Archaeologist Colin Ferriman has uncovered some of Wyoming’s history secrets in recent years, including finding new segments of the Oregon Trail.
From 1840 to 1880, the Oregon Trail cut a wide swath into the land. The emigrants who were crossing Wyoming on their way to the west coast, left behind deep ruts and other artifacts that archaeologists are still finding.
One such unstudied area was found recently by Ferriman’s team near a Wyoming fort. They had found a notation indicating an area called a ‘bar’ on an old General Land office map and were curious what it represented.
“When we got to where we thought the bar was, we crested the hill and found all these very old broken bottles from the Oregon Trail,” Ferriman said. “We figured that the bar must have been a little wagon bar where they pulled over and had their drinks before they went into the fort.”
The bottles were made of very thick black and green glass.
They were among some of the oldest glass artifacts Ferriman had found in Wyoming, dating from the 1800s which fit into the time period that the Oregon Trail crossed the region.
Ferriman, a public archaeologist with Cultural Resource Analysts (CRA), travels the Rocky Mountain region searching for sites like these to help identify and protect America’s western history.
“One of the reasons I got into archaeology was to uncover some of the puzzle of humanity,” Ferriman told Cowboy State Daily. “Archaeology is the material collection of our history. Wyoming is a great place to do this because we had thousands of years of people living here that left things behind.”
Public Archaeologist
CRA is a contracted firm that surveys potential projects, such as windmills or oil fields, to identify historic and prehistoric sites that could possibly be impacted by the projects.
If they find such an area, they will note it in their reports and put a GPS fence around the artifacts. The businesses then know to avoid crossing these barriers as they move forward with their project.
Ferriman said that the federal government recognizes that we have lots of unrecorded historic resources in this country. His job is to identify anything that is 50 years or older which represents two generations of people.
“Lots of times by the third generation, the stuff that we know about our grandparents and great grandparents, are somewhat forgotten,” Ferriman said. “We will find things like historic can scatters and we note them. However, we don't spend a ton of time recording them, especially if they’re dumps.”
According to Ferriman, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 basically says that we know there's artifacts that are unaccounted for and they need to be identified. If artifacts are discovered, it does not necessarily mean that a project will be stopped from going through.
“If a site is going to be destroyed by a project, we could excavate it and provide presentations to the community about why it's important,” Ferriman said. “There’s lots of different ways to mitigate adverse effects without stopping projects.”
As Ferriman and his team walk the land, looking for potential surface artifacts, they are taking many factors into consideration.
For instance, if they are approving a wind farm on public land, they need to account for that wind farm potential effect onto cultural resources and anything that's 50 years or older. Historic cabins and prehistoric camps are all taken into consideration when looking at the effect of any project.
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 states that historic structures 50 years or older need to be identified and protected, including old cabins like this one archeologist Colin Ferriman recorded. (Courtesy Colin Ferriman) 
The Oregon Trail cut a wide swath into the Wyoming landscape and portions of the trail are still being discovered and recorded by public archaeologists such as Colin Ferriman. His job is to identify these historic areas and make sure they are preserved for future generations and scholarly study. (Courtesy Colin Ferriman) 
Colin Ferriman found a place on the Oregon Trail where people would pull over for a drink. The broken bottles dated back to the 1800s and were discarded in a section of the trail that had been identified on an old map as a “bar.” (Courtesy Colin Ferriman)
Finding Relics
Over the years, Ferriman has discovered artifacts connected to Basque sheepherders, prehistoric tribes, and the Oregon Trail. He has dealt with historic mining operations and came up with plans on what to do with certain abandoned mines.
His favorite most recent find was an old trap they found in the Powder River Basin. It was a big metal trap with teeth that was staked to the ground and rusted open.
“This was back when grizzly bears were out on the plains,” Ferriman said. “Some mountain man had set the trap hoping to capture a grizzly.”
His team had also found eagle traps and stone circles. For these projects, they would bring in tribal consultants to make sure the areas were properly preserved.
“The eagle traps were used to capture feathers off of eagles for ceremonies,” Ferriman said.
He explained how somebody would lie in a hole and put sticks over that hole. The trap would then be baited with food like a fish. When the eagle landed on the trap, they would reach through the hole and grab the feathers.
He also found a historic cabin once used by Will James, a famous painter in Montana.
“We were surveying above Billings, and we knew that Will James had had a cabin studio up there,” Ferriman said. “We were one of the first to record its location.”
Protecting The Sites From Looters
To help prevent looting of sites, Ferriman does not place physical identifying items such as pin flags and fences to identify artifact locations.
“Nothing's permanent,” Ferriman said, “We don't want people to go back and collect all the artifacts behind us.”
Whenever possible, Ferriman does not dig up sites. His goal is to leave the area intact so that the data remains in the area. That way, when there is time for a more scholarly investigation to take place, they have all the information they need to build a picture of the people that used the site before.
“We do find quite a few eligible resources sites that we think contain data that's important to prehistory or history,” Ferriman said. “We just recommend that the area is avoided. We mark it with GPS and let them know to just need to stay out of this area.”
On private land, it is up to the owner what they want to do with the artifacts.
“If they want us to collect it, we'll collect it and either curate or give it to them,” Ferriman said. “Most owners want us to leave it be, we'll leave it be. It's completely at their discretion of the private landowner.”
As Ferriman scours the land, searching for clues to the past, his main goal is to identify sites that are eligible for the National Register. These are the sites, like the Oregon Trail bar, that get him especially excited and keeps him on his mission of preserving Wyoming’s past.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
