Question: Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the fencing in the left picture and the structure in the right were a common site on the land east of the village. Why were they necessary?
Last week’s answer: Last week’s photo showed archaeologist Dr. Peter P. Pratt at a dig he was supervising on the William Crego farm in 1989. The farm was on the southern bank of the Seneca River, at the north end of Crego Road. The Syracuse Post Standard reported: “William Crego, 79, who has lived on the 118-acre farm all his life, said he remembers his father mentioning something about an Indian village once being there.” The presence of a rich fishing ground and the discovery of various early tools, arrowheads and implements over the years all supported this oral tradition.
The site had been documented by scientist and author Rev. William Martin Beauchamp. His report was quoted in the New York State Museum Bulletin September to October 1920. “An extensive stockade was on the Crego farm, lot 6, near the south bank of the river. The area is about 400 by 500 feet and the usual relics are found, among the rest the sharp barb of a bone fishhook and a flat Unio bead. Another stockade was directly across the river.”
In 1988 Consolidated Gas Transmission Corp. was preparing to construct a 33.5-mile long natural gas pipeline that would go through eight towns in Central New York. The Crego site was the only viable location for the line, as it had to cross the Seneca River.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission required that the site be examined for its historical significance before construction could begin. The job went to Pratt & Pratt Archaeological Consultants, Inc. of Syracuse. Work began in September 1988, ceased for the winter and was resumed the following May. A low profile was maintained to minimize damage to the site by unwitting curiosity seekers or site raiders.
Pressure mounted for pipeline construction to commence. By Aug. 8, 1989, a crew of 120 people had worked seven days a week for four weeks to complete the project.
Archeological evidence showed that c.1400 AD, some 250 to 300 Native Americans occupied a two-acre village on the site. The occupants were either Onondagas or Cayugas, both of whom were part of the Iroquois nation. Fishing was the area’s main attraction, but it was also favorable for growing corn. Notable was discovery of a longhouse well in excess of 350 feet, “the largest found in Iroquoisa.” The findings also disclosed outlines of additional longhouses and a surrounding fort and more than 1,000 artifacts, including arrowheads, stone knives, pottery fragments, needles made of bone and an abundance of corn and squash seeds. The village was active for about 20 years.
On Monday, Aug. 7, 1989, the site was “unveiled” to the public at large. In attendance were members of the media, area townspeople and members of the Central New York historical and archaeological community. It was unclear when and how the event was publicized. No Native Americans were present. Leon Shenandoah, then chief of the Grand Council of the Six Nation Confederacy, said that he wasn’t notified of the find until Sunday evening, less than 24 hours before the public presentation. The event was reported in the Syracuse Post-Standard on Aug. 8, and the following day the gas company began work. By Friday, Aug. 11, all evidence of the historic site had disappeared.
According to Pratt, copies of the final report would be filed with the New York State Office of Historic Preservation and the Library of Congress, as well as with the Federal Energy Regulation Commission. The artifacts would go to the library at SUNY Oswego, the institution which employed Pratt as an adjunct professor.
Two years later, an inquiry about the artifact collection was made to the SUNY library in Oswego, which disavowed any knowledge of the material. According to newspaper items appearing after the public presentation, representatives from at least two other Central New York “dig sites” reported having experienced similar loose ends following work undertaken by the same firm of archaeological consultants.
Mary Crego wrote in to respond to this History Mystery with the following message:
“The man pictured is Dr. Peter Pratt. He is explaining the archeological dig he was contracted to do on the Crego farm before a gas pipe was laid. It was long known that Indians had lived along the Seneca River and he uncovered evidence of a very large ‘longhouse’ and many artifacts. The dig was conducted over several years and ended in 1989.
“Dr. Pratt and his wife from SUNY Oswego were always glad to talk with visitors and discuss their work and findings. Many of his students did a lot of the tedious digging and sifting. It was exciting to see his work.”
Contact Editor Sarah Hall at [email protected] or leave a message at 434-8889 ext. 310 with your guess by 5 p.m. Friday (please leave the information in the message; we are not generally able to return calls regarding History Mystery responses). If you are the first person to correctly identify an element in the photo, your name and guess will appear in next week’s Messenger, along with another History Mystery feature. History Mystery is a joint project of the Museum at the Shacksboro Schoolhouse and the Baldwinsville Public Library.
