Thousands of years before there was a Jefferson County, there were people traveling what is now the Whitetail Road. That much is for sure.
A recent archeological dig along the route has verified human activity there going back as far as 6800 years, and indications are that the area could have been occupied as far back as 10,000 years.
Finding archeological sites along modern roads is not unusual. In fact, it is so common that the Montana Department of Transportation employs an archeologist to oversee those sites that might be disturbed by road construction.
Stephen Platt, who is currently overseeing contracted excavation between Boulder and Whitehall, said many modern roads follow long-used travel routes.
“That’s not unusual,” he said. “What we have is an overlaying of human activity all in one place because of the lay of the land.”
Between mid-August and mid-October, archeologists from GCM Services of Butte, joined by Platt about one day per week, excavated areas along Whitetail Road.
“We have evidence of Native American occupations from about 1000 years ago, about 3000 years ago and about 6800 years ago,” said Stephen Platt, archeologist with the Montana Department of Transportation.
The 6800 year figure is significant, because the artifacts from that era lie just above a layer of ash from the eruption of Mount Mazama in the Cascades. Approximately 7000-8000 years ago the eruption sent a blanket of ash “at least as far as central Canada,” according to “Oregon Explorer.” As far away as Greenland, “rare particles of Mazama ash have even been found in ancient ice,” says the publication.
The eruption lowered the estimated 12,000 foot peak to create a bowl-shaped depression roughly five miles across that today surrounds Crater Lake.
“There is also some Native American material beneath the ash,” said Platt. “That deepest material has not yet really been characterized but could be extremely old (9000-10,000 years old).”
He said the excavation units have been backfilled for the winter, but about a month’s worth of additional fieldwork is expected next summer.
“Next year’s fieldwork will explore the oldest levels in the site that were discovered quite late during fieldwork this past fall,” said Platt.
What has already been uncovered, though, is intriguing.
“There was a homestead at the site in the early 20th century and we also found a hand-laid stone well that contains artifacts dating from the 1870sand 1880s,” said the MDT archeologist.
The site has also yielded arrowheads, bone fragments and other artifacts going back long before travelers on the route drove fourwheelers across the area.
Because all of the excavation is on private land, the items uncovered technically belong to the landowners, said Platt. Often landowners where excavation is done say they want whatever is found, but “when they see the little pieces of rocks and bones in plastic bags with numbers,” they generally change their minds, he said.
“There’s probably not going to be anything exciting to display,” he said.
There certainly is evidence that excites the area school children, though. In September, fourth and fifth graders from Boulder Elementary visited the site after a classroom lesson from archeologist Crystal Alegria. Alegria spent about a hour with the students, teaching them about archeology and “in the afternoon we went out to the dig site for a wonderful day of learning,” said fourth grade teacher Cam Warfle.
At the site, they met Dave Ferguson, the principal investigator of a crew of four archeologists working on the dig. With the guidance of Ferguson and Alegria, they learned lessons they still recall with enthusiasm. (See statements written by the Boulder fourth graders on the next page.)
Students from Whitehall Elementary have also visited the dig.
Platt said the state tries to get area students to a dig whenever there is one nearby. It is an excellent learning opportunity that “dovetails with Indian Education for All,” he said.
The Whitetail Road basically follows the old Corrine Road, which ran from Salt Lake City to Bannack to transport goods to the territorial mining camp and the ore out of Bannack. That road likely extended to Helena along the current Whitetail Road, he said. And “that undoubtedly followed an old Indian trail,” he said.
Platt said federal law requires the Montana Department of Transportation to consider cultural resources, including archeological sites, when projects involve federal dollars. Plans are underway to rebuild the Whitetail Road. There are several cultural and archeological sites along the road, he said, but the area where the dig has been going on is “the only one we couldn’t avoid because it is on both sides of the road,” he said.
With its homestead, stagecoach-era, hand-laid well, ash layer and Native American artifacts, “it’s a nice site,” said Platt.
