New Blog Feature

If you'll notice on the left of the web page we've just begun to implement a new feature. The slideshow is planned to display artifacts found in the Delaware Town area during field school excavations both past and present. We also plan to add the functionality to click on the picture. This will lead the viewer to another page with a larger picture and a brief explanation of the artifact displayed.

We are still working on the slideshow so bear with us as we fine tune the picture formatting and background...more picturers will follow.

Bell Tavern

Today, we spent the morning visiting this summer's field school which is conducting small-scale excavations at the Bell Tavern site. Bell Tavern was a stopping place on the Trail of Tears and is associated with Wilson's Trading Post which operated in Delaware Town roughly from the 1820's to the 1840's.




Pics:

Above- Field school students mapping an artifact found this morning at Bell Tavern.

Below- Saucer fragment also uncovered at Bell Tavern

Delaware Town Virtual Museum Grant Approved

Missouri State University (MSU) students, faculty and the Springfield community will soon have access to a virtual museum, “Where the Wilson Meets the James.” The Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded a grant of $5987.00 to The Center of Archaeological Research (CAR) at MSU, in support of the project. The MHC is the only state-wide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.


The web page will allow visitors to explore the story of the people, cultures, and events that have left their mark on a piece of land southwest of Springfield, Missouri, where the Wilson Creek flows into the James River. The web page, linked to MSU and CAR’s websites, will be a series of pages containing photos of the site, text on the time period, and thumbnails of artifacts and historic documents, all accessible to the Springfield community. This area is associated with prehistoric occupation, Osage, Delaware and Cherokee Indians, Euro-American fur traders, early settlers, the White River Trace, the Trail of Tears, and the Civil War Battle of Wilson’s Creek. The website will be up and available to the public by March 2008.


Individuals interested in the project are invited to participate in the process of creating the virtual museum. A blog spot has been created at www.delawaretown.blogspot.com titled “Where the Wilson Meets the James.”


For more information about the grants program of the Missouri Humanities Council, call 314/781-9660 or 800/357-0909 or write to the MHC, 543 Hanley Industrial Court, Suite 205, St. Louis, Missouri 63144-1905.




Pic: Gail Emrie working with Missouri State University students at the Center for Archaeological Research identifying artifacts found during this summer's field school in the Delaware Town area.