It has been a bittersweet time this month as it will be on of my last in this part of the state. I am going to be leaving intern status to start my Permanent GS 9/11 gig in Rawlins, Wyoming.  I have been applying for permanent archaeology jobs for 5 years and never getting callbacks.  Then all the sudden I had 3 interviews at once. However leaving a place you love for a job is tough, but a career has to start somewhere! This last month I have been doing tons of fieldwork in some of the more interesting and scenic parts of the field office. This field season I have surveyed hundreds of acres of BLM surface and found very few sites, however a lack of sites is important scientific information as well. It’s going to be tough to leave a  office I have been in for four years, but I am sure many cool new mountains and archaeological sites await.

So last Wednesday night a thunderstorm developed over Buffalo that didn’t stop for 10 hours.  The result was about 5 inches of water rushing into our office and effectively shutting down operations at the BLM BFO. We have no computers, files, furniture or anything. You could play a sweet game of indoor soccer in our office now. Our realistic time for getting back to normal is in September. Until then where people will work and how it will be done is up in the air. I am planning on doing a lot of fieldwork soon, but for now things are hectic and in disaster mode. Since things are busy I will keep this post short, but that is  what is going on in Buffalo!  Here are some pictures from my CLM training in Santa Fe!

The past couple of weeks here in Buffalo have been pretty neat. BLM is reclaiming some unpermitted dams (Such as the little puddle seen below) on public lands due to their ability to provide breeding ground to mosquitoes, which in turn spread West Nile Virus to sage grouse. This ground disturbing activity requires cultural clearance. During the course of this fieldwork we have not located much in the way of cultural resources, however we did find one site which we had to test for buried deposits (AKA dig some holes in some really compacted Wyoming Soil, Seen below). These holes were negative, thus damn reclamation may continue.

Otherwise, I did some playing on BLM lands on the weekends where it is very pretty. I saw a dipper nest. Dippers are the coolest bird by the way.

I am going to Santa Fe for Metal Detecting training this weekend. That will be neat.

The past month here in Buffalo has been sunny and warm. Pasque Flower and Shooting Stars are coming up but we need more rain and snow. I have been out doing a little bit of archaeological survey work on the nice days. I have not recorded any sites yet this year, but not finding archaeological sites is also valuable scientific information. One of the places I got to do some fieldwork is in the pine breaks in the northeast portion of our field office. From the ridges there you can see the peaks of the Bighorn Mountains, the Pumpkin Buttes and the Devils Tower/ Missouri Buttes. I happen to think its pretty neat to take in all these culturally significant landforms from one viewing location. My work camera is a pitiful piece of technology thus I have no pretty pictures to post. However I will provide a picture of some cows and a frac pad for good measure.

Have a good one.

Nathan

The past four weeks since my last post have gone by rather quickly. Typically February around these parts is long and grueling with lots of Netflix and scrabble. However, lack of snowy conditions has allowed me to do some fieldwork, fieldwork in the mountains nonetheless! The BLM is authorizing a timber sale in the southern part of our field office and I got to do cultural survey on the 4 or so miles of access road winding through the private surface. The area is a large mid elevation meadow wedged between Gardner Mountain and EK Mountain. A beautiful place where you can see the peaks of the Bighorns to the north and the Red Wall to the south. Unfortunately this is private land with large amounts of “landlocked” BLM lands that the public can never enjoy (unless you have a small helicopter). I really hoped this survey would turn up some interesting artifacts since the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains contain quite a few Paleo-indian (12,000-8,000 B.P) sites. However, not being allowed to stray more than 100ft. from the disturbed road I was surveying did not allow much chance for finding cultural resources. Pretty day, pretty place, too bad no one can enjoy it other than one rancher.

Another bit of fieldwork I did was to check out the condition of historic Bozeman trail (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bozeman_Trail)  signs. It’s always nice to take a drive through portions of the prairie that have had minimal energy development. Most of the signs were in good shape, other than the upgrades made by the local birds.

Except for this one.

This one is just funny. It is beside Crazy Woman Creek south of Buffalo. Almost every business in NE Wyoming is named Crazy Woman…liquors…water….taxidermy..funeral..accountant…drilling…reality..ect. If you can’t read the sign it says “Two legends give rise to the name of Crazy Woman Creek. Both are based on tragic events. In one, a young woman is left alone after an attach on her village. She lived in a squalid wickiup and on moonlit nights could be seen leaping from rock to rock in the creek. The crow Indians felt that she brought good luck and therefore left her alone. The second legend told of a trader who unwisely sold whiskey or “Firewater” to gain favor with the Indians. When it was gone, the Indians demanded more, which he could not supply. After he was killed, his young wife made her escape, only to wander up and down the creek demented. Because of the loss of her sanity, she was safe from further harm by the Indians. It is said JEREMIAH JOHNSON cared for her thereafter.

In case you’re not laughing, there was never a real Jeremiah Johnson. None of the archaeologists still working at the BLM had anything to do with this sign, but it is too bad members of the public (albeit few go here) may read and believe this.

Other than my fieldwork I have been doing some report writing and map making.

– Nathan BLM BFO

This is my first post a a CBG Intern. I am interning at the Buffalo Field Office in Buffalo Wyoming where I have been a BLM Archaeological Technician for the 3 previous seasons. This is my first winter in the office. Being from North Carolina, it is strange to say this, but compared to past winters in Wyoming it is freakishly mild. We have had temperatures averaging in the high 40’s and low 50’s for the past several weeks, which in the typically tundra-like Great Plains this isn’t the way things should be. I hate to complain but I would like to have some nice snow to XC ski on and thick ice to fish on, but alas I will have to deal with floating rivers and fishing in a tee shirt. As far as work goes I am doing a great deal of database entry and work in the file room until the Plains are completely free of snow drifts. I can not do archaeological survey with 100% confidence unless the ground is completely bare. The old snow drifts out there will remain untill the nights stay above freezing. Thus it is office work for me for a while.

-Yep

Nathan BLM BFO