An unforgettable weekend!

Hey there guys,

        Last weekend we celebrated twenty five years of archeology at the site and held the annual FSJAP open house! It was a great time for everyone involved despite the weather not cooperating. One of my favorite booths was the one about zooarchaeology. Terry, the resident zooarchaeologist, brought out a ton of bones from throughout the years and some that my fellow students helped identify. One of the coolest bones at the booth was the bald eagle bones. The bone was so rare at the fort that Terry had to go out of town to confirm the species. Talk about an amazing find! 

The open house offered a lot of activities for people to do and it took a lot of people to run it smoothly. Long time volunteers like Mary Ellen, Gary and Gordon, previous field students like Kylie and Chloe, and even volunteers from organizations like the DAR and Support the Fort. Without the people and organizations who came over and shared a few days with us at the site the operations and events would have been too much to handle. I would like to thank everyone that volunteered at the open house and encourage others to volunteer next year because it’s a great time. 

This year the archeological project celebrated its twenty-fifth year as an ongoing archeological project. Twenty-five years of finding small pieces of bone. Twenty-five years of mistaking mudstone for previously mentioned bone. Twenty-five years of connecting history to the present. And most importantly twenty-five years of working with the community. In my time as a student here at Fort St. Joseph, I have had the pleasure of interacting with the local community a few times and the open house was a great time to meet more members. Even though it only lasted two days, I got to talk and joke around with countless people from the area. From living history reenactors to people who had never heard about the fort before, everyone was extremely kind. I led a few historic walking tours and many of the people who had attended my sessions knew a plethora about the local history and would tell fun anecdotes about playing around the commemorative rock and surrounding woods. I just loved seeing how recovering the past can bring people together through the open house. Seeing just how much everyone was genuinely interested in the site and how it made them think critically made me realize how important archeology can be. All in all, the open house this year was nothing short of amazing. I would like to thank everyone who came out, volunteered, and spread the word. This incredible event and milestone would not happen without your support. 

- Ian