To Dig or Not To Dig...

At Fort St. Joseph Museum

In the ballroom at City Hall

            We woke up this morning to rain pounding on the roof and dark ominous clouds lingering over Niles preventing us from going into the field. The morning ended up being occupied with watching “From Moccasins to Main Street,” a movie about the Great Sauk Trail, known as US-12. Dr. Nassaney makes a movie debut in the film. Fort St. Joseph Museum was next on the list of rainy day activities. Wandering through all the artifacts collected, there were actual pictographs drawn by Sitting Bull. There is a good collection of Fort St. Joseph artifacts on display along with a possible diagram of what the fort may have looked like. The Chapin Mansion, also known as City Hall, was next on our tour. The Chapin Mansion was erected in 1882 and was later bought by the city for $300. The mansion has beautiful stain glass along with a ballroom we were able to explore.

Calvin and Jon filling a pit

         

   The rain gods were kind to us and in the afternoon we were able to go into the field and inspect our pits. Most pits are being closed and filled once the paperwork is complete. The paperwork includes a full summary of who, what, when, where, and how of each pit. It includes the soils, artifacts found, the methods, etc. Two pits are still digging; one pit is still finding flakes! My pit, we are pretty sure, has reached the sterile zone. We are just leveling at 50 cm below datum then closing it up.  Once a pit is filled, the next pit at Lyne can be started which we are hoping to start soon. Campers made their appearance later in the afternoon to lay out their pits. The campers this week are life-long learners. It will be nice to be able to give them tips like were given to us the first week of our field school.

Tabitha and me leveling our pit 

At Lake Michigan, Weko Beach

 For dinner, we were hosted by Barb and Craig Schwaderer, who take part in history reenacting. A delicious meal of smoked chicken with bean salad was provided and thoroughly enjoyed. To our delight, they live about a ten minute walk from Weko Beach. Soccer ball in hand and swimsuits on, we headed to the beach to enjoy the beautiful sunset on Lake Michigan. The water was so warm and a large group played free-for-all with the soccer ball. Once the sun has set, a trumpet plays taps to signify the end of the day. A wonderful way to end a busy day. 

Cassie