The Body at the Washtub: A Bioarchaeological Reconstruction of Identity from a Purported 1849ers Oregon Trails Burial at Camp Guernsey, WY

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In late spring 2018, a team of anthropology students and faculty from the University of Wyoming, with support from the Wyoming Military at Camp Guernsey Training Base, recovered a historical burial from an eroding cutbank near Emigrant’s Washtub Spring. Members of the Oregon-California Trails Association marked the location based on interpretations of 19th-century diary entries from later Oregon Trails travelers. These diaries described the location of the grave of Dr. McDermott, died June 21, 1849 at 28 years of age, from Fairfield, Iowa. As the burial was exhumed, questions arose as to whether these remains were McDermott or another unknown traveler. Given that the markers were placed in the mid-20th century and later, and knowing there were other Oregon Trails burials in the area, we wondered if there was a misattribution of identity for this grave. In this study, we make use of stable isotope and osteological analyses to compare the historical narratives about McDermott’s burial to the information garnered from the geographical location, and the biological and material remains. This osteobiographical approach presents an opportunity to explore our understanding of accepted history and the different identities attached to this individual in life and in death.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 26044