The town of Paisley in Lake County, 1912. The “Father of Oregon Archaeology” contacted U.S. postmasters in Paisley and other towns around the state inquiring about likely sites of indigenous rock art, such as petroglyphs and pictographs. Field researchers today estimate the number of sites in Lake County alone at 1,000.
The Oregon Historical Society. #ba012961
Every week, Oregon Experience shares a photo highlighting the state’s diverse, exciting history.
Could Southeast Oregon’s ancient caves hold secrets of the first human settlements in the Americas?
More than 70 years ago, University of Oregon archaeologist Luther Cressman and his students discovered 10,000-year-old sagebrush sandals, weapons, tools and basketry suggesting that people had arrived on the contentment thousand of years earlier than previously believed.
Many in the scientific and academic establishment dismissed his findings as radical, but digs at the same sites starting in 2002 revealed DNA samples dated at 14,600 years — before written language, the Egyptian pyramids or the first-known wheel.
Watch a rebroadcast of the award-winning Oregon Experience documentary “Luther Cressman, Quest for First People.
Oregon Experience received a 2015 Northwest Regional Emmy award for excellence in the historical documentary category for this program; writer/producer Kami Horton, senior video editor Lisa Suinn Kallem and senior videographer Greg Bond were honored.
This series is in partnership with The Oregon Historical Society