XPost: or.politics, or.general   
   From: LiveFromTheClocktower@gfy.com   
      
   Was invited to help do an archeological dig of Ft. Hoskins on Saturday with   
   Oregon State University.   
      
   This July marks the 150th anniversary of the dedication of Ft. Hoskins which   
   is west of and between Dallas and Corvallis.  Phil   
   Sheridan was stationed there and his house, which has been relocated, is   
   privately owned and still occupied nearby.   
      
   The lower remnant of Ft. Hoskins is a cold-house and an 1865-1869 farmhouse   
   built on the site of the old hospital. The foundation of the farm house fell   
   into   
   disrepair so the house has been blocked up for restoration. An archeology   
   professor with close ties to the region recognized a need to excavate and   
   study artificacts in the soil where the new foundation will go, so the dig   
   more or less followed the shape of the house and extended about 18" into the   
   soil.   
      
   Our ~3'x8' plot was located right outside the dining room. Within minutes,   
   some folks next to us found a short ramrod, and not long after found a brass   
   eagle button.  (The 4th California Infantry, most likely, pre-1865.)   
      
   I hadn't even begun sifting the soil before we started turning up   
   artifacts. In about two hours we found a wash basin, a bottle, a very old   
   pocket knife, some old newsprint, some spent brass cartridges (.22 and .38)   
   a percussion cap and three different kinds of broken porcelain dishware   
   including a european print dating to the 1860s.  A short time after I found   
   a brass button and a hand-carved ivory tuning peg from a fiddle, guitar or   
   some other instrument.  Found large animal bones and all kinds of other   
   unidentified things.   
      
   Near us somebody found a broach with a ruby or some other jewel on it, a   
   large button that still had thread on it, some fabric, a couple of   
   arrowheads, and an eagle button about the exact diameter as the chinstrap   
   button on a forage cap or kepi.   
      
   All of these were neatly organized into small lunch sacks numbered by plot   
   for further study.   
      
   Much fun!  Still haven't found Hoffa.   
      
   -gattman   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)