Artifact Spotlight: Kitty Brick

Kitty Brick

Alexis C. Madrigal - The Atlantic

In 1957, scholar and historic brick expert Karl Gurcke excavated over 295 bricks and fragments from Kanaka Village, the historic Hudson’s Bay Company’s employee housing unit at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (FOVA). One chipped yellow-red clay brick, inconspicuous at first glance, featured two distinctive attributes: a pair of cat pawprints tracking across the narrow edge. After visual analysis, Gurcke hypothesized the color, tool striations, and thickness of the brick indicated it originated from ancient Roman (Britannia) ruins in the British Isles. The pawprints, naturally, must have been left by a careless feline as the green brick cured in its mold prior to firing. The brick likely hitched a ride on an English ship’s ballast to the Pacific Northwest sometime in the early 19^th century. It was not until over 50 years after the discovery that these findings were supported by a Sonoma State University masters student’s research.

The Hudson’s Bay Company took control over the site in 1824, quickly erecting buildings of all shapes and sizes, but bricks were not manufactured in the region until decades later. Instead, bricks were typically shipped from overseas, often taking upwards of two years to reach the region. Empty sailing vessels of the era often required the use of ballast (in the form of rounded stones/cobbles, and later, bricks) prior to obtaining cargo in order to distribute weight and stay upright during travels. After cargo was safely packed onboard, the ballast (particularly bricks) were often repurposed as building materials at their final destination. Due to their scarcity and difficulty to obtain, bricks became seen as symbols of status and wealth. Eventually, around the 1840s, Fort Vancouver began manufacturing its own bricks from local clays and composites for construction uses, and brick importation greatly slowed.

Clay is derived from the decomposition of rocks and minerals from weathering and erosion, often transported via waterways. Thus, clay minerals and composites depict the geology of their site of origin. In 2011, Kristin Converse, the aforementioned master’s student, used chemical analysis (instrumental neutron activation analysis [INAA]) on the brick as part of her thesis research on brickmaking in the Willamette Valley. The results suggest the brick is of Roman origin from England, distinctly unique from clays in the Pacific Northwest, supporting Gurcke’s theory.

While bricks in themselves can appear rather humdrum, the excitement of researchers is contagious. Converse presents in her thesis that one individual brick can be distinguished from another by great levels of variation in composition, color, size, and manufacturing imperfections. This 2000-year-old brick is just one example of how advancements in trade greatly increased globalization and connection between cultures. Take for example, the fact that many of the buildings at Fort Vancouver, which housed people from all around the world, were composed of Willamette Valley (and Roman clay) bricks held together by mortar made from coral imported from the Hawaiian Islands.

I suppose the only question left unanswered then, is what was that cat up to?

Article written by Audrey Nelson
for "A Day in the Life of a Fellow" Article Series
National Park Service - Workforce Management Fellow
in Partnership with Northwest Youth Corps (NYC)