COHONGOROOTO: THE POTOMAC ABOVE THE FALLS ARCHEOLOGICAL IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION STUDY OF C&O CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ROCK CREEK TO SANDY HOOK (MILE MARKERS 0 TO 59) Volume I PREPARED FOR: NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION NATIONAL PARK SERVICE 1100 OHIO DRIVE, S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20242 PREPARED BY: THE LOUIS BERGER GROUP, INC. 2300 N Street NW Washington, D.C. 20037 December 2005 Final Report COHONGOROOTO: THE POTOMAC ABOVE THE FALLS ARCHEOLOGICAL IDENTIFICATION AND EVALUATION STUDY OF CHESAPEAKE & OHIO CANAL NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ROCK CREEK TO SANDY HOOK (MILE MARKERS 0 TO 59) VOLUME I Final Report PREPARED FOR: National Capital Region National Park Service 1100 Ohio Drive, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20242 PREPARED BY: Stuart Fiedel, John Bedell, Charles LeeDecker THE LOUIS BERGER GROUP, INC. 2300 N Street NW Washington, D.C. 20037 December 2005 FOREWORD This is the first of three volumes reporting the results of a three-year archeological survey of the easternmost 59 miles of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (C&O Canal Park) for the National Park Service (NPS), National Capital Region, from 2003 through 2005. In recognition of the paucity of basic archeological data for the C&O Canal Park, and for other NPS properties in the National Capital Region, funds were devoted to implement the Systemwide Archeological Inventory Program (SAIP) in this area. The SAIP was developed to address the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act (specifically Sections 106 and 110), Executive Order 11593, and the Archeological Resources Protection Act. The rationale for the archeological survey was based primarily on the NPS’s resource management needs under Section 110 rather than being driven by development or capital improvement projects within the park. The park’s total length of 184.5 miles was divided into three segments for the SAIP project. The research reported here focused on the southeastern segment comprising 59 miles between Georgetown and Sandy Hook (Figure 1). The NPS plans to fund future studies that will examine the archeology of the remainder of the C&O Canal NHP. In order to address multiple audiences most effectively—the general public, park, NPS, review agency staff, and the archeological community—this report is organized in a way that differs from the standard cultural resource study. This volume (I) presents a narrative, designed for the general public, of the prehistory and history of the mid-Potomac region, based upon the archival and archeological field investigations; it is intended for the non-technical reader and does not contain specific information about site locations. Volume II provides a more technical description and assessment of the project’s research methods and findings. In organization and content, it more closely follows the professional standards of the cultural resource management industry, and it is intended for distribution only within the professional community. Whereas Volume I contains the historical narrative, Volume II concentrates on a presentation of the prehistoric research. Volume III, also intended for limited distribution, contains additional technical materials and appendices, including artifact inventories, a summary list of radiocarbon dates, and transcripts of the archival documents that are most important to the historical narrative contained in Volume I. i SOURCE: National Park Service FIGURE 1: Map of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 EXPLORING THE PAST ALONG THE POTOMAC ......................................................................... 3 TIME AND THE RIVER.............................................................................................................. 8 Sun, Ocean, Earth, and Ice............................................................................................ 8 Digging into the Past .................................................................................................... 10 Prehistory ...................................................................................................................... 12 THE FIRST PEOPLE ................................................................................................................. 14 NEW LIFEWAYS IN A WARMING WORLD ................................................................................ 20 THE BEST OF TIMES? .............................................................................................................. 24 THE CONTAINER REVOLUTION ............................................................................................... 31 THE ALGONQUIAN SPEAKERS ARRIVE ................................................................................... 33 MAIZE, ARROWS, AND PALISADES ......................................................................................... 36 THE WORST OF TIMES? .......................................................................................................... 42 Native Populations Collapse, 1500 to 1650 ................................................................. 42 Henry Fleet’s Potomac Expedition, 1632 .................................................................... 45 How Did the Rivers Get Their Names? ....................................................................... 49 INDIANS, RANGERS, AND TRADERS ........................................................................................ 56 1692 .............................................................................................................................. 56 The Piscataways at Heaters Island ............................................................................... 58 Tuscarora and Other Iroquois ...................................................................................... 59 Conestoga and Opessa’s Town .................................................................................... 60 Martin Chartier and the Shawnees ............................................................................... 61 Swedish Frontiersmen on the Potomac ........................................................................ 66 Cultural-Historical Importance of the Delaware Swedes ............................................ 73 SETTLEMENT .......................................................................................................................... 75 The Earliest Colonial Patents on the Potomac ............................................................. 75 The “Rangers” .............................................................................................................. 76 Slaves, Servants, and Indians in the “Back Woods” .................................................... 77 Settlers .......................................................................................................................... 78 Tenants Along the Potomac ......................................................................................... 79 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Chapter Page Archeological Evidence of Sugarlands Settlements .................................................... 84 The Hickman Cemetery ............................................................................................... 84 Ericksons, Nilssons, and Other Swedes Among the Early Settlers ............................. 86 The Ferries ................................................................................................................... 91 Mouth of Monocacy ..................................................................................................... 93 West of the Monocacy ................................................................................................. 94 War ............................................................................................................................... 95 THE CANAL ERA .................................................................................................................... 97 The Potowmack Company ........................................................................................... 97 The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ................................................................................. 97 The Canal Builders ...................................................................................................... 99 The Civil War .............................................................................................................. 101 The End of the Canal ................................................................................................... 103 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................................ 104 iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1 Map of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal ......................................................................... ii 2 A Canal Boat in Operation on the C&O, Early Twentieth Century ............................. 1 3 Excavations Along the C&O Canal .............................................................................. 6 4 Great Falls of the Potomac............................................................................................ 9 5 Deep Excavation at Site 18FR798 ................................................................................ 10 6 Paleoindian Spearpoints and Scrapers from a Site near the Canal ..............................