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The remnants of an ancient Chinook town site are located amidst the rich wetlands of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. 
Under the trees on the river bank of the refuge lies an important key to the past - Cathlapotle. A long time ago, Cathlapotle was one of the largest Chinook Indian towns on the Columbia River. Today it is an archaeological site buried under the ground. Actually, this village was not "the town of Cathlapotle," but more accurately, "a town of the Cathlapotle People". On their historic voyage down the Columbia River in 1805, Lewis and Clark identified it as a large village of the Quathlapotle Nation. There is evidence that its inhabitants may have called it Nahpooitle. However, over the years its true name has been lost, and the site is now known simply as Cathlapotle. top of page People lived at Cathlapotle for many centuries. 
In 1806, Lewis and Clark estimated that Cathlapotle had about 900 inhabitants. The people of Cathlapotle built large cedar plank houses on the river bank. They made carved wooden objects and finely-woven baskets which were both beautiful and functional. Men hunted elk in the forest and fished for salmon in the river. Women gathered fruits, berries, roots, and stems to eat. But, by the 1830s, malaria and smallpox introduced by Europeans had devastated the native people. By the 1840s, Cathlapotle had been abandoned. Plankhouses that once lined the riverbanks disappeared into the earth, along with tools and trade goods. top of page The history of the Wapato Portage site spans more than 2000 years. 
In 1806, Lewis and Clark traded at Cathlapotle and camped about a mile downriver. Clark described their camp as a beautiful grassy place where the native people made a portage of their canoes and collected wapato. The location described by Clark is another nationally significant archaeological site on the refuge, known today as Wapato Portage. The site has a history that dates back much earlier than 1806. Radiocarbon dating has determined that the Wapato Portage site is at least 2300 years old and may reveal much about the legacy of the Chinook. Archaeological excavations show continuing activity at Wapato Portage during early Euro-American settlement. The site is located at a river crossing along the Fort Vancouver to Cowlitz Prairie Trail, which was constructed by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1820s. Test excavations have recovered trade beads, bullets, bottle glass, ceramics, and many metal artifacts. top of page A peak into life at Cathlapotle and Wapato Portage has been compiled from a variety of sources. 
Cathlapotle and the Wapato Portage hide much information about how its inhabitants lived, ate, and worked. Information obtained through the scientic study of these sites has been enhanced by lore and customs passed down through generations of Chinook people, and by the records of Lewis and Clark and other outside observers. Nobody knew the exact site of the village until 1991. At the request of the Fish and Wildlife Service, a professor of anthropology from Portland State University located the former town site. More than 100,000 objects have been recovered from field work, revealing many details about the ancient environment and about how the Chinook people used their natural resources. top of page Archaeology is a record of thousands of years of human achievement. Archaeology plays a central role in building respect for diversity and promoting the study of human interaction with the natural environment. Archaeologists are excavating Cathlapotle so that we all might learn more about our past. For archaeologists, excavation is just one of many important steps in gathering information about an ancient culture. The Research Plan Before archaeologists step foot in the field, they make a list of what they already know and what questions they want to answer. This is called a research plan. After developing a set of research questions and determining where and how to dig in order to answer those questions, the next step for archaeologists is the excavation. The Excavation 
When a site is abandoned, natural sediments eventually bury cultural remains. If the site is used again at a later date, more cultural materials will be introduced. The older layers will be covered over by the newer layers. These layers are referred to by archaeologists as stratigraphy. When an archaeologist excavates, he or she is digging down through those layers. Wind, water, earthquakes, landslides, and even rodents and tree roots can affect stratigraphy. An archaeologist digs carefully, noting changes in the layers of soil and recording the exact location where each artifact is found. Archaeologists are just as interested in the soil they dig up as they are in the objects that come from it, because, for example, colorations in soil show the remains of houses and plants. When an archaeologist finishes digging, s/he makes a drawing of the trench wall, callled a soil profile. Back in the laboratory, the profile is used to match the artifacts with the soil layers from which they came. The Lab The real work comes in the laboratory, where archaeologists study the artifacts they have found for clues that answer the questions in their research plan. As they analyze each object, they record information about the artifact, describing it by answering questions like those that appear in the table below.
Try these classroom and field trip activities to learn more about Cathlapotle and Wapato Portage. In
the Field: Then and Now Matching Game: Can you match the equipment
used by Lewis and Clark to today's equivalent? Check out the glossary
to find out more about each tool. (requires
Flash) top of page Learn more about Cathlapotle and the Wapato Portage! US Fish and Wildlife Service: Pacific Cultural Resources Office US Fish and Wildlife Service: Teacher resources US Fish and Wildlife Service: Cathlapotle Site Description US Fish and Wildlife Service: Wapato Portage Site Description Visit the other learning stations in the Refuge Cultural History field trip. |
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