Page 1 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

Volume 3, Issue 4 December 2007

THE SRAC JOURNAL

T H E R EG I ON ’ S A R C H A E O LO G IC A L , C U LT U R A L ,
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Vanderpoel’s Hobby
A Brief History Lesson
Note to Readers
SRAC Around the Community
4th Annual Drumbeats
Saturday Workshops at SRAC
SRAC Receives Fox Collection
Coming Events
The Arc Site
SRAC Receives DEC Grant
Tioga Point NSDAR
Special Thanks to Contributors
“River, Rocks, and Time” Online
Membership Form
nline
RAC o
Join S ! Go to
now r.org/
.S R A Cente
www day!
join to
• Our Vision
The Susquehanna River Ar-
chaeological Center of Native
Indian Studies (S.R.A.C.) is dedi-
cated to education, research and
preservation of the Native
American archaeological, cul-
tural and historical assets of the
Twin Tier Region of Northeast-
ern PA and Southern NY.
AND H I S T OR I C A L R E SO U R C E
VANDERPOEL'S HOBBY & LIFE'S WORK: COLLECTING NATIVE
1
AMERICAN ARTIFACTS BY TED KEIR, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, SRAC
1
3
LeRoy (Jake to his friends) Vanderpoel,
9 found his first arrowhead at a very young
10 age, and he was hooked. Jake loved to
12
fish, and from his home in Athens, Brad-
ford County, he would walk to either the
13 Susquehanna or Chemung River with his
13 fish pole and bait. When he returned to his
home he would walk the farmer's fields
14
and search for lost treasures that had
15 been brought to the surface by the
16 farmer's plow.
16 Jake related how he would clean the dirt
17 off the flint points and stone tools and lay
them on the window sills in the house.
18
This didn't please his dad at all as he or-
dered him to get rid of them. Then he
started storing them in salt bags but his LeRoy (Jake) Vanderpoel with Restored Pots
dad got fed up and threw his stone treas-
(Continued on page 2)
ures in the garden.
A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON BY DEB TWIGG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SRAC
slowly receding and flooding our region,
It is hard to imagine what our region
we certainly would not have survived.
looked like a few thousand years ago, let
alone who the people were that lived Great flood waters were the result of the
here. The cultures that existed then melting of the glaciers with evidence of
seem so alien to us that they are a this seen even today. High atop our re-
mystery. Yet by looking at the evidence gion's highest mountains fossils of crea-
they left behind, we find that this culture tures can be found that once lived in an
has similarities to any other culture. Al- ancient deep sea that disappeared long
though they vary in detail, cultures are the ago. But during this time sea levels rose
same in that they are the summation of so high that it flooded what were once
generations solving the problems before coastlines and created those ancient
them with new ideas and inventions. One seas and rivers. Without question, our
might even consider whether the only real landscape is forever sculpted from these
variations between each culture may ulti- great glaciers that gouged the earth's
mately be what challenges each had to crust and subsequent flooding waters
face and how their culture chose to solve that changed the original terrain.
them.
About 20,000 BC - 8000 BC – PALEO
About 70,000 to 20,000 BC - THE LAST PERIOD While debates continue con-
ICE AGE Several thousand years ago, our cerning exactly when this occurred, once
region was a place that few of us today the water receded and the rich soil was
could survive; and if we travel as far back
as when the huge sheets of ice were (Continued on page 4)

The Susquehanna
BecomeRiver Archaeological
a member of Center
SRACof Native
today! Indian
SeeStudies
back ~ www.SRACenter.org
page for more ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
information.
Page 2
VANDERPOEL'S HOBBY & LIFE'S WORK: COLLECTING NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIFACTS CONT.
(Continued from page 1)
As Jake got older he became a very
good hunter, trapper, and fisherman;
which all tied in well with finding old
Indian village sites where the farmer's
plow or flood waters would uncover
firepits, storage and refuse pits, and on
occasion burials.
Jake and his wife lived on North St. in
Athens and he worked at the Ingersoll-
Rand Foundry. They had a daughter
Shirley, who at the age of six started
going with her dad and loved to pick up
shards from broken Indian clay cooking
and storage pots. Later on Jake be-
came very proficient working with ce-
ramics and restored 17 clay pots of all
sizes.
I enjoyed joining Jake on a number of
artifact trips. We shared our knowledge
Metal Cross and Miscellaneous Bead
Found at Tioga Point Site
Jake Working at Tioga Point Site, Athens PA
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THE SRAC JOURNAL
Jake Vanderpoel with Vast Native American Collection
and learned from each other regarding
the most productive sites, not only
along the rivers and creeks but also hill
or hunting sites. Jake drew me a map of
Stone (approximately 2” x 1.5”) with Incised
Spiral Design
2 Sides of Deer Antler (1615 - 1630) with Incised Markings
Volume 3, Issue 4
Bradford County, locating and number-
ing nearly 80 of the recorded sites reg-
istered with the state museum in Harris-
burg. He copied reliable information
from a map produced by Louise Murray.
Jake worked for a short time with a
state funded archaeology team in 1948,
but they ran out of funds.
He was with us on the Tioga Point Farm
when a professional staff under Dr.
Barry Kent carried out an excavation.
Jake collected from Wysox and To-
wanda up the Susquehanna River to
Nichols and Tioga County, NY, and up
the Chemung River from Tioga Point to
Wilawana, Chemung and Lowman. By
his own count, he had over 6,000 pro-
jectile points at one time, arrowheads
and spear points as well as hundreds of
stone and bone tools used for hunting,
skinning, fishing, agriculture and war.
(Continued on page 3)
Page 3
VANDERPOEL'S HOBBY & LIFE'S WORK: COLLECTING NATIVE AMERICAN ARTIFACTS CONT.
(Continued from page 2)
Photos of Jake's artifact collection
have appeared in the Pennsylvania
Archaeologist by Charles Lucy, Barry
Kent and Ira Smith III, and by Gary
Fogelman in the Pennsylvania Artifact
Series. Vanderpoel displayed several
times at the annual Che-Hanna Rock
and Mineral Show and special events
at the Tioga Point Museum. Jake Van-
derpoel passed away in 1986 at the
age of 75. The bulk of his collection
was sold at a Roan Brothers auction at
Cogan Station, Pa.
on March 19, 1988.
A few of us have
frames and locally
found items that
were bought or
given to us by Jake;
but the rare pipes,
pots, banner
stones, beads and
trade goods are
now lost to the peo-
NOTE TO READERS:
In the winter of 2006, SRAC Board
member Dick Cowles received a phone
call from Tim Tuttle, who lives in Michi-
gan. He also owns a cabin in Dick's
neighborhood near Corning, NY that he
visits a couple of times a year. The
phone call was to invite SRAC board
members Dick Cowles, Ted Keir, and
Deb Twigg to see a portion of his col-
lection relative to our region.
Mr.Tuttle spent the better part of an
afternoon with his guests, who were
surprised to see several pieces from
Ted Keir reunited with artifacts
The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4
ple living in this area and
interested in the local history King George 1st
of our Indian civilization. medallion; Cobalt
blue Russian trade
I feel sad about our lost arti- beads (found with
fact collections; but we were 107 black and
a few years too late in orga- 2,428 white beads
and when all strung
nizing our SRAC, that is
together created a
working hard to change what
string of beads 14
happened to many collec-
feet, 8 inches long);
tions in the past. We want to
Copper coil with
save and protect this part of human hair (1727-
our history forever. 1734), all found at
Tioga Point farm.
Vanderpoel Clay Pot Collection
the Vanderpoel Collection that had to SRAC and allowing us to record his
gone to auction in 1988. There is no collection, and in remembrance of a
doubt that these artifacts have passed Jake Vanderpoel, a collector well
hands several times before reaching known to many in our region.
that cabin. From a collection that once
It is our hope that SRAC may someday
held thousands of artifacts, SRAC was
return some of Vanderpoel’s extensive
at least able to bear witness that a
collection back to our region; allowing
handful was still intact with prove-
us to include him in our wall of collec-
nance. That afternoon will also be a
tors that will memorialize their life's
special memory because Ted Keir had
work in the search and study of our
actually witnessed the discovery of
region's local prehistory.
some of the pieces, and had handled
the artifacts decades before with his
friend Jake. As a result, Ted was able
to offer Tim much more information
about the artifacts, and both parties
were better for the meeting that took
place that day. While we know there
are more small parts of the vast Van-
derpoel collection still in local hands, it
by no means makes up for what was
lost at that fateful auction in 1988.
SRAC has extended a request to Tuttle
to someday exhibit his collection at our
Center, and it was agreed that this
would indeed be a great thing to do
sometime in the future. Until then, we SRAC board members, Deb Twigg, Ted
Keir, Dick Cowles, and Tim Tuttle
thank Tim Tuttle for opening his doors
Page 4 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON C O N T .

An Early Invention - Sinker stones have been

found in massive amounts in Bradford
County, Pa. They were attached to ancient
fishing nets in order to weight them down in
the many rivers and creeks in the region. The
nets that they were tied to rotted away a long
time ago and are only evidenced by their
marks worn into the stones that still remain.

While scientists today argue about the

Earth during the last Ice Age (around 16,000 B.C.)
(Continued from page 1)
then revealed, life would soon make
use of it. Plants would rise from the
muddy terrain and waterfowl and
small animals would live off of the
many fish species that flourished in
the icey waters. Once the mud dried
even more and became suitable for
passage, it would soon be littered with
footprints of larger animals that
ranged all the way up to the great
wooly mammoths, giant elks, huge
cats, and even later those of humans
who came here hunting these animals
for their next meal.
Believed to be hunters and gatherers,
One artist’s rendition of early hunters (Paleo).
these paleo (first people) are said to
have called no place home and were
constantly on the move for their next
meal and ultimate survival. Their need
was to feed themselves, and without
agricultural knowledge these people
had learned where their food supplies
were available and lived off of what
grew naturally in the environment
around them such as nuts, berries,
roots and plants. They created basic
inventions to help facilitate catching
fish, and others to help in hunting to
get meat to help their families survive.
They also had to protect themselves
from the weather and because of their
continuous search for food, initially
found places that naturally provided
natural shelter such as caves but
eventually would build primitive short-
term housing structures. To survive
the winters however meant to store
enough food that would not rot and
hope that hunting efforts throughout
the cold months could be fruitful
enough to get them through to the
next spring. When spring finally ar-
rived, they set out again on their quest
to survive for another year.
path that led the first men into our
area, the massive evidence they left
behind in the form of artifacts clearly
show that this was a region rich with
the resources needed to sustain life in
such harsh times. It seems that
throughout the thousands of years of
the migration by several cultures, the
Twin Tier region was a continuous
stopping point along their way.
With the Susquehanna River full of
great eels, fish, water fowl, and other
wild game, and the soil rich with fruit
and nut trees and wild edible plants,
early travelers found this region a
place in which their families could sur-
vive and thrive. The artifacts that re-
main give us a glimpse into the world
that they lived in and what needs they
used their energies to fulfill.
8000 BC - 1000 BC - THE ARCHAIC
PERIOD Thousands of years would
pass, and slowly generation after gen-
eration would bring new ideas and
answers to problems that made life
just a little easier. Although their lives
were significantly eased by the inven-
tions of their past generations, their
lives were still surrounded by a harsh
life and many problems that begged
for answers.
(Continued on page 5)

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Page 5 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON C O N T .

It is believed that during the Archaic time
(Continued from page 4)
period a significant technological break-
through, the bow and arrow had not yet
This in turn would cause new upgrades, been invented. Researchers believe that
ideas, and behaviors built upon prior ones as their ancestors had, hunters continued
that would continue to grow exponentially to use an atlatl to throw long spears for
Contact Us! as the populations steadily grew. This pe- thousands of years before the invention of
riod begins to show that more time was the bow and arrow. Carefully made, ground
available and taken to make more ornate
and polished stone tools such as pestles,
Our Headquarters celts, axes, and adzes. Interestingly, some
Mail: of these early tools have continued to be
SRAC modified and used to modern times. Other
artifacts found in our region such as bird-
PO Box 12 stones, gorgets, and plummet stones con-
Sayre, PA 18840 tinue to be debated about, because their
usage stopped at some point over the cen- The atlatl, was most likely still used as the
Phone: turies and their purpose has been lost. Fur- weapon of choice by the archaic period hunters.
607-727-3111 thermore, the locations of quarries of new
Email: and better materials continued to be found
info@SRACenter.org and uses for these materials constantly
being upgraded. As a result, scientists can
date many sites by not only the level of
Our Center tools that are found there, but the types of
lithic materials that are found there as well.
Location:
345 Broad St. Another indicator of continuous innovation
Waverly, NY
Phone:
607-565-7960
Ancient Ohio "bird stone" believed to be an atlatl
weight found near Spanish Hill, Bradford County, PA.
Our Website
and polished stone weights were attached
SRACenter.org
to the shaft of the spear thrower to increase
the precision of the throw needed to make
Our Online Giftshop the kill.

SRACenter.org/store 1000 BC - 1550 AD - THE WOODLAND

Ancient points made in many shapes and sizes
Online Membership as well as from many types of materials show
that several cultures over many time periods
SRACenter.org/join found themselves near Spanish Hill, Bradford
County, PA
Our Blog
that occurred over the centuries are that the
SRACenter.blogspot.com points themselves. The mere design in their
edges and stems as well as whether pres-
Online Donations sure was used as opposed to striking the
material are all indicators of past innova-
SRACenter.org/donations tions that were made over the centuries by
different groups, and all of this information
helps today's researchers to classify them
by time period and culture.
PERIOD At this point, people began to har-
ness enough knowledge of their surround-
ing vegetation to begin meager efforts in
agriculture. It is believed that this time pe-
riod was marked by this huge innovation
because with it they still could hunt and
gather, yet begin to build extra stores of
food that would allow them to remain in one
place for longer periods of time. Larger
groups of people could at this point live to-
gether and villages and small communities
began to be formed. With this advancement
to their social structure, there were more
people to help grow and harvest more food
stores and this again allowed for more time
for other needs to be considered.

(Continued on page 6)

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Page 6 THE SRAC JOURNAL
A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON C O N T .
(Continued from page 5)
Great religious efforts seem to have arisen at this time and
many ceremonial spaces and temples began being built in
North America, not unlike those found in South America.
Large villages, cities and trade centers would pop up
throughout the east coast and Mississippi valley region.
With the creation of cities, each person no longer had to
provide their own food to sustain their families. Huge fields
of corn supported whole villages, and people were allowed
to specialize in different areas of tool making and artisan-
ship. By now, the paths through our region were many; and
although not paved, they were almost as abundant as our
major highway systems today. This allowed people of differ-
ent regions to share their individual cultural and technologi-
cal advancements, and soon the first "melting pot of Amer-
ica" was underway.
Instead of carving bowls from steatite, well made pottery
with various designs and tempering materials became yet
another innovation during the Woodland period. This pot-
tery today is used by researchers to define the culture of
the people who made them very distinctly in this period.
The invention of the new hunting technology known as the
bow and arrow is also believed to have occurred at this
time. Because of these huge leaps forward, I believe that
Actual pottery found in our region that shows inhabitance of
many cultures over many time periods. (Jack Rowe Collection)
one could look at this time period as the “Renaissance” of
the American Indian in our region.
At this point, our region became a place that could sustain
life and many cultures together. It had seen rise to the first
cities and civilizations it would know. The growth of human-
kind and the accumulated wisdoms of many generations
were continuing to culminate exponentially, and each gen-
eration showed more and more advances due to the record
populations it was able to support. Life had finally reached
a point where large amounts of time could be spent on en-
The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Volume 3, Issue 4
deavors other than sustaining life; and as a result, efforts in
things such as the arts and other cultural matters were now
given the focus they had never been afforded before. Yet,
as with all histories of mankind, other less productive activi-
ties, such as war, began to be the focus of attention.
Soon even peaceful people had to learn about war if only
for protection, and as a result, the rise of palisaded or
walled villages began to appear. Paths once used by all,
were now guarded by nations that claimed them as their
own, and passage became deadly to anyone not given
rights to use them. French missionaries made some of the
earliest records of people in our region, and noted that at
least one tribe carried great war clubs, which they would
Early illustration of an Iroquoian palisaded village
leave next to the body of a forbidden traveler along their
heavily guarded paths. These people were the most feared
of all in the area that later was described as having many
warring nations all at battle with one another. The people in
our region were said to have lived as if constantly on a
wheel of survival, finding themselves most powerful one
year only to be on the edge of extinction the next.
15?? - Forward – THE HISTORIC PERIOD (When records
of events began being documented in a written language in
our region) The first people in our region that we have re-
cords of were called the Susquehannocks by Englishman
Captain John Smith, who found them guarding the Susque-
hanna River waterway as far south as the Chesapeake Bay
in 1608. In fact on his journey up this river from Virginia, he
was met by many of these Susquehannocks, which were
enough to make him turn around and go no further!
The first records of white men that came into our region is
said to be three Dutch trappers, who happened onto one of
the above described heavily guarded Susquehannock
(Continued on page 7)
Page 7 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON C O N T .

(Continued from page 6)
paths. Luckily for the
Dutchmen, the Susque-
hannocks had knowl-
edge of their country-
men at the Delaware
Bay, said to be willing to
pay a handsome ran-
som in precious metal
pots and other items in
exchange for their safe
return.
While the advent of the
first white men in our
region signifies so many
changes to the world
that was forming in
North America, it also
begins the joining of the
wisdom of the genera-
Captain John Smith's illustration of tions of the people of
"Susquehannock" North America with the
knowledge of genera-
tions of the people of Europe. While the Europeans are rec-
ognized for bringing the technology of gunpowder and
metal to this land, they would not have survived the first
winter without the help of the North American people who
for generations had developed methods and tools for this
purpose.
The clash of these cultures in our region
the following hundreds of years would
make drastic changes in both, and would
lead the mighty Susquehannocks to their
final extinction in 1763.
While this is but a brief overview of the
incredible past this region holds, it hope-
fully helps you to understand that our
region is rich with a significant prehistory
as well as history along with an incredi-
ble amount of evidence in the form of
artifacts that should be preserved and
shared. If one looks closely at the in-
credible artifacts that have been and still
are being found in this region, it is clear
that this region was once a favorite stop
by ancient travelers and later was the
home to many cultures. Over thousands
of generations, evidence of the incredible
accumulation of knowledge and contin-
ued need for innovation and invention
that formed these unique cultures is well
recorded. SRAC’s birch bark canoe on display at
recent Drumbeats event
Recently at our last Drumbeats event, this whole idea of the
continuous wheel of needs being answered by innovation
and invention was a topic of discussion between me and a
new young friend and SRAC member, Danny Scopelliti as
we were looking over the birch bark canoe that Les Rolfe
donated to us. I was telling Danny about how the canoe
was made and that it was a very intense process that obvi-
ously was not one man’s idea. Instead that probably one
day someone wanted to hunt the geese that were swim-
ming out of reach in a river or a lake and someone made
something out of branches or some material to facilitate
their need. I told him that just as he questions why his dad
does something one way, probably this person’s son gave
him another idea of what would work better, and maybe a
neighbor jumped in the conversation and that together they
made something even better, and so it went…for hundreds,
possibly thousands of years people continued to add their
ideas. One only needs to look at the incredible workman-
ship that goes into making the bark canoe to appreciate the
story I was trying to illustrate. And of course, the continued
innovations in canoe making did not stop and continue to
be upgraded just like everything else even today.
Danny continued that he believed these people were really
intelligent and that most people that he had talked to about
them thought that the ancient cultures were not as smart as
we are today. I actually think about this from time to time,
and have to say that from what I understand there is very
little that we do or understand today that wasn’t passed on
to us from other generations. The laptop that I am writing
this on, the desk that it sits on, the building that I am sitting
in are all results of ideas and inventions that show a
thought process that obviously existed a
very long time ago. As a result, I am not
sure that man could have survived with
less brain power than we are able to ex-
ert today. Furthermore, I have to be hon-
est when I say that I am not sure how
many of us could survive 1,000, much
less 10,000 years ago with the same
tools and knowledge level let alone in the
same situation we found our ancient an-
cestors in. As a result, I am not sure I
can make the call on who was the most
intelligent or most inventive, but instead
can only state that within each group
there was always the opportunity to meet
the challenge before us with the knowl-
edge we had been given at that point in
time.
This opportunity to meet challenges set
before us has existed throughout history
and still exists today. Let’s be honest, no
culture to date has been defined by be-
(Continued on page 8)

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Page 8 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON C O N T .

(Continued from page 7)

ing just like another one before it. Instead, they are defined by the different ways they dealt with the challenges before
them ~ or not. This opportunity is also realized in two parts. First, any need can be identified and one of two responses
can follow: “I can’t do anything about it,” or “I can do something about it,” (no matter how large or small that something is.)
Secondly, whatever is done needs to cause some change to occur. The people throughout history that somehow saw the
need as something they could address and were able to find solutions differently than those before them were naturally
the ones who caused the innovations and invention to occur time period after time period.

For this reason, I believe that history is a thing that can tell us many things not only about the people who once lived here,
but about ourselves. SRAC is made up of people who believe that we can indeed do something about the black hole that
has engulfed the interest and the knowledge of our regional prehistory and early history as well as the preservation of it.

What do you believe?

To join or learn more about SRAC, visit www.SRACenter.org, call 607-727-3111 or email info@sracenter.org.

Note: Due to the spatial limitations for this article, please understand that the break down within each time period or inclu-
sion of the Transition Period have been eliminated.

TED AND DEB PRESENT AT LOCKHEED MARTIN SRAC SPEAKS TO SAYRE HIGH STUDENTS

On November 28, 2007 Ted Keir and Deb Twigg did a spe- Sayre High School welcomed SRAC board members in
cial presentation September of 2007. Ted and Deb were invited to speak to
at Lockheed Mar- the district’s seventh grade students. They spoke about the
tin in Owego, NY. Valley area
The presentation history and the
was very well re- importance of
ceived; and they preserving lo-
were surprised, to cal artifacts. It
say the least, was a great
when they were day for SRAC
told to expect and the stu-
about 60 people dents!
and 120 attended!

JURASSIC NIGHT AT LYNCH-BUSTIN STORY OF THE WOOLLY MAMMOTH

SRAC's Board mem- SRAC's Board Chairman
ber, Inga Welles, Ted Keir presented his
manned the SRAC "Story of the Woolly Mam-
display table and moth" program for the
"Sand Pit" at the Southern Tier Lions Club
Lynch-Bustin Elemen- at Fisherville, NY in No-
tary School "Jurassic vember 2007. Photo 1
Night" in Athens, Pa. shows Ted holding one of
Kids dug for rocks in his woolly mammoth teeth
the sand pit for dino- as he stands with
saur era rocks and minerals King Lion Jack Harter. Photo 2
donated by Ted Keir. The dis- shows the sign that was placed at
play held special items that the site that the mammoth was un-
drew attention which included covered, Spring Lake, near Wyalus-
coprolite, (petrified dinosaur ing, PA.
droppings) also from the Keir
collection.

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Page 9 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

SRAC ARO UND THE COMMUNITY

We at SRAC thought our summer was busy….and then came fall! Board
members participated in all sorts of events; including Jurassic Night at Lynch-
Bustin School, a presentation to the students of Sayre High School, a Wooly
Mammoth Program at the Southern Tier Retired Lions Club, the Otsiningo
Harvest Festival, the Guthrie Christmas Craft Fair, a special SRAC Presenta-
tion at Lockheed Martin, and we hosted our own 4th Annual Drumbeats
Through Time (see page 10). The year is closing with our biggest accom-
plishment and hardest task to date...the purchase and renovation of our first
location. Look for us around the community in the coming months. We’ll be
looking for you too!

Deb takes a moment with good friend Ron Wen-

ning of Wennawoods Publishing

Ted presenting at Lockheed Martin Henry Farley at the

Christmas
Lynch-Bustin Elementary School Jurassic Night Craft Fair

Inga and friend at a Jurassic Night at

Susan, Delores Elliott, and Deb at Lynch-Bustin Elementary School
the Otsiningo Harvest Festival in
November
tsiningo
it h vis ito rs at the O Guthrie Christmas Craft Fair Organ-
Susan w estival izers Bev Varner and Frank Sickler
Harvest F
with Deb

Peggy Burkhart (Sayre Historical Soci-

ety) at the Guthrie Christmas Craft Fair

Deb presenting to our good friends at Lock-

heed Martin Inga, Susan, and Jessica manning the tables at the
Guthrie Christmas Craft Fair

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 10 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

4 T H A N N UA L D RU M B E AT S T H RO U G H T I M E IS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS!

In October 2007, SRAC held the 4th annual Drumbeats

Through Time event which was a great representation
of the ever growing support of people and resources
dedicated to its success.

The day began early with an invitation only session for

members and friends of SRAC presented by executive
director, Deb Twigg. The presentation covered an over-
view of SRAC's successes over the past year, financial
reports and strategic plans for the coming year, as well as never before shown
pictures of the new SRAC building on Broad Street, Waverly.

As the morning session closed,

Les Rolfe and wife with the birch bark canoe
the public portion began and Deb addresses the SRAC membership
visitors began to browse the
collections and special SRAC
displays to include our new
birch bark canoe which is part
of the SRAC Les Rolfe collec-
tion. SRAC also displayed arti-
facts from each of our collec-
tions to include the Cowles,
Safford, Rolfe, and Sloat collec-
tions.

Later, Ralph Ratual from the NYS mu-

NYS Museum’s Ralph Ratual visited Ted’s
museum before the event.
Mural artist, “Mitch” Mitchell works on
seum presented a story about the NYS
the backdrop for the canoe display
Museum and why a preservation effort
in a museum setting is so important. After this presentation, the Tioga County
Tourism bus arrived with visitors to the event and they joined the audience in
browsing the collections and displays until it was time for the final presenta-
tion made by Dr. Earl Robinson of the Lowman Historical Society. He pre-
sented the trail of Sullivan's March in 1779, and promptly followed that up by
boarding all those that had reserved tickets to join the Tioga Tourism visitors
on the bus to take a tour of the exact path of Sullivan and his troops through
our region.

We want to thank Ralph Ratual from the NYS Museum and Dr. Robinson especially for taking the time to be such an
important part of our event this year. It is so important to us to know that we have friends such as them who support
the efforts of SRAC.

Earl Robinson chats with Don Hunt and

Brian and Ethan Denlinger Ralph Ratual answers audience Marilyn Wheeler at Drumbeats
questions at Drumbeats

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Page 11 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

4 T H A N N UA L D RU M B E AT S T H RO U G H T I M E IS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS!

Deb and Ted….☺

Dick Cowles chats with Ron Wenning of

Deb setting up displays at Drumbeats
Wennawoods Publishing

Inga Welles mans the historical books and

maps table

Guests enjoyed the popular addition of food at this Dick and Marcia share artifacts the Joe
year’s Drumbeats event Schmieg at the 4th Annual Drumbeats

Some new friends enjoy Drumbeats

Marcia Cowles talks with Mike

Buynak and his daughters

One of the day’s presentations

SRAC celebrates our collections, the collectors,

and their families. Without their generosity, our Matt Hicks of the Morning Times
Earl Robinson waiting to present
local history would be lost.
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Page 12 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

S AT U R DAY W O R K S H O P S AT S RAC BY DEB TWIGG

Our Saturday workshops have been much more than I could have ever dreamed of - - (and trust me - when I say I can
dream pretty big!) We have had more than twenty people show up on any one day, and the amount of work that is accom-
plished is to be proud of!
On one Saturday we had Tom Valillee and Jack Rowe lead a team of movers with one truck which included myself, Dave
Santas, Mike Bunyak, and Les Rolfe. At the same time Duane Welles led the truck for the second team which included
Jessica and Joe Quinn, Luke Rae, and Mike Geiss. That same day Gloria Riegel came and helped with cleaning and
moving too!
On another Saturday Danny and Sue Hakes Jeff Terwilliger, Mary VanSchaick, Claire Borits, took time out of their Satur-
day to help us with sweeping, moving items, tearing down peg boards, and washing down walls and windows.

Left to right: Duane

Welles, Luke Rae, Deb
Twigg, Tom Valillee, Jack
Rowe, and Jessica Quinn

Rita and Craig Maury stopped in to volunteer to help us with building cases and to do other fin-
ish work. They just happen to have a workshop just a few buildings down from us and took
measurements for a couple of projects that they have offered to do for us for nothing more than
the cost of supplies. It would be impossible to (and lengthy!) to list all of the activity and gifts
we’ve been blessed with!
SRAC has workshops Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check SRACenter.blogspot.com
for announcements each week!
Claire Borits

Jack, Angelo, and Tom getting ready to

Rita and Craig Maury talk with Deb drywall Jeff Terwilliger and Jessica

Sue Hakes works with Alley

Terwilliger while Danny sweeps Luke Rae, Duane Welles, Deb Twigg,
Mary VanSchaick Carol Merrill, and Don Merrill

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Page 13 THE SRAC JOURNAL
S R AC R E C E I V ES R O B E RT K . F OX C O L L E C T I O N
SRAC is proud to announce that the Robert K. Fox Collec-
tion has been added to our collection. Bob Fox was a col-
lector in and around Athens, PA for most of his life. After
his recent death, his family was left with the responsibility
of where his collection would end up, and they made an
important phone call that will affect our community for gen-
erations to come.
Miscellaneous artifacts numbered
clearly to note where in our region
they were found
Prehistoric tool called an
That phone call was an invitation "adz" donated as part of the
to SRAC board members to look
"Fox Collection" to SRAC
at the collection, and to receive it
as an addition to the SRAC collection. It was a pleasant
surprise to find that all of the artifacts were numbered and
listed in a notebook, showing the specific site or location
where each artifact was found. This puts the Robert K. Fox
Collection in a very important place in the SRAC collection,
because it can be very useful to researchers to know what
was found at various sites in our region.
We at SRAC are particularly pleased that the word is get-
ting out about what we are trying to do. That is - to keep
our evidence off the auction block and instead to preserve
it for the sake of our community and furthering research
about our prehistoric past.
COMING EVENTS
39th Annual Che-Hanna Rock & Mineral Club Show
• 5 Athens Twp. Vol. Fire Hall, Herrick Ave., Sayre, PA -
March 29th and 30th, 2008.Hours: Saturday 9-5 and
Sunday 10-5
• The Carnegie Museum will provide an outstanding and
will provide minerals for silent auctions.
• Special exhibit of AMBER from the Paleontological Re-
search Institute.
• Club members will exhibit minerals, gems, Indian arti-
facts.
• Demonstrations of the lapidary arts will be done by club
members. Mini-mine for the kids. Fluorescent minerals by
UV BOB.
• Dealers with fossils, gemstones, minerals, jewelry, hobby
supplies.
The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Volume 3, Issue 4
The Robert K. Fox Collection - (which it will be known as
from this point on at SRAC) is the fifth donation of evidence
that SRAC has received. The first of which was SRAC's co-
founder Mr. Dick Cowles' collection consisting of thousands
of artifacts (evidence) that belonged to his father, Ellsworth
Cowles. The Cowles Collection covers sites in a broad re-
gion from Waverly, NY, Spanish Hill, Athens, PA, Big Flats,
and as far as Corning, NY. The second was the Bernard
Safford Collection, from Waverly, NY which includes hun-
dreds of artifacts from sites located mostly in Sheshequin,
PA and Ithaca, NY. SRAC has used the Safford Collection
in schools around the region and at many events for chil-
dren, per Mr. Safford's wishes. The third collection was the
Sloat Collection, which includes evidence from a specific
site in Milltown, PA. The fourth was the Les Rolfe Collec-
tion, which includes an authentic birch bark canoe, as well
as 250 framed Vestal Points, and some miscellaneous arti-
facts from a PA site.
We’d like thank Randy Pettit and all of Bob Fox's family for
the donation of this evidence to SRAC. Furthermore, thank
you to all who have given to SRAC in whatever form was
possible. We at SRAC believe it is OUR history. Without
our local collectors and philanthropists who also believe
this to be true,
SRAC would not
have been founded
nor been able to
have the suc-
cesses it has to
date. We take it as
a vote of confi-
dence, and will
continue to work
hard to continue to
be deserving of it.
Ted Keir, Randy Pettit, and Tom Vallilee
• Admission Donation: Adults$3.00Students$1.00Kids un-
der 8 FREE
Come and bring a friend!!
More info - call 570-888-7544
Would you like to receive email no-
tices of upcoming events? Email
info@SRACenter.org and ask to be
added to our announcements list.
Page 14 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

THE ARC SITE BY STANLEY VANDERLAAN, MEMBER, SRAC

caribou herds that were going east to the calving grounds in
The largest known Paleo Indian site in New York State was
the Adirondack foothills in the Spring and southwest to
discovered by my dad, Jacob, and myself in 1984 near
Western Pennsylvania and Ohio in the Fall.
Oakfield, New York (between Buffalo and Rochester). It
was named the Arc Site and covers well over one hundred There is a high hill near
acres, which we have surface hunted many times. Hun- the site from where, on
dreds of end and side scrapers (broken and complete) have a clear day, one can
been recovered. Also, many knives, spokeshaves, drills, see Lake Ontario. From
gravers, limaces, sickles and preforms were found. Over 60 here, I suspect that
different fluted these early hunters
points (Clovis) are could have seen the
represented. Many receding glacier far to
thousands of waste the North.
flakes found shows
Since this is such an
that tools were Fluted Tools, Points, Glued Together
important site, I have
made or resharp-
mapped in each of the
ened here. Most of
artifacts as they were found. We have a couple of radio car-
the artifacts are
bon dates for the Arc Site: 10,370 plus or minus 108 and
made of local Ono-
11,700 plus or minus 110 years old. Thanks to Jack Hol-
daga chert, but
land at the Buffalo Museum for measuring, weighing and
about 5% are of
numbering over 1700 tool specimens from this site.
Pennsylvania Jas-
per or Argilite, East- Triangular End Scrapers, Knife with Graver
ern New York State Spurs, Knife, Graver, Spokeshaves, Drill
Onondage, Flint
Ridge (Ohio) or
Canadian material.
These exotic (non-
local) tools were
carried into this
area when they first
arrived, as they
didn't know if tool
making stone ex-
isted here. Their
lives depended on As shown by the waste flakes in this photo, they also brought in raw
reliable tools. materials to make tools from. There is Pennsylvania red jasper, east-
38 Fluted Points
ern New York Onondaga, black Pennsylvanian and Ohio flint, Flint
Many of the fluted
Ridge assorted colors and upper Mercer.
points represented
are of bases only.
This suggests that
the tips were some-
times broken off the
spears at the killing
areas and that the
wooden spear
shafts were brought
back to the camp
where the broken
flint bases were
detached and dis- 3 Fragments of a Knife
carded, then new
points installed. Caribou were probably the main food This is a picture of some of the best tools found at the Arc Site. Notice
source here as this provided food, shelter and clothing. many made with non-local material. When the Paleo people first came
into this area, they didn’t know if tool-making lithics were here. Know-
It is possible that these early hunters came to this area from ing their lives depended on tool availability, they brought many tools
the Shoop Site in Pennsylvania seasonally to intercept the with them.

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Page 15 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

SRAC RECEIVES DEC ARTS GRANT FOR “WINDOWS TO THE PAST” PROJECT

SRAC applied for its first art grant to fund a mural by local
artist Ron Nogar to be placed on the outside of our new
building this year. The top floor has several 9-feet by 13-
feet boarded windows and it is our plan to continue to apply
for grants and work with Ron over the years to have each
space filled with a mural that looks as if it is a window look-
ing into the past.
The Arts of the Southern Finger Lakes DEC grant program,
which regrants state funds on the local level, focuses on
public projects that increase accessibility to the arts for
all. It supports collaborations between artists and arts/
cultural organizations, and assists emerging arts organiza-
tions.
Since the grant request deadline preceded the purchase of
our new building, the Village of Waverly acted as our spon-
sor for the grant and we want to thank them for supporting
this effort to beautify downtown Waverly!

PLEASE CONSIDER SPONSORING THE SRAC JOURNAL WITH YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTUION. FOR MORE
INFORMATION SEE THE INSERT IN THIS EDITION OR VISIT WWW.SRACENTER.ORG.

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Page 16 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

FRIENDS OF SRAC: TIOGA POINT CHAPTER OF THE NSDAR

the Museum, now called Tioga Point In 1950, appropriate ceremonies ac-
The Tioga Chapter was organized on
Museum, until a museum association companied the placement of a bronze
October 4, 1900, by Mrs. Charlotte Hol-
was formed. tablet on the grave of our founder, Mrs.
brook Maurice. There were 21 charter
Maurice, in the Tioga Point Cemetery.
members and Mrs. Maurice was Chapter membership grew, and in
elected Regent. 1921, thirty members from Waverly, The Chapter aided in the restoration of
NY, withdrew and formed the Caran- the Colonel John Franklin private
"Tioga" or "Teoga" is an Indian word
touan Chapter DAR. In 1984, the Ca- cemetery in East Athens, PA. Local
meaning "the meeting of the waters."
rantouan Chapter dissolved and mem- and state dignitaries attended a cere-
This area, where the Susquehanna and
bers transferred to the Tioga Point mony when a historical marker was
Chemung rivers converge, was the site
Chapter. placed near the highway to identify the
of the oldest and most important Indian
grave sites of Colonel Franklin and Ma-
town in Bradford County. All of the We have the distinction of having two jor Zephan Flower, who were early set-
great Indian paths passed through Real Daughters as members: Mrs. tlers, soldiers, and patriots of this area.
here. At one time, one third of the conti- Arlette Talliday Northrup and Mrs. Ann
Revolutionary grave markers were also
nental army was encamped at Tioga Stewart. Their graves were marked placed.
Point and General John Sullivan built a with bronze plaques in 1922.
temporary fort here while waiting to be We celebrated our Chapter Centennial
joined by General Clinton. On Novem- In 1925, we contributed toward a Brad- on October 14, 2000, at a luncheon at
ber 23, 1790, the treaty between the ford County chair for Continental Hall. the Grand Victorian Inn, Sayre, PA.
US government and the Iroquois Coun-
cil of the Six Nations was signed. The In 1926, we contributed toward a me- The Chapter has presented the DAR
Chapter dedicated a boulder on the site morial window in Valley Forge Chapel. Good Citizen pin, certificate, and mone-
of Fort Sullivan on October 3, 1902. tary gift each year since 1936. Several
In 1929, we joined with the Pennsyl-
have been Silver Spoon winners at the
In 1910, the Chapter donated a bronze vania and New York Historical Com- state level. In 1998, Michelle Vargo
medallion bearing the coat of arms for missions in the Sesquicentennial of was selected State winner and honored
Pennsylvania which hangs in the foyer Sullivan's Expedition, held at the old at Continental Congress in April 1999.
of Memorial Constitution Hall. A bust of Academy grounds in Athens. At that
Benjamin Franklin was donated for the time, three tablets and markers were The Chapter charter is on display in the
Pennsylvania Alcove. placed marking Revolutionary sites. In Athens Museum. A large framed case
all eleven sites were marked from 1906 holding pictures of the early Regents
In 1912, the Chapter joined in the to 1959. hangs in the hall outside the museum
elaborate ceremony at the dedication of entrance.
Sullivan's Monument, now Newtown In 1932, the 200th anniversary of the
Battlefield, near Wellsburg, NY. birth of George Washington, a pin oak
tree was planted on the Spalding Me-
In 1913, the Chapter name was morial Library grounds. The Chapter
changed from "Tioga" to "Tioga Point." was enrolled as a member of "The
George Washington Tree Association."
In 1914, the Chapter took over care of

SPECIAL THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING RECENT CONTRIBUTORS TO SRAC

• Arnold’s Excavation • Guthrie Health • Tom Thumb Nursery
• CQ Services • Joe Vaselli • Top’s Market
• Craig and Rita Maury • Leon Thomas • Triple V Electric
• Dandy Mini Mart • Les Rolfe • Wennawoods Publishing
• Denlinger Designs • Lockheed Martin
• Don and Carol Merrill • Lucio and Susan Bartolai To learn more about donating to
• Dr. Barry Skeist • Marty Borko SRAC call 607-727-3111 or visit
SRACenter.org/donations.
• Dr. Charles Ellis • Ralph Ratual
• Dr. Frederick Teribury • Robert Fox Family & Randy Pettit

The Susquehanna River Archaeological Center of Native Indian Studies ~ www.SRACenter.org ~ email Info@SRACenter.org
Page 17 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4

"RIVER, ROCKS, AND TIME" ONLINE AT SRACENTER.BLOGSPOT.COM

Although SRAC already has a website at

www.SRACenter.org, we have created a blog, which is
a webpage that is written in a format that is more like an
ongoing conversation or report of what we are up to.
Postings are added several times a week by executive
director Deb Twigg, and have become quite popular in
a very short time.
In the first 45 days it was online, the blog had over
1,000 visits from 37 states, with the majority coming
from New York State, followed by high numbers of visits
from Pennsylvania and New Jersey respectively.

One of the recent posts on SRACenter.blogspot.com

automatically by email and thereby eliminates the need to

remember to check back for new postings. Another
popular feature is a slide show of pictures of SRAC and
friends that constantly rotates 300-some images.
If the visits to the blog during the first month and a half are
an indication of what we can expect offline, it certainly
makes the point that we have the potential to bring people
from across the nation into the Valley, which can be good
Map shows the 68 different cities in NY that had visitors to for the whole community.
the SRAC blog. (larger dots show larger number of visitors)
Please make sure to visit SRACenter.blogspot.com and
send the link to all of your family and friends that would
Posts cover a wide array of topics and to date discussed
like to learn more about SRAC and what exciting things we
things such as never seen before local collections,
report every
updates on progress with the new SRAC building, and
week!!
discussions about our local history.
The blog archives each post so that they can each be read
no matter when they were posted, and it also has links to
our main SRACenter.org site. It also has a feature where
anyone can sign up to receive each post made to the blog

SRAC ENDOWMENT FUND STARTED FOR SRAC

SRAC would like to thank Mr. Marty Borko of Waverly for donating $500 to seed an endowment fund for SRAC through
the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers! Other tax deductible donations can be made to the endowment fund for
SRAC by contacting the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers. Once this permanent fund has reached it minimum
fund amount of $10,000 the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers will start to give out grants to SRAC for operating
expenses or any other expenses for the organization and will be forthcoming every year from then on. To learn more
about the Community Foundation for the Twin Tiers call 1-800-732-0999 or visit www.twintierscf.org.

T H E S R AC B OAR D OF DIRECTORS
Deb Twigg - Executive Director Ted Keir - CoDirector of Archae- Susan Fogel - Chief Financial Officer Tom Valilee
Dick Cowles - CoDirector of Archae- ology/Education and Chairman of the Inga Wells - Secretary
ology/Curation Board Jessica Quinn

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Page 18 THE SRAC JOURNAL Volume 3, Issue 4
SRAC
PO Box 12
Sayre, PA 18840

- cut here - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Type Annual Fee Benefits

Student $15.00 Quarterly newsletter, special events, exclusive offers, and special discounts.

Senior (65 and

$15.00 Quarterly newsletter, special events, exclusive offers, and special discounts.
over)

Family $25.00 Quarterly newsletter, special events, exclusive offers, and special discounts.

Individual $20.00 Quarterly newsletter, special events, exclusive offers, and special discounts.

Research Partner Quarterly newsletter, special events, exclusive offers, special discounts, and online data-
$100.00
(Ind.) base collection access.
Corporate or
$250.00 Quarterly newsletter, special events, exclusive offers, and special discounts.
Group
$500.00 Lifetime membership and quarterly newsletters, special events, exclusive offers, and spe-
Benefactor
One Time cial discounts.
Address:
Name:

Email:
Phone:
Become a member of SRAC!
• Please check the type of membership you wish to apply for.
• Fill out the information above.
• Submit this form with a check for the appropriate amount to: SRAC, PO Box 12, Sayre 18840

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