By Deb Derickson, FS Employee and First-Time PIT Volunteer
This past summer I had the privilege of being selected to work as a volunteer with the Heritage Program of the Chequamegon-Nicolet NF on the Butternut Lake archaeological site in Eagle River, Wisconsin.
I have been a mystery buff all of my life and have great curiosity about our ancestors. Who were they? Where did they live? What did they eat? What tools did they have? How technologically advanced were they? I have read many books over the years on various archaeological discoveries and have envied the people who were there when the discoveries were made. My family never quite shared my enthusiasm about going on a dig, so I waited until my children were grown, and as soon as the last one left the nest, I applied to be a volunteer with the PIT program. I have traveled extensively over the years, but when I received notice I was selected to work on the project, I anticipated the start date more than I had any vacation in my life.
I arrived the first day so excited I could hardly contain myself. I wanted to fly out of the truck and just begin digging for buried treasures. Fortunately the FS staff were waiting for us and explained a slightly more disciplined approach. I listened to the briefing on what had taken place the week before and then was assigned to a crew to begin excavation. The area had been carefully measured and marked off, and we began digging in the dirt with our trowels. It was a slow process, one layer of dirt at a time. As we dug, I listened to stories of more-seasoned veterans regarding their previous digs, triumphs, and failures. I was beginning to have a major backache by noon, the bugs were eating me alive, I had to go to the bathroom (which was a great distance from where we were digging), and I was disheartened by stories of people digging for years and never finding anything. I thought maybe I had made a bad choice for a vacation when suddenly the man digging next to me found a quartzite flake. It was only a flake, but it was real! I was once again entranced by the mystery.
We all rushed through our lunch, anxious to get back to work. Our little area was actually quite full of quartzite and quartz, so the afternoon was flying by when suddenly I found it . . . the most beautiful piece of quartzite I had seen all day. I held it in my hand, examining it thoroughly, my mind racing 90 miles an hour—did someone from the past use this as a tool? The possibilities in my mind were endless. On day three, after many, many flakes, a fellow volunteer unearthed a perfectly defined arrowhead! We all nearly screamed our lungs out with excitement. I held it in my hand, totally mystified by it and wondering who it had belonged to. Were they going to kill game with it? Eat with it? Fight an enemy? I have never experienced such a rush of emotions all at once in my entire life! This truly was the most rewarding and fulfilling vacation I have ever taken and look forward to doing it again many times in the future!
Summer PIT Projects Make
for Winter Dreams
By Gail Carbiener, PIT Volunteer
A number of my wife’s and my friends have asked why I go on PIT projects. Answering that question has always been difficult and awkward, and my answer never seems quite adequate. Oh sure, I give them all the “normal” reasons for leaving my wonderful wife of 47 years at home when I drive several hundreds of miles to volunteer in the dirt:
1. It is a learning experience. We learn how to dig a hole one meter square and several feet deep with a small trowel and a brush. In addition, we get to put the dirt into buckets and then sift it through screens to see what might be there—maybe a flake or chip of chert or obsidian. By looking at the type of chip or flake, the archaeologist can frequently tell what was likely going on at the site. My friends by this time are usually trying to change the subject!
2. It gives me a chance to stay in shape. We get to walk over several miles of forest each day, frequently up very steep mountains, carrying equipment and a backpack. Of course, it sometimes rains, but most of the time the sun is shining and temperatures are near the century mark. We use insect repellent and sunblock. My friends remind me that I go regularly to the doctor to have skin cancers burned off my face!
3. We get to volunteer with the FS. Volunteering is rewarding and makes you feel good. We get to help the archaeologist complete projects that would not get done without volunteer labor. Most of the time, we are working on important projects. Projects such as surveying for prehistoric sites, surveying burned-over lands, mapping old roads, restoring historic buildings, and cleaning and cataloging artifacts take time and money, both of which the forest archaeologist has less and less of each year.
4. I get to meet many new friends. The PIT projects bring volunteers from all over the world who are interested in archaeology. Although we see several of the same volunteers, many new friends are made with each new project.
The volunteering and meeting new friends are generally better-understood reasons, whereas learning and staying in shape, get less-favorable acceptance. But these are not the real reasons that I apply for, attend, and enjoy PIT projects. My reasons are much harder to explain, and I feel certain that many others involved in PIT must feel the same way. It is what I call my “winter dreams.” Let me explain.
Over the past couple of years, I have had the pleasure of volunteering on PIT projects that have taken me to wonderful, unique, and special places.
1. With my metal detector, I found a U.S. Cavalry campsite at the edge of Yosemite National Park in california. We were near Soldier Creek, on the old road, where we saw only one car all day!
2. Near Flaming Gorge, Utah, we helped put a new roof on the barn of an old homestead. The homesteader never used mechanical power in his farming adventure. Two bull moose came down to the road in the evening.
3. At the base of Mt. Shasta in California, in the thick forest, we located the old emigrant and military road by finding artifacts with our metal detectors. The following week we did the same thing on the flank of Mt. Lassen. That day, a beautiful red-tailed hawk flew over carrying a snake in its talons.
4. Near the edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona, we mapped an old railroad used for copper mining. We found a large, previously unidentified prehistoric site containing several grinding stones and a large number of salmon-colored chert points, some complete. The archaeologist led us to a canyon wall covered with pictographs, none of which had been disturbed.
5. On a PIT project with only two volunteers, on the back side of a lake in southeast Oregon, we located and mapped a homestead cabin and barn that had been burned in a forest fire over 12 years ago. A great blue heron challenged us each day for use of the cool spring.
6. In New Mexico, after hiking 5 miles and gaining over 1,000 feet in elevation, we looked down over the vast desert toward Mexico to the south and the White Sands National Monument to the west. Our PIT crew did this for five days, as we located and mapped cavalry and American Indian battle sites.
For me, these are the activities that make for winter dreams. Each PIT project provides at least one special moment, perhaps a view, finding a complete point, eating dinner with the crew, avoiding a hail storm, locating the old emigrant trail, finding cavalry cartridges, admiring the newly restored roof, or hundreds of other moments that will remain ready for that daydream. So, you want to change the subject? I understand.cartridges, admiring the newly restored roof, or hundreds of other moments that will remain ready for that daydream. So, you want to change the subject? I understand.