02-10-1997 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Potential for Historic Archeological Sites. No sites associated with important historical events are known to occur within the survey area. General information on the historical development of western Hennepin County suggests that the Long Lake area has a very low potential for contact period sites associated with Native American villages, the fur trade, military affairs, or early transportation routes. Orono Township was, however, a good place for Euro-American settlement and agricultural development between ca. 1853 and 1940. Historic maps and plats indicate that farmsteads and non-farm rural properties were distributed throughout sections 23, 25, and 26, although the location data for individual buildings and structures are somewhat vague. More intensive research in deed, probate, and tax records will be needed to correlate precisely the locations and historical associations of specific sites with archeological features, ruins, and standing structures recorded through fieldwork. Field Results After the background research, the project area was examined. The area includes uplands and wetland depressions (Figures 3a and 3b). Because of poor ground surface visibility, shovel testing was necessary across all of the uplands. Shovel tests were excavated at fifteen meter inteiA als across the near-level portions of the uplands. In and around each site, shovel testing was increased to five meter intervals. The survey resulted in the identification of two previously unknown archeological sites, one historic and one prehistoric, and three properties that were not assigned site numbers. The following is a summary of the sites and locations recorded during the field investigation. Additional information concerning the two sites is available in Appendix A. Archeological Site 21HE0277 Site Type: Resource Procurement Site Site Area: Artifacts in one 40 cm shovel test, at a depth of 0-15 centimeters. Site area estimated to be the level portion of the spur, 5m x 10m (ns x ew). Legal Location: NW/4, SE'/4, SE'/4 of Section 26, T118N, R23W (Figure 1) Landform: Upland spur Elevation: 980 ft. NGVD Vegetation: Fallow field « 1 I I I 1 ] Geomorphology: This site is located on a glacial till capped upland spur overlooking a spring-fed wetland. This landform has been an agricultural field for a long period of lime, and the upper soil horizons have been truncated. The artifacts were recovered from the .Ap horizon. Below the Ap horizon is a Bt horizon. Present Investigation: The productive shovel test was one of a transect dug across the spur. These tests were excavated at fifteen meter inter\’als. Following the recovery' of the artifacts, additional tests were excavated five meters to the west, east, and south of the productive test. None of the additional excavations produced artifacts.