Classroom Session: 9/3 3:30-4:30 pm, Main 245 (attendance required) Trip: 9/5 – 9/7 (6:30 am departure Friday, late afternoon return Sunday)
Professor Steven Simms Office: Main 245g Phone: 797-1277 Email: s.simms@usu.edu Student visitation times: M, W 10:00 – 11:00 am; 1:30 – 2:30 pm; T, R 1:30 – 3:00 pm. Email for other times.
This is a field trip for students with an interest in the archaeology, field ecology, geology, environmental history and general interest in the natural history of the American Desert West. The course consists of:
Grading: Your grade will be based on the quality of your interaction. If your interaction is copius and of intellectually high quality that shows you have prepared for the trip by reading, you will receive an A. If you intellectually engage me and your student colleagues with discussion of the subject matter, but show no evidence of prior reading you will receive a B. If you simply go on the trip as a passive tourist, you will receive a C. If you cause problems, we will find a way to deal with it.
Lecture, maps and images will illustrate the prehistory of the region, the major time periods, and climatic periods. The recommended readings will be introduced. A brief orientation to how the field trip works and what you will need to bring will be discussed.
The atmosphere on the field trip is informal and convivial, but the time we spend in the field will be directed at learning about Great Basin archaeology and natural history. Make wise use of this opportunity. Prepare by doing your reading. Interact, be attentive. Ask questions. Show that you comprehend the reading and can integrate it with what you are seeing and hearing on the trip. Feel free to visit with me about the material before after the field trip.
The field trip provides time for discussion without the formality of a classroom, lecture, and tests. I will initiate many conversations to get you started and try to make the world of Great Basin natural prehistory accessible. Conversations among those who are deeply into the subject are gravitational, pulling the students who are less familiar with the subject into new worlds. Typically, everyone on these trips has knowledge and skills to share with others. The key is to participate and let the field atmosphere overcome reticence or unfamiliarity.
Recommended Readings.
These are short and on electronic reserve. Read as much as you can.
Bettinger, Robert L. 1985 Native Life in Desert California The Great Basin and its Aboriginal Inhabitants. Masterkey 59:42-50. Brief piece that provides an overview of Great Basin native life. On electronic reserve.
Currey, Donald R., Genevieve Atwood, and Don R. Mabey 1983 Major Levels of Great Salt Lake and Lake Bonneville. Utah Geological Survey, Map Number 73. This is a brief history of lake fluctuations that you should familiarize yourself with before we go. The text only is on electronic reserve. Map itself will be with us on the trip.
Madsen, David B. 1989 A Grasshopper in Every Pot. Natural History, July 1989. A popular piece that will help you understand Lakeside Cave. On electronic reserve.
Raymond, Anan 1982 Two Historic Aboriginal Game-Drive Enclosures in the Eastern Great Basin. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 4:23-33. This will give you more information on antelope traps. On electronic reserve.
Simms, Steven R. 1990 The Structure of the Bustos Wickiup Site, Eastern Nevada. Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 11:2-34. This will give you a sense of what a well-preserved wickiup site looks like. On electronic reserve.
2008 Making a Living in the Desert West. In The Great Basin. People and Place in Ancient Times, edited by Catherine S. Fowler and Don D. Fowler. SAR Press, Santa Fe.
The following book is not short, but since it is recent, you might find parts of it amusing. For the trip, Chapter 1 might be the most useful.
Simms, Steven R. 2008 Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin and the Colorado Plateau. Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, California. Book is on reserve at library and available in USU Bookstore.
None of these are on reserve, but are in the USU library.
Beck, Charlotte 2000 Models for the Millennium: Great Basin Anthropology Today. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. State of the art papers on regional issues. These are papers written for archaeologists, but many are pertinent to our trip. The volume is available as an electronic resource via our library online catalog.
d’Azevedo, Warren L. 1986 Great Basin, Vol. 11. Handbook of North American Indians. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. This is a great resource. It is in the reference section of the Merrill Library, hence cannot be checked out. I highly recommend that you take a look at it before the trip.
Fowler, Catherine S. 1992 In the Shadow of Fox Peak: An Ethnography of the Cattail-Eater Northern Paiute People of Stillwater Marsh. Cultural Resource Series Number 5. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Fallon Nevada. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Grayson, Donald K. 1993 The Desert’s Past: A Natural Prehistory of the Great Basin. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington
D.C. A wonderful general text.
Gwynn, J. Wallace 2002 Great Salt Lake: An Overview of Change. Utah Department of Natural Resources Special Publication. This is an up to date collection of papers on everything about the Great Salt Lake. Chapters especially pertinent to our trip are: “Recent Developments in the Study of Lake Bonneville” by Jack Oviatt and Robert Thompson, and “Native American Rock Art and the Great Salt Lake: An Ancient Tradition and Unique Heritage” by Kenneth Sasson. The volume can be seen in Merrill Library Special Collections.
Hemphill, Brian and Clark Larsen 1999 Prehistoric Lifeways in the Great Basin Wetlands: Bioarchaeological Reconstruction and Interpretation. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Papers on skeletal analysis, DNA, stable isotopes, diet and health for wetlands. Includes studies on the Great Salt Lake area. The volume is available as an electronic resource via our library online catalog.
Madsen, David B. 1989 Exploring the Fremont. Utah Museum of Natural History Occasional Publication Number 8. Salt Lake City.
Madsen, David B. and James F. O’Connell 1982 Man and Environment in the Great Basin. Society for American Archaeology Papers 2. Excellent papers reviewing state of the art in the region in the early 1980s. The following papers are especially pertinent to our trip: “Paleoenvironments of the Northeastern Great Basin Rim” by D. Currey and S. James, “Settlement Patterns and Subsistence Systems in the Great Basin: The Ethnographic Record” by C. Fowler. On reserve.
Madsen, David B. and David Rhode 1994 Across the West: Human Population Movement and the Expansion of the Numa. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City. Papers on the origins of the historic tribes of the region. The volume is available as an electronic resource via our library online catalog. Also may be in Merrill Library stacks, but may be lost.
Madsen, David B. and Steven R. Simms 1998 The Fremont Complex: A Behavioral Perspective. Journal of World Prehistory 12:255-336. On electronic reserve.
Steward, Julian H. 1938 Basin-Plateau Aboriginal Sociopolitical Groups. Bureau of American Ethnology, Washington D.C. (Reprinted by University of Utah Press). This is the classic Great Basin ethnography reporting fieldwork done in the 1920s and 30s. Steward even describes the area we will be in, based on his Goshute and Shoshone informants. The volume is available as an electronic resource via our library online catalog. Also in Merrill Library stacks.
Wheat, Margaret 1967 Survival Arts of the Primitive Paiute. University of Nevada Press, Reno. Essentially a picture book of Northern Paiutes Wuzzie and Jimmy George recreating traditional activities for author Peg Wheat in the 1940s and 50s. A classic that perusal before the trip will help you visualize the past.
THE FIELD TRIP Departure: Meet in the parking lot south of Old Main at 6:30 am. Departure is at 6:45, and we need time to load everyone. Please make arrangements for a drop off or your parking. Transportation is via a university 14 passenger bus. No personal vehicles allowed (USU insurance policies).
Return: We will return Sunday afternoon. Our precise arrival time is subject to conditions, but about 3 – 4 pm.
Friday: Travel to SLC via I-15, west via I-80. See from a distance the Stockton Bar, an enormous Lake Bonneville tombolo crucial to dating Bonneville lake levels. Continue on I-80 to Lakeside turnoff. Visit Lakeside Cave (grasshopper hunting site. 4,000 B.P.). Return to I-80 and east to turnoff to Dugway Proving Ground. Pass DPG south to Simpson Springs Pony Express Station. Head west and see Bonneville features including the Old River Bed, sea stacks, beaches. Visit Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge wetlands and associated cave sites. Pass by other Pony Express stations. Camp on Pinyon Flat above historic “town” of Gold Hill at north end of the Deep Creek Mountains. Camp is at 6,000’ in pinyon and juniper. Protected location. Campsite area was used for blind hunting.
Saturday: Continue west into Nevada and north to Blue Lake. More discussion of wetlands and story told by Maude Moon (Goshute, born in late 19th c.) about area. Blue Lake sits at the edge of the salt flats and is fed by hot springs. It is deep, clear and 80°. Used by scuba divers from Salt Lake City and vicinity. We will have the option to swim (I do). Continue to Wendover. Visit Danger Cave and Juke Box caves just east of Wendover. These have iron grates to protect them and we will have a key. Head west on I-80 to Oasis, then north to Toano, an historic site on the railroad. North from there up Toano Draw to area with wickiups, antelope trap and horse traps. Camp near these in sparse juniper forest with sagebrush parks. Exposed location - very “Great Basin.”
Sunday: Continue to explore around wickiups and trap area. Head south over mountains to Montello, Nevada. East past Grouse Creek Mountains and Raft River Range. More Bonneville features. Home via Snowville, Tremonton.
Note about travel , hiking, and weather: The first day is the longest and we are in the vehicles a lot. There are however, many stops to break up the day. Most “rest room” stops will be in the desert. All hikes range from a hundred meters to perhaps a half mile with most very short. You will not need packs or gear for long distance hiking. Some of the terrain is rocky, so you will want good footwear. If it is wet, bring extra socks. If it is cool in Logan before we go, plan on cold nights out there. Raingear may be necessary. Wind if present, will be cold.
GEAR What we bring: We provide ice chests, water jugs, stove, campfire grills, skillet, saucepans, hot water pot, toilet paper, first aid kit.
What you bring: Plate and utensils, food and beverages, sleeping bag/pad, tent (share if possible), day pack, water bottle, swim suit (optional), rain coat or poncho, extra clothes. Your gear will have to fit under you bus seat (much like an airplane carry on). There are overhead racks for small and soft items. Pack small. Go minimal.
Food: Tinfoil dinners have been popular with some. Both camps will have campfires for grilling food. Propane stove has two burners, so is best for heating water or quick things. I have seen everything from raw eggs and Wonder bread, to venison steaks, to hot dogs, and gourmet tin foil presentations. There is cooler space so bring the food that pleases you. There is room for beverages.
Note: No illegal drugs, no firearms, no fireworks. Your participation in the field trip will require you to sign a waiver of liability provided by the university. Students with special needs for the field trip should share information with me before the trip.