation efforts. The earliest and most sustained excavation effort in the area was Daugherty’s work at Ozette [45CA24]. Large-scale excavations were conducted at Ozette in 1966 and 1967 and then from 1970 through 1981. Most of that effort focused upon ca. 300 to 400 year old waterlogged deposits containing large numbers of perishable artifacts (Samuels and Daugherty 1991). As noted earlier, Friedman undertook small-scale testing of five sites [45CA22, 45CA25, 45CA204, 45CA206, and 45CA207] on the reservation while the Ozette work occurred. Dale Croes began large excavations at a waterlogged site on the Hoko River [45CA213] in the mid 1970s (Croes and Blinman 1980) and then extend their work to testing a shell midden in a nearby rockshelter [45CA21] (Croes and Hackenberger 1988). Gary Wessen (1984 and 1993) conducted a limited testing of an older shell midden [45CA201] south of Ozette in 1979 and returned for more work at the site in 1992. During the 1990s, Wessen (1991 and 1992) undertook two additional small- scale test excavations at shell midden sites [45CA1 and 45CA22] on the Makah Reservation (Wessen 1991a and 1992) and David Conca (2000) made a significant effort at a lithic site [45CA432] located in the Olympic National Park near Lake Ozette. Most recently, the Makah Tribal Historic Preservation Office (THPO) has undertaken a program to study older shell middens similar to 45CA201. The first such effort was a small-scale test excavation of 45CA420 (Wessen 2003b). Similar small-scale testing efforts were later conducted at 45CA3 (Wessen 2006a) and 45CA400 (Wessen 2006b). These studies have provided many valuable insights into prehistoric cultural activities in this region. Most of the tested sites contain great quantities of faunal remains, in addition to artifacts, and reflect a highly sophisticated maritime tradition. Unfortunately, the sampled sites are not well distributed over the period that people have been in the region. At least eight of the

10 14 sites contain materials which represent cultural activity during the last ca. 1,500 years. At least four others contain evidence of cultural activity between ca. 1,500 and 4,500 years ago. Of some note, there is a clear difference in the distribution of these two groups (Wessen and Huelsbeck 2015). Most of the sites dated to the last ca. 1,500 years are located on low lying surfaces close to modern sea level. Nearly all of them are actively eroding. In contrast, sites dated to the interval between 1,500 and 4,500 years ago are all located on surfaces which range between approximately 20 and 40 feet above sea level.

2.4.2 Previous Archaeology near the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area

There have been no previous archaeological research in the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area and efforts near it have been limited. Few studies have occurred here and the documented efforts are relatively recent. Before considering these, however, it is interesting to consider possible earlier efforts. As just described, Reagan was the first person to publish an account of shell midden deposits on shorelines near Cape Flattery. His 1917 paper includes a map showing the locations of numerous sites along the Strait of Juan de Fuca (see Figure 8). Unfortunately, the map is simply a rough sketch and there is no accompanying discussion of most of the sites shown on it. Nevertheless, this map is of interest in the present context because it shows several sites in the vicinity of Neah Bay. Note that one of the sites shown by Reagan is located just to the west of Bahaada Point in Neah Bay. Thus, it is possible that this map shows a shell midden site which represents Bahaada Village. The next person to report sites here, Pennoyer, was likely aware of Reagan’s earlier work. Nevertheless, Pennoyer did not report a site along the Neah Bay shoreline just to the west of Bahaada Point. A possible explanation for this situation may be related to the extensive filling of the area around the mouth of Agency Creek during the 1940s (i.e., after Reagan’s activities, but before Pennoyer investigated the area). Specifically, it is possible that that an area of shell midden deposits - - representing Bahaada Village - - was observed by Reagan prior to 1917 and then was subsequently buried under fill materials during the 1940s. If this is what happened, then it is possible that the site observed by Reagan is still present, beneath the fill, somewhere in this area.

Figure 8 Reagan’s 1917 map of sites on the northern Olympic Peninsula. The red circle at the eastern end of Neah Bay highlights a site which may represent Bahaada Village.

11 More recently, several survey efforts have addressed some of the terrestrial surfaces close to the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area. These efforts have focused upon the vicinity of Bahaada Point and on the southern end of Waadah Island. Some of the latter were relatively informal efforts and others were more systematic. In total, three archaeological sites have been recorded on terrestrial surfaces close to the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area. Two are located at Bahaada Point and the third is on the southeastern shoreline of Waadah Island (see Figure 9). All three are historic sites associated with Euro-American activity in the area. The two at Bahaada Point are 45CA211 - - a dump thought to be at least partially associated with the Makah Indian Agency School - - (Grosso 1973) and 45CA512 - - a group of petroglyphs which appear to be associated with Makah Indian Agency staff - - (Wessen 2001a). The site Waadah Island - - 45CA513 - - is described as a cemetery for two individuals associated with the Baaddah Point Life Saving Station (Wessen 2001b). None of the latter have been evaluated in any detail. As a matter of speculation, I suspect that 45CA512 and 513 may be eligible for listing with the National Register of Historic Places; 45CA211 probably is not.

Figure 9 Recorded archaeological sites in the vicinity of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area.

12 Finally - - and admittedly anecdotal - - while no actual survey inspection of the project area was conducted for this study, I can claim to be familiar with the much of the upper intertidal zone in parts of the beach nourishment area. Specifically, I have informally examined the beach from Baaddah Point to the eastern margin of the current Coast Guard Station - - approximately 1,300 feet - - on more than one occasion and I am also familiar with the project area’s western end.

3 RESEARCH DESIGN

This report represents an assessment of the likely archaeological potential of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area. It is not an actual archaeological survey report for the project area as nearly all of it is inundated and no underwater inspection was made. Rather, it describes an effort to assess what the likely conditions are. The research design of the project included both a clear statement of goals and an identified set of methods.

3.1 Research Goals

The practical goals of this effort were quite similar to those of an archaeological survey. That is, to offer a judgement regarding the possible presence of potentially significant archaeological resources in the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area, and, if judged to be likely, to offer recommendations regarding possible impacts to them during the proposed channel dredging and beach nourishment activities. Such resources could include shell midden deposits, pre-historic and/or historic graves, petroglyphs, and/or materials associated with early historic Euro-American structures or activities. The effort was descriptive and documentary in nature. As such, the articulation of study findings within any particular proposed regional cultural framework was not a high priority. Similarly, the study results cannot be considered to be a test of any particular model of prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns or other cultural process dynamics.

3.2 Research Methods

The work plan for this study was essentially a literature review tempered by prior experience in the immediate vicinity of the project area and at many other locations on the Makah Indian Reservation and elsewhere on the Olympic Peninsula. The effort compiled and examined environmental, cultural, and archaeological data from this area in order to evaluate the current engineering plans for the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area. Literature reviewed for this effort included relevant documents on file with the Makah Cultural and Research Center, the Port of Neah Bay, the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, the Northwest Collections of the King County Library, Wessen & Associates, Inc., and at various internet sites.

13 4 DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The background review and prior experience in this region argues strongly that the archaeological potential of the Neah Bay Channel Deepening Project Area is probably quite low. In my view, there are two fundamentally different types of archaeological resources which could be encountered here: (1) potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits and (2) re-deposited archaeological materials. Examples of the first are very likely to significant archaeological resources; examples of the second are much less likely to be. With specific reference to the project area, I believe that potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits are very unlikely to be present. The presence of re-deposited archaeological materials is considered to be more likely, but practical experience here suggests that such objects are probably present in only very small quantities. The conclusion that potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits are very unlikely to be present is based heavily on geologic data demonstrating that the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula has been uplifting for millennia. This condition means that older Holocene shorelines here are now present in nearshore forest settings. Confirmation of this can be seen in archaeological sites associated with these uplifted shorelines dating between ca. 1,500 and 4,500 years ago. It therefore follows that locations in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal zones of Neah Bay today were still deeper below sea level during that time. As such, there is no possibility for them to contain potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits representing the period. The available sea level reconstructions suggest that a lower than modern stand occurred during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene and it is therefore possible that much older potentially intact, inundated, archaeological deposits could be present. While this possibility cannot be dismissed, there is no reason to suggest that it is likely. In fact, such a discovery in this area would be unprecedented. Further, in the absence of detailed information on sedimentation rates here, it is not possible to suggest how deeply a Late Pleistocene archaeo-logical deposit might be buried. Potentially, such a deposit could be present here and yet lie beneath the depth at which the dredging will occur. In contrast, it would not be surprising if small numbers of re-deposited archaeological materials were present in the project area. These would be objects which have eroded out of nearby terrestrial archaeological sites and can now be encountered in the lower intertidal and shallow subtidal zones. Given that the most likely source of such objects would be a site representing the late prehistoric and early historic Bahaada Village, I would expect such materials to be more common in the beach nourishment area than in the dredged channel further offshore. Similarly, I would expect them to be more common near the mouth of Agency Creek, at the eastern end of the beach nourishment area, than further to the west. I would also expect that such objects would be heavily biased toward the more durable materials; fire-cracked rocks and chipped or ground stone artifacts. Bone, shell, and other organic artifacts are much less likely to be encountered. While I consider that the preceding expectations to be reasonable, it is important to add that, to my knowledge, archaeological materials have never been observed in the intertidal zone near the mouth of Agency Creek and examples of re-deposited archaeological objects - - of any kind, from anywhere in the project area, have been rare. This condition is, perhaps, not sur-

14 prising and should not been seen as undercutting the possibility of an as yet undetected archaeological site near the mouth of Agency Creek. It remains possible that such a mass of cultural deposits is present behind the bulkhead on the shoreline here. The bulkhead was constructed during the 1940s and, if it consolidated an archaeological site behind it, then no erosion to the cultural deposits has occurred since that time. Thus, any objects which eroded out of the site prior to the bulkhead’s construction have been subject to wave energy and other beach processes for more than 70 years and no introduction of additional objects is likely as long as the bulkhead remains in place. No more than very small numbers of such objects are likely to be present and most are likely to be in poor condition. In sum, I believe that the proposed dredging of a subtidal channel at the entrance to Neah Bay and depositing the resulting dredge spoil on a nearby shoreline as a beach nourishment effort will have no impact on potentially significant archaeological resources. This judgement is based in the view that such resources are very unlikely to be present in the project area. Further, the planned activities seem very unlikely to have any impact on any of the three recorded archaeological sites located close to the project area. Given these circumstances, I recommend that the Makah Tribe be allowed to proceed with this project without archaeological restrictions. Neither additional archaeological studies nor construction monitoring appear to be warranted in this case.

5 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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