Field journals have been scanned in multi-page PDF files. Artifact catalogues are PDF files in spreadsheet format. Photographs are in jpeg format
History / Biographical
Over a period from 1997 to 2000 over 40 test pits were surveyed and five test units put in. Crew members included: Bev Nicholson, Scott Hamilton, Matt Boyd, Tomasin Playford, Lori Mokelki, T.J Hall, Rea Postoloski, Andy Belcourt, Jace Moon, Michelle Drysdale as well as others.
Field journals have been scanned in multi-page PDF files. Artifact catalogues are PDF files in spreadsheet format. Photographs are in jpeg format.
History / Biographical
After the flooding of the Souris River in 2004 receded, Tomasin Playford and her crew of Andrea Richards, Sarah Graham and Shane Kolesar returned to the Atkinson site and commenced cleaning up the earlier excavation of Atkinson.
An area east of the Atkinson excavations was also opened for testing in 2004. This area was designated as Atkinson II. In some of the field notes it is referred to as Atkinson East. A test block was opened and fenced off from the cattle with snow fence. A 4m2 block was surveyed in (units 13 - 16) and two partial units that were truncated by the riverbank (units 11 &12) were also placed to the south of the 4m2 block.
Three of the students who had completed the recent field school were hired as crew. Jessica McKenzie, Evie Fevez and Emily Ansell joined the crew at the Atkinson II site.
Recoveries from XU 13 - 16:
Large bison bone was recovered from units 11 and 12 and a metal tobacco box seal was recovered from unit 12. More small pieces of metal found in levels 2 and three together with small bone fragments. A bone fragment with butchering marks from a metal tool was recovered from level 6 and pottery was found in level 9. A few lithic flakes were found in level 13 and in a trench at the bottom of unit 13 above a calcite cemented layer. Recoveries from these tests were sparse and diminished as the excavation series became more distant from the river. It is likely that the remains that were recovered represent the northern edge of these occupations.
The upper occupation at Atkinson II appears to be an early historic occupation with a sparse scatter of bone and a few pieces of metal. The lower layers, below level 7 are likely precontact. Units 9 and 10 were dug as test pits and produced very little in the way of cultural materials.
Scope and Content
Sub-sub-sub series contains: Summary information of field methology, number and co-ordinates of excavations, personnel and their staff position; Field journals are daily records of recoveries, features and activities at the site; Site records include excavation level and unit summaries, feature sheets, profiles; sample records and maps; Artifact catalogues are lists and identifications of all artifacts recovered; Photographs are of excavation units, features, the landscape and personnel.
Field journals have been scanned in multi-page PDF files. Artifact catalogues are PDF files in spreadsheet format. Photographs are in jpeg format
History / Biographical
Based on the results of the testing in 2002 and the radiocarbon date of 6,400 years before present, further excavation was warranted at the Atkinson I site. In 2003 Field Chief Holly Alston and crew Shayne Kolesar and Andrea Richards opened a 42m test excavation (units 1 - 4) that included the hearth area.
The unit co-ordinates and excavator are listed on the attached pdf file.
Field journals have been scanned in multi-page PDF files. Artifact catalogues are PDF files in spreadsheet format. Photographs are in jpeg format
History / Biographical
Based on the results of the 2003 excavation, and the radiocarbon date of 6,200 years before present, further excavation was warranted at the Atkinson I site.
In 2004 four units (5, 6, 7, & 8) were surveyed in adjacent to the 2003 units. The unit co-ordinates and excavator are listed on the attached pdf file.
Field journals have been scanned in multi-page PDF files. Artifact catalogues are PDF files in spreadsheet format. Photographs are in jpeg format
History / Biographical
An area east of the Atkinson excavations was also opened for testing in 2004. This area was designated as Atkinson II and a test block was opened and fenced off from the cattle with snow fence. A 4m2 block was surveyed in (units 13 - 16) and two partial units that were truncated by the riverbank (units 11 &12) were also placed to the south of the 4m2 block. Test units 9 and 10 were also excavated.
Introduction
Information on archaeological materials in this locale first came to the attention of Dr. Nicholson through Doug Jackson, a local artifact collector from Souris. Doug had observed archaeological materials that included bone, ceramics and lithic material that had been exposed by municipal road building activity, northwest of Lauder Manitoba
Environment
The Makotchi-Ded Dontipi locale is located among stabilized sand dunes in the Lauder Sandhills in Southwestern Manitoba, northwest of the village of Lauder. The area is a mosaic of medium grass prairie and copses of aspen poplar and aspen-oak, together with intermittent sedge grass marshes and small ponds. These wetlands are bordered with balsam poplar, water birch, willows and red osier dogwood.
The well-drained upland forest also contains saskatoon, chokecherry, wild current, hazelnut bushes and occasional wild plums. Lowland areas have nannyberries and high-bush cranberry. Wild strawberries grow in lightly shaded areas along trail margins and in open patches in aspen forest.
History of Excavations
The Makotchi-Ded Dontipi locale is a virtual "island" of forest and marshlands in a vast expanse of mixed grass prairie. This archaeologically and environmentally rich area was given the Dakota name Makotchi-Ded Dontipi, meaning "the place where we live".
Summation
Prior to European settlement, the area was a rich environment for hunter-gatherer people. Archaeological investigations from 1992 to 2002 have revealed numerous sites within the locale. Some of these sites have been extensively excavated while others have been identified or tested.
Seven sites that have been identified in this locale range in age from the historic through protohistoric periods and extend into the middle precontact period. The major sites are the initial Middle Missouri Duthie site, the late precontact Jackson, Bradshaw sites and the protohistoric Twin Fawns, Schuddemat and Hollow B sites. The multi-component Vera site includes historic Métis, late precontact Vickers Focus, and middle precontact Besant, Pelican Lake, McKean Complex and Oxbow occupations. Over 230 units were excavated as well as numerous test pits and several extensive surveys.
Scope and Content
Scope and Content
The Series has been divided into seven sub-series, including (1) Duthie site (2) Jackson site (3) Twin Fawns site (4) Vera site (5) Schuddemat site (6) Bradshaw site (7) Hollow B site.
Accession 3-1997 (84 photographs, various diplomas; 1886-1960) contains a variety of photographs of buildings and streetscapes of the 100 block of Tenth Street and various Hughes properties in the city. In addition, there are photographs of the "Founders of Hughes and Co," a parade on Tenth Street in 1924, the Wheat City Business College Hockey Team 1912, three photographs of the Port of Churchill in 1931, three photographs of threshing crews on Hughes and Company property, a Great War military contingent from Brandon including JRC Evans, and four family photographs.
See collection level description of the Joseph H. Hughes collection for biographical information.
Custodial History
See collection level description of the Joseph H. Hughes collection for custodial history.
Scope and Content
Accession 1-2008 (32 cm textual records and 1 map; 1906-1916; predominant 1909-1915). As mayor, city Alderman and prominent city businessman, J.H. Hughes came into possession of many city government, civic, and business records during the first decade and a half of the twentieth century.
The accession consists of city records, information on contemporary city utility services and companies including tenders for the construction of the Brandon street railway, documents concerning grain elevators, lumber production, newspaper clippings, as well as personal and city correspondence - including a proposal from the Canadian Northern Railway to construct the Prince Edward Hotel.
Accession 6-2009 (2.26 m textual records; 1882-1920). Records in the accession deal with the business affairs of Hughes & Company. Accession also contains records related to the personal affairs of J.H. Hughes.
Records from 1882-1889; predominant 1882 include: business corresondence. Much of the correspondence is between Hughes and his business associates T.T. Atkinson and Mr. Kennedy at Rat Portage in Ontario. Mr. Bambridge, who ran the Souris Yard is also mentioned frequently. There is also corresopndence related to the Reid Farm, Hughes' first commercial faming venture. Various documents are concerned with J.H. Ashtown Hardware, the Manitoba Government Immigration and Intellegence Office, Butler Paper & Co., Canadian Pacific Rail, Boston and Maine Rail, Keewatin Mills, Charmichael Clothing, The Hudson's Bay Company and the City of Brandon
Records from 1889-1893 include: financial records including debts owed to or by J.H. Hughes & Company; correspondence between the company and partners and employees regarding the running of the lumber company in Brandon, Souris, Rat Portage and Rainy River (shipping of goods, camp supplies, maintenance of mills, ordering of goods, trade with other lumber companies); legal records pertaining to litigation regarding debts; correspondence with the Department of the Interior, the Department of Crown Lands, and the Department of Indian Affairs; correspondence regarding real estate in Brandon and land sales in the various regions of the lumber and grain company's operation; correspondence between J.H. Hughes and his borthers A.J. Hughes, Charles B. Hughes, his cousin J.R. Hughes and his father J.C. Hughes regarding both business and personal matters. Also includes telegraphs, postcards, magazine subscriptions, and Masonic brochures.
Records from 1893-1895 include: business correspondence between Hughes & Atkinson Co. and lumber supliers in Ontario and the midwestern United States. The records deal with the activities of the company, including payment of accounts, ordering and shipping of lumber and lumber related goods.
Records from 1897-1901 include: business letters, postcards, telegrams and memorandum of the Hughes and Long Lumber Company.
Records from 1907, 1913-1915; predominant 1914 include: business correspondence, product information and legal correspondence generated and/or recieved during business activities. There are also a series of miscellaneous files containing material related to Brandon municipal politics.
Records from 1915 include: business and personal correspondence to Hughes & Company pertaining to the J.H. Hughes Lumber Co. and farming ventures in Saskatchewan.
Records from 1911-1920; predominant 1919 include: business receipts and correspondence of Hughes & Company under the management of Willard C. Hughes, as well as family correspondence that is both personal and business-related. Business activities are largely related to the company's rental property in Brandon and farms in south eastern Saskatchewan, including Storybooks, ASK. It also includes some correspondence related to the Brandon Board of Trade and Civics (Willed Hughes was Chairman of the Power Committee). Records also include correspondence urging the province to construct an electrical transmission line to Brandon from Winnipeg, the possibility of a detachment of the Royal North West Mounted Police re-locating to Brandon, the operation of the Soldiers Re-Settlement Board, and the vacating of the Winter Fair building, which had been used to house interned World War I prisoners starting in the spring of 1915. References to the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 and the Teamsters Strike in Brandon of 1919 also occur in the correspondence.
Notes
Accession 21-2008 was processed and described as part of a Historiography class assignment in September and October 2008. The fonds was broken down into smaller components (1-3 boxes of records) spanning a few years and each student was assigned all the records in a particular time frame. Description by Christy Henry, Tom Mitchell, Andrew Dagley, Jill Sutherland, Laurel Neustaedter, Kylie Staslia, Tim Banman, Christine Shumay, Aimee Brown and Erica Smith.
ARCH 2: North Lauder Locale
The North Lauder locale has a long archaeological and geological history that is important for understanding the forces that shaped the region. Archaeological research in the locale shows that the area has been occupied by humans for at least the past 6,500 years. Environmental forces provided an area of diverse resources that attracted early peoples.
Environment of the Lauder Sandhills
The North Lauder locale is part of the greater Lauder Sandhills area. The glaciers that covered this region began to recede approximately 11,000 years ago leaving a large lake known as glacial Lake Hind. The Souris River, the Lauder Sandhills and the Oak Lake Aquifer are remnants of the environmental and geological forces that shaped the region.
The Lauder Sandhills region is characterized by a landscape of sand sheets and stabilized sand dunes interspersed with a variety of wetlands. This complex topographic and hydrological situation favoured the development of an island mosaic of mixed forest, wetland and meadow, surrounded by mixed grass prairie. The result was a large, isolated ecotone which provided a rich variety of subsistence resources for hunter-gatherers.
Research in the Lauder Sandhills
Archaeologists from Brandon University have been conducting research in the Lauder Sandhills since 1991. Research in the North Lauder locale has focused on the Atkinson site, a 6,500 year old hunter-gatherer site and Flintstone Hill.
The Atkinson site
The Atkinson site is one of the oldest excavated sites in Manitoba and has been Radiocarbon dated to 6,500 years before present. The Atkinson site is located on the bank of the Souris River and was discovered when a hearth (fire pit) was seen eroding out of the bank. Based on the date of the site and the kind of lithics (stone tools) present it is considered a Gowen occupation. The Atkinson site is evidence that bison hunters were active on the northern plains at a very early date. Similar sites have also been found on the High Plains in the U.S. and are referred to as the Mummy Cave Complex.
The Atkinson Site is of great importance as it is the first undisturbed site of this type to be excavated in Manitoba and extends the range of these sites south and east from the type-sites in central Saskatchewan.
Flintstone Hill
The geomorphology of the glacial Lake Hind Basin over the past 11,000 years is known primarily through the study of a cut bank along the Souris River. Flint Stone Hill contains the most complete stratigraphic record for the post-glacial period on the northern plains. The site has been extensively studied by geoarchaeologists, geologists and paleoenvironmentalists over many years and their findings have contributed to our understanding of the region.
The North Lauder locale Borden designations of Atkinson site DiMe-27 and Flintstone Hill site DiMe-26.
Borden System
Archaeological sites in Canada are identified by the Borden system, which is a uniform site designation system. The country is divided into grids based on latitude and longitude in blocks of 10 x 20 minutes. The first 4 letters indicate the block and the following numbers indicate the actual site. For example the area of the Lauder Sandhills in southwestern Manitoba is identified by the letters DM and the North Lauder locale within that area is DiMe. The Atkinson site is DiMe-27 and the Flintstone Hill site DiMe-26. As new sites are discovered they will be numbered sequentially.
Scope and Content
The Series has been divided into two sub-series, including (1) Atkinson site DiMe-27 and Flintstone Hill site DiMe-26.
This record group was artifically created in January 2007 by Tom Mitchell and Christy Henry of the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
The record group consists of various fonds and collections concerned with the political, cultural, social, and educational life of western Manitoba. See the Subject Access field for a list of titles.
