by Tom Westfall, Sterling, Colorado
Lodgepole Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River. It runs for nearly 280 miles through Wyoming and Nebraska, ultimately dumping into the South Platte River near the town of Ovid, Colorado. The creek drains a basin in the interior of a low plateau which lies between the North and South Platte Rivers. Although Lodgepole Creek is a very small stream, it has been a conduit of travel for thousands of years. Countless artifacts have been recovered from the surrounding hills over the years.
Several years ago, an interesting cache of artifacts was recovered from private property near the town of Potter, Nebraska. Potter, in western Cheyenne County, owes its initial establishment to the railroad. A station house was built in 1870. During the construction of the rail line which followed Lodgepole Creek in places, a number of sandstone overhangs were dynamited in order to keep them from eventually falling onto the tracks. It is suspected that these overhangs may have been temporary rock shelter dwellings; although there is no recorded evidence of archaeological discoveries at the time the railroad was being constructed.
It was on the gradual slope above the railroad tracks that this cache was discovered. These pieces were all found on the surface in a very small area, less than the size of a desk top. The cache consists of six pieces. Five of the pieces are large preforms or blades. Three are made of Flattop chalcedony which is quarried not too far south of Potter in Logan County, Colorado. The longest of the three Flattop blades is 4½ inches in length and 1⅞ inches at its widest point. A second blade is 3¾ inches in length and is 2¼ inches in width. The third Flattop blade measures 4 inches in length and 1½ inches in width. Additionally, two blades made of what appears to be Hartville Uplift jasper were recovered. They both measure approximately 4 inches in length and about 1½ inches in width. All five appear to be preforms and do not show any significant usage as knives.
In addition to the preforms, a complete projectile point was recovered. This point is 1¾ inches in length and would appear to fit into the Lookingbill Complex (Taylor: Projectile Points of the High Plains). According to Taylor, the Lookingbill point is generally very well made and dates from 7200–6900 BP. The point recovered shows no use wear and appears to be “first stage,” meaning that it had never been resharpened. It is made of some type of dendritic chert.
The presence of red ochre on these artifacts may give them special significance. Each of the large preforms appears to be coated in red ochre, and the point shows evidence of ochre, especially in the basal area. Several “pebbles” of red ochre littered the ground with the artifacts and were recovered as well. Without any bone material and considering this was a surface find, it is impossible to attribute any specific significance to the red ochre. People have used red ochre since Neanderthal times for a variety of activities, including painting leather, insect repellant and other ceremonial purposes.
This brief write-up is being provided in order to document this important find. Hopefully, some archaeologist will want to eventually study the cache and make an educated interpretation of what these stones mean, helping to provide a more in-depth analysis of how they fit into our understanding of Amerind prehistory.
References
Taylor, Jeb
2006 Projectile Points of the High Plains. Privately printed.
Photo caption: At top: The cache of artifacts found on Lodgepole Creek. The longest measures 4½ inches in length.
Above: A cache of artifacts recovered from Lodgepole Creek near Potter, Nebraska. The three upper blades are made of Flattop chalcedony, with the center specimen measuring 4½ inches in length. The two large blades at the lower left and right are crafted from Hartville Uplift jasper and measure approximately 4 inches long. Centered between them is a Lookingbill projectile point made of dendritic chert, measuring 1¾ inches in length. Below the point are several pieces of red ochre recovered with the cache, suggesting the artifacts may have held ceremonial or symbolic significance.
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