Secrets of Two Historic Montana Homesteads

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Public Lands, Public Sites: Research, Engagement, and Collaboration" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In 1979 the Lolo National Forest purchased 320 acres in the Upper Rock Creek drainage, Granite County, Western Montana. The 320 acres incorporated two patented homestead claims (Hogback Homestead and Morgan-Case Homestead), both with standing architecture. In 1990 the Missoula Ranger District began rehabilitation of the Hogback Homestead to preserve and interpret its historic values. However, the homestead era improvements overlay a significant precontact archaeological site (dating from 10,000 BP through the historic period), which required completion of an extensive data-recovery effort. Personnel recovered nearly 4,000 artifacts prior to earth-moving activities necessary to restore the homestead dwelling and improve access to the site. The Morgan-Case Homestead was settled in the late 1880s by an African American woman originally from Maryland. In 2000 the Missoula Ranger District began rehabilitating the site, with the intention of preserving and interpreting its history. Six years into the project, the Region 1 Preservation Team leader found a cache of artifacts associated with HooDoo healing, which originated in West Africa. Similar artifact caches have been found in the Southeast and as far west as Texas, but prior to the discovery at Morgan-Case, none had been found in the northern tier of the United States.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Public Lands, Public Sites: Research, Engagement, and Collaboration   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35853.0