The Missoulian from Missoula, Montana • 48

E12 Missoulian, Sunday, July 20, 2014 FROM PAGE E1 I Bowler I lvi uses a I I wooden tool I I to reveal an i I artifact found near Fort Missoula on A morning. "in i i -mT tt-v-. in, in iiMMfcMiMmwui't Erik Larsen, Sean Jubb, Erik Alvarado, Gemma Heimlich-Bowler, Kyle Burke and Paul Bucker, clockwise from left, excavate a site near Fort Missoula on Tuesday morning. History To follow the University of Montana archaeologists' progress excavating the site stemming from the 25th Infantry's stay at Fort Missoula, visit umfieldschools.wordpress.com. 11 I vw I 1 l--C- i the 25th Infantry in 1869.

Events out West would bring them to Fort Missoula for 10 solid years beginning in 1888. During their stay here, the Buffalo Soldiers made history thanks to an experiment led by 2nd Lt. James Moss, who believed that bicycles could be used in place of horses during times of war. With the soldiers at his disposal, the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps was launched at the insistence of Maj. Gen.

Nelson Miles. The men pedaled to what are now Glacier and Yellowstone national parks from their post at the fort, and eventually on to St. Louis. In the end, the Army determined that bicycles weren't suited for combat missions, and the soldiers were transported back to Missoula by rail. The barracks where they slept at the fort, along with other structures relating to their stay, are gone.

But Swartz's analysis of historical maps and modern aerial photographs has helped identify their prior location, something the team plans to investigate further. The Fort Missoula Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on AprU 29, 1987. But a boundary oversight left the dumping grounds off the list. It sits on university property and Dixon will recommend an addendum to the original nomination to include the dump as part of the larger district, saying it remains part of the fort's historic landscape. Campus police patrol the site and will write citations for trespassing to ensure the site's protection, along with other research sites on the university's Fort Missoula property.

"This is an important site to protect," said Swartz. "It's important to military history, to African-American history, and to Montanans who care about tie state's rich cultural heritage. It's so important for the university to recognize the significance and importance of this site." Continued mainstream narratives of the American West," Dixon said. Aside from the artifacts turning up in the soil, other historical records point to an idyllic life at the fort during the unit's stay. References to lush grounds where cattle graze and gardens grow are found in historical documents.

The wife of unit commander Col. Andrew Burt pined about the Virginia creeper on her porch. Burt himself referenced "this beautiful little post we live on" in military logs. "The cleanliness, good order and arrangement of barracks is equal to the best I have seen in the Army," Burt wrote in one dispatch back to Washington, D.C. "The floors, closets, cupboards, drawers, dining rooms, kitchens, dormitories, and earth closets are scrupulously clean in appearance." While that cleanliness is good for military life, it drives archaeologists mad.

Aside from the dump and what it's giving up, little else is known about life at the fort in 1890, or in the 25th Infantry for that matter. Most records were sent back to the National Archives around 1947 when the fort was decommissioned. But Dixon believes the team is on to something big. "The late-1880s- and 1890s-vintage artifacts coming out of this area are notable," Dixon said, adding that the dump isn't located on maps. "I believe we're in the deposits that represent the meals and other activities associated with the 25th Infantry's time here.

An estimated 200,000 black soldiers served proudly in the Union Army during the Civil War. It helped lead to the passage of the Army Reorganization Act in 1866, allowing African-Americans to serve in the military during times of peace. The act also led to the creation of i i Erik Alvarado brushes away dirt inside his excavation unit. Excavating a site means many hours spent kneeling and tying on the hard ground..