STOP! - Arrowhead Collecting On The Web

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Arrowhead Collecting On The Web
e-Mail Letters To The Editor:
October 18, 2009
Hey Scott,
Here is the story of our finds in
central Oregon.
My wife’s uncle owns a considerable
plot of land (ranch) in the juniper
country of Central Oregon, east of
Bend.
One can grow detached from nature
living in the metro area of any city
(we reside in Portland) and so we
decided to head out to his ranch for a
week-long getaway to what was, for
us, unknown country.
Upon arriving we discovered there
was little to no water on the entire
ranch (save the occasional cattle
pond), eliminating any sort of fishing
and reserving activities to either
hiking or horseback riding. The dust
and considerable mid-day temperatures
drove us to choose horseback
riding and on our second day there,
took off at daybreak for a ride.
My wife’s uncle had informed us of
several dried-up lakes which, if you
get there early enough, sometimes
will have deer grazing on the sparse
grass that pokes through the alkali
mud. We chose the closest one and
set off on a 2 hour rocky ride with
little more than a cattle path to guide
us.
The lake must have been no more
than 5-6 feet deep at its prime and
looked to presently contain a few
inches of water on a wet year. Steep
banks surrounded the entire lake,
which lead up to a nearly continuous
level terrace.
As we were passing over one part of
the terrace we noticed black flakes
everywhere, sometimes so thick one
couldn’t move without stepping on a
dozen or so. I thought it may be an
archeological site but was unsure due
to my lack of experience on the
matter. My suspicions were
confirmed, however, when I noticed a
point sticking directly out of the
ground. I picked it up and about that
time my son yelled that he found one
as well.
A few hours later we had found four
nice points and several handfuls of
Top is an undisturbed artifact in the dry soil of the ranch in Eastern Oregon. The
volcanic ash rich soil clings to the point even afer the point is pulled from the ground.
broken ones. We reported the news
back to my wife’s uncle who assured
us that there were many such sites
around that lake and in other places
on the ranch, telling us to feel free to
pick up whatever we could find.
He showed us a collection that he had
framed and hung on the wall of a
couple hundred points that he had
“happened upon” while working.
The points were all shapes and sizes,
most beautifully made and all from
obsidian.
Upon our return, we purchased
literature on point typology and have
(continued...)
Volume I, Number 7 8
November 2009