TELL CITY, Ind. (AP) — The researchers working on the German Ridge Heritage Project in the Hoosier National Forest have coined a phrase to describe the frontier settlement there: “living on the edge.”
It describes the hardscrabble life that German immigrants carved out of the woods north of the more prosperous, commerce-friendly river towns along the Ohio River.
And it describes how the settlers used the land by placing buildings at the edges of the ridge so the clear-cut tops could be maximized for farming while allowing drainage to flow downhill.
Researchers from Indiana University and the Hoosier National Forest recently began an archaeological excavation of a long-abandoned farmstead deep in the forest near Tell City and Cannelton in Perry County.
Protected from the sun by the deep forest canopy, workers are digging and sifting through soil samples, mapping the site through traditional surveying techniques and using sophisticated geophysical remote sensing devices to detect everything from soil types to the location of probable artifacts beneath the earth’s surface.
There’s a quintessentially American story to be told from analyzing the site, said Bill Monaghan, senior research scientist at the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology at IU.
Quite simply, he said, the land was clear cut, exploited for its resources and then abandoned.
“There were no trees here at all,” project director Tim Baumann said, gesturing toward what now is a dense forest all around. “What you see now is the result of 100 years of growth.”
The area rivals the most beautiful forests in the Hoosier state, making it difficult to imagine a thriving settlement there including a German church, a post office and several homes carved out of the deep woods. Baumann said English, Scottish and Irish immigrants first settled the area, but the Germans moved in around the 1840s and thrived until roughly the turn of the century.
Students and professional archaeologists are now poring over the land, turning up broken bottles, ceramics and the remains of the early Hoosier settlement. “We love trash,” graduate research assistant Sara Clark said, only half-joking.
Purdue student Jonathan Fortner, who jumped at the opportunity to take part in the summer field study offered by IU, said he was thrilled to be among the first to come up with a substantial find — a door hinge — shortly after the archaeological dig began on Monday. “Some people may not see the importance of all of this, but you’re telling the story of this place — a very specific story that hasn’t been told.”
IU student Heather Alvey, from nearby Tell City, said she frankly had no knowledge of the area’s history outside of the river towns and is delighted to be taking a class for credit, learning archaeological techniques and enjoying the convenience of staying with her family as researchers work on the site. “It’s kind of sad it took 20 years for me to find out it’s really interesting up here,” she said.
Baumann said the researchers have been pleased to hear from so many families whose descendants came from German Ridge. “We’re getting photographs, family histories, all sorts of things now that the word’s gotten out that we’re up here,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re probably 15 or 20 years too late to have gotten information more directly from the generation that’s passed on.”
Project workers and IU archaeology students will be sifting, sorting and analyzing material taken from the dig well into the coming school year. And even after that, the work at the site will not be close to being over.
“Hopefully, the communities here, the people of Perry County and the families who can trace their ancestry here, will begin to take ownership of this,” said Angie Krieger, an archaeologist and heritage resource specialist for the U.S. Forest Service. Some components of a destination site already exist, as members of the Civilian Conservation Corps built a recreation area, a campground and a few trails as far back as the 1930s.
Project managers envision seeing the current excavation site marked for visitors to view and learn from. They also plan to see a heritage trail and website created to entice history-minded visitors to the area.
“We want people to come into the woods,” Krieger said. “And heritage tourism is really a valuable thing. Studies show that people spend more time and money exploring heritage sites than just recreational vacations.”
Baumann sees the promise of educational enhancement for both Tell City and the Perry Central school systems.
“The kinds of things we learn here can be integrated into the curriculum in ways where you’re giving examples close to home about real things and not just imagined scenarios,” he said. Baumann said there are many examples of student interest and grades increasing dramatically when they’re learning about things that are real and relevant to their own lives.
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Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com
