Ruthann Knudson

Ruthann Knudson

NPS

Quick Facts

Significance:

archeologist, role model, member of the Old Broad's Network

Place of Birth:

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Date of Birth:

October 24, 1941

Place of Death:

Seattle, Washington

Date of Death:

March 25, 2018

Ruthann Knudson was an archeologist who specialized in Paleoindian studies. She touched seemingly every aspect of American archeology, often simultaneously and with great energy. She taught at colleges and universities; worked for private companies and federal agencies; participated on professional and local societies, boards, and commissions; published reports and articles; and furthermore was an extraordinary artist, flint knapper, advocate for women, and friend.

Knudson began college at Hamline University in 1959. During her summers, she got her start with the National Park Service by cooking at Yellowstone National Park and the Spruce Tree Lodge at Mesa Verde National Park. Hamline did not offer an archeology degree, so Knudson transferred to the University of Minnesota, where she received her BA in anthropology in 1963. She spent the summer as an Interpretive Ranger at Bandelier National Monument. Knudson received her MA from the University of Minnesota in 1966. She earned her Ph.D. from Washington State University in 1973, where her dissertation focused on artifacts from the MacHaffie site in Montana and the Plainview site in Texas. Her areas of interest included the North American Plains and Rockies, with particular emphasis on Paleoindian studies.

During and after her graduate studies, Knudson taught at Washington State, the University of Northern Colorado (1966–1968), and Wright State University (1974). She received tenure at the University of Idaho (1974–1981) in 1979, where she originally had a National Science Foundation grant to work on the Red Smoke collection, and then became manager of the Laboratory of Anthropology in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology. In retirement, she continued to teach, offering a popular course at Great Falls College at Montana State University.

Knudson was the Society for American Archaeology’s Legislative Coordinator (1979-1980), testifying before Congress and maintaining a national network of SAA members willing to be involved in political action. In this capacity, she participated in the passage of the 1980 amendments of the National Historic Preservation Act; the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979, the Dolores Archaeological Authorization Act of 1980; and the Central Idaho Wilderness Act. For this work, she was awarded the American Anthropological Association’s prestigious Margaret Mead Award in 1983, along with awards from the American Society for Conservation Archaeology and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers. SAA elected Knudson to its Executive Board (1983–1985). She was also elected to the Board of Directors for the Plains Anthropological Society (2003–2005) and also represented the Coordinating Council of National Archeological Societies. 

Knudson returned to Federal service in 1989, when she worked for the Bureau of Land Management in Lewistown, Montana before moving in 1990 to Washington, DC, to work for the National Park Service in its Archeological Assistance Division at the Washington Office. There, she was responsible for the Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program and the Native American Sacred Sites task area, and coordinated and wrote several Secretary of the Interior’s Report to Congress on the Federal Archeology Program. In 1996 she moved to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, where she served as Superintendent until retiring in 2005.

In retirement, Knudson served on the Friends of the Museum of the Plains Indian Board; North Central Resource & Development Area Board; Great Falls-Cascade County Historic Preservation Advisory Commission; Upper Missouri River Heritage Area Planning Corporation Board; and Montana Burial Preservation Board. She taught at Great Falls College, Montana State University, and continued her consulting business and research activities. She was also on the boards of the American Society for Conservation Archaeology, SAA Preservation Action, Women’s Council on Energy & Environment, Plains Anthropological Society, and Idaho Archaeological Society.

An expert flint-knapper, Knudson provided detailed illustrations for research studies. She also established Paleo-Designs, a company that illustrated and sold notecards featuring Paleoindian points and conducted private cultural resource management activities, and was the owner and principal at her consulting firm Knudson Associates.