Potential for Homesteading at the Orchard Combat Training Center

Summary

By: Juli McCoy

Although there has been a great deal of study done concerning homesteading activity in the Western United States little has focused on areas where homesteading was unsuccessful.  The lack of successful homesteads left an area of land open for use by the military or for other applications. This study focuses on the assemblage of selected archaeological sites located on the Idaho National Guard Orchard Combat Training Center (OCTC), just south of Boise, Idaho, to determine the extent of transient sheep herding vs. permanent homesteading activity in this

area. In tandem with the research of archaeological site assemblages the impact

that the drop in the water table and draw down of the Snake River Plain aquifer

could have had on water sources in the area and land usage and settlement

patterns is also considered.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Historic Roles in the National Guard   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 214