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Prepared for The Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor, Inc.
G. Michael Pratt,
Ph.D.
Heidelberg College
Tiffin, Ohio
September 1995
Abstract
In June of 1995, the Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor, Inc. conducted an archaeological survey of a 647,732 m2 parcel of City of Toledo property located within the corporate limits of the City of Maumee. The project was carried out as a remote sensing reconnaissance survey designed to locate evidence of the Battle of Fallen Timbers of August 20, 1794. Over three hundred battle related artifacts, principally shot and uniform buttons, were recovered from a sample area of the property. The distribution of these artifacts indicates that battle related debris occurs throughout the project area but is concentrated in the eastern third. The area of artifact concentration is interpreted as a portion of a skirmish between elements of the right wing of the federal army and the Native confederacy. The archaeological determination of the location of this skirmish area provides a reference point for historical interpretation of the location of the site and/or for future archaeological research.
Acknowledgments
The Fallen Timbers Archaeology Project was the result of the efforts of many people and organizations. My research of the battle was carried out in part through Heidelberg College's Aigler Faculty Research Grant program and with the assistance of the Library's reference staff. The Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor, Inc. and its executive board worked for more than a year to convince the City of Toledo to allow an archaeological survey on their property. Mayor Pauken and the Maumee City Council's courageous decision to delay rezoning of the property provided the catalyst for the present survey.
The Cities of Toledo and Maumee provided funding for the survey and, with the Toledo Metroparks, lent their workers and their expertise in preparing the survey area. The Heritage Corridor's Ted Ligibel, Carolyn Fox and Kent Gardam administered the funds. Mayor Pauken and Richard Krieger of the City of Maumee, Walter Edelen of the City of Toledo, Jean Ward of the Metroparks, Maura Johnson of the Ohio Historic Preservation Office and Paul Labovitz and Rory Robinson of the National Park Service represented the interests of their institutions and provided advice and great assistance throughout this project.
Richard Green and Larry Hamilton of Historic Archaeological Research, Inc., through their expertise in remote sensing and GPS, areas outside my own experience, made this project a success. I also thank them for their friendship. Brett Ruby and Bill Anderson, NPS archaeologists from Hopewell Culture National Historic Park, were "volunteered" by their superiors and took valuable field time out of their own research to help me with mine. During our somewhat frantic first week they supervised volunteers, took responsibility for mapping and "pitched in" wherever needed. Franco Ruffini and Al Tonetti of the Ohio Historical Society and the Ohio Historic Preservation Office also assisted in the field work.
The heart of the Fallen Timbers Archaeological Project was the many volunteers who spent hours, days and weeks in the sun, rain and heat while on their own road through the field or the laboratory to the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Many were members of the Toledo Area Aboriginal Research Society who are experienced in working with professional archaeologists. I know them well and probably do not thank them as often as they deserve. For many others, this was their first archaeological experience. The project drew a collection of folks interested in archaeology, metal detectors, and history; as well as those who "just wanted to know..." The diversity of interests and expertise created a vitality within the crew which kept us going when the fields were muddy, the woods were mosquito filled, and the number of musket balls left to catalog seemed endless. Appendix B contains the names of one hundred seventy who signed the volunteer log managed by Doug Roose, who spent all of each and every day welcoming volunteers. A personal thanks to all of them, and to any whose names were not recorded.
Finally, a special thanks to my wife, Patty, who has learned far more about archaeology and the Battle of Fallen Timbers than she wanted. Patty's ability to organize and control a computer data base and her clear perception of the solutions to puzzling problems amazes even those who know her well. Without her organizational skills the lab work might still be in progress.
G. Michael Pratt
September 13, 1995
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