Research Article

Teacher's Packet Oral Histories Articles Historic Research Students	Promontory Pegs found at Hogup Cave about 50 miles west of Golden Spike NHS on the Northwest side of the Great Salt Lake. This is only one half of the dead-fall trap.
New understanding of an archeological find Kerry Brinkerhoff Staff Writer Recently I made a trip to Driggs, Idaho to meet an expert in primitive skills who had unlocked an ancient mystery. Archeologists conducting digs in Northwestern Utah found a sharpened peg unique to that area. They named them “Promontory Pegs” but could not explain how they were used. In Hogup Cave in Northwestern Utah several Promontory Pegs were found in layers of the cave that were dated from 1330 A.D. to 1850 A.D.. They were named by Archeologist Julian Stewart in 1937 because of their occurrence in the Promontory Caves. Also they were found in large numbers at Danger Cave. Larry Dean Olsen, an expert in primitive and survival skills and taught these skills at B.Y.U., learned of the Promontory Peg and was sure it was some type of dead fall trap but he could not replicate it. He offered a $100.00 prize to anyone who could make the Promontory Peg work. George W. Michauid of Driggs, Idaho took on that challenge. Michauid teaches primitive crafts and survival skills. He said he knew he must solve the problem by thinking as the original crafter. He thought they would have had the sticks and a stone knife. While I watched he brought out a slender stick about 3/8ths of an inch in diameter. Then he pulled out a large obsidian knife and began to make cuts on the stick quickly and skillfully. The sticks soon took shape: a 3 inch peg and a 4 inch stick flattened on one end. Michauid said the trick to making the peg properly was using a stone knife. He said the others had been using a steel blade and that left the surface where you set the 4 inch stick to the 3 inch peg slick. With a stone knife the edge where they met was rough giving some friction to hold the trap in place. Michauid then took me outside and demonstrated how it works. Bait can be placed on the sharp point on the peg. Then on the notch below the point the 4 inch spring can be placed, held by the friction caused by the stone-cut edge on the sharpened peg. Then a large cinder block was set on top of the 4 inch spring with the peg underneath it on the ground. The Promontory Peg held the heavy block in place. When the bait is taken by an animal the 4 inch spring stick is thrown clear and the stone drops and kills the animal. Michauid said he had been successful in killing squirrels with the deadfall trap and had pictures of one of his dead-fall kills. Michauid believes this is how families of Shoshone could live in the harsh Northwestern Utah deserts. The Shoshone could have set hundreds of these traps quickly and easily. They could carry many small sticks along, daily collected the kills, and replace the pegs as needed, keeping the families in fresh meat.