Resource Management

Culverts and Trestles Railroad Grades Historic Structures Report Cultural Landscape Report Archaeological Survey Fire Management	Archeological Team conducts important study at Golden Spike National Historic Site
Kerry Brinkerhoff Staff Writer If you have been out to Golden Spike National Historic Site this year you may have viewed 5 new employees walking out on the park land. Golden Spike has been awarded a very important project to “locate, document, assess the condition, evaluate for integrity and significance, and provide recommendations for effective management of the park’s archeological resources during the years from 2000 through 2004.” This year a team from the National Park Service archeological support staff out of the Western Archeological and Conservation Center are at Golden Spike. They are a very qualified team and have already felt overwhelmed with the site and the many archeological findings. Superintendent of Golden Spike National Historic Site Bruce Powell stated, “An enormous amount of archeological survey and recording work has been performed this summer at Golden Spike National Historic Site. The members of the survey team have braved hot temperatures, insects, and heavy vegetation to collect important data on park archeological resources. This information will be invaluable to our knowledge and understanding of the work performed in 1869 to complete the transcontinental railroad.” The team is headed by Ralph Giles. Originally from the east, Giles moved to the West in 1972 as an engineer. After 20 years as an engineer, Giles decided to take on a second career as an archaeologist, specializing in historical-period archaeology. During his tenure as an archaeologist, Ralph has worked in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah, while working for the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, a private contractor, San Diego State University, and the University of Nevada, Reno. Ralph makes his home in Tucson, Arizona, where he pursues his non-archaeological interests in poetry, stained-glass design, wood design, and walking about the Arizona and English countryside. Dawn Frost is from Seattle, but grew up in Kansas. Frost received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Arizona State University and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. Frost has resided in Arizona since 1990. She currently has over 9 years archeological experience, having worked in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Texas, North Dakota, and Chihuahua, Mexico. Frost specializes in prehistoric lithics (stone) and architecture. Pat Baird is from South Carolina and has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Arizona in Anthropology. All of his experience working in archaeology is with the National Park Service. After completing a 10 week internship with Petrified Forest National Park in the summer of 1998 assessing the conditions of archaeological sites, Baird was hired at Western Archeological and Conservation Center . Western Archeological and Conservation Center has sent Baird to work at Lake Mead in Nevada, Petrified Forest and Montezuma Castle in Arizona, Guadalupe Mountains in Texas, Sandy Point, New Jersey, and Manzanar National Historic Site in California. He has also worked at Pinnacles National Monument and Yosemite in California to work as a resource advisor for wildfires. Michele Martz recently joined the Park Service at Western Archeological and Conservation Center in January 2000. Her hometown is Independence, Kentucky. Martz graduated from Western Kentucky University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. Marts said “since then I have been a ‘shovelbum’, traveling around the States and working on various archaeological projects.” Prior to employment with the National Park Service, Martz worked for the Boise National Forest, Nebraska National Forest, and private contract archaeological firms in the Southwest and Midwest. Byron Knutsen this year became a retired educator having taught 22 years in Malad, Idaho. Knutsen grew up, completed his Masters of Science degree and married his college sweetheart in the Midwest. Most of his years have been as an instructor of chemistry, physics and math. However he has also worked as a bookmobile driver, research chemist at Thiokol and a research assistant in the department of oceanography at the University of Washington. Knutsen has been doing volunteer work with the park for the last five years. He has been documenting historic structures and now is a valuable member to the team with his past experience in the park. The team working in hundred degree weather, walking back and forth across the parks property, looked miserable and exhausting. Then they spent hours mapping, writing and documenting their discoveries. It seemed like they had insurmountable work to do but they took it on with great dedication. At first they started counting the snakes they saw, but in time lost track. However to see their excitement as they found a new site or artifact was refreshing. Frost stated, “We thoroughly enjoy the park: the scenery, the archeology, and especially, the hospitality.” Knutsen said, “When I was reading all those adventure books for book reports in grade school, I read about and always wanted to see the area of the joining of the two railroads; little realizing that I would live in the west and actually work at Golden Spike National Historic Site. Working on an archaeological project was a life long desire that I now have been able to fulfill. I have enjoyed working here during the summers for the last six years for I have found that there are many dedicated people working in this park and it is a privilege to work with them and learn from them.” Giles summed up their stay and work very well when he said, “My experience with living and working at Golden Spike was very positive. The park personnel, the park's neighbors, Friends of Golden Spike, and all the folks at the Corrine baseball field were a pleasure to work and interact with socially. The natural beauty of the park and the surrounding area was quite impressive as were the cloud formations during the day, the raptors, the sunrises, and the sunsets. I think the importance of the archeological effort is that it provides a comprehensive review of all the archeological resources at the park. We are all aware of those archeological resources associated with the building of the railroad, but now we know more about the ranching, prehistoric, post-railroad construction, Native American, and depression era occupations and activities that have occurred at the park since the building of the railroad. It is this use of the land, over time, that is important to understand, and it is this better understanding of the comprehensive historical use of Golden Spike that is, I think, the most important of what we have done and will continue to do.”