Possible Summer Projects
Getting back from the SHA conferences in Albuquerque, I seem to have now obtained 4 possible projects that I might be able to partake in this coming summer. Each will take luck and perseverance on my part if I would like to join the people working on them. Two are projects in Alaska, and the other two are projects down south near, or on, the US Pacific Coast.
1) There is a shipwreck near Port Graham, Alaska which sank in 1868, and is reported to be the first American shipwreck in Alaska. It was headed up to establish a new fort in the area. They landed across the way to what is now Homer, Alaska, but it was decided it wasn't a good location. So they headed south and hit a rocky outcropping. Everyone escaped, but the ship didn't make it. The people were stranded for 2 weeks, but were eventually saved. The shipwreck is called the Torrent and you may have heard about it in the news, it was out a month or two ago.
2) There is a project that went down last summer up near Wainwright, Alaska where the area was being surveyed for shipwrecks, namely those involved in the devastating loss of a whaling fleet in the winter of 1871. We will be using side scanning sonar to see if anything can be found underwater. The problem remains, that about 70 feet out, even though its very shallow water, there is a scouring of the landscape from icebergs that hit the ground. There are other shipwrecks that have been found or scavenged. The inhabitants of the town have used some of the ship's wood to create their own homes (as wood is very rare up there), and some have used the metal scrap to make knives or other such useful items. The first summer out wasn't too successful as the weather wouldn't cooperate, but they did get to do a shore survey for items that had washed up.
3) Off the coast of Santa Barbara are the Channel Islands. There is a professor from the University of Oregon, Jon Erlandson, who has been working there for 30 years. This coming summer him and one of his students are going to be doing an underwater survey around San Miguel Island, which is the furthest west island. At the conference they were asking for additional help. What they are looking for is to survey the west side of the island for inhabitation and possibly signs of seal hunting for people from 4,000 years ago or earlier. On the island they have already found two burials, one dating to 10,000 years ago and another 9,800 years ago. On the south side of the island there is a kelp forest which would hold a lot of sea life and again may have been good for hunting. On the east side of the island is a possible rock quarry for making stone tools, so we'll be looking for that. I met the student, so maybe I let somewhat of a good impression.
4) There is a National Park Service branch called SRC (Submerged Resources Center) who goes around looking for cultural materials underwater. Generally it's things like shipwrecks, they did the USS Arizona and even found a Japanese submarine in the Aleutian Islands up in Alaska. This summer and for a few years they are going to be looking into Lake Mead to see what has been submerged by the flooding of the area. They will be looking for shipwrecks but also to see what structures or Native American items they might be able to find. I met one of their crewmen who introduced me to Dan Lenihan who co-founded the organization. I'm going to see if they'll let me work with them this summer.
Hopefully I'll be able to do one. If I'm fortunate enough I might be able to do some combination of these four projects.
Wish me luck!
1) There is a shipwreck near Port Graham, Alaska which sank in 1868, and is reported to be the first American shipwreck in Alaska. It was headed up to establish a new fort in the area. They landed across the way to what is now Homer, Alaska, but it was decided it wasn't a good location. So they headed south and hit a rocky outcropping. Everyone escaped, but the ship didn't make it. The people were stranded for 2 weeks, but were eventually saved. The shipwreck is called the Torrent and you may have heard about it in the news, it was out a month or two ago.
2) There is a project that went down last summer up near Wainwright, Alaska where the area was being surveyed for shipwrecks, namely those involved in the devastating loss of a whaling fleet in the winter of 1871. We will be using side scanning sonar to see if anything can be found underwater. The problem remains, that about 70 feet out, even though its very shallow water, there is a scouring of the landscape from icebergs that hit the ground. There are other shipwrecks that have been found or scavenged. The inhabitants of the town have used some of the ship's wood to create their own homes (as wood is very rare up there), and some have used the metal scrap to make knives or other such useful items. The first summer out wasn't too successful as the weather wouldn't cooperate, but they did get to do a shore survey for items that had washed up.
3) Off the coast of Santa Barbara are the Channel Islands. There is a professor from the University of Oregon, Jon Erlandson, who has been working there for 30 years. This coming summer him and one of his students are going to be doing an underwater survey around San Miguel Island, which is the furthest west island. At the conference they were asking for additional help. What they are looking for is to survey the west side of the island for inhabitation and possibly signs of seal hunting for people from 4,000 years ago or earlier. On the island they have already found two burials, one dating to 10,000 years ago and another 9,800 years ago. On the south side of the island there is a kelp forest which would hold a lot of sea life and again may have been good for hunting. On the east side of the island is a possible rock quarry for making stone tools, so we'll be looking for that. I met the student, so maybe I let somewhat of a good impression.
4) There is a National Park Service branch called SRC (Submerged Resources Center) who goes around looking for cultural materials underwater. Generally it's things like shipwrecks, they did the USS Arizona and even found a Japanese submarine in the Aleutian Islands up in Alaska. This summer and for a few years they are going to be looking into Lake Mead to see what has been submerged by the flooding of the area. They will be looking for shipwrecks but also to see what structures or Native American items they might be able to find. I met one of their crewmen who introduced me to Dan Lenihan who co-founded the organization. I'm going to see if they'll let me work with them this summer.
Hopefully I'll be able to do one. If I'm fortunate enough I might be able to do some combination of these four projects.
Wish me luck!
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