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Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 16:44:03 -0700
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From: Kate Bauer <[log in to unmask]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: OT Re: Death Valley find
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Here's a copy of the article:
 
- Rare Chest Recovered
 
The following article was released this week by the National Park
Service:
 
    On January 1st, a local newspaper ran an article describing
    the discovery of a trunk associated with a group of
    Forty-Niners which had been found in a remote area of the park
    by Jerry Freeman, a resident of Pearblossom, California.
    According to the article, Freeman found the trunk last
    November while scouting routes for a planned backpacking trip
    which would retrace routes which might have been taken through
    the area by Forty-Niners on their way to the California gold
    fields.  Freeman first found a knife and ox shoe, which led
    him to a more thorough search of the area.  He found the trunk
    wedged into a rock shelter, held in place with rocks and a
    piece of wood.   During this and subsequent trips, Freeman and
    associates reportedly opened, photographed and inventoried the
    contents of the trunk, then put it back in its original
    location.  Park chief of resource management Linda Greene
    contacted Freeman by phone on January 4th.  Freeman told her
    that he'd in fact removed the trunk from the park and taken it
    to his home.  He said he'd done this because he was afraid
    that pot hunter might find it and take it for economic gain,
    and because he was concerned about the Park Service's ability
    to preserve the artifacts.  Greene convinced Freeman that it
    was in his best interest and the best interest of the
    artifacts for him to turn the trunk and all its contents over
    to park staff.  Freeman and his brother brought the trunk to
    the park the next day and gave them to Blair Davenport,
    curator at Furnace Creek.
 
    The trunk has been inventoried and placed in storage.  Its
    contents included lace textiles, ceramic and brass containers,
    a handmade basket, a sighting glass, a pair of children's
    shoes, a doll, jewelry, books, correspondence, pictures, a
    canteen, a flintlock pistol with a holster, powder horns, a
    property manifest, and coins from the late 1700s through 1849.
    Park staff are currently in the process of making a
    determination on the authenticity of the trunk and its
    contents and assessing the accuracy of the location where it
    was reportedly found.  If the trunk and contents are
    authentic, they evidently belonged to William Robinson of
    Illinois, a Jayhawker who traveled through Death Valley.
 
    Robinson was with a group of Forty-Niners who were seeking a
    short cut from the Spanish Trail.  They began their ill-fated
    journey on November 11, 1849 at Mount Misery, Utah, separating
    into groups and eventually arriving in Death Valley in
    December, 1849.  They then continued west in separate groups
    and arrived in various parts of the Panamint Mountains by
    January, 1850.  According to diaries, folklore, and other
    accounts, thirst, starvation, and the death of their livestock
    forced many to leave behind portions of their personal
    belongings in order to survive the remainder of the trip.  The
    trunk with its contents appear to be associated with Robinson.
    The handwritten manifest with instructions is dated January 2,
    1850.  Historical records indicate that Robinson survived his
    trek out of Death Valley, but that he apparently died from
    drinking too much cold water when near exhaustion upon
    reaching Barrel Springs (near present-day Palmdale,
    California) on January 28, 1850.  Removal of the trunk and its
    contents meet all legal thresholds and definitions found
    within the Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.  A
    final decision on any potential charges against Freeman
    remains on hold pending the park's authenticity investigation
    of both the articles and the reported location of the find.
 
 
 
 
>Could you give us an idea of when this article appeared?  Was it yesterday
when
>the quoted AP piece appeared?  This was in the Phoenix paper along with a
photo
>but  would like to read thhe article you mention.  I looked at the LA Times
>online page, but couldn't come up with the right combination of words in a
>search to find it.  Thanks.
>
>Rose Ann
>-------------