DISCOVERY The search for Lewis and Clark BY KATHLEEN CRAVEN

bead. A lead ball. Bison bones. State University and a his- ground. The group hopes that further ARemains of cooking fires. torical archaeologist now in charge of excavation will uncover artifacts that More than 200 years after the Corps the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center can be tied to the explorers, such as of Discovery set out to chart the vast in Oregon. The team is searching for remnants of the blacksmith shop new Louisiana Territory, these and physical evidence of the Lewis and where metal was fashioned in trade similar artifacts are helping Clark expedition; as the group’s geoar- for corn. researchers identify some of the chaeologist, Hill looks to land forma- “Archaeology is like looking for a explorers’ campsites along the route. tions for clues to the past. The team’s needle in a haystack,” Hill says. Specifically, they’re looking for places research, which spans more than a “Except there may be several needles where the corps spent weeks or decade, was chronicled in a 2002 doc- in several haystacks. It’s important to months, such as Fort , Fort umentary for the Discovery Channel. figure out which artifacts might be Clatsop and the Lower Portage site While rivers change course and from the time of Lewis and Clark.” where they prepared to carry their forests burn, landmarks such as rock This is especially true at the Lower gear 18 miles around the Great Falls of outcroppings, cliffs and mineral Portage site, where about a dozen his- Missouri in Montana. toric campfires have been found but For Boise State archaeologist only three lie in the formation com- Christopher Hill, finding those sites mon to the military in 1805. Excavations near those sites have uncovered a wooden stake used for cooking and bison bones bearing the marks of iron tools, both dating to the early 1800s. Archaeologist Christopher Hill What they have yet to uncover is compared historic maps with the buried cache of supplies the men current landscapes, above, to help find the likely site of Fort chose to leave behind, or the iron CHRISTOPHER HILL Mandan, left, in North Dakota boat frame buried at the nearby Upper where Lewis and Clark spent Portage site. the winter of 1804-05. At the end of the trail where a will add another dimension to the springs tend to be more stable, pro- reproduction of was built vast scientific record Meriwether viding a way to track specific sites. To in 1958 (and was recently destroyed Lewis and left behind. find the likely site of Fort Mandan in by fire), Hill believes that Clark’s How have river channels changed North Dakota, where Lewis and Clark maps, known for their accuracy, place since Clark navigated and mapped spent the long, bitterly cold winter of the fort’s actual site to the northwest. them? What places show signs of ero- 1804-05, Hill compared Clark’s detailed Although forests can change greatly sion or burial? How and where were maps with the current landscape. By over time, a nearby bluff adds weight campsites organized? overlaying historical and current dia- to his premise. “That information is potentially pre- grams, he was able to estimate the Whatever the outcome, Clark’s maps served in the archaeological evidence fort’s most likely location. have allowed Hill a unique glimpse at and will complement and add to the Excavations in that area uncovered how the landscape has changed over story of Lewis and Clark,” Hill says. a layer of charred soil 4 to 6 feet two centuries and how cultures con- Hill is part of a team headed by Ken beneath the surface, dated to around tinue to have an impact on the world Karsmizki, a former colleague at the time Fort Mandan burned to the around them.

14 FOCUS FALL 2005