COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) — Archeologists excavating a site at Coos Bay say they are certain it was the camp built in 1852 by 35 dragoon soldiers after their ship wrecked on North Spit.
The site was discovered in 2009 and scientists dug into it last week.
Lead archaeologist and Southern Oregon University Professor Mark Tveskov told The World newspaper (http://is.gd/RfH2j0 ) in a story published Thursday that scientists found copper nails and tacks, pieces of porcelain plates and glass bottles.
“We’ve uncovered a tremendous amount of information about the site,” Tveskov said. “We’ve managed to figure out different parts of the site where some of the dragoons were living while they were here versus where they were keeping some of the stores from the ship.”
Tveskov and his colleagues will spend the next year analyzing their finds.
Historic accounts say Camp Castaway was built by survivors using the wreckage of the schooner Captain Lincoln after it was beached because it was taking on water. It had left San Francisco taking soldiers and supplies to reinforce settlers fighting Indians at Port Orford.
Survivors’ written accounts say the dragoons were approached by Indians who brought them food and helped salvage cargo. The dragoons then tore the ship apart and used it to build a temporary camp nestled behind a large dune near the beach.
When the scientists began excavating, they feared most of the artifacts would be gone, either rotted away or looted shortly after the dragoons were rescued. But what they found not only verified the site’s identity but offered some insight into how the soldiers lived.
Agnes Castronuevo, an archaeologist for the Confederated Tribes, checked for evidence of interaction between the castaways and the native population.
She found a projectile point fragment of the type that natives at that time were known to make for hunting, and fragments of a material they would have used to draw pictographs. A square piece of copper cut from the ship’s hull with a hole drilled in it would have been made to trade with Indians. There is also a smattering of shell and deer bones that could be cultural, she said.
“There’s a lot of information coming out of these units,” Castronuevo said. “It’s when you put it all together that the story starts to unfold.”
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Information from: The World, http://www.theworldlink.com
