Report from 7/11/2024

 Hello! I'm currently writing to you from the comfort of my bunk at the Field House we're staying at in Niles. MI. Today is day 2 of the field school and we were able to see the site! The past two days have been raining on and off due to Hurricane Beryl and in turn the St. Joseph Rover flooded the field where the site is. However, we were still able to visit the site this morning and gain further understanding of St. Joe's physical extent. 

Father Allouz' memorial cross

We visited Father Allouez' memorial cross uphill from the site and touched the Fort St. Joseph memorial boulder that established the site. We walked a trail in the vicinity to familiarize ourselves with the terrain - thick woods with lots of shade for mushrooms, wild strawberries and a little poison ivy. Once we reached the site, it was pretty clear that we wouldn't be digging today; the whole are was submerged in inches of water.

The site is flooded, but 
visible tubing indicates 
where the pumps are
installed/where the water
will drain

Luckily, the river level crested around 10am which means we'll dig soon, hopefully after this weekend. There's a water pump installed in the area to remove excess ground water as well, which we will be taking full advantage of when the conditions are right. 

In the meantime, we've been keeping busy with lab work, visiting museums and getting to know each other. We carpooled in groups this morning to the site but also to a museum in South Bend, Indiana. Our group was fortunate enough to handle artifacts from the museum's Fort St. Joseph collection. Most of the pieces were whole, or had contextual significance, my favorites were the colorful glass-blown blown beads and utensils - there was a very ornate knife with a decorative carved bone handle and a fork (there were only two prongs so I liked to call it a two-k) and detailed embellishments for gun parts. It's so fascinating to see how humans have always individualized things to give meaning. I see an artifact like a carved piece of bone and wonder how someone had the patience to accomplish such a thing, then I have to remind myself that the same principles could apply to something like a passion of mine might - the process of the project is as sacred as the piece itself. It is what I have to remind myself of when seeing a functional, decorative piece: individuality of the person.

FSJ commemorative rock - 
it is so big that the concrete
underneath is bending under
the weight!

     Overall it has been a slow start, but eventful! Our schedule has been moved around; we had planned on visiting museums on rainy/off days but we've visited 3 in 3 days so far! Extra time we've used to catalog floatation matter, clean bone material and other misc. artifact pieces. I'm really enjoying everything here so far, I feel like I'm learning in a summer camp setting. We all take turns cooking meals, cleaning and the early morning air smells exactly like camping feels. I can't wait for field work and I hope to find something amazing!

- Paige Pemble