"I always wanted to 
be an archaeologist!"

Fort St. Joseph Archaeology 
Open House Information
August 14 - 15, 2010

You can see 2010 Western Michigan University 
Fort Archaeology information by clicking here.

Archaeology 2010 Summer Camp Applications

Overview of All 2010 Summer Camps

Junior High School Student Application Packet (Grades 6 thru 9)

Adult Application Packet (Includes Grades 10 thru 12)

Credit Application Packet

Junior and Senior High Students
get hands on experience

Students compare soil samples

Students wet screen soil to
look for "treasures"

Dr. Nassaney advises students

Students take a break to pose
for group picture

Adult Interns were comprised of teachers

Teachers at work carefully search
through layers of soil

Adult Interns engaged in wet screening
soil to find artifacts

Lead Seal found - lead seals were used by trappers to seal bales of furs

New set of interns arrive for
second week of dig

Dr. Nassaney instructs third week interns

The youngest student intern

Wet screening for artifacts

Pictured are of a flint (to start fires) and
bone found on site

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project
Annual Report, 2009

Prepared by:
Michael S. Nassaney, Principal Investigator
Department of Anthropology, Western Michigan University
December 2009

Introduction 
Over the past year (September 1, 2008 through August 31, 2009) participants in the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project (hereafter the “project”) continued field work, analysis, publication, public education, and outreach in an effort to engage the community in the pursuit of a better understanding of the fur trade and colonialism in southwest Michigan. The project remains guided by the philosophy of community service learning in which students provide a community service and learn through civic engagement. Fort St. Joseph is becoming a household name in the region thanks to the publicity and promotional activities that are designed to encourage public involvement. The project continues to attract partners, sponsors, and community interest due in no small part to Western Michigan University’s (WMU) ongoing and steadfast support and the tireless efforts of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee (FSJAAC), the body responsible for recommending and promoting the course of action for site development. The culminating events of each year are the field investigations, conducted in conjunction with the Department of Anthropology’s annual archaeological field school; the summer camps for middle/high school students and credit/non­credit adults sponsored in conjunction with the Fort St. Joseph Museum; and the annual open house. In May we launched our new website at www.wmich.edu/fortstjoseph to increase our visibility and educate a wider audience. The purpose of this report is to summarize the activities conducted over the past year and highlight the contributions of various supporters who make the project possible. (Appendix A lists our sponsors and supporters; Appendix B presents a summary of the project outcomes; and Appendix C details our expenses and funding sources.) 

Recent Developments 
The 2009 field season began the second decade of site investigations and public interpretations at Fort St. Joseph. The annual archaeological field school has been regularly held in Niles since 2002. Over 100 University students have participated in the program along with just as many middle/high school students, teachers, and continuing education adults. Excavations continue to reveal new information about 18th century life from the numerous artifacts, features, and subsistence remains that are recovered each year. Efforts to market the site as a cultural heritage destination are beginning to pay off; nearly 7,000 visitors have come to Fort St. Joseph to learn more about our activities since 2006. Members of the project team and volunteers are active promoters of the site to local, regional, national, and international audiences. This past year, we delivered scholarly and public presentations at the Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference (Indianapolis; October), the Kalamazoo Living History Show (March), and the Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology (Toronto, Ontario; January). In addition, materials from the excavations were exhibited at the Michigan Historical Center and the State Capitol (Lansing), Ford Field (Detroit), Waldo Library (Kalamazoo), and Education Days (Niles), among other venues. 

Field Investigations
Fieldwork was conducted under the auspices of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project during the 2009 season for six weeks during July and August in conjunction with the 34th annual WMU archaeological field school, the only annual field school in the state of Michigan and one of the longest running archaeological programs in the Midwest. Members of the field school included 15 undergraduate and four graduate students under my direction. Several students who had previously worked at the site received stipends and served in staff positions as field assistants, public education coordinator, laboratory coordinator, and site photographer. In addition to the University students enrolled in the program, we also provided opportunities for public involvement through three weeklong youth and adult summer camps. 

As in previous field seasons, excavations began on the terrace above the fort in an area known as the Lyne site (20BE10) where previous work identified 18th-century remains that are now seen as associated with the Fort St. Joseph (FSJ) community. Limited excavations to familiarize students with the site and proper archaeological procedures led to the recovery of a number of pre-contact and post-contact artifacts and features. Particularly notable was another concentration of carbonized corncobs, which we interpret as a smudge pit. This represents the third concentration that we have identified at the site along the margins of the terrace overlooking the floodplain where the fort was first discovered. Their association with 18th century artifacts establishes that these pits are contemporaneous with the FSJ site. Although this area was plowed in the 19th century and artifacts of all ages are generally confined to the plow zone, excavations continue to reveal the presence of subsurface features (albeit truncated by the plow) that can tell us about the spatial relationships of 18th century activities that were associated with the people who called the fort their home. 

In mid-July we shifted the focus of our field investigations to the floodplain below the Lyne site where our 1998 survey had located 18th century subsurface deposits submerged beneath the water table. After many years of excavation conducted with the help of a diesel-powered pump, this season we employed a new electric dewatering system. Thanks to the City of Niles for underwriting the electrical installation, the dewatering process is now cleaner, quieter, more efficient and cost effective. With the system in place, we expanded excavations in areas where we had previously identified architectural features and sub-surface anomalies to gain a better understanding of site structures and associated activities. A total of 6-1 x 2 m and three 1 x 1 m units were continued or newly excavated to obtain further information on the locations and spatial relationships of artifacts and buildings. 

Using standard procedures, we remove the upper 25 cm of recent alluvium as a single unit since this layer contains only a few modern artifacts (post-1930s). The underlying late 19th and early 20th century plow zone is dug in 5 cm levels and all soil is collected by trowel and wet-screened using 1/8” mesh to recover a representative sample of artifacts, seeds, and animal remains. Soil samples are also taken from selected levels and all feature contexts for flotation at the laboratory. Beneath the plow zone are undisturbed soil horizons that were deposited or occupied in the 18th century. Excavations just began to explore the top of this occupational zone as the field season came to an end. It is likely that we will return to several of these locations to conduct further investigations in 2010. 

In our excavations we recovered a number of artifacts and important architectural evidence that continue to inform on the appearance of the site and the activities conducted there. Objects that reflect the military, religious, commercial, and domestic functions of the site include musket balls and lead shot; gunflints and gun parts; French, English, and Chinese ceramics; glass container fragments and beads; structural remains such as hand-wrought nails, daub, and dressed stone; objects of personal adornment such as finger rings; and objects of religious devotion, including two crucifixes. One brass crucifix was particularly notable in its detail. On one side was the body of Christ, while the reverse depicted two cherubs crowning Mary as she ascends into heaven! Excavations in the vicinity of the stone fireplace designated as Feature 14 provide further information on its size and orientation. We were able to define the northern extent a trash midden (Feature 11) by excavating two units in proximity. Finally, investigations of Feature 7, a large pit first identified in 2002, indicated that the pit is much larger than expected causing us to question whether or not this feature is actually a well as previously thought. All of the excavation units were open for the public to view and discuss with students during our annual open house that culminated our field season in early August. 

Public Education and Outreach 
The community service learning components of our public archaeology program are best exemplified by our public education and outreach efforts that provide students with the opportunity to interact with various members of the community. Public education at Fort St. Joseph gained statewide recognition when we received the 2007 Education Award from the Historical Society of Michigan in September—a strong validation of our work in educating the public about the archaeology and colonial history of Niles. In 2009 we sponsored three weeklong public training programs including a week for non-credit adults, a week for educators to earn college credit, and a week for 11 middle school students. Andrew Beaupré continued as our public education coordinator with the support of the Fort St. Joseph Museum. As in previous years, students in the program learned how to excavate properly, take field notes, and identify artifacts, in addition to gaining an appreciation for the importance of archaeological materials in the interpretation and reconstruction of history and culture. In addition, several local volunteers and members of Support the Fort (STF) who were previously enrolled in the camps (Mary Ellen Drolet, Tom Lister, Fred Rogers, Larry Simpson, and Diane Williams) participated in the dig in various capacities. Thanks to Andrew Beaupré’s efforts, we expanded our interactions with the community through weekly meals generously provided by several members of STF, other community members (Martha Wyszynski), and service groups (Dowagiac Rotary Club). 

The Project also initiated a summer archaeology lecture series sponsored by the Anthropology Department in partnership with the Niles District Library. Four Wednesday evenings in July were devoted to speakers who discussed various aspects of the history and archaeology of Fort St. Joseph to an appreciative audience of 40-50 attendees in the library. Refreshments and a casual atmosphere encouraged mingling among the students, team members, and the public and provided the opportunity to share information on the latest finds. Students were awed and enlivened by the level of community interest, a precursor to the excitement that the open house would bring. We also initiated site tours on Fridays in advance of the open house and invited the public to visit us in the field. 

The annual open house, organized by Darlene Jackson, was held the weekend of August 1-2. As has become traditional, the media and special guests were invited to the site two days prior. Media day was marked by a number of special events, including addresses by State Senator Tom George; Treasurer of the Society for Colonial Wars, Dr. Frank Welsh; and the Consul General of France in Chicago, Jean-Baptiste Main de Boissière. Long-time benefactor Randy Peyser unveiled the new logo for the FSJAAC, which he commissioned and helped to design. Mayor Michael McCauslin designated the weekend as Peyser Family Days. He also presented Michael Nassaney with the key to the city and proclaimed July 30, 2009 as Dr. Michael S. Nassaney Day in the City of Niles. Others present included members of the FSJAAC, Society for Colonial Wars, the WMU College of Arts and Sciences, STF, Niles City officials, the field school students, and other groups and individuals who support our activities. Television and newspaper media from throughout the region provided coverage of the event, which helped to promote the open house and ensure a large crowd. Over 1,500 visitors attended the open house to view the excavations, interact with archaeologists, listen to presentations, and learn about Fort St. Joseph and its role in the fur trade. The theme of this year’s open house was “The Jesuits in New France. ” Two new permanent informational panels highlighted the theme along with the presence of a Jesuit re-enactor, completely donned in period attire including a replica of the 18th century cilice recovered from FSJ in 2004. (A cilice is an object of self-mortification that devout Catholics wore to emulate the suffering of Jesus and attain a state of grace.) Sales of T-shirts, DVDs, VHS tapes, medallions, and books were brisk; donations and sales amounted to approximately $1,900 that will help to offset some of the event and project costs. Dorilee Schieble, Director of Development for the College of Arts & Sciences, sponsored a meal on Saturday evening for approximately 50 open house participants, volunteers, students and their families that was greatly appreciated by all who attended.

Our public education and outreach activities remain important vehicles for communicating the importance of the site to the public and demonstrating how much the public cares about the history and archaeology of the fort. As we begin the second decade of work in Niles, these programs continue to raise interest in the site and provide the opportunity for the public to share their pride in community history. Maintaining, promoting, and investing in this important heritage tourist destination and the role of FSJ in public education, scholarship, and economic development remain the focus of the project and the FSJAAC. We continue to expand on the partnerships that we have developed and invite participation from any individuals and groups who share our vision of the importance of heritage for building community. Our connections to the community are among the most important assets of the project. They provide a solid foundation for us to develop this national historic treasure to benefit Niles, WMU, and various stakeholders who see the potential of bringing history to life.

For a Complete Copy of this Report with all Appendices; please email the City Administrator's Office.

Artifacts from Fort St. Joseph

Left to right from the top: trade silver ear wheel, spoon-silver locket, crucifix, trade silver earring, gorget, cross with cut stones.  

Visit the museum to see many more artifacts and to learn about the on-going archaeological excavations at the site of Fort St. Joseph.