The Dawn Country

I am currently in the process of reviewing a book of “archaeological fiction” entitled The Dawn Country. The authors, Cathleen O'Neal Gear and her husband, W. Michael Gear, are both professional archaeologists and draw on material from sites they have worked on or visited around the country. This is the second book in this series, the first being, The People of the Longhouse. I will have more for you on this book as I read it! Stay tuned!

Archaeology Update

Enterprise 1815

Hello everyone,


         It has been awhile and there is much I want to update all of you on. First, the Monongahela Oral History project is still under full steam. A total of 10 riverworkers, from steamboat captains to deckhands, and even cook have been interviewed! I am always looking for more workers who toiled on the Monongahela River during the age of the steamboat to interview, so let me know if you know of anyone. This oral history project is trying to capture a snapshot of a grossly overlooked period in industrialization and labor in the US, from an often overlooked area, the Mon Valley of Pennsylvania.
     The second project is:

    Brownsville Archaeology Month

May 9-27^th, 2011 9am-4pm

Location: Intersection of Bank St. & Prospect St.

     This is the first year for archaeological excavations showcasing the hidden history of Brownsville, Pennsylvania. At one time, this small town was positioned at the very edge of the western frontier, as an endpoint of the National Road. To the west, its only barrier to an unknown land was the northward flowing Monongahela River.

     In 1814 a revolution in transportation took place on the banks of the Monongahela River at Brownsville. The Enterprise, the first steamboat to travel from Brownsville to New Orleans and back under its own power proved that river transportation was a viable alternative to the often dangerous, muddy, and perilous overland roads most people traveled on.

     The Enterprise ushered in a period of steamboat building at Brownsville throughout the 19^th century, with Brownsville producing well over 850 boats that traveled up and down the nation's river systems. Brownsville developed a complex system of foundries, engine shops, lumber yards, and boat yards to support the increasing amounts of people, emigrants, goods, and supplies traveling to the newly opened western frontier. During Brownsville Archaeology Month, we hope to uncover a window into this hidden past that lies in plain sight. A crumbling foundation here, and abandoned building there, and a sense that something greater happened in this place we call our community.

      Brownsville Archaeology Month's main focus this year is on the riverworkers, those men and women, white and black who made it their job to transport people and cargo to the many rivertowns in this area and westward. Our focus is a house once owned by a steamboat captain, Captain James Gormley who piloted the Jesse R. Bell in the late 1850's. There is little information on him, but it is our goal as archaeologists to piece together the puzzle of his life.

      The event is open to everyone, anyone who wants to volunteer on the excavation is only required to send an email to Marc Henhaw at marc_henshaw@hotmail.com. The Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology Mon/Yough Chapter #3; the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corporation, Nemacolin Archaeological Services, California University of Pennsylvania, and the Monongahela River, Railroad, and Transportation Museum are sponsoring this event. We hope to bring in K-12^th grades from local schools, local organizations, and the general population to learn about Brownsville's once thriving industrial past. Come join us! RSVP by April 29^th, 2011.

Marc Henshaw AKA Archeology Dude

marc_henshaw@hotmail.com

Come and join us for some fun in the dirt!

Brownsville Redevelopment

Taken from the

 http://www.brownsvilletelegraph.com/THE_BROWNSVILLE_TELEGRAPH/Home.html

A visitor walking through the streets of Brownsville with no prior
knowledge of the town,would be struck by a series of feelings.
One of these feelings might be of wonder as they try to piece the
broken picture of the town together in their mind of what it might have
looked like in its heyday. Another thought would surely be of its present
day condition, ruined, empty,and quiet. How they would think, could a
town with such beautiful architecture be in such a deplorable condition?
They may in that instant, understand the immense history of this place,
a history that is hidden to most in the windowless buildings, the empty
facades, and theghost town appearance that Brownsville reflects.


As an industrial archaeologist who was born and raised in Brownsville,
the town's history is my history. I have tried to help out where ever I
could, and in my research for my dissertation, I have talked to many
folks who lived in town when it was seemingly booming. I have
encountered two types of people who live in our town, those that want
to preserve it, and those that want to tear it down. Rarely do the two
ideologies meet in the middle.
To both sides, I ask this, “what is the largest industry in the world?”
The answer is heritage tourism. By and large, throughout the world,
especially in Europe, small towns that suffered economic disasters
realized that tourists like to see old buildings especially if you could
tie an interesting history to them. Take for example in Sweden
where they reuse old dilapidated industrial buildings by turning them
into apartments. Closer to home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula,
the copper mining patch towns are realizing that there are people
from around the world interested in mining and who
travel there just to see how copper was mined.


Brownsville has three focal points to heritage tourism.
The first one is the Dunlap's Creek Bridge. As an industrial archaeologist,
I have been to conferences where the main draw is bridges and bridge
construction. Currently, most of the span is covered by previous construction.
This is not really an issue. The issue is the invasive knotweed that covers the
banks. Cooperation to have that removed during the 2009 July 4th celebration
was met with hostility from the governing body of the town. The focal point that
would generate the most tourism interest should be the bridge. People identify
easier when they are told that something is the first of its kind. The second
focal point is Bowman's Castle. It is the most easily recognized structure
on the landscape as people come across the bridge. The third resource
Brownsville has in its favor is the Monongahela River. The promotion of
the history of the river in the development of the United States cannot
be over stated, and yet in our town, few people fully understand
how Brownsville contributed to western expansion. The invention
of the western steamboat to funding the locks and dams on the
Monongahela River, Brownsville was the center of it all. Yet there is little
that a visitor new to the town would be able to discover on their own.


So what is the solution? How do we pull in visitors who may want to stay
and invest in Brownsville? First, we need local history
(with a Brownsville focus) taught in our schools with knowledgeable
people talking to the students. Second, we have to put ourselves out there.
There should be an advertisement in historical magazines touting the first
cast iron bridge in the United States. We cannot wait for development to
find us --but we have to seek it out. Third, cut the petty infighting and political
nonsense between the City of Brownsville, BARC, and the Historical Society.
This town needs collaboration not division. We can see what division has done
already and it is not an alternative. I think we need to have someone documenting
the town and coming up with a car tour or walking tour. If the building isn't there,
so what? Have a picture of it and its importance. Our town's heritage was
steamboat building, we built over 800 of the boats. We are ground zero for western
river steamboat innovation and development. Let's devise a tour based on
that, where people can see where prominent captains, workers, and boat builders
were. However, we first have to see value in what we have. If we don't feel that
Brownsville is valuable, then it has no worth. We will have a parking lot and not a
single reason to park there.


I want to invite people from all around the world to visit Brownsville,
Pennsylvania. Relish in its industrial 19th century history, and be absorbed
into its decay. Yes, that's right. I want you to come and see the decay the
20th century and its deindustrialization has done to this once thriving town.
I invite you to look at the Dunlap Creek Bridge and think about the promise
it held for the fledgling United States, and look at it now for what it is, a
forgotten artifact of the first half on the 19th century. When you come an visit,
pass judgement not on what you see today, but on what could be done in the
future to create a  sustainable economy here in this town on the frontier.


Marc Henshaw (Archaeology Dude)

Dunlap Creek Bridge

Nemacolin Castle

    

Monongahela Oral History Project

                                  Image via Wikipedia

Hello Everyone!

       I wanted to give an update of the Monongahela Oral History Project I initiated this past summer. So far with the help of a local newspaper, the  Pittsburgh Tribune Review, and this article posted here: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_692011.html I was able to get roughly 10 people to tell their story. What is that story? The men and women who came forward share a background of working on the Monongahela River at the twilight of the steam era. These people had the opportunity to work on steamboats that pushed coal from Fairmont West Virginia to Pittsburgh, some of them even as far as New Orleans. This project is not over. I have not been able to able to attract the attention of the local newspapers, the Herald Standard or the Observer Reporter. I have written letters to the editor, and have not received a response. Many of these people who labored on the steamboats are in their late 80’s early 90’s in age. We must get to them so that we can understand their historic contribution to the growth of industry in the Mon Valley. If any of you reading this want to contribute, please contact the local papers and get them to listen! If you have a relative or know of anyone who worked on the boats in the Mon Valley during the period of steam, let me know. Together we can help save the past one person at a time.  

People not just digging!

Image via Wikipedia

Many people often ask me, "what is the coolest artifact I've ever found?" or "What is that artifact worth?" While artifacts are important to archaeology, the question I have is, "do archaeologists need to find artifacts?" The answer may surprise many of you, because we often think of artifacts as objects such as arrowheads (PP/K's), pottery, or an ancient shipwreck. But what about company records from a coal mine? A diary? How about a building? Maybe machinery or photographs? Newspapers? Some of you may say, "Archaeology Dude! Archaeology is about digging sites and cataloging artifacts, not about books or pictures!" I would say, archaeology is about people and their daily lives in the past. 

As a student of archaeology, I want to study the fabric of the human condition in the past.What was life like in 1850 in Southwestern Pennsylvania? What about in 950BP (Before Present)? Archaeology is about experiencing and understand what life was like for the common person during a specific time period. Thant includes not only the tools and technology people used but also the different objects and texts (if any) that allowed people to go about their daily lives. Archaeology is the understanding of the human condition in the past. All objects, from tools, to maps, to documents, to photographs, and the very site notes and logs that archaeologist use on a dig site, all of them contribute to the understanding of what it was like to be a human in the past. 

Image via Wikipedia

Hi All!

Well summer is almost officially here, and I have been hard at work. I've two major projects going on right now. The first is a phase III excavation of a prehistoric resource processing site in southwestern Pennsylvania. This site was used to gather and roast tree nuts for consumption. The major indicator of this activity is in the dozen or so "nutting stones" or pecked stone tools found throughout the excavated portion of the site. My second project is my dissertation. So far I have collected one oral history from a gentleman who worked and toiled on the Monongahela River as a deckhand on a variety of steamboats. I however need more people to interview. I'm looking for 20 individuals who worked on the steamboats until their eventual phasing out in the late 1950's early 1960's. I want to capture their story of what life was like working on the river, living in a community where the river was an important natural resource, and hopefully gain an understanding of what it means to be a river worker. If any of my dear readers know anyone, by all means send them my way!

Archaeology and the Community

One of the more interesting aspects being involved in the local archaeological community, is public interaction and outreach. Many archaeologists both in CRM (Cultural Resource Management) and in academia, simply do not actively involve themselves with their own local community. This is unfortunate, and I think it has more to do with perception than actual effort. Within CRM, many field archaeologists are comfortable digging holes, screening, and identifying cultural remains.

However, it has been my experience that many are not comfortable in their own knowledge to take what they find further. Many field techs have expressed that, "they are not paid the big bucks for interpretation." or "leave it for those in the lab or the PI to figure the site out." This type of attitude has left a vacuum in the community where often such information is sought. Academics as well have left many of their own communities out to dry. They may research events, individuals, and historic places only to leave the community in the dark. Local historians have often kept their files in cabinets and drawers, never to see the light of day.

So what is the answer? Knowledge brings with it responsibility. For people like myself who teeter on the edge of two worlds, academic and public, we often find that although there are outlets for knowledge, such as conferences and journals, the names and faces who attend or subscribe are often the same. The people who need the information are not subscribing to journals, or are paying for conferences. The local mayor of you home town does not receive the Society of Historic Archaeology journal or attend the Eastern States Archaeological conference. That leaves only us as an "archaeological community" to educate the local community.