HomeMy WebLinkAboutPrehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos CountyPREHISTORIC AND HISTORIC OCCUPATION
IN CENTRAL BRAZOS COUNTY
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF TWO CITY PARKS: -
VETERANS PARK AND ATHLETIC COMPLEX
AND LICK CREEK PARK
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS
BRYAN
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Lick
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Park
Edited by
J. Phil Dering and J. Bryan Mason
With contributions by
Patricia A. Clabaugh J. Bryan Mason
Michael S. Crow Andrea Stahman
J. Phil Dering Alston V. Thorns
Technical Editors
Dawn Alexander
Julia M. Gottshall
Technical Report No. 4
Center for Ecological Archaeology
Texas A&M University
Texas Antiquities Permit No. 2305
November 2001
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Cover: Top figure is a map showing the locations of Veterans Park and Athletic Complex and Lick Creek
Park.
Bottom photograph shows archaeological investigations taking place at Veterans Park and Athletic
Complex, College Station, Texas (41BZ136).
Bryan Designed by J. B an Mason
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ABSTRACT
This report presents the results of an inventory -level archaeological survey and the related background studies
undertaken at two parks owned by the City of College Station, Texas: (1) Veterans Park and Athletic Complex
and (2) Lick Creek Park. Staff and consultants from the Center for Ecological Archaeology at Texas A&M
University carried out the investigations, reported here, on an intermittent basis beginning in the fall of 1999 and
concluding in the fall of 2000. Both parks are located on a low ridge separating the Brazos and Navasota rivers
in Brazos County. This ridge falls within the Post Oak Savannah, an important corridor for travel across the
state of Texas during prehistoric and historic times.
Survey work at Veterans Park and Athletic Complex (ca. 150 acres) revealed that, in spite of the destructive
ground leveling work done on the property in the early 1980s, portions of a large prehistoric site still remained
relatively undisturbed. Site 41BZ136 was recorded along the edge of a low terrace above an old channel of
Carters Creek. This site is approximately 700x80 m in size, but was certainly much wider before ground -
leveling activities took place. Artifacts recovered from the site, including a Perdiz point tip and a pottery
fragment, indicate that the site was occupied during the Late Prehistoric, although it is probable that the area had
been occupied for thousands of years. Natural, soil -mixing processes (pedoturbation) at the site have destroyed
the site's stratigraphic integrity, making it unlikely to add significant archaeological data to the prehistory of the
area.
Seven sites were recorded within Lick Creek Park (ca. 530 acres). The historic sites — 41BZ142, 41BZ143,
and 41BZ147 — were all located in the northern portion of the park. None of these sites contained substantial,
above -ground structural remains; however, site 41BZ143 included sandstone foundation piers as well as a collapsed
chimney and fireplace floor. Sites 41BZ147 and 41BZ143 both contained artifacts from the turn of the century,
while site 41BZ142 was dated to the 1940s. All of these sites lacked the structural integrity necessary to
contribute significant archaeological information.
All prehistoric sites at Lick Creek Park — 41BZ141, 41BZ144, 41BZ145, and 41BZ146 — are located
along the terrace edges above the floodplain of Lick Creek. Temporally diagnostic artifacts were not found at
any of these sites. Sites 41BZ141 and 41BZ145 are best described as primary lithic reduction sites, while sites
41BZ144 and 41BZ146 appear to represent later stages of stone tool manufacturing and perhaps served as
campsites as well. Because of pedoturbation in the sandy sediments and the shallow soils, these four sites were
determined to be not significant due to their lack of stratigraphic integrity and low probability for containing in
situ cultural deposits.
While these sites do not offer significant information to the field of archaeology, their location on public
land may allow them to be used to broaden the knowledge of the Bryan/College Station community. Kiosks and
trail signs could be used to present the information contained in this report. In this way, the history and prehistory
of Brazos County may be passed on to future generations.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The College Station City Parks Archaeological Survey Project was performed by the Center for Ecological
Archaeology, Texas A&M University, and administered through the College Station Park and Recreation
Department. The project benefited from the support of many individuals and organizations, and because their
names may not appear elsewhere in this report, we take this opportunity to acknowledge their contributions.
The interim versions of this report benefited from review comments provided by Mr. Steve Beachy, Director
College Station Parks and Recreation Department and William Martin of the Texas Historical Commission. We
are also grateful to Rick Ploeger, Pete Vanacek, Curtis Bingham, and other employees of the College Station
Parks and Recreation Department for providing access to the parks as well as equipment and personnel for
backhoe trench excavation, individuals within the College Station Parks and Recreation Department who provided
maps of the parks that were used to create maps for this report, and individuals within the College Station City
Planning Office who provided aerial photos that assisted in locating the parks on historical maps. Valuable
background information and comparative information was obtained from several people including: Tony Jones,
William Martin, William Moore, Walter Schuster, Harry Shafer, Michael Waters, and Gerald "Buddy" Winn.
When all else failed, Robyn Lyle provided valuable editing information.
The team members of the College Station City Parks Archaeological Project and their respective roles are as
follows:
Dawn Alexander
Field Archaeologist and Technical Editor
Patricia A. Clabaugh
Collections/Data Manager
Bobbye Jo Coke
Field Archaeology Assistant
Michael Crow
Field Archaeologist and Computer Graphics Assistant
J. Phil Dering
Author
Julia M. Gottshall
Technical Editor
Jana Grabbe
Field Archaeologist
Edward Hildebrand
Field Archaeology Assistant
J. Bryan Mason
Project Archaeologist, Computer Graphics Specialist, and
Author
Steve Michaels
Field Archaeology Assistant
Eva Norton
Office Manager and Project Accountant
Andrea Stahman
Field Archaeologist, Archival Researcher, Prehistoric Artifact
Analyst, and Author
Alston V. Thorns
Principal Investigator and Author
Although we — report editors, contributors, and technical editors — wish to acknowledge contributions
made by the people and organizations mentioned above, as well as others who inadvertently remain unnamed,
we accept the responsibility for our own contributions including any error in fact or oversight this report may
contain.
iv
LIST OF TABLES
1.
1997 White-tailed deer densities and kill rates in different ecological
areas of Texas (McCarty 1998:Table 4 and 5; Young and Traweek 1998
Table5, 7, and 8)..............................................................................................................
11
2.
Common plant foods available in the Brazos Valley .......................................................
12
3.
Selected characteristics of archaeological cultures for the central
Post Oak Savannah region (data compiled from Rogers 1993, 1995a,
and1995b)........................................................................................................................
32
4.
Soil particle size distribution from Veterans Park and Athletic Complex
(Analysis by the Soil Characterization Laboratory, Soil and Crop Sciences
Department, Texas A&M University).............................................................................. 57
5.
Artifact types and frequencies from sites and isolated -find localities for the
College Station City Parks Project...................................................................................
58
6a.
Previously recorded sites within 9.5 km of the Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park..........................................................................
101
6b.
Additional information for previously recorded sites within 9.5 km of
Veterans Park and Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park ............................................
106
7.
Artifact provenience information and material type ......................................................
115
8.
Metric and non -metric biface data..................................................................................
129
9.
Metric and non -metric core data....................................................................................
129
10.
Metric and non -metric edge -modified flake data...........................................................
129
11.
Metric and non -metric projectile point data...................................................................
129
12.
Lithic debitage size grade analysis ...........
130
13.
Non -metric lithic debitage analysis for 41BZ136..........................................................
139
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Introduction
J. Bryan Mason and J. Phil Dering
This report presents the results of an intensive
archaeological survey of two parks owned by the City
of College Station (Figure 1). Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex, a proposed 150 -acre city park, is
located in east College Station, Brazos County, Texas.
Lick Creek Park is a mostly undeveloped 527 -acre city
park located in south College Station, Brazos County,
Texas. Both of these parks are located within the
Navasota River drainage basin, and lie along a ridge
separating the Brazos River and Navasota River basins.
From a land -use perspective, the parks contain similar
elements such as proximity to water and access to
natural resources including chert, sandstone, and
firewood.
The major difference between the parks is the level
of modern disturbance. Within the last two decades a
pond and an oil pad were constructed within the current
boundaries of Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
The pond was subsequently filled and most of the area
was leveled. This construction activity disturbed the
ground surface to a depth of approximately 1 m. Since
most archaeological sites in this area are located on or
within 60 cm of the ground surface, construction
activity at Veterans Park greatly reduced the potential
for finding any intact archaeological deposits.
Disturbance at Lick Creek Park, on the other hand,
has been confined to the historical construction of a
few roads, bridges, and livestock corrals. Most of these
activities occurred during the early 1900s.
Field and laboratory investigations were conducted
by staff and students at the Center for Ecological
Archaeology (CEA), Texas A&M University (TAMC)),
working through the Texas Engineering Experiment
Station (TEES) and under contract to the City of
College Station [City Project No. PK9941 (Veterans
Park) and PK9952 (Lick Creek Park) and TEES No.
C00-00095]. Graduate and undergraduate students
provided much of the field and laboratory work, under
the overall direction of the project's principal
investigator, Alston V. Thorns. Survey and reporting
standards follow those established by the Texas
Historical Commission (THC), described in the scope
of work, and incorporated into Texas Antiquity Permit
No. 2305 for the present project. Research for the
project was conducted during the fall of 1999.
Fieldwork took place from the fall of 1999 through
the summer of 2000. The preparation of this report
continued through the fall of 2001.
Application for the State Antiquities Permit
included the present proposal and a map showing the
survey areas, along with the resume of the principal
investigator and a form designating a state -approved
repository for any recovered materials and supporting
documentation. Final curation of project documents
and recovered materials will be at the Department of
Anthropology curation facility on the TAMU campus.
Students, faculty, and other researchers will have ready
access to the material for future interpretative and/or
research projects.
SCOPE OF WORK
Field and laboratory work was conducted according
to guidelines established by the Council of Texas
Archeologists (CTA) and adopted by the Texas
Historical Commission (THC). The field and
laboratory tasks performed by CEA for the project
included the following activities:
• A Texas Antiquities Permit was obtained
for the proposed survey work at both park
sites.
• A literature review was conducted, of
sufficient scope to prepare a brief overview
1
In: Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County: Archaeological Investigations of Two City Parks - Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park - College Station, Texas, edited by J.P. Dering and J.B. Mason, pp 1-4. Technical Report No. 4.
Center for Ecological Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station.
2 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
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Figure 1. Location of Veterans Park and
Lick Creek Park in Brazos County.
of regional and local pre-Columbian (i.e.,
Native American) and post -Columbian
(Hispanic, African, and Anglo-American)
history, as well as of past environmental
conditions. The objective here is to develop a
preliminary land -use model that emphasizes
paleoecological conditions and ethnic
diversity conditions in the Post Oak Savannah.
• A database of known cultural resources
at/near both city parks was compiled.
• Archival sources pertaining to past
ownership history and land -use at the parks
were reveiewed. An historical overview was
prepared that provided detailed information
useful in developing interpretative centers,
displays, and brochures on past land -use and
environments.
• A systematic, surface/shovel-test survey
was conducted to discover and document
historic and prehistoric sites within the
boundaries of both city parks.
• The importance of identified sites was
assessed according to criteria established by
the National Register of Historic Places and
the State Archaeological Landmarks Program.
• A final report on the results of the overall
project (i.e., items 1-5) was prepared.
REVISED SCOPE OF WORK:
VETERANS PARK
During field investigations at Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex, an archaeological site was located
in the southwest portion of the park. This prompted
amendments that were considered necessary to provide
additional work needed to assess the significance of
this site. The revisions to the scope of work were as
follows:
• Obtain an amendment to Texas Antiquities
Permit No. 2305 that includes an assessment
of the newly discovered archaeological site
recorded at Veterans Park and Athletic
Complex.
• Assess the site by excavating backhoe
trenches (ca. 5) in areas where archaeological
deposits were located and describe the natural
sediments and cultural material exposed in
trench profiles.
• Further assess the site by hand excavating
test pits, as warranted (ca. 4 ml), over
archaeological features or well preserved areas
exposed in backhoe trenches that are likely to
yield important information.
• Describe the natural sediments and
cultural material found in the test pits.
• Incorporate site -assessment results into an
interim report on the overall archaeological
studies carried out at Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex.
• Incorporate site -assessment results into
the final report to be prepared for the overall
archaeological/historical studies of the
Veterans Park and Athletic Complex and Lick
Creek Park.
ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
The present chapter has provided background
information on project administration and history.
Chapter 2 reviews the environmental setting of the project
area. Chapter 3 summarizes the area's prehistory as
well as the early colonial period. This chapter also
C
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Introduction 3
reviews previous archaeological investigations in the
area. An overview of Brazos County history is
presented in chapter 4, along with the results of archival
research concerning the property history of each park.
Chapter 5 describes the archaeological methods used
in this investigation and the results of the survey and
testing at each park. Chapter 6 summarizes the
investigations and continues with discussions
concerning site significance issues. The report
concludes with a references cited section and
supporting appendices.
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Environmental Setting
Alston V. Thoms and J. Bryan Mason
The study areas are located on the divide between the
lower Brazos and Navasota River valleys. The
Navasota River flows through the interior part of the
West Gulf Coastal Plain, a major physiographic section
of the Coastal Plain Province that, in Texas, extends
inland to the Edwards Plateau (Fenneman 1938:100-
112) (Figure 2). Fenneman subdivides this section
according to the age of the geological formations that
roughly parallel the Texas coastline (1938). The inner
coastal plain is made up of the Eocene -aged geological
formations that form a series of low, but prominent
cuestas (Fenneman 1938) that compose what Jordan
calls Texas' undulating region (1980). Jacob de
Cordova, a Texas immigration promoter in 1858,
described the landscape between the Brazos and
Navasota Rivers: "The ascent to the divide between
the two rivers is an almost imperceptible rise through
a succession of beautiful sweeps or long slopes of
country, gradual in rise and declivity till you reach the
ridge that separates their waters" (cited in Jordan
1980:2).
The combination of cuestas and a moderate -relief
landscape provided traversable corridors between the
comparatively high relief Edwards Plateau and the low
relief, often boggy, coastal prairies (see Figure 2). This
group of highly traveled corridors serves as a link
between eastern North America and Mexico. These
compose a portion of what is known as the "Gilmore
Corridor," an area of interest in archaeology as the
possible route by which "cultigens and other Mexican
traits" may have "diffused" into eastern North America
(cf. Story 1985). The "Gilmore Corridor" may, in fact,
have been a two-way street due to new botanical data
indicating that a variety of squash (Cucurbita texana)
was present in North America well before it was used
in Mexico (Dering 1993; Smith et al. 1992:96-97;
Decker -Walters et al. 1992).
CLIMATE, SOILS, AND
VEGETATION PATTERNS
The project area is located in eastern Texas, a humid,
subtropical climatic region (Jordan 1980:10). Average
precipitation in Brazos County is 38 inches per year;
peak rainfall periods are during the fall and spring and
summer droughts are common (Carr 1967:4, 7, 17-18).
Although snowfall is rare in the project area, freezes
are not uncommon and, in general, winters are cold
and wet. In December of 1721, Father Pena, a priest
on the Aguayo Expedition, passed near the project area
and noted that "due to heavy rainstorms and terrible
frosts, to the .lack of pasturage, and the excessive
mortality that continued among the mules and horses,
each day we were able to advance only two or three
leagues, sometimes only one" (Forrestal 1935:59).
The Post Oak Savannah (Figure 3) encompasses
Brazos and the surrounding counties. It is described
as an "ecological area" that slopes from the southwest
to northeast and is defined primarily on the basis of
modern vegetation patterns (Frye et al. 1984). Claypan
sediments in the Post Oak Savannah tend to have a
thin veneer of sandy soils that support vegetation
ranging from grassland mosaics with less than 10
percent woody canopy, to parks with 11 to 70 percent
woody canopies, to woods (trees 9-30 ft tall) and forests
(trees taller than 30 ft) with 71 to 100 percent woody
canopy (McMahan et al. 1984:2, 19). Common plants
within the Post Oak Savannah include blackjack oak
(Quercus marilandica), post oak (Quercus stellata),
eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana), mesquite
(Prosopis glandulosa), live oak (Quercus virginiana),
hackberry (Celtis spp.), yaupon (Ilex vomitoria),
American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana),
hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), trumpet creeper (Campsis
radicans), dewberry (Rubus spp.), little bluestem
5
In: Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County: Archaeological Investigations of Two City Parks - Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park - College Station, Texas, edited by J.P. Dering and J.B. Mason, pp. 5-22. Technical Report No. 4.
Center for Ecological Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station.
6 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Figure 2. Physicographic features of Texas and
the location of the "Gilmore Corridor" between
the Edwards Plateau and the Coastal Plain.
(Schizachyrium scoparium var. frequens), and silver
bluestem (Bothriochloa saccharoides) (McMahan et
al. 1984:5). Thicketization, or the increasing density
of woody species, has occurred throughout the Post
Oak Savannah and is most likely due to the suppression
of fires (Hatch et al. 1990:12) and the regrowth of
woody species since the 1830s in abandoned
agricultural fields, over -grazed areas, and cut -over
woods.
Although the Post Oak Savannah is the dominant
vegetation type in the area, other types are present,
giving the area a mosaic vegetation pattern. The Post
Oak Savannah is interrupted by a small strip of the
Blackland Prairie "ecological area" called the San
Antonio or String Prairie (Figures 3 and 4) that extends
along the northern border of Brazos County and beyond
to the southwest and northeast (Hatch et al. 1990:12;
Jordan 1980:19). The clayey Blackland Prairie
sediments support grasslands and scattered trees (Hatch
et al. 1990:12). Plants common in the Blackland Prairie
include little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium var.
frequens), sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula),
Texas grama (Bouteloua rigidiseta), buffalo grass
(Buchloe dactyloides), windmill grass (Chloris spp.),
tumblegrass (Schedonnardus paniculatus), Texas
bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), live oak (Quercus
virginiana), post oak (Quercus stellata), and mesquite
(Prosopis glandulosa) (McMahan et al. 1984:19).
Various soils have formed in alluvium that covers the
bottomlands and valley walls along the major
watercourses supporting mesic forests of oaks,
hackberries, and pecans.
The Post Oak Savannah was recognized by the
early Spanish explorers as an obstacle to travel in Texas
that they called the monte grande, which roughly
translates as "a big brushland or thicket" (Buckley
1911:33; Gonzales 1983). Although the passage
through the monte grande seemed impossible, for those
familiar with the regional landscape the presence of
the San Antonio or String Prairie afforded travelers
with readily navigable passageways (see Figure 4).
One of the most unusual outliers of the Blackland
Prairie is the San Antonio or String Prairie, not over
five miles wide and reaching some one hundred miles
from near Bastrop northeast beyond the Brazos River
almost to the Trinity. It formed a natural routeway or
corridor leading through the post oak belt. The earlier
explorers found this prairie strip and used it as a
primary route between Bexar and East Texas, in which
capacity it became known as the Old San Antonio Road
(Jordan 1980:19).
The statement that Spanish explorers "found" the
San Antonio Prairie is not entirely accurate. In fact,
ethnohistoric information of the late 1600s and early
1700s in Texas demonstrated that the Spanish roads
followed well-worn Indian paths (e.g. Bolton 1908;
Hatcher 1932; Tous 1930; Williams 1979). It is more
historically accurate to say that the Indian people told
the Spanish about the ways through the monte grande,
and on occasion they led the Spanish through the
woods. In 1721, for example, Father Pena wrote that
the expedition's leader decided to follow a more direct
route through the monte grande on their return trip.
He decided to return by the old road [the
Indian road to the Tejas] through the Monte
Grande, for he had noticed that the Trinity car-
ried only about half a vara of water, and he
had learned from the soldiers whom he had
sent out that the Brazos de Dios [Brazos] also
offered a good crossing. With the help of an
Indian guide, and making its way through the
clearings and places sparsely timbered for a
distance of seventeen leagues, the battalion
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Center for Ecological Archaeology
Texas A&M University
Modified from Gould et. al. 1960
2000
Environmental Setting 7
San Antonio
Prairie
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I 11
Figure 3. Location of Brazos County in relation to the ecological areas of Texas.
crossed the Monte Grande [between the Trin-
ity and Colorado rivers] (Forrestal 1935:590).
The French explorer Pierre Pages journeyed
between the Trinity and Brazos rivers, probably in or
near Brazos County, in 1767 and noted, "we went
through open country without following any path, but
the savage soldiers [a reference to half -Indians who
served as soldiers], who knew the country, arrived at
exactly the place they intended" (Pages 1985:13).
PAST CLIMATIC CONDITIONS AND
VEGETATION PATTERNS
Although a clear understanding of the paleo-
environmental conditions in and around the Post Oak
Savannah is not available, research has revealed broad
patterns reviewed by Thorns in a previous
archaeological survey conducted in Leon County
(Thoms 1997). Since the Late Pleistocene, an overall
decrease in woodlands, except for oaks, and an increase
in grasses and herbaceous plants in the inner Coastal
Plain and the Texas Hill Country suggests that there
has been a general warming and/or drying trend in the
area (Bryant and Holloway 1985:52, 61). This trend
may have come to a zenith between 7,000 and 4,000
years ago. During the last 4,000 years, the oak
savannas may have increased in size and diversity
becoming oak -hickory forests in the drier, western
areas and oak -hickory -pine forests in the wetter, eastern
areas of the state (Collins and Bousman 1993;
Kenmotsu and Perttula 1993a).
Palynological data from bogs in the Post Oak
Savannah suggest that the present day vegetation
regime was established by 3,000 years ago (Bryant and
sighted game animal in Brazos County and the vicinity,
although it is clear that bison and bear were also common.
Bison. Early Spanish explorers in the region regularly
encountered herds of bison. Don Domingo Teran and
his expedition group crossed the San Antonio Prairie
in Burleson County in July 1691 on their way to the
Texas (Tejas) villages in the piney woods of what is
today east Texas. They traveled "over a level country
and camped on another arroyo, the water being filled
with buffaloes, because of their great number in the
vicinity" (Hatcher 1932:17). Father Damian Manzanet,
one of the clergymen traveling with the expedition,
noted the presence of "many buffaloes and a "great
many alligators" in the Brazos River valley west of
present-day Hearne, Texas. Of the uplands between
the Brazos and Navasota rivers, he noted the mosaic
character of the woods and prairies and the "great
number of buffalo," adding that it was "a very fine
place for water and pasturage" (Hatcher 1932:65).
Bison, turkeys, other "wild fowl," fish, and alligators
were also reported in Brazos County and vicinity by
members of the Ramon expedition in 1716 (Foik 1933;
Tous 1930). During that entrada, the Spanish killed
bison in the uplands between the Brazos and Navasota
rivers. Ramon also wrote, "in the middle of the road
we met four Texas [Tejas] Indians with two women,
who were killing bison" (Foik 1933:17-18).
Although bison were regularly sighted in the region
through the 1700s, by 1840, few bison were seen. Bear
probably lasted longer, but they too were soon
extirpated (Doughty 1986; Jordan 1973; Weniger
1984). According to William DeWees, who settled in
1822 on the Brazos River not far upstream from the
project area, bison were abundant near the mouth of
the Little River and "bear are very plenty, but we are
obliged to use great care when hunting them, lest the
havalenas (meaning the peccary) kill our dogs" (cited
in Roemer and Carlson 1987:142).
Jean Louis Berlandier (1980), a Frenchman
employed as a botanist with the Mexican boundary
commission in 1828, did not mention any bison in the
Brazos River basin along the Old San Antonio Road,
although he did encounter them west of the Colorado
River. Over -hunting during the nineteenth century is
commonly given as the reason for the bison's demise
in the Post Oak Savannah (e.g., Wenger 1984), but it
also seems possible that climatic changes may have
played a role, perhaps one that created habitats
favorable for grass species that are less tolerant of
sustained grazing (cf. Mack 1984; Mack and
Environmental Setting 9
Thompson 1982). In any case, there is ample evidence
that bison densities varied considerably in Texas
throughout the Holocene period, and that much of the
variation was probably in response to climatic change
(Bryson and Murray 1977; Dillehay 1974).
Considering the abundance of ethnohistoric
evidence for bison and bison hunting in the region, it
is surprising that bison remains are very rare, if present
at all, at excavated archaeological sites in the Brazos
River basin portion of the Post Oak Savannah. Even
though faunal preservation tends to be poor throughout
the region, most sites yield a few burned and unburned
mammal bone fragments. These are usually identified
as deer, antelope, or deer -sized or smaller animals,
including dog/coyote, rabbit, and other rodents. Bison
remains are almost never reported, not even from
comparatively well preserved sites dating within the
last few centuries. If bison were periodically present
during the prehistoric period in the same densities that
they were during the early historic period, one would
expect their remains to be reported regularly in the
regional archaeological literature.
It is possible that the paucity of bison remains in
the regional archaeological record is due to sampling
error, but with so many sites test -excavated over the
last 30 years, this explanation alone does not seem
adequate. An ecological explanation is more likely,
especially one that considers population dynamics and
climatic change. For example, geographers and
historians have argued that prior to A.D. 1500, human
predation prevented bison from occupying the
savannas and prairies within the otherwise forested
regions of the Southeast. With massive human
depopulation from Old World diseases, a major
ecological change occurred — loss of the primary
predator — and bison were able to extend their habitat
to the Atlantic and Gulf coasts (DeVivo 1990:307).
Similar processes might account, in part, for the
abundance of bison during the ethnohistoric period in
the Post Oak Savannah. Perhaps it was only during
brief time periods (e.g., Little Ice Age, A.D. 1350-
1850) that climatic conditions were conducive to
producing enough grazing -tolerant grass to support a
viable bison population in this region. If the vegetation
regime was only minimally adequate for maintaining
herds, sustained predation by comparatively densely
populated hunter -gatherers or simple agriculturalists
might then prevent the long-term maintenance of viable
bison herds. Seen from this perspective, it is less
surprising that only a very few bison bones are
preserved in the region's archaeological record.
8 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Robertson Madison.
■
County County
Arne Brazos
Wooded rr�� Grimes
Area u County i
Present \ I County
Day Towns 1
M Bryan I
Lee IndependenceV�ashington on
Washington
County // Brazos CountWaller
( y C„un
Figure 4. String prairies and Spanish roads
present within the Post Oak Savannah.
Holloway 1985:62). Stable carbon isotope analysis
from the Brazos River bottomlands indicate the
presence of grassland plants between 2,500 and 500
years ago, signaling a drier climate than that of today.
Beginning about 500 years ago, modern climatic
conditions would have allowed expansion of hardwood
forests in the region (Nordt et al. 1992:12).
AVAILABLE FOOD RESOURCES
Brazos and the adjacent counties fall within the eastern
portion of the Texas biotic province, which extends
north from the central Gulf Coast area of Texas beyond
east central Oklahoma. The Texas biotic province is a
broad ecotone between the comparatively mesic forest
regions of eastern North America and the more xeric
grasslands of the central part of the continent (Blair
1950:100). As in most ecotones (Odum 1971), species
diversity is high in the Texan province compared with
grassland and forest provinces to the west and east,
respectively.
The Brazos and other major river valleys support
mesic forests and serve as dispersal routes for forest
species from the east and subtropical species from the
south and the coast to enter the region (Blair 1950).
Upland species characteristic of regions to the south
and west could also move into the Post Oak Savannah
through the extensive strips of prairie habitat. Plants
and animals probably have used these same dispersal
or migration routes for tens of thousands of years
(Bryant and Holloway 1985:65).
The subtropical humid climate, the extensiveness
of the riverine habitat, the mosaic upland vegetation
pattern, and the overall ecotonal character of the
regional biota indicate a productive landscape for
hunter -gatherers, as well as for simple and complex
agriculturalists. The biodiversity in the area made it
an important historical and economic route as
evidenced by the "old San Antonio roads" (McGraw
1991). Spanish roads are especially important to the
present study because many of the people who traveled
them recorded their observations about the nature and
distribution of food resources (see Figure 4). For the
Anglo-Americans who were the first Old World
peoples to effectively colonize Brazos County and
vicinity, the region exhibited extraordinary potential.
In 1821, Stephen Austin commented on the prairie's
rich, black soils for fields and pasturage, the availability
of sufficient timber for construction, and the abundance
of deer for meat (cited in Doughty 1986:426).
Some of the more economically significant natural
resources for pre -industrial human populations in the
region are discussed in the remainder of this section.
Data from ethnohistorical and historical records are
emphasized, although information from contemporary
sources is used as well.
Game Animals
The ability of the Post Oak Savannah to support an
abundance of animals can be seen by the rapid influx
of European stock into the wild game population
(Wenger 1984:182-186). In 1716, less than 30 years
after the arrival of the fust European colonizers, wild
cattle inhabited the Brazos River basin southwest of
the project area; their presence was attributed to the
domestic cattle "lost by the Spaniards [de Leon in
1690] on their first visit to Texas" (Foik 1933:17).
Father Solfs wrote in 1767 that this same area had
"large numbers of bulls, cows, [and] calves" and, in
the wooded uplands not far north of the project, "cattle,
horses, [and] mules" were reported (Forrestal 1931:25-
26). Feral hogs "of mixed ancestry, including European
wild boars," also lived in the marshy and timbered parts
of the Post Oak Savannah (Doughty 1986:437).
In the Brazos valley northwest of the project area,
Solfs also observed many native game animals. He
noted that in the Brazos River there was a "good supply
of fish" and, between there and the Navasota River, he
reported "a great number of deer, bison, bears, turkeys,
partridges, and quail" (Forrestal 1931:25-26). Judging
from the ethnohistoric and historic literature, white-
tailed deer seem to be the most widely and consistently
lla
College Station
I:
�a
Q9 Caldwellc
0
Burleson
)
cc
I
- County
�'
Navasota
Lee IndependenceV�ashington on
Washington
County // Brazos CountWaller
( y C„un
Figure 4. String prairies and Spanish roads
present within the Post Oak Savannah.
Holloway 1985:62). Stable carbon isotope analysis
from the Brazos River bottomlands indicate the
presence of grassland plants between 2,500 and 500
years ago, signaling a drier climate than that of today.
Beginning about 500 years ago, modern climatic
conditions would have allowed expansion of hardwood
forests in the region (Nordt et al. 1992:12).
AVAILABLE FOOD RESOURCES
Brazos and the adjacent counties fall within the eastern
portion of the Texas biotic province, which extends
north from the central Gulf Coast area of Texas beyond
east central Oklahoma. The Texas biotic province is a
broad ecotone between the comparatively mesic forest
regions of eastern North America and the more xeric
grasslands of the central part of the continent (Blair
1950:100). As in most ecotones (Odum 1971), species
diversity is high in the Texan province compared with
grassland and forest provinces to the west and east,
respectively.
The Brazos and other major river valleys support
mesic forests and serve as dispersal routes for forest
species from the east and subtropical species from the
south and the coast to enter the region (Blair 1950).
Upland species characteristic of regions to the south
and west could also move into the Post Oak Savannah
through the extensive strips of prairie habitat. Plants
and animals probably have used these same dispersal
or migration routes for tens of thousands of years
(Bryant and Holloway 1985:65).
The subtropical humid climate, the extensiveness
of the riverine habitat, the mosaic upland vegetation
pattern, and the overall ecotonal character of the
regional biota indicate a productive landscape for
hunter -gatherers, as well as for simple and complex
agriculturalists. The biodiversity in the area made it
an important historical and economic route as
evidenced by the "old San Antonio roads" (McGraw
1991). Spanish roads are especially important to the
present study because many of the people who traveled
them recorded their observations about the nature and
distribution of food resources (see Figure 4). For the
Anglo-Americans who were the first Old World
peoples to effectively colonize Brazos County and
vicinity, the region exhibited extraordinary potential.
In 1821, Stephen Austin commented on the prairie's
rich, black soils for fields and pasturage, the availability
of sufficient timber for construction, and the abundance
of deer for meat (cited in Doughty 1986:426).
Some of the more economically significant natural
resources for pre -industrial human populations in the
region are discussed in the remainder of this section.
Data from ethnohistorical and historical records are
emphasized, although information from contemporary
sources is used as well.
Game Animals
The ability of the Post Oak Savannah to support an
abundance of animals can be seen by the rapid influx
of European stock into the wild game population
(Wenger 1984:182-186). In 1716, less than 30 years
after the arrival of the fust European colonizers, wild
cattle inhabited the Brazos River basin southwest of
the project area; their presence was attributed to the
domestic cattle "lost by the Spaniards [de Leon in
1690] on their first visit to Texas" (Foik 1933:17).
Father Solfs wrote in 1767 that this same area had
"large numbers of bulls, cows, [and] calves" and, in
the wooded uplands not far north of the project, "cattle,
horses, [and] mules" were reported (Forrestal 1931:25-
26). Feral hogs "of mixed ancestry, including European
wild boars," also lived in the marshy and timbered parts
of the Post Oak Savannah (Doughty 1986:437).
In the Brazos valley northwest of the project area,
Solfs also observed many native game animals. He
noted that in the Brazos River there was a "good supply
of fish" and, between there and the Navasota River, he
reported "a great number of deer, bison, bears, turkeys,
partridges, and quail" (Forrestal 1931:25-26). Judging
from the ethnohistoric and historic literature, white-
tailed deer seem to be the most widely and consistently
10 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Deer. As noted, white-tailed deer were very common
in the project area and vicinity during the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries (Doughty 1986; Wenger
1984). Deer provided meat and hides for clothing and
other purposes, including armor. Spanish soldiers
operating in the Post Oak Savannah and adjacent areas
reportedly used "deer skin breast plates" as armor, and,
in some cases, "their bodies are covered with a coat
made from three or four deer skins, quilted together
with cotton and proof against arrows" (Pages
1985:6,22).
Comments made by Pierre Pages, a wealthy
Frenchman who traveled along one of the San Antonio
roads between the Colorado and Brazos rivers in 1776,
attest to the abundance of deer in places similar to the
project area: "the deer, hardly at all shy, graze there in
such numbers that at a distance I often took them for
our own horses which had wandered off" (Pages
1985:15). Amos Parker, a well-to-do Bostonian, who
traveled along the Old San Antonio Road in 1834, also
wrote about the abundance of game in the Post Oak
Savannah and adjacent regions. He described seeing
deer in great numbers, and observed,
I hardly supposed there were as many deer on
the continent, as I saw in Texas. They were
continually on my path, or were seen in flocks
feeding on the prairies. I recollect that from
an elevated spot, I counted five flocks of deer
in sight at the same time! In some parts of the
country, a man may about as certainly kill a
deer if he choose, as a northern farmer can
kill a sheep from his flock. Their meat is ex-
cellent, and their skins valuable (Parker
1968:176).
The French introduced firearms and a market for
deer in the late 1600s and early 1700s, and the Spanish,
Mexicans, and Anglo-Americans continued this
practice. In a single year, the Indians were reported to
have traded 40,000 deerskins and 1,500 bearskins with
the Spanish at Nacogdoches (Yantis 1984:12). Judging
from comments made by Amos Parker in 1835, the
Nacogdoches deer market also flourished under
Mexican rule. Parker related that "the chief article
the Indians have to sell is deer pelts; and in the course
of the year, they bring in a large number. These are
done up in bales, and sent by land to the United States.
These skins are bought of the Indians by weight, and I
was told, the average amount was about fifty cents
apiece" (1968:152).
Undoubtedly, more than 100 years of market
hunting, in addition to subsistence hunting,
significantly depressed deer populations in the project
area and vicinity. It has been argued, however, that
deer were not extirpated as a result of this kind of
intensive hunting and that their populations probably
recovered by the early 1800s, in part because Indian
populations had decreased dramatically due to the
introduction of European diseases. According to this
argument, the demise of white-tailed deer in the Post
Oak Savannah is attributable more directly to
significant habitat loss that began in the 1830s as Old
World settlers cleared more and more of the landscape
for farming and pasturage (Yantis 1984:12-13).
By the early 1900s, deer were effectively extirpated
from the region but, as a result of restocking efforts
and enforcement of hunting laws, deer populations
were near or exceeding carrying capacity in the Post
Oak Savannah, including Brazos County, by the late
1980s (Reagan 1992; Yantis 1984). In the early 1980s,
a few bottomland localities immediately upstream from
the project area are reported to have had as many as
200 deer per 1,000 acres. However, in the "mostly
cleared" upland areas there were fewer than 5 deer
per 1,000 acres, with the overall average being about
40 (Yantis 1984:10).
In fact, data from hunting surveys in Texas show
that the deer population is able to endure significant
predation. There is considerable annual variation in
the deer densities and kill rates in the project area and
vicinity. However, the data generally illustrate that in
the Post Oak Savannah, including Brazos County, the
densities and kill rates are moderate compared to
surrounding regions (Table 1). From 1993 through
1997, the estimated number of deer hunters each year
in the "reporting unit" defined by Brazos, Burleson,
Washington, Waller, Grimes, and Madison counties
ranged from a low of 8,715 hunters in 1996 to a high
of 11,735 in 1997. In 1997, 11,735 hunters spent a
total of 96,872 days between November 3 and January
6 in this area, during which they killed 3,000 deer.
Within the much larger area encompassing all of the
Post Oak Savannah and Pineywoods regions of east
Texas, a total of 68,009 deer were killed during
1,650,175 hunting days in 1997 (McCarty 1998:15,
21).
Collectively, the data reviewed here, as well as
the ecology of white-tailed deer in general (Halls
1978), illustrate that as long as there is a suitable
habitat, white-tailed deer are capable of sustaining
heavy predation. This, in turn, suggests that deer
Environmental Setting 11
Table 1. 1997 White-tailed deer densities and kill rates in different ecological areas of Texas
(McCarty 1998: Tables 4 and 5; Young and Traweek 1998: Tables 5, 7, and 8).
Hunting
Brazos &
Post Oak
Edwards
Blackland
Piney-
Gulf
Data
Adjacent
Savannah
Plateau
Prairie
Woods
Prairies &
Category
Counties
Marshes
Deer
range/acres
1,335,079
7,891,060
23,881,642
749,971
11,343,525
1,441,255
Est. deer
population
59,770
295,962
1,439,093
15,895
484,699
82,704
Acres/
deer
22.30
26.66
16.59
47.18
23.40
17.43
Deer/
1,000 ac
44.80
37.51
60.26
21.19
42.73
57.38
Hunter-
days
96,872
678,228
1,298,932
48,804
971,947
121,768
Total
kill
3,000
22.012
166,759
1,832
45,997
9,504
KW
Hunter
0.34
0.33
0.98
0.29
0.51
0.62
Kills/
1,000 ac
2.09
2.46
6.71
2.81
3.59
5.16
Hunters/
1 1,000 ac
9.34
11.39
9.70
15.00
10.41
12.12
should have been economically very important to the
region's native hunter -gatherers, simple agriculturalists,
and Old World immigrants who replaced them. The
faunal record from archaeological sites throughout the
region is certainly consistent with this contention (see
Chapter 3). As the above statistics imply, deer hunting
in this part of the Post Oak Savannah continues to be
economically important.
NATIVE PLANT FOODS
Of the "commonly associated plants" in the Post Oak
Savannah, many have edible seeds, nuts, or berries,
including various oaks, mesquite, hackberry, hawthorn,
and dewberry. Pecans, mustang grapes, and greenbriar
are among the commonly associated edible plants in
the pecan -elm forests of the region's bottomlands
(McMahan et al. 1984:19, 23). A list of edible plants
that would have been available in the area can be found
in Table 2. A less scientific but informative statement
about edible plants comes from Father Solis, who
traversed the region in 1767. Of the vegetation in the
uplands adjacent to the left bank of the Brazos River,
not far north of the project area, he described the "great
number of fruit trees, pomegranates [persimmons?],
grape -vines, strawberry -plants, blackberry -bushes,
sapotes, hazelnuts, chestnuts and sweet potatoes"
(Forrestal 1931:26). Although there is a paucity of
ethnographic data about the specific vegetal foods
consumed by the Indian people in Brazos County and
vicinity, they are commonly believed to have "utilized
a large number of plant foods, including herbs, roots,
fruit, and seeds" (Newcomb 1961:139).
Fortunately, historic journals contain references to
the specific kinds of vegetal foods eaten by the region's
native populations. For example, just after crossing
the Navasota River in 1691 on his way to the "Texas
[Tejas] country," Father Manzanet wrote about finding
"a very good fruit which they call as" (Hatcher
1932:66). What as was is not clear, but in this same
area in 1721, Father Pena wrote about finding "an
12 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Table 2. Plant foods available in and adjacent to the Brazos Valley (adapted from Thoms 1994).
ROOT FOODS
Arrow -root (Sagittaria spp.)
Roots eated raw, boiled, or roasted
Blazing star (Liatris spp.)
Bulbs used for food' [probably roasted]
Bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum var.)
Roots roasted
Cattail (Typha latifolia L.)
Roots dried, ground into flour; eaten raw, roasted
False garlic, crow poison (Nothoscordum bivalve)
Bulbs eaten raw (this is one of the only references to
this plant as edible); [probably boded -roasted as are
most Iffy bulbs']
Greenbriar, cat -briar (Smilax spp.)
Roots boded
Ground nut, American potato bean (Apios
Tubers eaten raw or boded: dried and stored for
americana)
winter use
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
Tubers are edible' [probably roasted]
Milkweed, various (Asclepias spp.)
Tubers boiled and eaten
Prairie turnip, scurvy pea (Psoralea spp.)'
Tubers roasted and eaterF [unclear if local species,
P. linearifolium and P. tenuiflorum, are edible: P.
tenuiflorum reported toxic to horses, cattle; most
information on edible P. esculenta]
Spring beauty (Claytonia virginica)
Bulbs boded or roasted
Water-chiquapin (Nelumbo lutea)
Tubers eaten fresh/dried; seeds eaten raw/roasted
Wild hyacinth (Camassia scilloides)
Bulbs eaten, probably roasted'
Wild onion (Allium sp.)
Bulbs eaten raw or boded [also roasted 1,1•41
WW potato (Ipomoea pandurata)
Tubers dried and ground into flour
Wme-cup (Callirhoe digitata)
Roots eaten' [probably roasted]
SEEDS
Amberique bean (Strophostyles helvola)
Seeds eaten raw or boded
Partridge pea (Cassia fasciculata)
Seeds boded and eaten
Sunflower, common (Helianthus annuus)
Seeds eaten after boding or roasting'
Yucca, beargrass (Yucca louisianensis)
Seed pods eaten, boded or roasted [Mahler (1998)
notes genus but of species]; stalks peeled and eaten
[stalks of some yucca species are roasted]
NUTS AND FRUITS
American hop -hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana)
Nuts eaten raw or roasted
Black hickory (Carya texana)
Nuts from this and other hickories eaten raw, boiled
or leached; made into meal for eating
Black walnut (Juglans nigra)
Nuts eaten raw; boded for oil
Elm, various (Ulmus spp.)
Inner bark made into cakes and eaten [this implies
pulverizing and cooking]
Oaks, various red and white (Quercus spp.)
Acorns varyingly eaten raw, boiled, leached;
processed into meal
Pecan (Carya illinoiensis)
Nuts eaten raw; mashed/dried, made into porridge'
Prickly pear (Opuntia spp.)
'limas eaten raw or boiled; pads [opalito] roasted
White ash (Fraxinus americana)
Cambium [inner bark] cooked and eaten
' Driver and Massey (1957) 'Mahler (1988)
' Havard (1985:111)
' Thoms (1989) 5 Reid (1977)
' Elias and Dyckerman (1990)
' Wyckoff (1984:12) 1 Prickryl (1990:13)
abundance of plums" in a clearing (Forrestal 1935:32).
Earlier, during the same trip but in or near northern
Robertson County, Pena noted "a woods covered with
thorny trees, which in these parts are called mesquites
and which produce fruit of which the Indians are very
fond" (Forrestal 1935:29). The journals also provide
information about the root foods used by the Indian
people, as well as by the Spanish and other Old World
peoples. That roots were an important winter food
resource is evident from an account about a Spanish
priest and several soldiers who camped along the
Navasota River during the winter of 1717-1718.
Father Nunez and four soldiers had taken sup-
plies eastward along Ramon's road intended
for the East Texas missions but they found the
Trinity impassable and moved back (west) to
the Navasota River (at Santa Ana Lake) where
they spent most of the winter. Indians sup-
plied them with corn until the supply was ex-
hausted and then helped them to subsist on
roots. The water in the Brazos was at flood
stage and the supplies could not be returned.
Leaving the supplies cached under his tent in
a dense wood near the Navasota, Father Nunez
returned westward, evidently down Ramon's
road. He may have been the first person who
traveled Ramon's road westward. Alargon [the
expedition's leader] met him on the road near
the site of present-day Devine (Williams
1979:135).
From the above account, it is not clear which roots
were eaten, but other sources provide additional
information about some of the root foods used by the
Indians. Only rarely, however, is it evident exactly
which plant(s) was consumed. For example, all we
know about the wild "sweet potatoes" that Father Solis
observed north of the project area is that they were
"quite palatable" (Forrestal 1931:26). Berlandier
provided comparatively specific information about
some of the root foods used by a Tonkawa group that
he visited in 1828 near present-day Austin. He
observed
among the other foodstuffs which I observed
among them I noted ground nuts with which,
I have been told, they make a drink similar to
orgeat. On our second visit I found they had
gathered many roots of the genus Nymphaea
[probably some kind of water lily]. After hav-
Environmental Setting 13
ing been ground, these produce a highly es-
teemed grayish flour, with which they make a
sort of cake (Berlandier 1980:313).
Father Manzanet, a member of the de Leon
expedition to east Texas in 1690, reported eating
"cooked frijoles, with ground -nuts and tamales" at the
Texas [Tejas] village on San Pedro Creek (Bolton
1908:376). In 1767, at a "very large and populous
town inhabited by the Tejas tribe" located -a short
distance east of San Pedro Creek, Father Solis recorded
there is another food which they use, known
as tuqui, and which is much like the cassava
of Havana. It is derived from the roots of a
certain tree, which are pounded in a wooden
mortar and then prepared with bear lard. Tuqui
is taken as a beverage and is very injurious to
the health, for it causes dysentery, skin abra-
sions, and other diseases (Forrestal 1931:28).
Of course, the native agriculturists also relied on
domestic vegetal foods. In particular, the Spanish
accounts attest to corn, beans, and squash, but at least
during the late 1600s and early 1700s, most of these
crops were grown east of the Trinity River. The few
fields in proximity to Brazos County seem to have been
just across the Navasota River, perhaps in southwest
Leon County. On June 20, 1716, soon after crossing
the Navasota, Ramon wrote "we arrived at a small
ranch, where we found seven Texans. They received
us with great pleasure and demonstrated their delight
by giving us green corn and watermelons. This is the
fust time we saw corn in this province" (Foik 1933:18).
The use of pecans as a food source was widespread
throughout the southeastern United States and is
documented both ethnohistorically and
archaeologically (Hall 2000). Cabeza de Vaca noted
that pecans were a part of the diet and that, when they
were available, they "are ground with a kind of small
grain and furnish the sole subsistence of the people
for two months of the year — and not every year,
because the trees only bear every other year. The nut
is the same size as that of Galicia; the trees are massive
and numberless" (Covey 1993:69-70).
OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES
Both the uplands and bottomlands of Brazos and
surrounding counties offered productive farmland and
14 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
ranchland. As noted earlier, herds of wild cattle,
horses, and mules became commonplace in the region
within a few decades after the Spanish introduced these
animals in the late 1600s. There is little to demonstrate
that agriculture was practiced in Brazos County prior
to the arrival of Old World peoples. The presence in
1716 of Indian farmlands just across the Navasota
River in an upland setting attests to the possibility of
prehistoric agriculture in the vicinity of the project area,
however. By 1822, corn was grown by DeWees and
other Anglo-American families on farms near the
Brazos River just upstream from the project area
(DeWees 1968, cited in Roemer and Carlson
1987:142).
The Anglo-Americans planted corn in both the
uplands and bottomlands, although the yields were not
always large. On June 2, 1828, while traveling in the
uplands between the Brazos and Navasota rivers (on
the Old San Antonio Road along the boundary between
Brazos and Robertson Counties), Berlandier
(1980:333) encountered an abandoned Anglo-
American farmstead "around which some stalks of corn
were still growing." In the bottomlands along the right
bank of the Brazos River, not far from the project area,
he observed other corn fields:
on the edge of the forest in a spot which had
been cleared we encountered the field where
the colonist [with whom Berlandier had
camped near the mouth of the Little Brazos
River] had sown his corn. It was his chief
hope for the maintenance of his poor family,
and it had been transformed into true sand
dunes (meganos), where we marched for a
long time without finding a single stand of
what had been sown there. Beyond that field
a lovely plain extended into the distance"
(Berlandier 1980:336).
The land was potentially more fertile than these
accounts indicate, as evidenced by the use of slave
labor to clear and farm upland and bottomland tracts
(Carlson and Kloetzer 1993). By 1828, Jared Groce
held a large tract of land along the left bank of the
Brazos River that was "well sown with cotton and
com" and worked by 117 slaves (Berlandier 1980:324).
Slave labor was also used in the uplands, but, in some
cases, a significant portion of the labor was devoted to
raising livestock. For example, Richard Carter, who
lived in the uplands near the two parks, was more of a
rancher than a farmer. He paid taxes on one slave in
1840, but by 1860 the tax rolls showed he had 22 slaves.
At that time, 30 percent of the white families in Brazos
County owned slaves (Carlson 1983:9-20).
The Old World immigrants also supplemented the
native productivity by burning the Post Oak Savannah,
the Blackland Prairies, and the surrounding regions to
create better pasturage (Weniger 1984:187-199).
Burning encouraged the native environment by
effectively removing dense undergrowth and the mat
of dead grasses, thereby facilitating more palatable and
nutritious new growth. Browsers, notably white-tailed
deer, also benefited from regular burning, and, at the
same time, the productivity of other critical food
resources, including edible berries and possibly nuts
and root foods, probably increased as well (cf. Lewis
1982). While it is widely recognized that Indian people
purposely burned the prairies and woods of the Post
Oak Savannah to increase grass production, some have
argued that they "probably learned this use of fire"
from the Spanish (Weniger 1984). Assuming that the
Old World immigrants independently recognized the
beneficial effects of seasonal burning, it would be an
oversight not to assume the same for the region's native
inhabitants who depended on deer and bison as well
as the vegetal foods that have higher yields under more
open conditions (cf. DeVivo 1990). Jordan (1973:252),
more practically, suggests that the immigrant's practice
of burning was inherited from the Indian people who
knew that "preservation of the prairies meant that
grazing bison would remain in the area."
The mosaic character of the upland vegetation in
the vicinity of the project area is compatible with a
long history of regularly occurring grassland and shrub
fires. Historical accounts of the region prior to the
mid -1800s fail to show that either juniper or mesquite
was a consistently major component of the upland
vegetation in Brazos and surrounding counties, but in
many places today, juniper and mesquite are common,
often creating dense thickets (Gonzales 1983; Jordan
1973; Williams 1979). Since these species are not fire
resistant, their presence in comparatively low densities
prior to the mid -1800s is consistent with the idea that
the Post Oak Savannah was burned regularly.
The upland and bottomland forests provided
construction material for residential and other
structures built by the region's inhabitants. Anglo-
American settlers in Brazos County and the vicinity
typically built log cabins (Carlson 1983; Parker 1968).
Logs were probably the principal components of their
fences as well. Indian people living near the mouth of
the Little River in 1716 constructed a "hut" for
members of Ramon's expedition. It was described as
being made "of branches of trees and very spacious"
(Tous 1930:16). An 1828 Tonkawa village in the
Colorado Basin contained 21 vault -shaped "cabins,"
4.0-4.5 ft in height, made of "branches covered with
verdure" (Berlandier 1980:312). Frameworks of
similar structures were probably the most obvious
remains of the "old huts" and "abandoned" Indian
villages, or rancherias, seen in Brazos County and the
vicinity during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
(e.g., Berlandier 1980; Forrestal 1935; Tous 1930).
There are outcrops of Eocene -aged sandstone on
Lick Creek Park property and within a few kilometers
of Veterans Park. Although the sandstone material is
not particularly hard, it is well-suited as a building
material, especially for footings and chimneys as were
recorded at sites 41BZ147 and 41BZ143 at Lick Creek
Park (see Chapter 5). The Eocene sediments in the
project area, as well as in much of the surrounding
uplands, are capped with a veneer of sandy and gravelly
Pleistocene -aged sediments (Barnes 1974). The
composition of the gravel is mostly chert, but quartzite
gravel is also common. These gravels were once part
of the Edwards Plateau bedrock, but were subsequently
transported to their present location as part of the
bedload of the Brazos River; they presently cap most
of the higher terraces along the river (Nordt 1983).
Chert gravels occur on the surface throughout the
region as part of Pleistocene deposits (Barnes 1974).
Within both parks, this gravel lens is exposed at points
where the ground slopes, cutting into the Eocene
sediments (Figure 5). There are also gravel bars in
and adjacent to the modem Navasota River channel.
These materials did not go unnoticed by the
Spanish and other Old World travelers of the historic
period. For example, one member of the Aguayo
Expedition in 1721 reported "flint stones" near the
Navasota River (Buckley 1911:40), and Berlandier
(1980:327) observed "fragments of jasper and flint"
near the mouth of the Navasota River. He also
described a gravel -rich lens exposed in a Brazos River
cutbank near the mouth of the Little Brazos River, a
few kilometers upstream from the project area. The
lens below the surface was a "layer about two or three
inches thick composed of rounded fragments of quartz,
flint, chalcedony, etc., mingled underneath with pieces
of rounded clay" (Berlandier 1980:334).
Chert gravel in the vicinity of the project area is
significant in its importance as a source of raw material
for the stone tools made by the Indian people. Most of
the stream -worn chert gravels are brown and grey in
Environmental Setting 15
color; black and red colors occur in much lower
frequencies. Typically, the chert pebbles and cobbles
range in size from less than a centimeter to 15 cm in
diameter (Nordt 1983:56-64). Silicified wood that has
eroded from local Eocene deposits also occurs on the
surface in the project area; some of the pieces are more
than 20 cm long. This material was also used by the
Indian people to manufacture stone tools. Parker
observed silicified wood on the surface during his
travels through the region in 1834 and 1835; noting
that "it might probably be manufactured into good
hones, although it was coarser grained, and of a lighter
shade, than those usually found at our stores"
(1968:164).
LOCAL ENVIRONMENT
Archaeological sites are found throughout the Post Oak
Savannah, in the bottomlands along rivers and streams,
Figure 5. Chert gravel and bedrock
outcrops at Lick Creek Park.
16 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
as well as in upland settings a mile or more from
permanent water. They are especially common on
terraces and gentle valley slopes above tributary
streams. The location of the two parks in this survey
is on the uplands between the Navasota and Brazos
rivers. Both Carter Creek and Lick Creek flow east
into the Navasota River.
Veterans Park and Athletic Complex
Most of the proposed park is located in a flat -lying
area on the first terrace above Carters Creek, a
perennial tributary of the Navasota River, but a small
portion of the park (ca. 20 acres) is within the
floodplain (Figure 6). Since mechanical clearing has
disturbed much of the park, the native vegetation
patterns have been altered. Much of the terrace slope
and floodplain, located around the park perimeter,
remain undisturbed.
Vegetation today consists of bunch grasses, brush,
and small trees on the terrace where most of the
disturbance took place. Grasses and forbs are found
on the terrace tread along with yaupon and an
abundance of dewberry bushes. Oak and native pecan
woodlands occur on the Carters Creek floodplain, as
well as along a minor tributary steam in the northeast
part of the property.
The park is located on the Yegua geological
formation near an outcrop of Quaternary fluvial
deposited gravel (Fisher 1981) (Figure 7). The Yegua
formation is made up of sandstone, clay, and lignite
with some chert. The fluvial gravel in the area consists
mostly of chert and quartzite. Most of the park (the
terrace) has sandy soils from the Lufkin -Tabor series,
which are described as fine sandy loam or loamy fine
sand, with the floodplain composed of Gowen clay
loam (USDA 1958) (Figure 8). The terrace slope is
composed of Edge fine sandy loam (USDA 1958) (see
Figure 8). Soils on the terrace tread and scarp have
sandy A and E horizons, varying in depth from 10 to
200 cm, and a clayey sand Bt horizon, usually less
than a meter thick. The Bt horizon is underlain by
stratified, sandy and gravelly alluvium that forms the
C horizon. Archaeological materials found in similar
settings within the Post Oak Savannah are always
confined to the sandy mantle above the Bt horizon.
Lick Creek Park
Lick Creek Park can be divided into three main
landscape types: upland savannah, a floodplain, and
Figure 6. Location of the flat terrace and floodplain in the proposed Veterans Park, view to the north.
Environmental Setting 17
Figure 7. Map of geological formations in the area.
~- Lufkin. fine --sandy loam
Tabor fine Taborl.oi _ T4boi
Lgandy -
i
ar .
1' Gowen clay 1oam----- -�
Center for Ecological Archaeology
COAege Statim
Parka Planning O'Malle En9 ineers �i., City ° College station _•-
1301 N P,, (409) 836-7937 Veterans Park and Athlete Complex—
r^."��m Brenham, TX 77833 Pax (40 9) 838-793fi Archaeological Survey
Figure 8. Map of the soils present in Veterans Park and Athletic Complex (from USDA 1958).
Q
•
Figure 7. Map of geological formations in the area.
~- Lufkin. fine --sandy loam
Tabor fine Taborl.oi _ T4boi
Lgandy -
i
ar .
1' Gowen clay 1oam----- -�
Center for Ecological Archaeology
COAege Statim
Parka Planning O'Malle En9 ineers �i., City ° College station _•-
1301 N P,, (409) 836-7937 Veterans Park and Athlete Complex—
r^."��m Brenham, TX 77833 Pax (40 9) 838-793fi Archaeological Survey
Figure 8. Map of the soils present in Veterans Park and Athletic Complex (from USDA 1958).
18 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
°n LICK CREEK PARK
m
PREPARED - TA RECREATION & PARKS DEPT
8 .
D 400 800AND PARKS PLANNING-.,ACITV OF COLLEGE STATION
Shovel probe
I., Transect surface survey
Cutbank inspection
Site boundary
Treeline
Creek
41 BZ141�/
I �
t
41BZ147t -
4182144 �� ��.
FLOOD LAIN
- 41B 142ti
/VD S,q Vq
\
1
1
41BZ143`
............ ..
41,BZ1
°
Figure 9. Map illustrating the landscape types present at Lick Creek Park.
terraces forming an intermediate border between
uplands and the floodplain (Figure 9). The park is
drained by both Alum Creek and Lick Creek, whose
waters flow into the Navasota River. Lick Creek Park
is mainly located on Quaternary alluvial and fluvial
deposits of clay and gravel, but some of the park is on
the Manning Formation composed of clay and
sandstone (Fisher 1981) (see Figure 7). The soil in
the uplands of the park is a Lufkin fine sandy loam;
the terraces are made up of Tabor fine sandy loam or
loamy fine sand; the floodplain of the park is a Gowen
clay loam (USDA 1958) (Figure 10). The park itself
is a preserved section of a natural Brazos County
landscape that has not been heavily used for farming
or ranching. Much of the information about the
vegetation in the park was compiled by personnel in
the Department of Biology Herbarium at Texas A&M
University and is available on their website (Reed
2000).
The vegetation in the upland savannah varies with
the amount of woody growth. Oak, elm, and native
pecan trees with an understory of yaupon make up the
vegetation in the upland woods (Figure 11), while
prickly pear and little bluestem inhabit small, natural
clearings scattered throughout the timberland. Larger
open areas are characterized as sandy prairies (Figure
12). These prairies retain their natural vegetation and
are filled with brushy and little bluestem. The sandy
prairies also contain an abundance of lily and iris family
plants such as yellow star grass, blue-eyed grass, wild
onion, copper lily, spring beauty, and false garlic; all
these plants have nutritious bulbs or corms that are
known to be food sources for Native Americans.
Because of their use as pasturage and possibly some
agriculture, invader species such as bitterweed, Croton
capitatus, and silver -leaf nightshade are also present.
Leading to the floodplain, the terrace slopes of Lick
Creek and Alum Creek support both upland and
lowland trees and plants (Figure 13). The floodplain
forest contains trees and plants more suited to a wetter
environment, such as water oak, cedar, elm, and
orchids. It is dissected by small rivulets, old channels,
and oxbows that hold water during the wet season and
occasionally year round (Figure 14). Sedge meadows
occur in the wettest parts of the floodplain and consist
LICK CREEK PARK
120 240m
PREPARED By TAMU RECREA-TON & PARKS DEPT.
kCOLLEGE*=t:L AND PARKS PLANNING/CM OF COLLEGE STATION
wjlr�
MINE
es Soils
Environmental Setting 19
RD.
Lufkin Series Soils
Series So -Tis
Figure 10. Map of the soils present in Lick Creek Park (from USDA 1958).
WASTEWATER
TREATMENT
PLANT
& PARK
MAINTAREA
20 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Figure 11. Upland vegetation characterized by dense understory, Lick Creek Park.
Figure 12. Sandy prairies, Lick Creek Park.
�L
' > j i�
AA
Vi
154
22 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
of an open carpet comprised almost entirely of
Cherokee sedge shaded by water oaks and cedar elms.
The type soil profile for Lick Creek Park is best
illustrated along Alum Creek, as seen in Figure 15.
This profile shows thin, sandy A and E horizons
underlain by a stratified C horizon of silty sand that
was alluvially deposited. The sandy sediments cover
a 2Bt horizon composed of clayey sand. A variation
of this profile can be seen along Lick Creek and in
Figure 16. A thinner sandy mantle covers a Bt horizon
of clay. Both of these profiles are typical in the upland
areas of the park and along the creek edges. The sandy
Figure 15. Soil profile at Alum Creek.
mantle can vary from 10 to 130 cm. Archaeological
material in the uplands will be confined to the sandy
mantle above the Bt horizon as has been shown in
similar settings within the Post Oak Savannah. The
Bt horizon is usually underlain by a layer of gravel
and sandstone bedrock. Along the terrace edges, the
sandy mantle and Bt horizons become thinner and as
the terrace drops down to the floodplain, natural
outcrops of sandstone and chert cobbles, both prime
materials used by Native Americans, occur. The soils
in the floodplain consist of alluvial clays and silts that
potentially contain buried archaeological sites.
Figure 16. Soil profile at Lick Creek.
it
TI
u
it
Cultural Setting
Alston V. Thoms and J. Bryan Mason
Lick Creek Park and Veterans Park are located within
the Post Oak Savannah, which has been a travelers'
crossroads for thousands of years due to its prime
location on the landscape. Thoms (1993) argues that,
because of its location as a multicultural/multiethnic
crossroad between the forest and grassland, this area
has special research potential. In order to provide a
cultural context for evaluating the archaeological
resources in the project area, selected aspects of the
regional ethnohistorical and archaeological records are
reviewed here. This chapter draws heavily from a
previous overview of regional ethnohistory and
archaeology in the Post Oak Savannah by Thoms
(1993). The availability of ethnohistorical and
archaeological records affords the opportunity to study
the diversity of hunter -gatherer prehistoric land -use
systems, as well as elements of more recent agro-
industrial systems.
More detailed information about past land -use
patterns and cultural history in the Post Oak Savannah
and adjacent regions is available in reports by Black
(1989), Davis et al. (1987), Fields (1995), Honea
(1961), Johnson (1989), Kenmotsu and Perttula
(1993b), Kotter (1982), Patterson (1995), Perttula
(1993a, 1993b, 1993c, 1995), Perttula et al. (1993),
Peterson (1965), Prewitt (1974, 1985), Prikryl (1993),
Rogers (1992, 1993, 1995a, 1995b), Shafer (1977), and
Story (1985, 1990). These reports also include
discussions about paleoclimates, technological
changes, and cultural influences from the eastern Texas
Pineywoods and the central Texas Hill Country.
ETHNOHISTORIC ACCOUNTS
Native peoples lived and traveled along a broad
corridor of trails that traversed Brazos County and the
vicinity, connecting the Pineywoods of eastern Texas
with the Hill Country of central Texas and the
comparatively dry areas of southern Texas. In the
1690s, the Spanish followed some of the same trails
on their way to and from the major agricultural villages
in eastern Texas occupied by the Tejas and other Indian
groups. The Camino de los Tejas is generically used
here, in reference to both the crossing at the Brazos
River near the mouth of the Little River and the route
crossing near the northern boundary of Brazos County,
which follows the San Antonio or String Prairie. These
roads, part of the Caminos Reales corridor, connected
the eastern Texas missions near present-day
Nacogdoches with missions in the vicinity of San
Antonio (McGraw 1991; McGraw et al. 1991). The
route crossing the Brazos River near the mouth of the
Navasota River was known as the La Bahia Road; it
connected the eastern Texas missions with the southern
Texas missions near present-day Goliad (Williams
1979). For our purposes, the importance of these roads
is that Europeans who traveled them often recorded
their observations about the indigenous peoples they
encountered in the Post Oak Savannah. Figure 17
provides a more detailed view of the pathways that
were followed by several of the Spanish expeditions
that passed through Brazos County.
Ethnohistorical Accounts
of Hunter -Gatherers
Ethnohistorical data from the central and southern parts
of the Post Oak Savannah reveal that indigenous
peoples encountered by the Spanish lived in the
uplands, along the valley slopes, and in the bottomlands
(Foster 1995; Thoms 1993). In different seasons of
the year, they are known to have lived in encampments
with hundreds of people. At other times, only a few
families camped together, and at still other times, a
23
In: Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County: Archaeological Investigations of Two City Parks - Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park - College Station, Texas, edited by J.P. Dering and J.B. Mason, pp 23-39. Technical Report No.
4. Center for Ecological Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station.
24 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
e Leon 1690 —^
a
eran de los Rios 1691
/
eran de los Rios 1692
— - - — Q
Rambn 1716 ----
os
j
Alarc6n 1718 — • —
o y
Aguayo 1722
�7
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o
03
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jo
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POA16 a
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,'
Veterans t�
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Cre
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North
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0 5
10mi
Figure 17. Location of Spanish roads passing
through Brazos County.
family camped alone. Houses were typically pole -
supported and covered with brush, mats, or hides, and
were large enough to comfortably accommodate a
family.
In June 1716, near present-day Cameron in the
lower Little River basin, members of the Ramon
Expedition visited a large temporary village inhabited
by at least 500 and possibly as many as 2,000 hunters
and gatherers who were probably there to hunt bison.
They represented several groups, including the
Yerbipiame (also spelled Yeripiano), Pamaya, Payaya,
Cantonae, Mixcal, Xarame, and Sijame people (Foik
1933:16; Tous 1930:17). Many of these people were
native to present-day southern Texas and northern
Mexico, and among them were both gentiles and
Christianized Indian apostates (A.J. McGraw, personal
communication 1992; Foik 1933:16; Newcomb 1961).
Soon after crossing the Brazos River below the mouth
of the Little River, the expedition came upon an
"abandoned rancheria or village" situated in a clearing
surrounded by an "open forest of oaks" (Tous 1930:17).
In the uplands, between the Brazos and Navasota rivers,
Rambn met several Texas [Tejas] men and women who
were "killing bison" (Foik 1933:17-18; Williams
1979:152).
Father Pena, a member of the 1721 Aguayo
expedition, first reported seeing abandoned Indian huts
(possibly a farming village) in June as he was traveling
between the Brazos River and Navasota River. A little
farther to the east, but still in the uplands between the
two rivers, the expedition "came upon some old huts,
sheltered by very tall and beautiful trees" (Forrestal
1935:32-33). A short distance after crossing the
Navasota River on July 8, the Marquis of Aguayo, the
expedition's leader and the Spanish governor of Texas
and Coahuila, and several of his men turned south "to
search for huts of Texas Indians" reported to be in the
vicinity:
Leaving the highway [the Camino de los Tejas
used by previous expeditions] and following
a path, these went south three leagues until
they came to some fields planted in the Texas
[Tejas] fashion. As they did not notice any
huts, they called out in the language of the
natives, and a response came back from the
direction of the woods ... The soldiers ad-
vanced to the aforesaid huts, which were
nearby, and observed there were assembled
with all those of the Rancheria Grande some
Indians of the Vidays and Agdocas tribes
[groups culturally similar to the Tejas people]
(Forrestal 1935:35).
After visiting with about 200 men, women, and
children, the Spanish Governor "admonished" the
Rancheria Grande people "to retire to their old homes
beyond the Brazos de Dios [Brazos River]" (Forrestal
1935:36). The region beyond the Brazos de Dios refers
to the lower Little River basin and the general region
around the confluence of the Brazos and Little rivers.
Although bison were important food animals in
the Post Oak Savannah during the late 1600s and early
1700s, there is little archaeological data to suggest they
were equally important in pre -contact times. Deer seem
to have been especially important game animals
throughout most archaeological time periods in the
inner Gulf Coastal Plain (Thoms 1993; see also Chapter
2). Ethnohistoric sources suggest that bison were not
present in the Post Oak Savannah in any significant
number during the early 1500s. Cabeza de Vaca, one
of the Spaniards who survived a shipwreck and
starvation to live and travel among the coastal and
inland groups of Texas (Trinity and San Jacinto basins)
for several years in the late 1520s and early 1530s,
reported seeing bison only a few times. From Cabeza
de Vaca's perspective, deer and roots were the most
important wild food resources among the peoples he
encountered in the Post Oak Savannah:
These people are invariably good archers and
well formed ... Two or three kinds of root com-
prise their basic diet, and they dig for them
anywhere for a distance of two or three
leagues. Digging for them is hard work ... The
roots have to be roasted for two days, but many
still stay bitter. Occasionally, these Indians
kill deer [antelope] and take fish ... The women
work very hard and protractedly. They get
only six hours rest out of twenty-four, spend-
ing the wee hours heating the ovens to bake
roots. They begin digging at daybreak and
hauling wood and water to their houses, etc.
[Covey 1993:79].
Compared to the coastal and southern Texas
regions where he also lived and traveled, the Post Oak
Savannah was root -rich, deer -moderate, and fish- and
cactus -poor (Thorns 1996). It seems likely that the
food -resource productivity potential and general land
use practices that can be inferred from Cabeza de
Vaca's accounts were also characteristic of the hunter -
gatherers who lived in the vicinity of the city parks
during the Late Prehistoric period.
Historical 'transition Period
Ethnohistoric data reveal that Indian people routinely
traveled through and lived in the uplands, along the
valley slopes, and in the bottomlands. The early
Historic period journals attest to the general importance
of deer; the wide variety of wild roots, berries, and
fruits, and the abundance of fish in the rivers and
bottomland lakes is also often noted (see Chapter 2).
While fish are frequently mentioned, St. Denis, writing
in 1717, was one of the few early historic figures to
state clearly that fishing was an important element of
the regional land use patterns (cited in Davis et al.
1987:201). Journals from the late 1600s and early
1700s report that Texans (i.e., the Tejas people)
practiced agriculture in the uplands between the
Navasota and Trinity rivers, and that there were
extensive fields along the lower terraces and in the
bottomlands of the Trinity River. None of the sources
reviewed here reports agricultural fields near the mouth
of the Navasota River or in the uplands between the
Navasota and Brazos rivers.
Large groups representing ethnically different
populations often camped along the Brazos River and
Cultural Setting 25
in the uplands between the Navasota and Trinity rivers
during part of the summer. It seems likely that during
these times bison were locally abundant and readily
available. Seasonal population aggregations involved
groups that were considered native to Brazos County
and vicinity, plus groups previously native to northern
Mexico, to regions far north of the Red River, and to
areas east of the Sabine River (cf. Davis et al. 1987).
By the time of the earliest entradas, the ethnic make-
up of this part of present-day Texas was already a by-
product of expanding Old World immigrant
populations in the woodlands of eastern North America
and the plateaus of the southern part of the continent
(Murry 1992).
From the late 1600s to the early 1800s, expanding
Spanish and Mexican populations in the south put
pressure on the native inhabitants of Texas. Directly
and indirectly, this pressure pushed hunter -gatherers
from northern Mexico and southern Texas into the Post
Oak Savannah country. After about 1820, the pressure
came from the expanding Anglo-American system,
largely fueled by the number of enslaved African-
Americans. Native horticulturalists in east Texas were
pushed west and southwest, beyond the productive
agricultural areas and into competition with local
hunter -gatherer groups. Within a single lifetime,
almost all of the native people of the region had been
assimilated, squeezed out, or had died from European -
introduced diseases. In any case, the land -use systems
of the hunter -gatherers and simple agriculturalists were
no longer viable.
Davis et al. (1987) note that although the regional
ethnohistorical record mainly covers groups who
recently migrated to the Post Oak Savannah, the
records are still useful in constructing land -use models
because the nature and distribution of natural resources
was probably more important in conditioning
settlement and subsistence patterns than any one
group's ethnic affiliation. From this premise, they
argue that the ethnohistoric record for the Post Oak
Savannah illustrates that the hunter -gatherer land -use
system was that of "collectors," wherein family groups
resided in seasonal base camps, and from there
undertook logistical forays to procure more distant
resources (cf. Binford 1980).
In all probability, Old World diseases significantly
decreased the regional population density long before
the first organized entradas (Ewers 1973; Murry 1992).
One way or another, this probably led to a net increase
in habitable space. The unoccupied or under -occupied
but potentially productive areas probably would have
been settled quickly by displaced groups who were
26 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
"moving on," perhaps as an adaptive response to
demographic factors such as extra -regional population
growth or in -migrations. Within a few decades after
the initial depopulation by Old World diseases, and
continuing until the 1870s, the impact of the horse was
increasingly felt as mounted hunter -gatherers expanded
south from the Plains and effectively compressed
previous Indian homelands into and within the western
Gulf Coastal Plain (Prewitt 1985; Story 1990).
Mounted groups may have been preceded by bison -
hunting foot nomads who, by about 700 B.P., appear
to have begun to displace local, less specialized groups.
Local groups were possibly further displaced by less
mobile hunter -gatherer groups who had "appeared" in
the region about 1350 B.P., during the Austin phase
(Prewitt 1985:225-228). Archaeological data have also
been used to support the contention that sometime
between 10,000 and 8,000 B.P. populations from the
eastern woodlands, or "plains interlopers," expanded
into what today are known as the cross timbers and
Savannah ecological areas of east and central Texas
(Johnson 1989). The inner West Gulf Coastal Plain is
an area where important research about the relationship
between ethnicity and the archaeological record,
focusing on cultural influences, migrations, population
expansion or other factors related to demographics and
cultural or ethnic differences, should be carried out
(Krieger 1948; Story 1985; see also Chapter 2; also
cf. Binford 1986; Sackett 1986; Wiessner 1983).
What role, if any, population pressure had in the
long-term regional population dynamics remains to be
explored systematically. It seems likely, however, that
there are many facets to population pressure, especially
considering that it depends partly on the landscape's
productivity potential (cf. Cohen 1977, 1989:140-141).
At one time and under one set of environmental
conditions, population pressure might exert its effects
on forest foragers, at another time on horticulturalists,
and at still other times on specialized bison hunters,
whether foot or mounted nomads. How we find
evidence for population pressure in the archaeological
record is yet another matter, just as is how we might
recognize archaeological evidence for in -migration or
external influences, and how to distinguish it from
evidence of local or regional population growth. How
we might provide the evidence for adaptational
differences resulting from long-term changes in
environmental conditions is another question yet to
be resolved.
Historic records show that the project area was
within an important interregional crossroads that,
within the span of only a few hundred years, was
occupied by several culturally and ethnically distinct
populations (Murry 1992). It is also evident that exotic
(i.e., extra -regional) goods and ideas regularly
accompanied travelers and traders as they traversed
the region. The pattern of ethnic diversity continued
in the historic period with settlement by Hispanics,
Anglo-Americans, African-Americans, and other Old
World groups. Written records and historical research
indicate that to some extent land -use patterns probably
vary with cultural and ethnic affiliations (cf. Carlson
1993a, 1993b; Carlson and Kloetzer 1993; Carlson and
Thorns 1993; Davis et al. 1987; Weissner 1983).
Efforts have also been made to find ethnic "signatures"
in the archaeological records of hunter -gatherers and
agro-industrialists, and there has been considerable
discussion about just how one may demonstrate ethnic
affiliations (e.g., Binford 1986; Carlson 1993a, 1993b;
Carlson and Thorns 1993; Sackett 1986; Weissner
1983). As a cultural and ethnic crossroads, the
archaeological record in the Brazos River basin portion
of the Post Oak Savannah zone has considerable
potential to yield information useful in the study of
ethnically distinctive material culture and land -use
patterns during the prehistoric and historic eras.
gra
INDIAN GROUPS LIVING IN OR
NEAR THE BRAZOS VALLEY T
j
The diversity of cultures present in the Brazos Valley
is evident in the ethnohistorical accounts of early
European explorers in the area. Many of the Indian
groups noted in ethnohistorical literature regularly
made the Brazos Valley their homes during prehistory,
while others were recent immigrants to the area, having
been pressured to leave their traditional homes by
Europeans or other Indian groups. One reason that
many Indian groups are known to have been near the
Brazos Valley is the presence of the Rancheria Grande.
An Ervipame chief, Juan Rodriguez, founded
Rancheria Grande in the early eighteenth century.
Located on the San Gabriel and Little Rivers,
Rancheria Grande became a gathering place for many
Indian groups that were displaced by Europeans or
Apache/Osage raids.
Each group encountered by the explorers had a
unique culture that was evident to the Europeans.
Although many accounts may be tainted with the
writer's bias, the Europeans did provide helpful guides
to understanding prehistoric life in the Brazos Valley.
r
tl
In this section, the cultures of some of the groups
mentioned by Europeans as they traveled through this
area are discussed. Information about Indian groups
in Texas has also been compiled by a number of
researchers for entry in The New Handbook of Texas
(Tyler 1996), which can also be accessed via the
Internet.
Bidai. The cultural affiliations of the Bidai are difficult
to determine. Europeans encountered them between
the Trinity and Brazos rivers in southeast Texas. They
have been associated with the Caddo, Atakapa, and
Orcoquiza Indian groups. The Bidai were a hunter -
gatherer group and de Mier y Teran (Jackson 2000:61)
notes that they claimed to be the only native Texans.
Although the Bidai are not usually associated with
farming, de Mier y Teran encountered a large mound
attributed to them which suggests that they were semi -
sedentary (Jackson 2000:74).
Caddo. The term Caddo refers to a group of twenty-
five affiliated groups living around the Red River in
Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The
Caddo are related to the Fourche Maline or Woodland
Period culture groups that settled in small communities
and developed farming and pottery. Crops raised
include tropical cultigens (corn, squash, and later
beans) and certain native plants such as maygrass,
amaranth, chenopods, and sunflowers. Although com
was probably the most important food source, the
Caddo also hunted deer, buffalo, and smaller animals.
Europeans divided the Caddo into groups: the Hasinai,
Kadohadacho, and Natchitoches confederacies. "The
Hasinai groups lived in the Neches and Angelina River
valleys in East Texas, the Kadohadacho groups on the
Red River in the Great Bend area, and the Natchitoches
groups on the Red River in the vicinity of the French
post of Natchitoches (Fort St. Jean Baptiste aux
Natchitos), established in 1714" (Perttula 2001).
Caddo culture was very complex and included a
hierarchical social structure, elaborate ceremonial
practices, and extensive trade. The Caddo lived in
dispersed villages with grass and cane covered houses
throughout northeast Texas. Small hamlets surrounded
larger villages, which were based around a large civic -
ceremonial center. "These centers had earthen mounds
used as platforms for temple structures for civic and
religious functions, for burials of the social and
political elite, and for ceremonial fire mounds"
(Perttula 2001).
Cultural Setting 27
Cantonae (Cantona). The Cantona Indians were a
hunting and gathering group that lived throughout east
central Texas between the Guadalupe and Trinity
rivers. "They were most frequently reported along the
Colorado and Brazos rivers, where their skill and
success in bison hunting were often mentioned"
(Campbell 2001a). The Cantonas traveled with many
of the other Indian tribes in the region and, for that
reason, have been linguistically and culturally affiliated
with the Coahuiltecans, Tonkawa, and Witchita.
Cenis. The Cenis were encountered by the La Salle
expedition between the Brazos and Trinity Rivers.
They were most likely associated with the Caddoan
tribes and were primarily farmers. The Cenis lived in
small villages of about 70 people, each associated with
agricultural fields. The Cenis fed Europeans with
sagamite (a porridge of cornmeal boiled in salt water),
beans de bresil (beans of a reddish -brown color), boiled
corn bread, bread made of parched cornmeal and nuts
baked in the cinders, and another bread made with nuts
and sunflower seeds. Joutel also noted that the Indians
of this group had tattoos (Foster 1998:210).
Cherokee. The Cherokee were a large agricultural
tribe located throughout the southeastern United States
including parts of Virginia, Tennessee, North and South
Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. Lipscomb (2001a)
suggests that the Cherokee probably originated further
north because of their migration legend and use of an
Iroquoian language. They called themselves Ani-
Yunwiya, which means the "Principal People."
Cherokee society was based on an elaborate social,
political, and ceremonial structure in which towns,
made up of thirty to forty households, were the basic
political unit. Matrilineal clan identity was also an
important part of Cherokee life. Regional councils
made public policy decisions for the members of a
group of towns. Lipscomb (2001a) describes the
houses as "square or rectangular huts constructed of
locked poles, weatherproofed with wattle and daub
plaster, and roofed with bark."
In the early 1800s, many Cherokees moved west
into present-day Missouri, Arkansas, and Texas.
Cherokees in Texas settled along the Red River and
requested permission from the Spanish government to
settle in northeastern Texas. Another group of
Cherokees led by Chief Bowl settled first on the Three
Forks of the Trinity River, near present day Dallas in
1820. They also asked for permission to stay in Texas
and were supposedly granted land from the Mexican
28 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
government. By 1830, the Cherokee population of
Texas was approaching 400 and, again, they were
granted land to live on, this time by the newly founded
rebel Texas government. Although Sam Houston
seemed willing to finalize the deal, the treaty was never
ratified. Mirabeau B. Lamar, on the other hand, wanted
the Cherokees removed from Texas "peaceably if they
would; forcibly if they must" (Lamar quoted in
Lipscomb 2001a). Commissioners were appointed to
pay the Cherokee for the land; however, they decided
to fight instead, spurring what is known as the
Cherokee War. The Cherokee were eventually driven
across the Red River into Indian Territory.
Chickasaw. The Chickasaw is a Muskogean-speaking
tribe from the American Southeast including land now
in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama.
They are seminomadic, mixing hunting and
horticulture for subsistence. The Chickasaw moved
west in 1830 due to pressure from European settlers.
They asked permission from the Mexican government
to settle in Texas and, although they were denied, some
families did settle near Nacogdoches along the Attoyac
and Patroon rivers. With the establishment of a
Choctaw -Chickasaw confederation in the late 1830s,
the Texas Chickasaws joined their tribesmen in Indian
Territory.
Ervipame. The Ervipame was a hunter -gatherer group
living in northeastern Coahuila and associated with
other Coahuiltecan speakers. At least some Ervipame
moved into east central Texas due to population
pressures and began what came to be known as
Rancheria Grande. Campbell (2001b) notes that their
cultural identity seems to have been lost and that they
may have merged with a Tonkawan group.
Karankawa. The Karankawa were a group of hunting,
fishing, and gathering tribes living along the coast of
Texas between Galveston and Corpus Christi Bay.
They regularly traded fish, seaweed, sea beans, shells,
feathers, shark teeth, oyster shell knives, and scrapers
with the people of the interior for maize, hides,
sandstone, flint, ceramics, red ochre, deer hair tassels,
and stone beads (Himmel 1999:17). The bulk of their
diet consisted of aquatic animals such as fish, turtles,
and shellfish, supplemented with plants and land
mammals. The Karankawa were a highly mobile
people, traveling over land by foot or along the coast
in canoes. Houses were portable and consisted of a
willow frame covered with reed mats or animal skins
(Lipscomb 2001b). Early explorers were amazed at
the number of body tattoos displayed by tribe members.
De Mier y Teran notes that the Karankawa were
dispersed and exterminated by European settlers
(Jackson 2000:152).
Kickapoo. Originally from the Great Lakes region,
wars split the tribe into three groups based in Kansas,
Oklahoma, and south Texas and northern Mexico in
the mid -eighteenth century. Nunley (2001) notes that
the remaining group in Texas, which numbers between
625 and 650, is one of the largest groups of Kickapoo
Indians and that they have successfully preserved much
of the traditional Kickapoo way of life. Cultural
elements that have been preserved include an emphasis
on the extended family, an informal educational
process, a semi -nomadic lifestyle, an informal
government that exists along with a recently (1937)
imposed formal government, their native language, and
religion. Today the Kickapoo in Texas are recognized
as citizens of both Mexico and the United States and
have been granted land in both countries.
Meyeye (Mayeye). The Mayeye was a Tonkawa
Indian tribe first encountered by the La Salle expedition
and known as the Meghey. They lived between the
Colorado River and the Brazos River probably near
Austin and Washington counties. Small groups of
Mayeye were also reported further north near Temple,
along the coast living with the Coco Indians, a
Karankawan tribe, and further west near the mouth of
the Guadalupe. It is assumed that the Mayeye lost
their specific culture, merging with other tribes in those
areas (Campbell 2001c).
Mixcal (Mescal). The Mixcal was a hunter -gatherer
group that lived in northern Coahuila and ranged as
far north as the Edwards Plateau. This tribe is known
to have spoken a Coahuiltecan language. Some of this
group migrated to the northeast and eventually joined
with other tribes at Rancheria Grande. Their name
comes from the mescal plant from which they collected
root crowns for food.
Palaquechare (Palaquesson). This tribe lived
between the Brazos River and the Trinity River near
Grimes County. They have been associated with the
Hasinai branch of the Caddoan tribes. Joutel mentions
that although they are a mobile group of hunter -
gatherers, they would, at certain times, plant corn and
beans (Foster 1998:183-184). This is important as the
western -most evidence of agriculture in Texas.
Pamaya. The Pamaya Indians were a hunting and
gathering tribe recorded by a deserter of the La Salle
Expedition, Jean Jarry, as Panaa, "between the Rio
Sabinas and the Rio Grande in what is now northeastern
Coahuila" (Campbell 2001d). In 1716 they were seen
west of the junction of the Little and Brazos rivers at a
rancheria with many other Indian groups. Although
they may have spoken a Coahuiltecan language, their
actual linguistic affiliation is unknown.
Payaya. The Payaya Indians were a Coahuiltecan-
speaking group of hunter -gatherers who originally
ranged an area that extended from San Antonio,
southwest to the Frio River and beyond. A group of
Payaya Indians is known to have settled at the
Rancheria Grande.
Sijame. The Sijame was a hunter -gatherer tribe whose
linguistic affiliation may have been either Tonkawan
or Coahuiltecan. Some Sijame were noted at Rancheria
Grande.
Tejas. It is generally understood that Tejas was not a
specific tribe, but a term used by the Caddoan groups
to refer to themselves and their allies or friends. The
word itself was applied to the northeastern reaches of
the Spanish government in the New World and
eventually became the name of a state under the
Mexican government.
Tonkawa. The Tonkawa were loosely affiliated, small
hunter -gatherer tribes whose original range seems to
have been in the high plains (Carlisle 2001). In the
seventeenth century they lived in north central Texas
and southern Oklahoma, but moved further south into
the Post Oak Savannah due to pressure from other
Indian groups (Foster 1998:51; Himmel 1999:7). By
1820 they were seen near the north edge of Brazos
County (Himmel 1999:7). Their houses have been
described as the traditional teepee, unless bison were
in short supply, then houses were made of grass
(Himmel 1999:7).
Xarame. The Xarame was a hunter -gatherer group
that spoke a Coahuiltecan language and lived in
southwestern Texas and northeastern Coahuila. They
are also known to have been present at Rancheria
Grande.
Cultural Setting 29
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
A wide variety of archaeological sites have been
recorded in this part of the Brazos River basin, and,
while there are only a few radiocarbon ages on the
cultural remains, it is reasonable to conclude that the
region has been occupied for the last 10,000 years or
more (Bowman 1985; Haywood and Waters 1990;
Roemer and Carlson 1987; Shafer 1977). Large-scale
archaeological surveys, some accompanied by test
excavations, have been conducted in the following
areas: (1) the middle Yegua Creek basin, where
Somerville Reservoir was subsequently constructed
(Honea 1961; Peterson 1965); (2) the Gibbons Creek
basin, prior to beginning coal mining operations
(Fletcher 1980; Rogers 1991, 1992, 1993); (3) the
lower Navasota River basin, where a series of reservoir
projects was planned (Kotter 1982); and (4) the Walnut
Creek basin, in anticipation of coal mining operations
(Bement and Utley 1992; Davis et al., 1987). Moore
(1989) provides a review of more than a dozen
archaeological investigations in Brazos County. Most
of these studies were conducted in upland settings
during the 1970s and 1980s, and many of the survey
projects resulted in the discovery of low-density
scatters of lithic artifacts. Locations of the sites
discussed in this chapter can be found in Figures 18
and 19.
Consistent with the ecotonal setting of Brazos
County as a whole, the two city parks lie near the
intersection of three archaeological study regions that
compose the Texas Historical Commission's "Eastern
Planning Region" (Kenmotsu and Perttula 1993a): (1)
the southeastern region, with its northern border near
the Camino de los Tejas; (2) the northeastern Texas
region, to the east and across the Trinity River; and
(3) the Prairie -Savannah region. Table 3 provides a
summary of extensive and intensive archaeological
excavations in the central Post Oak Savannah.
In Brazos County alone, there are now more than
140 officially recorded archaeological sites,
representing every major cultural period of the historic
and prehistoric eras. Among the designated site types
attributed to Indian populations are the following:
multicomponent sites, temporary field camps, limited
activity sites, lithic scatters, lithic and ceramic scatters,
and cemeteries. Chipped -stone debitage and tools, fire -
cracked rock, and ceramic sherds are the most common
artifact types. The Late Prehistoric (ca. 1,300-300
30 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
B.P.), Transitional Archaic (ca. 2,300-1,300 B.P.), and
Late Archaic (ca. 3,000-2,300 B.P.) time periods are
best represented, although projectile points
characteristic of the Middle Archaic (ca. 4,500-3,000
B.P.), Early Archaic (ca. 8,000-4,500 B.P.) and
Paleoindian (ca. 11,200-8,000 B.P.) periods are present
as well (time period designations from Turner and
Hester 1985). Table 3 summarizes the cultural
characteristics of these time periods.
Paleoindian (ca. 11,200-8,000 B.P.)
Paleoindian sites are not common in the Post Oak
Savannah but, when they are found, they typically
occur along the "lower slope components of upland
interfluves close to small streams" (Rogers 1995a:11).
Diagnostic point types for this time period include
Dalton, San Patrice, Angostura, and Folsom. Points
and other tools are made of locally available chert
usually found in streambeds. Projectile points
representative of the Paleoindian period have been
recovered from Brazos County and surrounding
counties (Collins and Bousman 1993; Fields 1995;
Fields et al. 1993; Perttula 1995).
The most intensive archaeological fieldwork in the
vicinity of the project areas has been for the Gibbons
Creek Lignite Mine Project located in western Grimes
County (e.g., Rogers 1992, 1993, 1995a). Site
41 GM 166, recorded during excavations undertaken on
the Gibbons Creek project, contained a Late
Paleoindian component with Dalton and Angostura
points. The Late Paleoindian component was buried
by Archaic and Late Prehistoric components. Although
sandstone hearth features were found at this site, it
was noted that bioturbation in the sandy sediments had
disturbed the site so that features could not be
associated with the Late Paleoindian component.
Faunal and floral preservation tends to be poor at many
of the upland sites, such that archaeological
assemblages largely consist solely of chipped -stone
artifacts and fire -cracked rocks from cooking features.
Most sites of this period represent short-term
encampments by several families of hunter -gatherers.
As noted earlier, deer provided the bulk of the meat
diet throughout the Paleoindian period.
Archaic (ca. 8,000-2,300 B.P.)
The Archaic period in the central Post Oak Savannah
is usually split into Early, Middle, and Late Archaic
subperiods. Sites from the Early and Middle Archaic
are rare in the entire Gulf Coastal Plain, however, Late
Archaic sites are plentiful (Story 1990:213). Site
Figure 18. Previous archaeological
excavations discussed in the text.
stratigraphy is poorly preserved in most sites, but
several were found to contain isolated Late Archaic
components along the landforms adjacent to tributary
stream floodplains (Fields et al. 1993:71). Point types
diagnostic of Early and Middle Archaic occupations
include Hoxie, Gower, Bulverde, and Pedernales. Late
Archaic sites can be identified with points such as
Pamillas, Gary, and Kent.
Late Archaic sites are associated with the poorly
cemented sandstone hearths that became more popular
in the Early Ceramic period. The Late Archaic is also
known as a transitional period from a nomadic lifestyle
to a more sedentary lifestyle. Cemeteries found in
Austin, Wharton, and Fort Bend counties indicate that
people spent more time in one place (Hall 1981; Copas
1984; Walley 1955; Vernon 1989). Long distance trade
has also been documented for this time period (Hall
1981).
Transitional Archaic (ca. 2,300-1,300 B.P.)
In comparison to the middle part of the Archaic, this
period is marked in the uplands by a substantial
increase in the frequency of sites with significantly
denser accumulations of artifacts and food remains.
Most archaeologists interpret this pattern as evidence
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Figure 18. Previous archaeological
excavations discussed in the text.
stratigraphy is poorly preserved in most sites, but
several were found to contain isolated Late Archaic
components along the landforms adjacent to tributary
stream floodplains (Fields et al. 1993:71). Point types
diagnostic of Early and Middle Archaic occupations
include Hoxie, Gower, Bulverde, and Pedernales. Late
Archaic sites can be identified with points such as
Pamillas, Gary, and Kent.
Late Archaic sites are associated with the poorly
cemented sandstone hearths that became more popular
in the Early Ceramic period. The Late Archaic is also
known as a transitional period from a nomadic lifestyle
to a more sedentary lifestyle. Cemeteries found in
Austin, Wharton, and Fort Bend counties indicate that
people spent more time in one place (Hall 1981; Copas
1984; Walley 1955; Vernon 1989). Long distance trade
has also been documented for this time period (Hall
1981).
Transitional Archaic (ca. 2,300-1,300 B.P.)
In comparison to the middle part of the Archaic, this
period is marked in the uplands by a substantial
increase in the frequency of sites with significantly
denser accumulations of artifacts and food remains.
Most archaeologists interpret this pattern as evidence
Cultural Setting 31
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32 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Table 3. Selected characteristics of archaeological cultures for the central Post Oak
Savannah region (data compiled from Rogers 1993, 1995a, 1995b).
TIME PERIODS
SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
CULTURES
Paleoindian
Diagnostics: Dalton, San Patrice, Angostura, Folsom projectile points
Pre -8,500 B.P.
Population/Site Density: not discussed for this period
(pre -6,500 B.C.)
Site Locations: lower slope component of upland interfluves close to small
streams, and most sites mixed with later period material
Subsistence: highly mobile groups hunting within large areas, similar to that
found in later Archaic cultures
Early Archaic
Diagnostics: split stem dart points sirnilar to Gower, Martindale, Uvalde; also
8,500 to 4,500 B.P.
Angostura, Hoxie, Golondrina, Bell, Baird, Wells, San Patrice, Dalton, Meserve,
(ca. 6,500 to 2,500 B.C.)
Plainview, and Lerma points; other tools include pitted stones, hanimerstones,
and hand -sized mans; burned -rock features also present
Population/Site Density: increase in population based on an increase in
burned rock
Site Location: lower slope component of upland interfluves close to small
streams
Subsistence: loosely structured nonspecialized hunting and gathering; deer are
clearly present
Middle Archaic
Diagnostics: expanding stem dart points Big Sandy, Evans, Williams; corner -
4,500 to 2, 600 B.P.
notched points Marshall and Pedernales; other points Carrollton, Wells, Travis,
(ca. 2,500 to 600 B.C.)
Bulverde, Yarbrough, Calf Creek; Clear Fork Gouge; burned -rock middens;
grinding stones
Population/Site Density: continued growth in population density
Site Locations: lower slope component of upland interfluves close to small
streams
Subsistence: move to nut harvesting and processing, increasingly specialized,
may include some bison (based on the presence of corner -notched points);
regional interaction increasing
Late Archaic
Diagnostics: contracting stem dart points Gary, Kent, Wells; expanding stems
2,600 to 1,250 B.P.
Palmillas, Ensor, Ellis, Edgewood; other points Darl, Marshall, Marcos,
(600 B.C. to 700 A.D.)
Castroville, Frio; sandstone hearth features
Population(Site Density: increased population and site density; more sites than
during any other period; migration of plains people into region; population peak
Site "cations: sandy knolls and other high terraces along perrenial streams,
restricted and local in nature
Subsistence: exploitation of environment away from major rivers; walnut, soft-
shell turtle, beaver, possibly bison and more reliance on deer, less mobile
gathering
Cultural Setting 33
Table 3. Continued.
TIME PERIODS
SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
CULTURES
Early Ceramic
Diagnostics: arrowpoints Scallorn and Bonham; dart points primarily Gary and
(Post Archaic)
Kent; introduction of ceramics, primarily sandy -paste bowls and jars, sometimes
1,250 B.P. to 950 B.P.
incised or punctated, Goose Creek Plain, Leon Plain, and Doss Redware;
(A.D. 700 to 1000)
hearth features also found
Population/Site Density: not discussed for this period
Site Locations: sandy knolls and other high terraces along perennial streams;
restricted and local in nature
Subsistence: regionally oriented hunting and gathering (no change in settlement
pattern); hickory, walnut, pignut, deer, raccoon, tortoise, bison, and fish; no
evidence for long-term settlements that might support horticulture
Late Prehistoric
Diagnostics: Gary dart points; Perdiz, Bonham, and Alba arrowpoints;
950 to 350 B.P.
ceramics (mostly grog-ternpered) Hickory Fine -Engraved, Dunkin Incised, Holly
(A.D. 1000 to 1600)
Fine -Engraved; hearth features
Population/Site Density: population increase (higher artifact density); infusions
from adjacent regions
Site Locations: not discussed for this period
Subsistence: primarily hunting (especially deer) and gathering
i
i
L
34 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
for the onset of increased sedentism (Perttula et al.
1993). There is a documented overall decrease in land -
use activities that resulted in low artifact density, short-
term (e.g., a few weeks at most) encampments, and an
increase in the frequency of sites with high artifact
densities indicative of longer occupation terms. The
Transitional Archaic period is marked by the
introduction of ceramic technology and the use of
Scallorn and Bonham points. Kent and Gary dart
points are also found at sites from this time period.
Ceramics from this time period fall into the Goose
Creek or Leon categories and usually have a sandy
paste with some incised decorations (Story 1990;
Rogers 1995b).
As its name implies, the Transitional Archaic
period is manifested in the Prairie -Savannah, central
Post Oak Savannah, and Southeast Texas
archaeological study regions as a transitional period
containing aspects of both Late Archaic and Late
Prehistoric cultures in many sites. Late Archaic and
Late Prehistoric sites in the Gibbons Creek basin show
clear evidence of subsistence and lithic procurement
activities. Projectile points, thin bifaces, and end -
scrapers attest to the importance of hunting -related
activities. Evidence of plant food processing comes
in the form of pottery fragments and features containing
an abundance of fire -cracked rock. The fire -cracked
rock features are not usually associated with pits.
Prikryl (1993) noted that Transitional Archaic sites
were most common in the Prairie and Savannah regions
to the north and northwest of Brazos County.
Late Prehistoric (ca. 1,300-300 B.P.)
The Late Prehistoric time period is associated with an
increase in the number of sites and population density.
It has been argued that this trend may be a
representation of better preservation rather than a true
representation of population dynamics. There is,
however, evidence for an increase in long term
campsites that were revisited, including those with
residential structures. Point types common during this
time period include Gary dart points and Bonham,
Alba, and Perdiz points. An increase in ceramic
technology is also noted, with many ceramic types
emerging and an increased use of grog, bone, and shell
tempering. Decorated pieces become more common
and decorations are more intricate. In some areas of
the Post Oak Savannah, trade with agriculturalists such
as the Caddo has added different ceramic vessels to
the assemblage.
Trade also added agricultural products to the
subsistence base for some people living in the Post
Oak Savannah. For the most part, however, subsistence
patterns in the Late Prehistoric did not change much
from the Archaic. A high number of points at many
sites indicates that hunting remained important and was
supplemented by gathering wild plant foods. Bison
are known from ethnohistorical accounts to have been
popular game for people living in the area during the
latter part of this time period, although there is only
limited archaeological evidence for this claim (Fields
1995:319; see also Chapter 2).
PREVIOUSLY RECORDED SITES NEAR
VETERANS PARK AND ATHLETIC
COMPLEX AND LICK CREEK PARK
In keeping with the land -use perspective as well as for
heuristic purposes, it is useful to characterize and
analyze archaeological sites according to their
placement on the landscape. Sites in similar settings
probably afforded access to similar resources and,
generally speaking, they are expected to have been
subjected to similar site formation processes (cf. Butzer
1982; Jochim 1976; Waters 1992). For our purposes,
the regional landscape is subdivided into three
physiographic settings: bottomlands, valley slopes, and
uplands.
Sites in the Bottomlands
Most of the bottomlands are encompassed by the
floodplain, as delimited by the zone of periodic
flooding (Nordt 1983). Throughout the bottomlands
in the local basin, there are and probably always have
been high spots that were seldom inundated. These
are the kinds of places favored as campsites through
the millennia, while regularly flooded localities were
routinely used when conditions permitted. Other things
being equal, site preservation is expected to be good
in the seasonally flooded places where the rates of
sediment deposition were comparatively rapid.
As the major component of the riverine zone,
bottomlands afford the best access to the greatest
diversity and abundance of potential food resources
(Hester 1989). Fish, shellfish, beaver, bear, rabbits,
and deer should have been especially abundant, as were
pecans, other nuts, and most berries and fruits. It is
likely that a substantial proportion of the edible root
foods in the region grew well in bottomlands, but
reliable information on the relative productivity
potential of vegetal foods in different parts of the
landscape is lacking altogether. Some information on
the productivity potential of game animals is available.
For example, the highest deer population densities in
the Post Oak Savannah, about 200 animals per 1,000
hectares (ca. 2,500 acres), are expected to be in the
bottomlands (Yantis 1984). There are historic accounts
of bison in the bottomlands as well, but except for those
times when grasses dominated the bottomlands, bison
densities were probably highest in the prairie patches
along the valley slopes and in the uplands (see Chapter
2).
The earliest, albeit tentative, evidence for
occupation of the Post Oak Savannah comes from the
Duewall-Newberry site (41BZ75), where the remains
of a disarticulated mammoth were recovered (Steele
and Carlson 1989). The remains, presumably Late
Pleistocene in age (ca. 12,500-10,000 B.P.), were found
eroding from a steep cutbank (7.5 m below surface) of
the Brazos River several kilometers upstream from the
mouth of the Little Brazos River. Although chipped
stone was not recovered during excavations, impact
scars and breakage patterns on several long bones, as
well as the presence of a bone pile, were considered to
be strong inferential evidence for human activity
(Steele and Carlson 1989).
A variety of stone tools and several pieces of
pottery were recovered during excavations at Winnie's
Mound (41BU17) located in the bottomlands of east -
central Burleson County (Bowman 1985). Paleoindian
points, including Plainview and San Patrice, as well
as early Archaic points, including Hoxie, Bell, and
various stemmed, indented -base forms, were found,
as were Darl, Lange, Edgewood, Ensor, Frio, Gary -
Kent, Marcos, and Yarbrough types representative of
the middle or late Archaic periods. Scallom points
and ceramics indicate occupation during the Late
Prehistoric period. Other bifaces, edge -modified
flakes, and cores were also recovered, along with
thousands of pieces of debitage that were analyzed
according to flake type and material type. Faunal
remains were abundant, but most were too poorly
preserved for identification to family or genus. Eleven
of the 15 identified fragments were deer, three were
turtle bones and one was a beaver tooth. The Late
Archaic and Late Prehistoric components were
associated with cemeteries (Bowman 1985).
Site 41BU16, located along the Burleson County
side of the Brazos River, yielded a wide range of
artifacts that represented occupation from the Middle
Archaic through the Late Prehistoric periods (Roemer
and Carlson 1987). Bulverde, Yarbrough, Fairland,
Gary, Kent, Darl, Alba, Perdiz, and Scallorn points
Cultural Setting 35
and pottery fragments were recovered. Other stone
artifacts included various biface forms, edge -modified
flakes, hammerstones, and cores. More than 10,000
flakes were analyzed according to size, flake type, and
evidence of thermal alteration. Faunal remains were
sparse and poorly preserved, but bison, deer, rabbits,
turtles, fish, freshwater mussels, and possibly turkeys
were represented. At different times, the site was also
used as a cemetery (Roemer and Carlson 1987).
Several radiocarbon ages were obtained on
charcoal from archaeological sites in the bottomlands,
but most of these were obtained during
geomorphological studies from features exposed in the
river's cutbanks and the results of the related
archaeological analysis are not yet available. Two sites
in Brazos County yielded 14C ages indicative of
occupation during the Late Paleoindian and Early
Archaic time periods. An age of 8,390±330 B.P. was
obtained on a mussel shell feature containing chert
flakes (Haywood and Waters 1990). Charcoal from a
similar feature exposed farther downstream yielded an
age of 6,480±110 B.P (M.R. Waters, personal
communication 1992). A site near the mouth of White
Creek yielded Scallorn and Perdiz points and a
radiocarbon age of 880±50 B.P. (M.R. Waters, personal
communication, 1992).
The few radiocarbon ages obtained from features
exposed in the river's cutbanks and the geomorphic
studies illustrate that use of the bottomlands spans the
Holocene and probably the last part of the late
Pleistocene as well (Haywood and Waters 1990; Nordt
et al. 1992; Waters 1993; Appendix A). These features
also attest to a stratified and well-preserved
archaeological record. Sites such as 41BU16 and
41BU17, with artifact -rich deposits containing a wide
range of tool types and faunal remains as well as
cemeteries, suggest that for the last 3,000 years there
were fairly long-term encampments in the Brazos River
bottomlands. Projectile points, other thin bifaces, and
tools indicative of hide processing are comparatively
abundant, indicating that hunting was a major
subsistence activity. While faunal data are too limited
for reliable conclusions, the available information is
consistent with the concept that deer probably provided
the bulk of dietary meat, as has been suggested for
adjacent parts of central Texas (Black 1989).
Sites in the Uplands
Uplands, as used in the context of this report, are that
part of the landscape beyond the valley walls or slopes
36 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
of a river. Uplands comprise hills, divide ridges, and
cuestas, as well as tributary valleys containing
permanent and intermittent streams. Because much
of the uplands lie in zones of net erosion, site
preservation potential is lower than in the bottomlands;
however, sites are likely to be buried in alluvium in
some of the larger valleys and elsewhere by aeolian
and colluvial processes. The two parks are located in
upland environments in or near the tributary valleys
of creeks. The results of the surveys (see Chapter 6)
are comparable to the results of other surveys in this
type of landscape, especially the White Creek survey.
Food resources in the uplands are probably less
abundant and less diverse than those in the bottomlands
or along the valley slopes, although in some places
(e.g., tributary valleys) the productivity potential per
unit area may have been as high as in the bottomlands.
In general, root foods are expected to be locally
abundant in meadows and prairie patches (cf. Thorns
1989) and should have been readily available in the
uplands. The mosaic character of the oak woodlands
and prairies certainly afforded good deer habitat.
Many, if not most, of the accounts of Indians hunting
bison in the region take place in the uplands. Judging
from the general structure of the available resources,
hunting is expected to have been especially important
in the uplands.
Projectile points characteristic of the Late
Paleoindian and Early Archaic time periods (ca.
10,000-4,500 B.P.) were recovered from a surface
context at the Thurmond site, located in the uppermost
part of the Thompson Creek basin within the city limits
of Bryan, Texas (Shafer 1977). Temporally diagnostic
point types from these sites include Plainview,
Meserve, Scottsbluff, Angostura, miscellaneous
lanceolate points characteristic of the Paleoindian
period, and various stemmed, indented -base Early
Archaic types. Other tool types from the site are a
perforator, thin bifaces, gouges, small end scrapers,
and grooved pebbles (Shafer 1977). A corner -notched
arrow point was also recovered from one part of the
site (H.J. Shafer, personal communication 1992).
There are also lithic scatter sites in the uplands
that have a much lower artifact density and fewer tool
types than the Thurmond site. Some areas have such
a low density of debitage that they are not recorded as
sites (e.g., Moore 1989). In other places, excavations
reveal that artifacts are also buried at shallow depths,
but there, too, the densities are low. An example is
41BZ74 (Richard Carter site), a site located in the
uppermost part of the Carters Creek basin (a secondary
stream in the lower Navasota River basin), just over
the low divide with the Thompson and White Creek
basins. It was tested to assess a mid -nineteenth century
Anglo-American homesite, however, a sample of
chipped -stone artifacts was recovered during
excavations and subsequently analyzed (Carlson 1983,
1987). The very low density of chipped stone (37 items
in 95.25 m2 test units: 33 flakes, two cores, one scraper,
one biface fragment) was argued to represent short-
term foraging activities, possibly "manufacture of
expedient flake tools, and/or raw material procurement
and some food processing; in other words, occasional
exploitation of widely scattered upland resources"
(Ensor 1987:79).
Four sites (41BZ114-117) previously recorded
along White Creek were located on the tops and slopes
of low ridges. These sites had a low density of chipped
stone debitage on the surface and, in several cases,
flakes were recovered from shallow shovel probes.
Only one chipped stone tool — a thin biface fragment
from 41BZ112 — was observed in the narrow survey
area that stretched for several kilometers along the
creek (Whitsett and Jurgens 1992). Limited testing at
41BZ115 and results of additional survey work along
White Creek suggest that the paucity of tools is an
inherent characteristic of these particular White Creek
sites and that a very limited range of activities, mostly
lithic procurement and tool manufacture, is represented
(Clabaugh 1993; Dickens 1993; Olive 1993).
Of the four White Creek sites in an upland setting,
41BZ115 had the densest scatter of chipped stone
material and was recommended for test excavation
(Whitsett and Jurgens 1992). Test excavations revealed
that the cultural material usually extended no more
than 20 cm below surface to the top of the clay -rich Bt
soil horizon. Although features were not encountered
in any of the 11 excavation units, approximately 100
flakes, five cores, and six edge -modified, "expedient"
tools were recovered. The primary activity at the site
seems to have been the initial stages of tool
manufacturing, but some of the expedient tools were
probably used there as well, and the few pieces of fire -
cracked rock might represent some type of food
preparation (Dickens 1993; Olive 1993).
In terms of understanding how Indian people used
the upland landscape in the White Creek basin, the
most salient ecological characteristic is the cobble -
sized chert gravel scattered along the ridge tops and
slopes. Almost everywhere natural gravel was found
on the surface, along with chipped -stone artifacts made
from the gravel. The identified lithic scatters appeared
to be components of a widespread, low density lithic
procurement and manufacturing area that extends into
the uplands beyond the project boundaries. Although
reliable chronological controls are lacking, it seems
likely that these lithic procurement areas were used
throughout the period of Indian occupation (Carlson
and Thorns 1993:101-102).
Similar sites have recently been described by
Jurgens (2000) in a survey of the Wellborn Special
Utility District. Site 41BZ148 is located two
kilometers north of Lick Creek Park on a toe slope
overlooking Carters Creek. Site 41BZ149 is located
just north of Wellborn on a toe slope overlooking
Hopes Creek. They are both described as shallowly
buried lithic scatters. Artifacts from the sites include
an edge -modified uniface, biface fragments, and
secondary and tertiary flakes.
Well-preserved Late Archaic and Late Prehistoric
period sites in the Gibbons Creek basin show clear
evidence of subsistence activities and lithic
procurement. Projectile points, thin bifaces, and end -
scrapers attest to the importance of hunting -related
activities. Pottery fragments and features containing
an abundance of fire -cracked rock, most of which is
not associated with pits of any kind, may be evidence
of plant food processing. Almost all of the radiocarbon
ages from well-preserved features in the Gibbons Creek
basin post-date 2,000 B.P. (Rogers 1991, 1992, 1993,
1995a, 1995b, personal communication 1993).
Judging from information reviewed here, the
uplands were used extensively as hunting grounds, and,
where gravel occurred, as source areas for lithic raw
materials. Plant foods, including berries, nuts, and
roots, were probably exploited as well but to date there
is little supporting archaeological evidence. While
many of the known sites in the uplands evidence only
a limited range of activities, several sites have been
interpreted as base camps used mainly during the
hunting season(s). Sites are surprisingly well preserved
and are deeply buried where rates of sediment
deposition are comparatively high (e.g., colluvial
aprons, fans, and floodplains). The types of projectile
points recovered from the sites suggest that the uplands
were used throughout the established period of the
region's human occupation, but that more of the
hunting -related occupations appear to have taken place
during the last three thousand years than during the
preceding millennium. Before assigning behavioral
significance to this kind of ostensible pattern, however,
the effects of natural and cultural site formation
M
M
Cultural Setting 37
processes must be better understood, including the
thousands of projectile points that have been removed
from the uplands by private collectors.
Sites on the Valley Slopes
Valley slopes occupy the space between the uplands
and bottomlands. In Brazos County, valley slopes are
formed mainly by the treads and scarps of Pleistocene
terraces, but also by the eroded edges of Eocene
formations (i.e., bedrock) adjacent to and overlooking
the bottomlands. As slopes in general tend to be
unstable, and rates of deposition are slow on the treads
of ancient terraces, most archaeological sites are likely
to have been subject to considerable pedoturbation.
Vegetation patterns and the immediate availability of
natural resources resemble the uplands more than the
bottomlands, but proximity to the bottomlands means
ready access to the riverine and floodplain resources
as well. In other words, the ecotonal setting of the
valley slopes afforded the opportunity to exploit two
different ecosystems (cf. Odum 1971).
Sites 41BZ112 and 41BZ113 are located near the
mouth of White Creek on the tread of Terrace 2, where
it is capped by a veneer of colluvium from the adjacent
valley slopes (cf. Waters 1993). A few pieces of
debitage were seen on the surface at both sites, but the
only observed tool — a thin biface fragment — was
at 41BZ112 (Whitsett and Jurgens 1992). Test
excavations at 41 BZ112 yielded from three to 39 flake
and flake fragments per 0.1 m3, but the excavation units
yielded only edge -modified flakes and the mid-section
of a biface. A point fragment was found on the surface
during the testing phase. Artifacts were recovered from
as deep as 0.9 m below surface; however, neither
features nor lenses of artifacts were observed in any
of the backhoe trenches or test pits, and there was
considerable evidence of pedoturbation and
bioturbation (Olive 1993). Based on the results of the
lithic analysis, the initial stages of stone tool
manufacturing are well represented at 41BZ112, and
the use -wear patterns on some of the edge -modified
tools indicate they were used for cutting and scraping.
The small quantity of fire -cracked rock and the single
point fragment are also suggestive of food preparation
and hunting -related tasks (Dickens 1993).
Three small interior chert flakes were observed
on the surface of 41BZ105, a "small prehistoric lithic
scatter" located on the tread of a low Brazos River
38 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
terrace about a kilometer from the mouth of the Little
Brazos River. None of the shovel probes yielded
cultural material (Bond 1991:9). Farther upstream
along the Thompson Creek basin, but still in the valley
slope section, there are two low-density lithic scatters
— 41BZ87 and 41 BZ88 — on "sandy knolls adjacent
to the creek bottom;" neither site yielded temporally
or functionally diagnostic tools (Bond 1991:6). Low-
density lithic scatters are also on the low "sandy ridges"
farther down Thompson Creek (e.g., 41BZ31), but
there are sites that appear to represent more intensive
or repeated occupations of the valley slopes. At
41BZ32, for example, San Patrice, Bulverde, Gary,
Kent, and Ensor points were found, as were gouges
and sandstone net weights (Bond 1991:6).
Site 41BZl also yielded a wide variety of artifacts
on the surface (Collins 1955). The "site" is actually a
set of localities in close proximity, with each
component on a separate remnant of one of the terraces
that forms the lower valley slopes. Locality 6 occupies
a remnant of Terrace 1 and contained several dozen
decorated and undecorated sand -tempered pottery
sherds in addition to a variety of chipped -stone tools
and debitage. Locality 5 occupies a fairly flat surface
between the Terrace 2 scarp and the tread of Terrace 1.
In addition to two undecorated, sand -tempered sherds,
a stemmed scraper and drill were collected along with
several arrow and dart points, including Alba, Gary,
Kent, Yarbrough, Pedernales, and Bulverde types.
Localities 1-4 yielded the same kinds of artifacts, as
well as sherd and shell -tempered pottery, Perdiz,
Scallorn, and Bonham/Alba arrow points, Travis/
Morrill dart points, blades, knives, and a thumb scraper
(Collins 1955).
Previously recorded sites along the valley slopes
vary from those with a low density and range of artifact
types, suggesting limited activities, to sites with much
higher artifact densities and a greater range of artifact
types, indicative of more diverse and intensive land
use. Compared to the uplands and bottomlands,
relatively little work has been conducted at valley slope
sites, but the results suggest that lithic procurement
and hunting were important activities, as they were
everywhere else in the Brazos and Navasota River
basins. The kinds of projectile points indicate only
that occupation occurred throughout the Holocene.
Too little work has been done to detect meaningful
patterns. Yet, it is interesting that of the eight sites
with temporally diagnostic artifacts, six have Late
Prehistoric components, as evidenced by arrow points
or pottery sherds.
Sites within 9.5 km of Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park
Review of the archaeological site files at the Texas
Archaeological Research Laboratory in Austin reveals
that 15 historic, 49 prehistoric, and six multi-
component (historic and prehistoric) sites have been
recorded within 9.5 km of the two parks (see Figure
19; Appendix A). Some of the historic sites (41BZ92
and 126, 41GM146, 147, 148, 152, 153, and -154)
closely resembled the historic sites recorded during
the present survey (see Chapter 5). At sites 41BZ92
and 126, historic artifacts, but no features, were found.
At sites 41GM147,152, 153, and 154, historic artifacts
as well as features such as cisterns, foundation piers,
and chimney falls were found. Remnants or remaining
structures were recorded at 41 GM 146 and 148. All of
these sites are recorded as turn of the century or early
twentieth century homesteads.
Site 41BZ102 is located on the proposed Veterans
Park property. This site is a prehistoric "campsite"
that was discovered by a private citizen during the
infilling of the pond on the property. William Moore
recorded the site, but indicated that it was most likely
highly disturbed by earth moving activities (W. Moore,
personal communication 2000). Conversations with
Mr. Walter Schuster, who discovered the site, indicate
that the site was located just to the north of the location
of 41BZ136, near the southern comer of the old pond,
although CEA employees observed no evidence of the
site. Artifacts observed by William Moore at the site
included a beveled knife, "Caddoan-like" pottery
sherds, and an unidentified arrow point (W. Moore,
personal communication 2000). Recently, employees
of the CEA examined artifacts collected by Walter
Schuster from this site. In addition to the artifacts
mentioned by Moore, Perdiz points were recorded.
From this information, the site fits into the Late
Prehistoric period. Prehistoric sites of interest include
41BZ25-27. All three of these sites were found along
the terrace edge overlooking the floodplain of the
Navasota River. Each site was identified by a surface
survey and was separated from the other sites by a
gully in the terrace. This is similar to the prehistoric
sites found at both Lick Creek and Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex (see Chapter 5). Artifacts at these
sites included flakes, biface fragments, ceramic
fragments, one arrowpoint, and one dart point. Site
41BZ130 is a prehistoric site just south of Carters
Creek approximately 4 km upstream from the proposed
location of Veterans Park. This site was found on the
1*
terrace edge overlooking Carters Creek in sandy soil.
The site consists of a low density artifact scatter
represented by two flakes and a beveled, possibly
Archaic, dart point (Moore 1999).
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
From a review of the general nature, distribution, and
chronology of archaeological sites, it is reasonable to
infer that Indian peoples occupied the bottomlands,
valley slopes, and uplands of the eastern Post Oak
Savannah throughout the Holocene period and during
the last part of the late Pleistocene. Lithic procurement
and hunting activities are well represented everywhere
on the landscape, but we know very little about how
the type and intensity of land use may have varied
within and between zones. Long-term land -use studies
remain to be undertaken, but one gets the impression
that the Late Prehistoric period is better represented
than the preceding time periods. If confirmed, the Post
Oak Savannah pattern would be in contrast to the
pattern for the Edwards Plateau portion of central Texas
where there are significantly fewer Late Prehistoric
sites and projectile points compared to the Late or
Transitional Archaic period (Black 1989; Prewitt
1985).
Several of the previously recorded sites near the
twoparks are known to contain buried cultural
materials (see Appendix A). Although buried cultural
deposits are common throughout the uplands in the
Post Oak Savannah, few of the sites appear to be well
preserved. However, well-preserved features are found
in upland, valley slope, and bottomland settings, but
Cultural Setting 39
all too little attention has been given to understanding
the formation processes that account for the
preservation of features in a few places and the paucity
of in situ deposits in many other places (Thorns 1995).
Although geomorphic processes, including erosion and
pedoturbation, are widely recognized as having adverse
effects on site preservation in the Post Oak Savannah
and adjacent regions, these effects remain to be
adequately defined, qualified, or quantified (cf. Black
1989; Story 1990; Thorns 1995).
We do know, however, that cook -stone raw
materials needed to build earth ovens and hearth
grills—primarily sandstone—are available, as are
quartzite cobbles especially useful in stone boiling
(Thoms 1993). This leads us to expect to find cook -
stone features in the project area. We also know that
it is not always easy to identify these features because
they are often impacted (i.e., partially disarticulated)
by natural site formation processes, especially along
slopes such as those along Carters and Lick Creeks.
Problems in identifying these features are also likely
to occur because of difficulties in distinguishing
between naturally occurring chunks of reddish -colored
sandstone and slightly redder fire -cracked rocks made
from local sandstone. Furthermore, pedogenic
processes, especially those related to leaching of the
well -drained soils on the valley slopes, are likely to
remove carbon and oxidation stains on the sediments
that might otherwise define pit features. As such, it
may be difficult to distinguish between "leached"
hearths and ovens on one hand, and on the other hand,
piles of used stone -boiling rocks that are not likely to
have been directly associated with carbon or oxidation
stains.
Historical Research
Andrea Stahman
For archaeology, the information hidden in the dark
and dusty recesses of courthouse vaults and library
shelves has become invaluable for resurrecting
historical sites where only the faint outlines may exist.
As historical documents have enlightened archaeology,
so too has archaeology contributed to a more complete
understanding of history. Peoples, events, or objects
that otherwise may have gone unnoticed by history
are now wrestled from obscurity by trained
archaeologists nationwide.
The focus of this chapter is an examination of the
archival and archaeological evidence of historic
occupation in Brazos County. The history of the county
is presented first, followed by a more detailed look at
the property history of Veterans Park and Athletic
Complex and Lick Creek Park that is designed to link
past landowners with historic archaeological sites
recorded during survey of the area.
BRAZOS COUNTY HISTORY
Brazos County began to see its first settlers when Spain
opened Texas to foreign settlement in 1820. After
Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, Stephen
F. Austin negotiated with the new government to
reinstate his charter for 300 titles for land in eastern
Texas (Carlson 1993a:33). Known as Austin's second
colony, the group was composed of 297 families, 15
of which settled in what would become Brazos County
(Odintz 1999; Carlson and Kloetzer 1993:33; Goumay
1995:43). Among those first farmers were Dr. Thomas
J. Wooton, Elliot McNeil Millican, son of Robert
Millican, the fust Anglo resident of Brazos County,
Mordecai Boon, and Richard Carter, the first person
to settle in present-day College Station (Marshall
1937:17; Brundidge and Goree 1986:1; Odintz 1999).
By 1837, most of Brazos County was included
within the boundaries of Washington County, which
was partially bisected by the Brazos River. With a
burgeoning settlement at its banks, the river soon
became a serious obstacle to county government
(Odintz 1999). Thus, in 1841, the Congress of the
Republic of Texas convened to create a new county
out of the portion of Washington County that lay
between the Navasota and Brazos Rivers. Initially,
the county was named Navasota but was changed to
Brazos the following year (Brundidge and Goree
1986:2; Odintz 1999).
In the mid -nineteenth century, slavery became a
major factor in the agricultural success of the Brazos
Valley. While slavery had been officially outlawed
under Mexican law, the new Texas Republic had no
such prohibition (Carlson 1993a:33). With
independence from Mexico came a surge of demand
for slaves needed to work the fields along the fertile
Brazos River bottom (Marshall 1937:125). As slaves
poured into the region, so too did new and eager
farmers. In 1850 the county's population included 466
whites and 148 slaves; by the eve of the Civil War, the
county housed 1,713 whites and 1,063 slaves. Of the
county's slaveholders, roughly 65% owned fewer than
five slaves, while 3% owned more than fifty (Odintz
1999).
The next impetus to substantial growth for Brazos
County arrived early in the 1860s with the Houston
and Texas Central Railroad. In 1861, the railroad
reached only as far as the town of Millican, which
would become an important center of transportation
with the outbreak of the Civil War. Because of the
railhead, the town of Millican served as the location
for one of the two Confederate training camps in the
state. Although able-bodied men of suitable age were
in relatively short supply throughout the county, many
locals enlisted in various regiments and companies
41
In: Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County: Archaeological Investigations of Two City Parks - Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park - College Station, Texas, edited by J.P. Dering and J.B. Mason, pp 41-48. Technical Report No.
4. Center for Ecological Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station.
42 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
including the Twenty-first and Twenty-fifth Texas
Cavalry, the Tenth Texas Infantry and other army units
(Brundidge and Goree 1986:85; Odintz 1999).
The county seat of Brazos County was Boonville
until 1866. Named after Mordecai Boon, one of the
county's first residents and nephew of Daniel Boone,
Boonville was often a favored lecture stop for many
prominent statesmen including General Sam Houston
(Odintz 1999; Gray 1999). During its heyday, the town
included a jail, courthouse, post office, hotel and
cemetery. In 1866, however, the railroad line that had
earlier terminated at Millican was extended to the
community of Bryan. Citizens of Boonville and
surrounding areas, recognizing the greater advantage
of a railway town, began moving their businesses and
homes to the new community (Gray 1999). Later that
same year, the county seat was officially moved to
Bryan.
In 1865, with the end of the Civil War, Federal
troops began arriving in Brazos County to preside over
eight years of Reconstruction (Odintz 1999). The loss
of the war and subsequent Reconstruction policies
generated great turmoil in the county. With
Emancipation, blacks gained freedom but lost the
protection afforded by their monetary value as slaves.
As former slaves and white landowners struggled with
new economic and social relations, incidents of
interracial violence increased (Odintz 1999). After
the first appearance of the Ku Klux Klan in June of
1868, fearful black citizens organized themselves into
a militia group led by a clergyman, George Brooks.
Instigated by a false rumor concerning the lynching of
a prominent local black leader named Miles Brown,
tension reached a crescendo in July when groups of
whites and blacks engaged in several armed
confrontations at Millican. The incidents claimed the
lives of four whites and at least 20 blacks, including
Brooks, and came to be known as the Millican Race
Riot (Odintz 1999; Brundidge and Goree 1986: 95;
Marshall 1937:88). Racial violence in the county
would continue throughout the rest of the
Reconstruction era. Reported incidents of lynching
occurred repeatedly during the years 1869, 1871, and
1876 (Marshall 1937:89).
In the fall of 1871, construction began for the
first building on the campus of the Texas Agricultural
and Mechanical College (Brundidge and Goree
1986:4). Located five miles south of Bryan, Texas
A&M, as it would come to be known, was originally
intended to be a branch of the proposed University of
Texas. Delayed by the financial and political disorder
of the Reconstruction era, the college finally opened
its doors in the fall of 1876 to 106 students and 6 faculty
members. The early curriculum of Texas A&M
focused primarily on classical studies, literature,
languages and applied mathematics. The more worldly
education did not stand in good favor for long however;
in 1879 protests from farming groups led to a new
curriculum focusing on agriculture and engineering
(Dethloff 1999).
Over the years Texas A&M has continued to make
changes in order to keep up with public desire as well
as the times. Most notably, changes have been made
concerning the student body. Mandatory participation
in the Corp of Cadets was rescinded in favor of
voluntary participation in 1965 and, although a few
women had attended the college in an unofficial
capacity since its inception, women were granted
official enrollment based on equal admission in 1971
(Dethloff 1999). Admission of women also served to
pave the way for another boost in student body size.
While the college had begun with only 106 students,
expansion of the curriculum and degree programs, as
well as extensions to the college such as the Veterinary
School, allowed enrollment to swell from 8,000 in 1963
to more than 25,000 in 1976. Today enrollment at
Texas A&M University exceeds 40,000 (Dethloff
1999).
Brazos County as a whole has experienced this
same rate of steady growth and development. By the
time Texas A&M was created in 1876, the county's
population had tripled from the previous decade to
more than 9,205 residents. By 1870, agricultural
productivity surged as well and as a result the
production of cotton tripled in the space of ten years.
Cotton became king and continued to dominate county
farming well into the early twentieth century. County
ranchers began raising hogs and cattle in considerable
numbers, while sheep ranching reached an all-time high
in the late 1800s (Odintz 1999).
The population of Brazos County continued to
grow throughout the remainder of the nineteenth
century, and cultural diversity increased as well. In
1880, citizens totaled 13,576 and by 1890 the
population had risen to 16,650. It was during this
decade that African-Americans outnumbered their
white neighbors, marking the only time in history that
Brazos County has ever had a black majority (Odintz
1999). Significant numbers of European immigrants
including Germans, Austrians, Czechs, and Italians
also began flowing into the Brazos Valley. By 1900,
roughly 10,000 people constituted the white
demographic of Brazos County out of a total population
of 18,859. Of these, 14% were listed as foreign born
(Odintz 1999).
Many of the newly emigrated either owned or were
employed by the many small farms that dotted the
Brazos countryside (Marshall 1937:110, 204). One
common system on such farms was tenant farming.
Tenant farmers cultivated crops on land that they did
not own. In exchange for their labor, tenants either
received a percentage of the harvest or paid a fixed
amount to the landowner (Orser 1988: 55-56). In 1900,
Brazos County supported 2,613 farms, 60% of which
were tilled by tenants. By 1920, the number of farms
and the number of tenant farmers peaked: out of 3,023
farms in operation that year, 64% were worked by
tenants (Odintz 1999).
By the mid -twentieth century, traditional
agriculture began to lose its prominence in the county
in favor of other industries, particularly cattle ranching.
After 1950, customary farm staples of cotton and corn
gave way to crops of hay, oats, and wheat. As of 1982,
mechanized farms and ranching operations involved
67% of the land in Brazos County (Odintz 1999).
Oil also became a tremendous source of revenue
for the county during the mid -twentieth century.
Initially discovered in the area in 1942, oil became an
important county industry over the next thirty years.
By 1990, over 73 million barrels had been produced
from wells in Brazos County (Odintz 1999).
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
Property history research for this project was designed
to link past landowners to archaeological sites recorded
during survey, as well as to compile additional
information about site function and potential
significance. Research procedures consisted of a
review of deed and probate records, abstract indexes,
tax rolls, census records, and appraisal district maps
of Brazos County. Our research yielded the names of
property owners, personal property information, and
tax and occupational data, but did not yield definitive
information about structures identified at Veterans
Parks and Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park.
However, this information may be revealed through
future research.
Historical Research 43
Property History: Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex
Veterans Park and Athletic Complex consists of a 150 -
acre tract located between Highway 30 to the south
and Highway 60 to the north (United States Geological
Survey 1980; Brazos County Appraisal District 1981).
This area was originally granted to Richard Carter in
1831. By 1842, Carter began to divide his league
among family members, portioning out parcels to the
north and south but retaining the area where the park
exists today (Carlson 1983:11; Brazos County District
Court, Civil Minutes 1877).
Carter resided slightly less than a mile from today's
Veterans Park; however, evidence of structures built
within current park boundaries was not found. Carter
was involved in farming corn and raising beef cattle,
swine, horses and milk cows (Carlson 1983:15). Upon
his death in 1863, his property in the Veterans Park
area passed to his wife, Elizabeth (Nance 1999; Brazos
County Probate Records 1860). Elizabeth Carter
retained the property and continued to farm corn as
well as cotton and raise stock with the help of her Bon-
in -law Samuel Burton, until her death in 1876 (Carlson
1983:28).
On September 22, 1877, the district court
partitioned and distributed the Carter Estate, setting
aside a 330 -acre tract for Carter's daughter, Evaline
Burton (Brazos County District Court, Civil Minutes
1877). (Note that the park comes almost entirely from
this property.) Evaline Burton probably never lived
on the property she was granted. In fact, tax rolls
indicate that she maintained a residence first in
McLennan County and then in Bell County (Brazos
County Tax Rolls 1854-1888; Brazos County Deed
Records 1878). In 1878, Burton sold 165 acres of this
330 -acre tract to Robert and Mathew Mims (Brazos
County Deed Records 1878).
The Mims brothers were born in Alabama, to
Georgia -born parents, and had immigrated to Texas
early in their lives. They seemed to be farmers of
modest means, for in Brazos County's 1879 tax rolls
they listed one wagon, two horses or mules, four cattle
and five hogs (Brazos County Tax Rolls 1854-1888;
United States Bureau of Census 1880). The Mims
brothers did not keep the property very long however,
returning 65 acres to Mrs. Burton on December 10,
44 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
1879 (Brazos County Deed Records 1879c). In
November of 1880, they sold their remaining 100 acres
to John D. Jones, a young single farmer (United States
Bureau of Census 1900; Brazos County Deed Records
1880b). A succession of owners followed, none of
whom retained the property for more than seven years
until the acreage was sold in 1901 to H. P. Dansby, a
twenty -four-year-old farmer (Brazos County Deed
Records 1887, 1888c, 1888d, 1890b, 1890c, 1894,
1901b; United States Bureau of Census 1900).
Upon Evaline Burton's death, sometime between
1883 and 1887, the remaining 230 acres of the original
330 -acre tract she inherited from her mother passed to
her own heirs. These heirs assembled in March of
1887 to convey all of the remaining acreage to one of
Mrs. Burton's sons, P. T. Burton (Brazos County Deed
Records 1887). Due to the brevity of his ownership
and his residence in McLennan County, it is unlikely
that P. T. Burton improved upon this property,
especially in the form of structures (Brazos County
Deed Records 1888a). In 1888, P. T. Burton began to
liquidate his holdings in the Richard Carter League by
selling 109 acres to W. G. Talioferro and 100 acres to
a farmer by the name of William F. Jones (Brazos
County Deed Records 1888a, 1888b; United States
Bureau of Census 1880).
Talioferro, an attorney who later became a district
judge, sold his 109 acres to A. J. Weddington in 1889
(United States Bureau of Census 1910; Brazos County
Deed Records 1889c). A list of short-term owners
ensued until the acreage was sold in 1901 to H. P.
Dansby, who already owned property nearby (Brazos
County Deed Records 1893, 1899a, 1899b, 1901b).
W. F. Jones sold his 100 acres in 1902 to a farmer
from Mississippi named David Jolly who then sold
the acreage to the same H. P. Dansby (United States
Bureau of Census 1910; Brazos County Deed Records
1902a, 1902b). By this time, Dansby owned all of the
acreage that encompasses Veterans Park.
According to a local resident and acquaintance of
the Dansby family, the area that became Veterans Park
was primarily pastureland for cattle during the seventy
years that the family owned the property (Gerald Winn,
personal communication 2000; Brazos County Deed
Records 1971). In 1958, the family entered into an oil
and gas lease agreement with Tidewater Oil Company
(Brazos County Deed Records 1958). Remains of a
drilling pad and oil well on the property may be related
to this agreement.
No records illustrating the existence of any above
ground structures in Veterans Park and Athletic
Complex were discovered. Aerial photos from 1940
show no structural activity in the area of the park, but
farming and ranching were undoubtedly primary
activities of many of the property owners. Therefore,
it is not unreasonable to suspect that structures on the
property would likely have been small outbuildings or
barns. As of now, however, there is no evidence to
support the conclusion that houses or any other form
of potentially significant historic structures, such as
those associated with an important event or individual
like Richard Carter, ever existed in the Veterans Park
and Athletic Complex area.
Property History: Lick Creek Park
Lick Creek Park consists of 515.54 acres located
between Highway 6 to the south and Rock Prairie Road,
its northern boundary. The park is crossed from east
to west by Lick Creek, a branch of Carters Creek, a
tributary of the Navasota River.
The Northern Portion of Lick Creek Park
During a survey of the area from February to July of
2000, three historic sites, designated 41BZ142,
41BZ143 and 41BZ147, were recorded within the
boundaries of Lick Creek Park. According to evidence
collected from the scene, site 41BZ142 appeared to
have been occupied during the mid -1900s, while sites
41BZ143 and 41BZ147 were inhabited early in the
1900s but no later than 1920.
Due to the location of these sites in the northern
portion of the park, this vicinity became the focus of
property history research. This area of the park, which
abuts Rock Prairie Road, was historically partitioned
into two 100 -acre tracts, which were referred to as lot
numbers 7 and 14 early in the property's history (Figure
20). However, by 1900 lot designations were no longer
in use. Thus, for the purposes of this report bounded
tracts will be referred to alphabetically (Figure 21).
Early property history for the park began with an
original land grant of one league (4,428.4 acres) to
Sam W. Robinson on August 15,1848 (Brazos County
Deed Records 1848). (Note that the title of this league
was later corrupted to Sam W. Robertson.) Sometime
later, although the actual records are missing, Sam
Robinson died and the land passed to his heirs.
Robinson's daughter, Mary Fulcher, and her husband
were apparently granted the area where Lick Creek
Park is located today and it was they who conveyed at
least half of the original league to Asa Mitchell. The
Figure 20. Map of property boundaries in the
Sam W. Robertson League, circa 1890
(Brazos County Deed Records 1890a).
specific date of this transaction, however, is unknown
(Brazos County Deed Records 1873).
Asa Mitchell had been a member of Stephen F.
Austin's colony in 1822. Originally, Mitchell had
settled along the Brazos River where he worked as a
planter and trader and operated a salt -refining works.
By 1830, he had become a United States Customs
boarding officer for the port of Velasco. It was here
that he participated in the Battle of Velasco against
Mexican forces in 1832. Three years later, he moved
his family to Washington -on -the -Brazos and was
elected regidor, or town councilman (Pivateau 1999).
He was involved in the writing of the Texas Declaration
of Independence and fought under Sam Houston at the
Battle of San Jacinto. In 1840, Mitchell operated a
large ranch near San Antonio (Isbell 1996:778).
In 1854, Asa Mitchell conveyed half of the original
league to his son and fellow San Jacinto veteran,
Nathan Mitchell. Neither Asa nor Nathan reportedly
maintained residences on the property that would
become Lick Creek Park. In fact, deed and census
records indicate that they both resided in Bexar County,
presumably until their deaths (United States Bureau
of Census 1870; Brazos County Deed Records 1854).
In light of these facts it is likely that the Mitchells had
Historical Research 45
engaged in a tenancy or lease contract for farming and/
or ranching of the land during their ownership.
However, records relating to information concerning
these agreements remain undiscovered.
In 1889, Nathan Mitchell began parceling his land
out to the children of his late sister, suggesting that he
may not have had children of his own. Eventually,
Mitchell distributed his entire half league, which
encompassed what would become Lick Creek Park. It
was by this time that the area had been divided into
lots, usually consisting of 99 to 100 acres apiece (see
Figure 20). Mitchell conveyed 100 acres, recorded as
Lot #14, to his nephew, A. M. Belvin in 1889 and, in
1890, he conveyed 100 acres, known as Lot #7, to his
niece, Caroline Belvin (Brazos County Deed
Records1889a, 1890a).
Tract A—Caroline Belvin. Indicated as Lot #7 in
Figure 20 and designated Tract A in Figure 21, Caroline
Belvin's acreage is the property on which site 41BZ147
was recorded. Belvin retained the property for less
than two years before selling it to S. P. Crenshaw in
1892 (Brazos County Deed Records 1892b). After
less than a month, Crenshaw sold the 100 acre tract to
J. S. Parsons (Brazos County Deed Records 1892c).
Rocki'rairje
Roc
Prah
e
Carters
Creek
#rj
Rd#6
#
GeeK
i
'IF"
i
.4 acre tract'
<-c
#4
�'#7
#14
rrprr
k
,
N
�--J—
-----------
Lick Creek Creek Park Boundary
#3,
#8
# 13
.—
e� Lick
a----
reek Park Bound
–
–
P��
#2
#9
#12
N
#1
#10
#11
0 250 500m
Figure 20. Map of property boundaries in the
Sam W. Robertson League, circa 1890
(Brazos County Deed Records 1890a).
specific date of this transaction, however, is unknown
(Brazos County Deed Records 1873).
Asa Mitchell had been a member of Stephen F.
Austin's colony in 1822. Originally, Mitchell had
settled along the Brazos River where he worked as a
planter and trader and operated a salt -refining works.
By 1830, he had become a United States Customs
boarding officer for the port of Velasco. It was here
that he participated in the Battle of Velasco against
Mexican forces in 1832. Three years later, he moved
his family to Washington -on -the -Brazos and was
elected regidor, or town councilman (Pivateau 1999).
He was involved in the writing of the Texas Declaration
of Independence and fought under Sam Houston at the
Battle of San Jacinto. In 1840, Mitchell operated a
large ranch near San Antonio (Isbell 1996:778).
In 1854, Asa Mitchell conveyed half of the original
league to his son and fellow San Jacinto veteran,
Nathan Mitchell. Neither Asa nor Nathan reportedly
maintained residences on the property that would
become Lick Creek Park. In fact, deed and census
records indicate that they both resided in Bexar County,
presumably until their deaths (United States Bureau
of Census 1870; Brazos County Deed Records 1854).
In light of these facts it is likely that the Mitchells had
Historical Research 45
engaged in a tenancy or lease contract for farming and/
or ranching of the land during their ownership.
However, records relating to information concerning
these agreements remain undiscovered.
In 1889, Nathan Mitchell began parceling his land
out to the children of his late sister, suggesting that he
may not have had children of his own. Eventually,
Mitchell distributed his entire half league, which
encompassed what would become Lick Creek Park. It
was by this time that the area had been divided into
lots, usually consisting of 99 to 100 acres apiece (see
Figure 20). Mitchell conveyed 100 acres, recorded as
Lot #14, to his nephew, A. M. Belvin in 1889 and, in
1890, he conveyed 100 acres, known as Lot #7, to his
niece, Caroline Belvin (Brazos County Deed
Records1889a, 1890a).
Tract A—Caroline Belvin. Indicated as Lot #7 in
Figure 20 and designated Tract A in Figure 21, Caroline
Belvin's acreage is the property on which site 41BZ147
was recorded. Belvin retained the property for less
than two years before selling it to S. P. Crenshaw in
1892 (Brazos County Deed Records 1892b). After
less than a month, Crenshaw sold the 100 acre tract to
J. S. Parsons (Brazos County Deed Records 1892c).
Figure 21. Map of property boundaries in the
Sam W. Robertson League, circa 1934 (Brazos
County Appraisal District 1934-1940).
Rocki'rairje
Carters
a.
Creek
Lick
—
i
'IF"
i
.4 acre tract'
rrprr
nr+rr
N
�--J—
-----------
Lick Creek Creek Park Boundary
plum Gee
0 250 500m
Figure 21. Map of property boundaries in the
Sam W. Robertson League, circa 1934 (Brazos
County Appraisal District 1934-1940).
46 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Parsons, in turn, sold tract A on August 13, 1900, to
G. R. Dixon (Brazos County Deed Records 1900).
Dixon, a farmer, held title to the tract until his death in
1928 (Brazos County Death Records 1928; United
States Bureau of Census 1900). In 1901, Dixon entered
into an oil and gas lease with the J. M. Guffey
Company. While this lease agreement notes the
presence of farmland on the property and the intent to
drill, specific structures are not mentioned (Brazos
County Deed Records 1901 a). On April 6, 1948, the
heirs of G. R. Dixon sold Tract A to J. E. Marsh (Brazos
County Deed Records 1948b). Although Marsh owned
the property for a substantial length of time, probate
records indicate that he did not reside on the tract
(Brazos County Probate Records 1968).
Tract B—A. M. Belvin. A. M. Belvin's 100 -acre tract
is shown as Lot #14 on Figure 20 and designated Tract
B on Figure 21. This acreage is the property on which
sites 41BZ142 and 41BZ143 were recorded. In deed
records, Belvin is listed as a resident of Travis County,
which suggests that he, too, was an absentee owner
(Brazos County Deed Records 1889a). After nearly
three years, A. M. Belvin sold the tract to S. P.
Crenshaw (Brazos County Deed Records 1892a). On
April 3, 1896, S. P. Crenshaw sold 4 acres in the
northwestern corner of this tract to J. S. Parsons who
noted a residence in Cherokee County (Brazos County
Deed Records 1896).
"4 -acre plot"—This 4 -acre plot is likely the size and
dimension that would best serve as a house lot and
may indeed have been so although no archaeological
sites were defined within its boundaries. However,
there is evidence that a school once stood on the plot.
This rural school evades description since there is no
mention of it in public records. All that is known is
that the school appears on one district map, which dates
to the 1930s (Brazos County Appraisal District 1934-
1940).
In 1902, Parsons conveyed the 4 -acre plot to G. E.
Orr, who owned some farmland and operated a
mercantile business in Millican, Texas (Brazos County
Deed Records 1902c; Brazos County Probate Records
1920). Orr died on September 24, 1920, in Kansas
City, Missouri, without a will. Thus in 1922, a court
decree was issued to partition Orr's estate. The
judgement set aside the 4 -acre plot as the property of
Mrs. Dora Dowling, whose husband appears to have
been the court appointed administrator of Orr's estate,
although her relation to Orr is unknown at this time
(Brazos County Civil Court Minutes 1922; Brazos
County Deed Records 1922). Nevertheless, Mrs.
Dowling did not retain title to the property very long
for she sold the plot after less than a year to D. Mike
(Brazos County Deed Records 1923a). He in turn
immediately sold it to C. J. Konecney (Brazos County
Deed Records 1923b). The deed between Konecney
and D. Mike does mention improvements to the
property, although the specific nature of the
improvements is not noted.
S. P. Crenshaw, the owner of the remaining 96
acres of Tract B (minus the 4 -acre plot), died sometime
before or during 1899, leaving his holdings to be
divided amongst his heirs (Brazos County Probate
Records 1899). Crenshaw's daughter, Ida Greer,
received 41 1/3 acres in the eastern portion of Tract B
and son, Wiley Crenshaw, received 41 1/3 acres in the
western portion of Tract B (Brazos County Deed
Records 1910b). (It should be noted that there is a
discrepancy of 13 1/3 acres, which may be the result
of an error or adjustment during survey of the property.)
In October of 1910, Ida Greer and her husband, Avery
Greer, sold the eastern portion of Tract B to L. S.
Williams (Brazos County Deed Records 1910d). That
same day, Wiley Crenshaw sold his portion of Tract B
to farmer R. F. German (Brazos County Deed Records
1910c; United States Bureau of Census 1910). Wiley
Crenshaw eventually transferred the holding of these
notes to L. S. Williams. Later R. F. German canceled
and surrendered the notes to L. S. Williams in 1911,
effectively revoking the deed agreement (Brazos
County Deed Records 1910e, 1911).
After this transaction, L. S. Williams owned all of
Tract B except the 4 -acre plot owned by G. E. Orr. In
1914, L. S. Williams conveyed his portion of Tract B
to C. J. Konecney (Brazos County Deed Records 1914).
Konecney owned all of the constituent parts of Tract
B by 1923 when he purchased the 4 -acre tract from D.
Mike.
In 1928 Konecney transferred ownership of the
consolidated tract to A. C. Williams (Brazos County
Deed Records 1928a, 1928b). Williams died in 1929,
leaving the bulk of his estate to his son, Harry Wayne
Williams, who in turn sold the property to J. E. Marsh
in 1950 (Brazos County Probate Records 1929; Brazos
County Deed Records 1950). As of this date, J. E.
Marsh owned all of Tract B as well as Tract A, which
he had purchased in 1948. These properties would
remain in his possession until they were sold shortly
before his death in 1968 (Brazos County Probate
48 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
the property for less than five years and then sold it
back to L. S. Williams (United States Bureau of Census
1910; Brazos County Deed Records 1917). Williams
then conveyed the property to Jim and Hattie Carrie
who in turn sold it to Ed Wickes in 1925 (Brazos
County Deed Records, 1917, 1925). Finally in 1940,
Wickes conveyed Tract E to J. E. Marsh (Brazos
County Deed Records 1940).
Tract F—N. N. German. On October 11, 1879,
Nathan Mitchell conveyed 99 acres, referred to as Lot
#4 (see Figure 20), to N. N. German (Brazos County
Deed Records 1879b). N. N. German died in 1921
and R. E German, possibly his son, apparently inherited
the property (Brazos County Death Records 1921). R.
E German, however, passed away a little over two years
later and the property passed to his widow, Rosa Gray
German (Brazos County Death Records 1923; Brazos
County Probate Records 1923). Mrs. German then
sold Lot #4 to W. W. Cooner in 1924 (Brazos County
Deed Records 1924). Cooner owned the property for
less than two years before mortgaging the land to the
Federal Land Bank of Houston (Brazos County Deed
Records 1926). Apparently the mortgage went into
default for the bank sold the property in 1934 to H. R.
Brayton and C. C. Hedges (Brazos County Deed
Records 1934). In 1948, Brayton and Hedges conveyed
the land to John H. Stockton who sold the property to
J. E. Marsh in 1949 (Brazos County Deed Records
1948a, 1949). By 1950, J. E. Marsh owned all of Lot
#s 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 in Figure 20,
indicated as Tracts A -F in Figure 21.
Although it appears that no monumental historical
events took place within Lick Creek Park, nor did any
important characters in Texas history, such as Asa or
Nathan Mitchell, maintain any physical presence on
the property, the area should not be considered
worthless in the eyes of local historians. Several
examples of early twentieth-century farming practices,
which may be important in regional studies, are located
within the boundaries of the park.
Archaeological Survey:
Testing Methods and Results
J. Bryan Mason and Andrea Stahman
Fieldwork at the two park locations was conducted by
employees and volunteers of the Center for Ecological
Archaeology between January 2000 and July 2000.
The two parks presented different settings and required
different research strategies. Because of this, each will
be discussed separately in its own section of this
chapter. The survey of the two park locations resulted
in the discovery of eight archaeological sites. One of
these sites — 41 BZ 136 — was located at the Veterans
Park and Athletic Complex. A previously recorded
archaeological site — 41 BZ102 — was not rediscovered
by our investigations and may have been destroyed by
earthmoving activities conducted at the site in the
1980s. Lick Creek Park contained four prehistoric sites
— 41BZ141, 41BZ144, 41BZ145, and 41BZ146 —
and three historic sites — 41BZ142, 41BZ143, and
41 BZ147. The results of the survey are presented here
along with the analysis of the recovered artifacts.
The method of surface survey and shovel probing
was the same at both locations. Undisturbed areas were
surveyed by walking parallel transects and searching
for chipped stone and other Native American artifacts,
as well as historic artifacts (e.g., metal, ceramic, and
glass items), exposed on the surface, in game trails,
around rodent burrows, and in the backdirt from tree
tip -ups. Artifacts found during surface surveys were
recorded but not collected. Where 70% or more of
the ground surface was obscured by vegetation, shovel
probes were hand excavated and the backdirt was
screened through 1/4 -inch hardware cloth to recover
buried artifacts. At Veterans Park and in portions of
Lick Creek Park, one shovel probe per acre (i.e., at
intersections of a 60 m grid) was excavated; however,
shovel probes in much of Lick Creek Park were placed
at larger intervals (see the section in this chapter on
Lick Creek Park). Shovel probes were approximately
30 cm in diameter and from 15 to 100 cm in depth.
The sediment commonly known as the Post Oak
Savannah sandy mantle was encountered most often,
covering a Pleistocene -aged Bt horizon (culturally
sterile). Shovel probes were excavated to the depth of
the Bt horizon. All artifacts recovered from shovel
probes were collected. If a shovel probe contained
cultural materials, additional shovel probes were
placed between 10 and 20 meters away from the first
probe in each of the cardinal directions. This
expanding pattern was continued until there was a clear
delineation of negative shovel probes surrounding a
concentration of positive shovel probes.
VETERANS PARK AND
ATHLETIC COMPLEX
Phase I — Survey
Aerial photography and discussions with park officials
suggested that most of the park area had been
mechanically leveled, an activity that would have
destroyed most archaeological sites within park
boundaries. Aerial photographs show that this
disturbance occurred in the mid-1980s (Figure 22).
Two areas, however, one in the northeast corner of the
property and one along the terrace scarp just above
the floodplain, were comparatively undisturbed (Figure
23). Efforts were concentrated on the undisturbed areas
of Veterans Park and the disturbed areas were
investigated in order to assess the extent of the
disturbance. Surface survey, shovel testing, and
exploratory backhoe excavations began in January
2000 and continued on an intermittent basis through
February for a total of 27.5 person days.
One backhoe trench (BHT 3 in Figure 23) and a
few exploratory shovel probes were excavated in the
49
In: Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County: Archaeological Investigations of Two City Parks - Veterans Park and
Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park - College Station, Texas, edited by J.P. Dering and J.B. Mason, pp. 49-74. Technical Report No.
4. Center for Ecological Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station.
50 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
1940
1982
1987
Figure 22. Successive aerial photography of the
Veterans Park area from 1940 to 1987
showing landscape disturbance.
disturbed sediment of Veterans Park. These
investigations revealed that most of the sandy mantle
on the flat terrace had been mechanically removed
leaving a disturbed layer of fill covering the
Pleistocene -aged Bt horizon below (Figure 24). This
disturbance is sufficient to have destroyed any
archaeological sites that may have been present on the
terrace. Other disturbances at Veterans Park that have
potentially destroyed archaeological sites include the
construction of an oil field platform near the Highway
30 entrance to the park (see Figure 23) and the
construction and subsequent refilling of a large pond
that covered about 1/4 of the park property (see Figures
22 and 23).
Thirty-three shovel probes were excavated in the
relatively undisturbed areas along the edge of the
terrace tread and on the scarp. Six of these probes, all
located along the terrace scarp, yielded Native
American artifacts. An additional 74 shovel probes
were placed as radials around the positive probes to
determine the extent of artifact concentrations; 31 of
those were also positive. This procedure resulted in
the identification of one archaeological site-
41BZ136—with four artifact concentration areas,
labeled A - D (see Figure 23). In total, 69 artifacts
were recovered from the shovel probes at depths
varying from 0 to 60 cm.
Eight backhoe trenches (BHTs 1-2 and 4-10) were
placed in the relatively undisturbed areas to further
assess the potential for buried intact archeological
deposits (see Figure 23). BHTs 1 and 4, located in
areas D and A respectively, revealed artifacts buried
as much as 1 in below surface. BHT 2 was placed in
the undisturbed area in the northeast corner of the
property and showed that the Bt horizon was less than
30 cm beneath the present-day surface. BHTs 5-10
examined the terrace scarp and floodplain. They
showed that the layer of fill continued for several
meters onto the floodplain and capped clayey soils that
extended across the floodplain. Examination of trench
walls demonstrated that the terrace tread and slopes
(i.e., scarp) were covered with 10 to 100 cm of fill that
consisted of A-, E-, and Bt -horizon sediments mixed
together and spread over the original surface when
land -leveling work was done in the 1980s. Profiles of
all the backhoe trenches were drawn and artifacts found
in the profiles were mapped on the drawings. Artifacts
found in the backdirt from the backhoe trenches were
also collected. A total of 16 artifacts were collected
from backhoe trenches 1-10.
n
j0
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 51
Center for Ecological Archaeology
��ar.mpoi sir ar.a.y
PuiYn 9�a..1 PIDfi.
NpeMc9.n�ow.1 Pmb.
Stara ^"-1
�' e.crho. Tn (Pb 0
Brbn. Trrcn (Ptw. tl7
P ga Station City of College Station
+Parks Panning O'Malle Engineers
y Veterans Park and Athletic Complex
1706 N. Pork 097 B7fi-797)
a.��nam, ne77 r- (a69) e7e-7878 Archaeological Survey
Figure 23. Map showing archaeological survey areas in Veterans Park,
the location of site 41BZ136, and previous disturbances.
Backhoe trenches along the terrace scarp (BHT 1,
4, 5, 6, and 7) revealed an apparent soil horizon, some
30-50 cm below surface, that appeared to be a paleosol
(i.e., a buried soil predating the modern surface soil).
The presence of this stratigraphic unit indicated a
potential for buried intact deposits. The northernmost
trench (BHT 4 in Area A; see Figure 23) exposed the
best -preserved and most -extensive portion of the
proposed paleosol, and cut through the area with the
largest artifact concentration (Figure 26). Numerous
artifacts were found in Area A in and near the proposed
soil horizon, mostly flakes, but also a thin biface
preform and one large piece of fire -cracked sandstone
that was carbon -stained on its downside. This apparent
concentration suggested that the paleosol might have
been a living surface containing artifacts and possibly
intact features. The presence of artifacts located on a
paleosol prompted CEA to request further testing to
be done at the site.
Phase H — Testing
To further assess the potential significance of site
41BZ136, CEA proposed and THC agreed that
additional field work should be undertaken.
Accordingly, CEA personnel spent a total of 18.5
person days in the field during April and May to
complete the following tasks: (1) assess the integrity
of archaeological deposits revealed through backhoe
trench excavation in artifact -concentration areas, and
(2) hand excavate four 1x1 in test units in Area A to
recover a sample of artifacts and determine whether
intact features or activity areas are present.
Seven backhoe trenches were excavated
throughout site 41BZ136 in the artifact concentration
areas identified by the survey (see Figure 23:BHT A-
G). The purpose of the trenches was to determine
whether intact features were present at the site. Special
attention was given to the hypothesized paleosol
because the sediments were thought to be less disturbed
at that level. No features were identified, but profiles
of each trench were drawn and artifacts collected from
the trench walls were mapped. Artifacts found in the
backdirt from the trenches were also collected. A total
of 27 artifacts were collected from trenches A -G.
Artifact concentrations identified in trenches C and D
were selected as areas that required further study with
hand excavated test units (Figures 27 and 28).
52 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Figure 24. The sandy mantle has been replaced by construction
fill in this east profile of backhoe trench 3.
Figure 25. South profile of backhoe trench D with locations of soil horizons and soil samples.
I
Lll
I
ft
it
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 53
Om
5m 10m
15m
20m
Ap
E,
= reviously 2A/B
E_ (previously 2A/B)
Ea
E,
t
ROOT
8r
Bt
UNDCCAVATED
UNEXCAVATED
25m
30m 35m
40m
45m A FLAKE
U PETRIFIED WOOD
® BURNED ROCK
.Y
A BIFACE FRAGMENT
oY
.4)
E,
E,
cY
E2 (previously 2A(B)
•"
1m
E,
®1,
Ez (previously 2A/B)
en
Bt
Ea
Bt
UNEXCAVATED
UNEXCAVATED
0
0 tm
Figure 26. East profile of backhoe trench 4.
Four 1 x 1 m test pits were excavated in Area A
where the highest density of artifacts was found during
the survey phase (Figure 29) and where BHT 4 had
revealed the most continuous exposure of the
distinctive soil horizon that appeared to represent a
paleosol (i.e., a 2AbBb horizon) (see Figure 26). The
units were placed adjacent to backhoe trenches C and
D where concentrations of artifacts were noted in the
profiles (see figures 27 and 28). The purpose of
excavating the test units was: (1) to identify and
describe any intact features or activity areas present,
(2) to further investigate the artifact concentrations
noted in trenches C and D, and (3) to determine whether
artifacts were uniformly distributed throughout the
sediments or concentrated along soil horizons. The
test units were hand excavated according to
stratigraphy where possible or in arbitrary 10 -cm
levels. Test units were excavated down to the
stratigraphic level of the E horizon below what was
thought to be the buried paleosol. Backdirt from the
test pits excluding the disturbed fill, was screened
through 1/4 -inch hardware cloth. All screened material
was collected by level. A total of 182 artifacts were
recovered from the test units, however no intact
features were identified. Test unit profiles were drawn
and sediment color and texture for each level was
recorded.
Test pit excavations revealed that artifacts there
were not necessarily concentrated in or near the
distinctive soil horizon. In fact, the several dozen
pieces of recovered lithic debitage (flakes and shatter)
were found to be distributed more or less evenly
throughout the upper 60 cm of the solum (Figure 30).
Diagnostic tools were not found in any of the test pits,
nor were features or discrete activity areas encountered.
Uniform vertical distributions of artifacts and a paucity
of intact features are especially characteristic of many
sites buried in the sandy mantle. These sites appear to
have been impacted (i.e., "mixed up") by natural site -
disturbance processes (i.e., pedoturbation), including
plant growth, tree tip -ups, rodent burrows, gully
formation, and various colluvial processes typical in
sandy sediments on gentle slopes. Nonetheless, the
presence of a well -formed paleosol that encompassed
54 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Test Unit 4
i�
12m 10 a 6 4 2 0M
E BHT 4
2A6
28ss
2E
�t UNEXCAVATED
o Flake
10
Figure 27. Location of test unit 4 is indicated in this south profile of backhoe trench C.
h
6
Test Uric 1 Test lkiit 2
4 � 2 1
Flake 22 20
o Flake plotted from north wall
■ Rock
❑ Rock plotted from north wall
• Charcoal
® Krotovina
BS Burned sediment
Figure 28. Test units 1-3 indicated in south profile of backhoe trench D.
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 55
Figure 29. Area A artifact concentration, site 41BZ136.
a significant portion of the artifacts would argue for a
measure of stability and the potential for in situ
archaeological deposits.
Laboratory analysis of sediments from Area A,
however, failed to confirm that the distinctive horizon
represented a paleosol. Whereas buried A horizons
are expected to contain significantly more organic
matter than the overlying and underlying horizons, this
was not the case for the ostensible paleosol. Its organic
content was much lower than expected. A buried B
horizon should contain markedly more clay -sized
particles than would be found in overlying and
underlying horizons. Granulometric analysis showed
that the proposed paleosol in fact had much less clay
than the overlying unit and about the same amount as
was found in the underlying horizon (Table 4). This
suggests that what appeared to be a 2Ab or 213b horizon
was in fact an E2 horizon. The dark color originally
thought to result from an increase in organic content
is more likely to have been imparted by clay particles
translocated from the lens of the recent clay -rich
construction fill that capped this and other parts of the
site.
Site Description
Archaeological work at Veterans Park resulted in the
identification of one site — 41BZ136 — with four
areas of artifact concentrations (see Figure 23). The
portion of the site within the proposed park area covers
an area approximately 700x80 in in size along the
terrace edge overlooking the Carters Creek floodplain.
Mechanical leveling work probably destroyed parts of
the site that undoubtedly extended to the north and
onto the terrace tread. The site also extends for an
undetermined distance to the east, across Texas
Highway 30, as evidenced by a few flakes found in
the road cut and along the terrace edge (see Figure
53). The site can best be described as a lithic reduction
site. It is most likely that each concentration represents
a discrete occupation of the site or separate, small
campsites that were repeatedly visited.
The time period that the site was occupied is
questionable due to the lack of temporally diagnostic
artifacts. All temporal evidence from artifacts indicate
the Late Prehistoric period (A.D. 1000 to 1600), but it
is possible that the site may have been occupied
throughout prehistory; how often is unknown. Several
temporally or functionally diagnostic artifacts were
recovered from shovel probes and backhoe trenches
in Areas A and D, including a tip of what was probably
an arrow point, a prehistoric ceramic fragment, the end
of a small, thin biface that may have been a preform
for an arrow point, a fragment of a drill, and an edge -
modified flake fragment (i.e., side scraper) (Figure 31).
o /
BMT • � ♦
�•w+` /
�
/ /
Center for Ecological Archaeology
Archaeological
iv 2 .
r
Site Boundary
Artifact Concentration Boundary
Positive Shovel Probe
t
j
/
c Negative Shovel Probe
#2 Test Unit
Backhoe Trench 1)
° �.\ ; - / �'�= "
(Phase
**■ Backhoe Trench (Phase II)
Fence (Property Boundary)
j
-
r'''�'`t Treeline
_
1
Topography (1ft intervals)
Tributary Creek
0
25 50m
Figure 29. Area A artifact concentration, site 41BZ136.
a significant portion of the artifacts would argue for a
measure of stability and the potential for in situ
archaeological deposits.
Laboratory analysis of sediments from Area A,
however, failed to confirm that the distinctive horizon
represented a paleosol. Whereas buried A horizons
are expected to contain significantly more organic
matter than the overlying and underlying horizons, this
was not the case for the ostensible paleosol. Its organic
content was much lower than expected. A buried B
horizon should contain markedly more clay -sized
particles than would be found in overlying and
underlying horizons. Granulometric analysis showed
that the proposed paleosol in fact had much less clay
than the overlying unit and about the same amount as
was found in the underlying horizon (Table 4). This
suggests that what appeared to be a 2Ab or 213b horizon
was in fact an E2 horizon. The dark color originally
thought to result from an increase in organic content
is more likely to have been imparted by clay particles
translocated from the lens of the recent clay -rich
construction fill that capped this and other parts of the
site.
Site Description
Archaeological work at Veterans Park resulted in the
identification of one site — 41BZ136 — with four
areas of artifact concentrations (see Figure 23). The
portion of the site within the proposed park area covers
an area approximately 700x80 in in size along the
terrace edge overlooking the Carters Creek floodplain.
Mechanical leveling work probably destroyed parts of
the site that undoubtedly extended to the north and
onto the terrace tread. The site also extends for an
undetermined distance to the east, across Texas
Highway 30, as evidenced by a few flakes found in
the road cut and along the terrace edge (see Figure
53). The site can best be described as a lithic reduction
site. It is most likely that each concentration represents
a discrete occupation of the site or separate, small
campsites that were repeatedly visited.
The time period that the site was occupied is
questionable due to the lack of temporally diagnostic
artifacts. All temporal evidence from artifacts indicate
the Late Prehistoric period (A.D. 1000 to 1600), but it
is possible that the site may have been occupied
throughout prehistory; how often is unknown. Several
temporally or functionally diagnostic artifacts were
recovered from shovel probes and backhoe trenches
in Areas A and D, including a tip of what was probably
an arrow point, a prehistoric ceramic fragment, the end
of a small, thin biface that may have been a preform
for an arrow point, a fragment of a drill, and an edge -
modified flake fragment (i.e., side scraper) (Figure 31).
56 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Figure 30. Test units 1-4 profile with soil
horizons, excavation levels, and artifact
counts from each level.
Artifact Analysis
Site 41BZ136 yielded a total lithic assemblage of 253
Depth
Level
Soil horizon Lithic below
assemblage included size grading of unmodified
debitage
debitage, determination of material, color, type and
surface
edge modification, and measurements. The analysis
tl
0
Level 1
Fill Not screened
periods of occupation, and determine raw material
Level
-Ap 5
—10
Level
Et 14
20
consisted of riverine gravels, which were easily
30
Level
7
creeks of the Brazos River or from outcrops of chert
E
40
Levels
(previously
Formation, which parallels the Texas coast (Aten 1983:
designated 2A/B)
50
Level
12
Plateau (Hall 1981). The assemblage consisted of 253
flakes. Of these, there were 34 primary reduction
60 cm
flakes, 54 secondary reduction flakes, and 153 tertiary
E3
reduction flakes, yielding a ratio of roughly 1:1.5:4.5.
UNEXCAVATED
tool manufacture utilizing material resources of small
Unit 1
riverine gravels. Additionally, most flakes were of a
yellowish brown color, a common color of parent
o
material from this region.
Fill
The 11 stone tools of the assemblage included one
Level 1
Not screened
10
Level
p E� ....... 5
20
Level
8
30
Level
....... ._.......... .._......._ .._... ........_......_ _...
E2 g
40
...... _._........._......__ ......- ..... ..._ ...... ..._.-
revw
Level
designated2AA3) 9
.... _.... -.... ....
50
Level 6
..... .._-. ......_._ .......................-...
E3 5
60 cm
closely resembles a Perdiz point (Turner and Hester
UNEXCAVATED
1985:10). The two biface fragments are both a grayish -
Unit 2
portion broken during manufacture. The other,
-
—0
Level
ii 1
subsequently broken during use. The single
hammerstone recovered from site 41BZ136 is
Level 2
5
the oblong stone. Additionally, the one edge -modified
_ . ...... _.._....
Ap
20
Level 3
Ei e
30
Level
0
40
(previously
Level
designated 2A/B) 7 _.
50
Level
E, 10
60cm
UNEXCAVATED
Unit 3
0
Level
Fill Not screened
. _._.. _._.. ..__. _..... .__-
10
Ap
Level
6
20
Level
Et 4
—30
Level
4
Level
E2 1
40
(previously
-.. designated 2A/B)._. _ i__
Level
s
60 cm
UNEXCAVATED
Unit 4
Figure 30. Test units 1-4 profile with soil
horizons, excavation levels, and artifact
counts from each level.
Artifact Analysis
Site 41BZ136 yielded a total lithic assemblage of 253
unmodified flakes and 11 stone tools. Analysis of the
assemblage included size grading of unmodified
debitage, determination of material, color, type and
edge modification, and measurements. The analysis
was designed to provide insight into subsistence
patterns in the area, examine tool use, estimate time
periods of occupation, and determine raw material
sources. A summary of artifacts recovered from the
excavations is presented in Table 5.
i
Raw materials from this assemblage likely
consisted of riverine gravels, which were easily
obtained from the channels of any of the many tributary
creeks of the Brazos River or from outcrops of chert
cobbles scattered around the landscape. The most
likely local source of these gravels was the Willis
Formation, which parallels the Texas coast (Aten 1983:
342) but trading networks could have brought the same
type of material from as far away as the Edwards
Plateau (Hall 1981). The assemblage consisted of 253
flakes. Of these, there were 34 primary reduction
flakes, 54 secondary reduction flakes, and 153 tertiary
reduction flakes, yielding a ratio of roughly 1:1.5:4.5.
Overall the flakes were small, which is consistent with
tool manufacture utilizing material resources of small
riverine gravels. Additionally, most flakes were of a
yellowish brown color, a common color of parent
material from this region.
The 11 stone tools of the assemblage included one
edge modified flake, six cores, one hammerstone, two
biface fragments, and one projectile point fragment.
This one projectile point fragment exhibited
characteristics of a finished point but was incomplete,
amounting to only the distal tip. Additionally, its color
is classified as gray, an uncommon color among the
debitage. Due to its diminutive proportions, the
fragment could not be definitively assigned to a
L
particular point type, but is classified as an arrow point
due to its delicately chipped, thin structure and most
#
closely resembles a Perdiz point (Turner and Hester
j l
1985:10). The two biface fragments are both a grayish -
brown color. One of the fragments is a crude basal
portion broken during manufacture. The other,
-
classified as a perforator that may have been used for
punching or drilling, had been resharpened and
subsequently broken during use. The single
hammerstone recovered from site 41BZ136 is
composed of quartzite with battering on both ends of
the oblong stone. Additionally, the one edge -modified
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 57
Table 4. Soil particle size distribution from Veterans Park and Athletic Complex (analysis by the Soil
Characterization Laboratory, Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University).
0
I
Depth
<m
Soil
Total Sand
Total Sit
Total Clay
Texture
% Organic
Horizon
Below
M
M
M
Class
Content
Surface (ft)
Ap (Ap)
0.0-8.0
75.3
16.7
8.0
Fine Sandy
0.7
1
Loam
El (E)
8.0-31.0
82.7
11.6
5.7
0.3
FLoamy
E2 (2Ab)
31.0-52.0
79.4
15.4
5.2
0.2
F� Shand
E3 (2Eb)
52.0-69.5
80.3
14.4
5.3
0.1
Fine Sand
Bt (2Btb)
69.5-91.0
65.4
18.7
15.9
Fine Sandy
0.2
0
I
IS
0
Figure 31. Artifacts recovered from Veterans Park: (a) probable Perdiz point tip,
(b) possible awl fragment, (c -d) biface fragments, and (e) pottery fragment.
e
C
<m
IS
0
Figure 31. Artifacts recovered from Veterans Park: (a) probable Perdiz point tip,
(b) possible awl fragment, (c -d) biface fragments, and (e) pottery fragment.
e
58 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
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9
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 59
H
U
a
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rr
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Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 59
60 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
MASTER PLAN FOR -";
LICK CREEK PARK
m PREPARED BY TAMU RECREATICN d PARKS DEPT.
0 400 BOOR AND PARKS PLANNINC40TY OF COLLEGE STATION
Shovel probe 41BZ147
+.. Transect surface survey
2
Cutbank inspection
Site boundary ° ' d, 2.- j
Treeline
Trail
Creek
r -- -
V 1BZ146
41 BZ141 _.... _
49
i e «
c.
o
...
41 R71 AR
Figure 32. Survey transects, shovel probes, and site locations in Lick Creek Park.
flake is of Edwards chert and was broken during its
an intermittent basis through July 2000. A total of 15
use as a light duty transverse scraper. The six cores
person days were spent surveying the 527 -acre tract.
that were recovered range in material type from
A total of 162 shovel probes and cutbank profiles were
silicified wood to quartzite to the more common
inspected at Lick Creek Park; 20 shovel probes
Edwards chert. Material colors are the common gray
contained artifacts. These shovel probes, along with
to brown scale. One core however, displays a color or
surface surveys, resulted in the identification of four
}
luster change characteristic of lithic materials that have
prehistoric sites — 41BZ141, 41BZ144, 41BZ145, and
been subjected to intense heat. Overall, the cores are
41BZ146 — and three historic sites — 41BZ142,
very small, averaging only 60.18 mm in length and
41BZ143, and 41BZ147. Cutbanks along Lick Creek
37.34 mm in width.
and Alum Creek were carefully inspected for cultural
Evidence of the tool manufacturing strategy of
material and were helpful in determining the geological
Native groups in the area may be suggested by the high
history of the park. Figure 32 illustrates the survey
percentage of tertiary flakes relative to primary and
area, the location of shovel probes and cutbank
secondary flakes. Large amounts of such a finishing
inspections as well as site locations. The frequency
phase in tool manufacture leads to the conclusion that
and placement of shovel probes varied throughout the
raw material was reduced at its source and then
park according to the landscape type and location of
transported to the site to undergo further reduction.
known historic structures. For survey purposes, Lick
The one utilized flake found among the assemblage
Creek Park was divided into four survey zones
C
may suggest an expedient tool technology common of
according to these criteria.
I
groups whose access to lithic resources may be limited.
Historic sites were expected to be found along
Rock Prairie Road, which has been in the area since
the late 1800s. In fact, one historic site was identified
LICK CREEK PARK
along Rock Prairie Road prior to field survey by
inspecting historic aerial photos (Figure 33). For these
i
Surface survey, shovel probes, and mapping began at
reasons, the survey along the road consisted of one
Lick Creek Park in February 2000 and continued on
60 -meter -wide transect with shovel probes spaced 60
i
meters apart (equivalent to one probe per acre). Along
most of the road, the sandy mantle was thin (25-80
cm) and capped with a 15 -cm layer of slightly disturbed
sediments. The disturbance may have come from road
construction, but also may have indicated that this area
was once plowed. A total of 16 shovel probes was
excavated along Rock Prairie Road (see Figure 32).
Although no sites were identified, two shovel probes
recovered modern glass fragments at a depth of about
30 cm.
Settings in the upland environment located away
from the road were determined to have decreased
probability for archaeological sites. The shallow depth
of the sandy mantle in the uplands allows sites to be
easily disturbed by bioturbation. Buried sites are
usually disturbed in a manner that exposes some of
the artifacts at the surface, making surface survey as
effective as shovel probes where the bare ground is
visible. The shovel probe grid in this area was
expanded to one probe per three acres (i.e., at
intersections of an approximately 120-m grid). The
landscape also provided ample opportunity to inspect
the surface on trails and in clearings, as well as to
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 61
observe the subsurface along gullies, in tree tip -ups,
and rodent burrows. Twenty shovel probes were
excavated in this zone. No artifacts were recovered
from shovel probes in this area, but two historic sites
were identified through surface survey.
Since terrace edges are considered areas of high
probability for archaeological sites, a more intensive
survey was conducted in these settings. Many gullies
dissect the terrace and, as a result of depositional and
erosional processes, have created toe slopes. The
examination of these gullies as well as surface surveys
where natural outcrops of sandstone and chert were
located made up a large part of the survey in this area.
Shovel probes were also excavated along the tops and
bottoms of each of these toe slopes at an interval that
translated to a 180-m grid. A total of 21 preliminary
shovel probes was excavated in this area (see Figure
32). Of these probes, three yielded pieces of chipped
stone. A fourth positive shovel probe yielded historic
artifacts that dated to the turn of the century; however,
the associated site was better defined by surface
deposits of cultural material. An additional 37 shovel
probes were excavated radially around the positive
Figure 33. Historic site located in aerial photograph taken in 1940 of the Lick Creek Park area.
62 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
probes to determine the extent of artifact
concentrations; 16 of those were also positive.
Due to the nature of the depositional process, there
is a high potential for buried archaeological sites
=- occurring on the floodplains of Lick and Alum Creeks.
Shovel probes assessed the upper meter of deposits.
Thirty-one locations along the creeks were profiled to
create exposures and search for cultural material in
the upper 2 to 3 meters of deposits. Thirty-seven shovel
probes were excavated on a 120-m grid and tree tip
ups and rodent burrows were carefully examined for
artifacts (see Figure 32). No artifacts were recovered
during the floodplain survey.
Historic Site Descriptions
Site 41BZ147 (Figures 34 and 35) is a historic
farmstead located near the entrance to the park that
has almost completely been destroyed. Clues to its
former existence are one sandstone foundation pier
(buried in a low mound that appears to have been made
by a bulldozer), a scattering of cut nails, "purple" glass,
and whiteware (a total of 6 artifacts were collected
from the surface), and a large stockpond (105 m to the
south of the pier). The stockpond (Figure 36) includes
a dam with a spillway that was repaired many times.
> i
Motrod
�G ..and
i
t.'MWXW ;
Rock`\ Y"
Modem
Artifact \ Structures
Concentration r
1 %
Archery/
/ Field /
Parking Lot
City Owned �/ Lick Creek
Land Park
N Boundary fence
—•— Wooden fence
Trail
Tree POND
Treeline \
0 20 40m ASM
Figure 34. Distribution of features and location
of artifact concentration, 41BZ147.
Figure 35. Site 41BZ147, facing north.
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 63
Figure 36. Stock pond at site 41BZ147, facing south,
overgrown with woody perennial vegetation.
The spillway appears to have been originally
constructed from naturally occurring sandstone that
was subsequently patched with many different types
of bricks as well as cement (Figure 37). The site (not
including the stock pond) is approximately 15x10 m,
while the pond itself has an area of about 200 square
meters. The artifacts from the site suggest that the
site was occupied during the turn of the century. A
search of historic documents has narrowed the field of
potential owners of this site (see Chapter 4).
Site 41BZ142 (Figures 38 and 39) is an historic
farmstead located in an open area along Rock Prairie
Road. This site was identified on 1940 aerial photos
that showed at least two large structures (possibly a
house and a barn) (see Figure 33). Today, the structures
are completely destroyed and no foundation elements
were found. Remaining evidence includes whiteware
fragments, brown and clear glass bottles and jars, pots,
bricks, and other metal objects. These artifacts are
scattered throughout the trees surrounding a large
clearing. There is a depression in the center of the
clearing that may have been a cistern. The size of the
site is approximately 185x70 m. The artifacts can be
organized spatially into two groups. Materials located
east of the clearing are larger and include items usually
associated with a barn or workshed. Materials located
west of the clearing are smaller and can best be
characterized as a kitchen midden. Artifacts from this
site were not collected, but appear to date to the mid -
twentieth century. Results of an historic documents
search has been able to narrow the field of potential
owners of this site (see Chapter 4).
Site 41BZ143 (Figures 40 and 41) is an historic
farmstead located in a natural clearing in the wooded
uplands above Lick Creek. A surface survey of the
site revealed sandstone pier foundations for two
structures as well as a small, possibly hand -excavated
stock tank (Figure 42). The smaller of the two
structural features consisted of four flat sandstone piers
arranged on the corners of a 2.5x2.5 m area (Figure
43). The larger foundation was located 40 m to the
east of the smaller foundation. It contained 13 flat
sandstone piers as well as a sandstone hearth floor and
chimney fall. The area of this entire feature was about
I Ox 10 m (Figure 44). Artifacts at the site include two
thin metal pipe fragments and a small glass jar found
on the surface. A shovel probe excavated near the
center of the large foundation feature recovered 10
artifacts including whiteware fragments, cut nail
fragments, and "purple" glass fragments. The site (not
64 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Figure 37. The dam at site 41BZ147, facing northeast.
N Artifact concentration
Artifact
Tree line
Mature tree
- — - Property boundary
0 20 40m
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Figure 38. Distribution of artifacts at site 41BZ142.
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 65
Figure 39. Facing south at site 41BZ142.
Small brown
glass lar
%� - - ••\�� � � Pond
Stovepipe
Extraneous large
sandstone fragments
Chimney,-
fall
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foundation
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Figure 40. Distribution of features and artifacts at site 41BZ143.
68 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
Figure 45. Location of shovel probes and artifact concentrations at site 41BZ144.
Figure 46. Area C at site 41BZ144, facing north.
�i '
S ~`�C.
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EER
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Site boundary
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Artifact concentration
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Trail
PREPARED BY TAMU RECREATION h PARKS DEPT.
AND PARKS PLANNINWTY OF COLLEGE STATION
MODIFIED BY: THE CENTER FOR ECOLOGICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
TEXAS AAM UNIVERSITY. AUGUST 2000
Figure 45. Location of shovel probes and artifact concentrations at site 41BZ144.
Figure 46. Area C at site 41BZ144, facing north.
Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 69
Figure 47. Area A at site 41BZ144, facing north.
Figure 48. Shovel probes at site 41BZ146.
7-1
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TREAiM NT >
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Negative shovel probe
*rt Archaeological site boundary
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PREPARED BY TAMU RE CRE AT ICN h PARKS DEPT.
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MODIFIED BY: THE CENTER FOR ECCLO CAL ARCNAEOL OGY
TEXAS AW UNIVERSITY. AUGUST 2000
0 30 60m
ori
0 100 200ft
Figure 48. Shovel probes at site 41BZ146.
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Archaeological Survey: Testing Methods and Results 71
Figure 51. Site 41BZ145, facing north.
an early stage biface, flakes and tested cobbles.
Artifacts were not collected from this site.
Site 41BZ145 (Figure 51) is located on the top of
a bench -like landform overlooking Lick Creek. This
bench is unique in that it is an area devoid of trees and
most other vegetation because the sandstone bedrock
is near the surface. It is a natural outcrop of both
sandstone and chert cobbles approximately 30x30 in
in size that served as a lithic procurement area and
initial reduction site. Flakes, tested cobbles, and cores
were observed, but no tools were found.
Historic and Prehistoric Land Use
The historic sites at Lick Creek Park are located on or
near wooded uplands in natural clearings that are
visible in historic aerial photographs (Figure 52). Sites
41BZ147 and 41BZ142 are both located next to Rock
Prairie Road, while site 41BZ143 is located off the
main road on the terrace edge. Natural clearings would
have provided farmland or pastures for livestock.
Access to major roads in the area would have also been
a concern for historic settlers. Cisterns would have
il.
been constructed near the houses to collect rainwater,
so the need to be near the creeks for water would have
been eliminated. Access to building materials was also
a concern. The houses at two historic sites and the
spillway at one site were constructed of sandstone that
outcrops naturally along the terrace edges of Lick and
Alum Creeks. It is interesting that site 41BZ142 is
located approximately 600 m away from the nearest
source of naturally occurring sandstone, while site
41BZ143 is located only 100 m away from this
resource. It is possible that the inhabitants of site
41BZ142 owned or borrowed beasts of burden, while
the inhabitants of 41BZ143 did not.
Historic inhabitants of the Lick Creek Park area
were most likely farmers or ranchers. Evidence of
these activities is not limited to the sites described
above. The 1940 aerial photo in Figure 52 shows roads
and manually cleared fields. Fields may have been
fenced to either keep livestock in or out (Figure 53).
Roads built through the floodplain needed bridges to
cross Lick Creek (Figure 54). Prehistoric sites, on the
other hand, are all located on the terrace edges, nearer
to Lick Creek. This location would have given the
prehistoric inhabitants easy access to a wide variety
72 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
1940
1982
`WIN
Figure 52. Historic sites located in or adjacent
to clearings in Lick Creek Park.
of important resources. Fresh water would have been
a short walk away. Chert for tools and sandstone for
hearths both outcrop along the terrace edge. Shelter
provided by trees for shade in the summer and wind
breaks in the winter may have been sufficient.
Artifact Analysis
Artifacts were collected from two of the four
prehistoric sites identified at Lick Creek Park. The
lithic assemblage for sites 41BZ144 and 41BZ146
totaled 30 flakes. Site 41BZ144 yielded 7 primary
flakes, 10 secondary flakes, and 5 tertiary flakes while
site 41BZ146 yielded 2 primary flakes, 2 secondary
flakes, and 3 tertiary flakes. Debitage material was
dominated by Edwards chert but also included a
handful of flakes of silicified wood, quartz and
quartzite. Although site 41BZ146 contained no
debitage with evidence of thermal alteration, site
41BZ144 contained 3 burned flakes, two of which were
potlidded and one whose color had been altdred.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
Veterans Park and' Athletic Complex contained one
prehistoric site that was dated on the basis of artifacts
to the Late Prehistoric time period. Site 41BZ136 is
not likely to contain undisturbed archaeological
deposits. Although we can infer from the types of
artifacts found at the prehistoric sites that hunter -
gatherers used the project area for a variety of purposes
through the millennia, natural site -formation processes
have disturbed the integrity of the site such that we
are unlikely to determine just which artifacts were used
at any specific time. A large portion of the site was
undoubtedly destroyed during earth -moving activities
that took place in the early 1980s further impacting
the significance of this site.
Seven sites were recorded at Lick Creek Park. The
three historic sites indicate that the project area has
been used during relatively recent history. It is possible
that both landowners and tenant farmers were utilizing
the landscape. Unfortunately, the poor condition of
these sites, especially the absence of structural remains,
makes them unlikely to significantly add to the history
of this area. Sites 41BZ142 and 147 do not contain
enough structural physical remains to determine what
types of structures were present or their size. The most
intact historic site, 41BZ143, only contains foundation
piers. Although the size of the structures can be
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74 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
determined at this site, their function is still
undetermined.
Four prehistoric sites were recorded at Lick Creek
Park. Interestingly, all four of these sites were located
along the terrace edge overlooking the floodplain of
Lick Creek. Unfortunately, the formation processes
that have been active in these areas have reduced site
integrity and, therefore, the sites are not likely to
contain significant cultural deposits. Site 41BZ141 is
located on an eroding sandy terrace that has been
partially impacted by pipeline construction. The
portion of this site not destroyed by recent construction
is not stratigraphically intact. Bioturbation within the
sandy mantle is also a factor in sites 41BZ144 and 146
where no intact cultural features or activity areas are
likely to be recovered. 41BZ145 is located on
exposed bedrock surface. This site is situated on
deflated surface that may have been used for mai
thousands of years. No tools or points were recoverf
from this site, and no intact features or activity are;
were identified.
The disturbed nature of the archaeological deposi
and lack of diagnostic artifacts or ecofacts in the sit,
prevents us from determining specific activities th
were conducted at sites or from determining the tin
periods of occupations. Results of the survey ai
analysis phase of the project indicate that the identifi(
sites are not likely to contain significant archaeologic
deposits and, therefore, the sites do not warrant furth
investigation.
Management Summary
and Recommendations
J. Bryan Mason and J. Phil Dering
This report has presented the results of an intensive
archaeological survey of two parks owned by the City
of College Station. Veterans Park and Athletic
Complex, a proposed 150 -acre city park, is located in
east College Station, Brazos County, Texas. Lick Creek
Park is a mostly undeveloped 527 -acre city park located
in south College Station, Brazos County, Texas. Work
reported herein was conducted by staff and students at
the Center for Ecological Archaeology (CEA), Texas
A&M University (TAMU), working through the Texas
Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) and under
contract to the City of College Station. Survey and
reporting standards follow those established by the
Texas Historical Commission, described in the scope
of work, and incorporated into Texas Antiquity Permit
No. 2305 for the present project.
VETERANS PARK AND ATHLETIC
COMPLEX
On-site inspection and discussions with knowledgeable
individuals, along with a review of aerial photographs,
revealed that much of the Veterans Park and Athletic
Complex project area was mechanically cleared and
leveled in the late 1980s. The southern and eastern
margins of the property, however, remained relatively
undisturbed. One archaeological site — 41BZ136 —
was located and found to extend for several hundred
meters across the southern part of the park area. Native
American artifacts, including one fragment of a
probable Perdiz projectile point, a drill, a scraper, cores,
and flakes, were found buried in four separate areas,
each a few hundred square meters in size. The artifacts
from these areas indicate that the area was occupied by
hunting and gathering groups who carried out activities
that included the procurement of chert cobbles from
nearby gravel deposits and the manufacture of these
cobbles into stone tools. Judging from the types of
projectile points and other artifacts found or reported
at the site, these activities were probably carried out
intermittently over the course of several thousand years;
however, the Late Prehistoric time period (after A.D.
1200) is best represented by the assemblage.
Backhoe trenches in several parts of the site
revealed a distinctive stratigraphic horizon, some 30-
60 cm below surface, that appeared to be a buried soil
with considerable potential to contain remains of intact
hearths and other well preserved areas where camp
maintenance activities were carried out. Further
excavations, however, revealed that artifacts were
equally distributed throughout the upper 60 cm of the
profile, probably as a result of disturbance by plant
growth, rodent burrowing, and other natural site -
disturbance processes through the millennia. Sediment
analysis demonstrated that the distinctive horizon did
not contain sufficient amounts of organic material or
clay to be considered a buried soil. In all likelihood,
this particular horizon developed within the last 15 years
as clay nodules, added to the surface when it was
mechanically leveled, were dissolved by rain water and
clay particles were moved in -solution down the profile.
The process envisioned here is similar to that attributed
to the formation of clay lamellae in sandy sediments.
Given the low overall density of artifacts, especially
a paucity of temporally or functionally diagnostic tools,
the apparent absence of in situ archaeological deposits,
and the previous destruction of much of the site, site
41BZ136 does not appear to be eligible for formal
listing as a State Archaeological Landmark or for
inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.
Accordingly, additional archaeological fieldwork is not
warranted and it is recommended that construction of
Veterans Park and Athletic Complex be allowed to
75
IIn: Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County: Archaeological Investigations of Two City Parks - Veterans Park
and Athletic Complex and Lick Creek Park - College Station, Texas, edited by J.P. Dering and J.B. Mason, pp. 75-76. Technical Report
No. 4. Center for Ecological Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station.
76 Prehistoric and Historic Occupation in Central Brazos County
proceed. These recommendations were submitted to
the Texas Historical Commission in an interim report
and subsequently approved.
While site 41BZ136 is not likely to be considered
significant in terms of state or federal criteria, it
nonetheless has considerable public -education
potential. The nature and distribution of Native
American artifacts found there demonstrate how people
used the landscape for thousands of years before the
arrival of Old World explorers. Euro -American and
African-American immigrants who settled the area
within the last 200 years also left evidence of how they
used the local landscape, in the form of written and
photographic records, along with oral histories and a
few scattered fragments of glass, ceramics, and metal.
Information presented in this report can be used in an
interpretive kiosk that informs the public about cultural
heritage and environmental issues, as well as about how
people have used the same landscape through the
millennia that eventually became College Station's
Veterans Park and Athletic Complex.
LICK CREEK PARK
Lick Creek Park is a 527 -acre tract of well-preserved
land, although farming and ranching have occurred
there. Seven archaeological sites were identified during
the course of the archaeological survey. Of these, four
(41BZ141, 41BZ144, 41BZ145, and 41BZ146) were
prehistoric sites that contained Native American
artifacts, including flakes, tested cobbles, cores, and
an early stage biface. These artifacts were found both
in buried and surface contexts. The nature of these
sites indicates that the project area was used for an as
yet undetermined period of time as a lithic procurement
area and possibly as a temporary encampment.
Three historic sites (41BZ142, 41BZ143, and
41BZ147) were also identified, and contained artifacts
characteristic of the turn of the century and the mid -
twentieth century. "Purple" glass, whiteware fragments,
and cut nails, as well as jars and metal items were found
at these sites. Sandstone foundation piers and a chimney
fall with a fireplace were the only evidence of structures
at the sites. The extensiveness of the artifact distribution
at 41 BZ 142 indicated a large, more permanent structure.
Site 41BZ147 seems to have been destroyed, possibly
by a bulldozer, and artifacts from this site are scarce.
However, it does contain a large stock pond that was
repaired many times, indicating that there may have
been a substantial structure at the site. Site 41BZ143
most likely represents the smaller home of tenant
farmers.
Given a low artifact density and lack of temporally
or functionally diagnostic tools, none of the sites at
Lick Creek Park appear to be eligible for formal listing
as a State Archaeological Landmark or for inclusion
on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently
planned construction will not impact any of the
archaeological sites discovered during this survey.
Accordingly, additional archaeological fieldwork does
not appear to be warranted and it is recommended that
construction at Lick Creek Park be allowed to proceed.
These recommendations were submitted to the Texas
Historical Commission in an interim report and
subsequently approved.
While the sites located at Lick Creek Park are not
likely to be considered significant in terms of state or
federal criteria, they nonetheless have considerable
public -education potential. The nature and distribution
of Native American artifacts suggests that the area was
used by hunting and gathering groups for thousands of
years before the arrival of OId World explorers. Written
and photographic records, along with oral histories and
a few scattered fragments of glass, ceramics, and metal,
have provided evidence of Euroamerican and African-
American settlements during the historic period. This
evidence documents a shift in land -use from hunting
and gathering to more permanent farming settlements
within the last 200 years. Information presented in this
report can be used in an interpretive kiosk or along park
trails in ways that inform the public about cultural
heritage and environmental issues, as well as about how
people have, throughout the millennia, used the same
landscape that eventually became College Station's
Lick Creek Park.
J
u
CONCEPTUAL PROPOSAL
"Veterans Park & Athletic Complex Interpretive Plan"
2007
PURPOSE: To provide an enhanced interpretive plan for Veterans
Park & Athletic Complex by improving two areas:
1) The American Mile featuring significant historical events since 1776 and;
2) A new Native American cultural area adjacent to the American Pavilion.
LOCATION: The project is located in Veterans Park & Athletic
Complex on State Highway 30 (Harvey Road). The history walk was constructed as
part of the Phase II development of the park which was completed in the spring of
2007. The historical narratives for the brick pavers were developed by a committee
operating under the direction of the College Station Historic Preservation
Committee.
CONCEPT: This proposal is intended to be a five year plan to
develop a comprehensive historical narrative along the American Mile and a Native
American cultural display adjacent to the American Pavilion. The project would
include the design and installation of large panels that feature text, graphics, maps
and photographs depicting significant eras, events and people in our history. The
five year project would be complete in time for the celebration of the 75th
anniversary of founding of College Station on October 18, 2013.
The existing "American Mile" walk is six feet wide and built in accordance with
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. The walk begins in the vicinity of
the "American Pavilion" and is exactly one mile in length. It is marked every 20 feet
with pavers that denote an individual year. The first brick paver is "1776" and each
year thereafter is marked at 20 foot intervals. This factual information will be
illustrated through markings, signage, engravings or other suitable and cost
effective means throughout the length of the walk.
The Native American cultural area would include graphic displays located along a
new path that illustrates the information collected during archeological studies
conducted at this site in 2001. This study found evidence of early human habitation
at the site of what is now the American Pavilion. The technical report can provide
the basis for the interpretive displays. Other features may include an outdoor class
area and ceremonial fire pit for use at special events, official functions and
celebrations.
FUNDING: Funding for the interpretive information will be
requested through the normal annual budget process. The use of hotel/motel funds
is appropriate for historic preservation as well as the enhancement of this new local
attraction. Actual costs will be determined once the type and quantity of displays
are known. A preliminary estimate is approximately $25,000 per year to design,
acquire and install the panels.
BENEFITS: This project will provide an excellent educational tool
for local school children as well as visitors to the park. It will also serve as an
additional feature to compliment the existing Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial and
surrounding area.
This initiative supports the current City of College Station Strategic Plan Strategy
of being a "Destination place to live and work". Specifically, it will enhance existing
infrastructure to create a sense of place for our citizens and promote College Station
as a "cool place" to live, work and play.
Future plans may expand the overall interpretive program in the park to include
information related to the natural areas, wetlands and geology of the local area.
When complete, this project will provide a significant location to illustrate the
cultural heritage of our community.
2