"Our work of exploration upon vacant areas in the upper part of the island of Manhattan has been systematically pursued during the past twenty years by a party of enthusiasts led by Mr. W.L. Calver, and including Messrs. John Ward Dunsmore, Charles Thurston, Oscar Barck, Dr. Edward Hagaman Hall, and other volunteer assistants, who from time to time have become interested in the subject.

It has been realized by those who have joined in this work that the opportunity of discovery of buried remains was but brief, as the building of streets and residences had proceeded in the Washington Heights district with great rapidity. This process has, however, aided the work materially since the heavy excavations for the opening of public streets and for construction of dwelling have often afforded the means of discovery of traces deeply buried below the surface. Persistent attention has, however, been necessary, and quite as much time has been spent in searching observation of the surface as in the actual work of excavation.

Our object has been throughout, the true purpose of archaeological research, the establishments of the methods and purposes of the successive occupants of the region, with the comparison of the materials and the forms of construction which have been found at different points. The relics recovered have derived an added value by the careful record which has been maintained of the locality in which they were found, first by the comparative information thus preserved, and secondly, by the personal interest aroused in the visitors to the collections by the association of these objects with well-known streets and buildings.

In this connection, the recording of the positions of discoveries, and their plotting on maps, has been a part of the work which has been thought to be desirable in the interests of a permanent future record. Maps covering the entire district were started so long ago as 1902, and have been gradually filled with information of this character. They were prepared by tracing Randel's surveys of 1817-1819, which covered the Washington Heights and Inwood district in much detail. On these sheets the modern street system was then plotted and the areas have been indicated on which Indian remains were discovered, the Colonial farm tracts boundary fences were traced together with sites of abandoned buildings, of fortifications as found by Randel and as now remaining, of camp sites and of isolated finds, the whole forming a group-record of the history of the locality as written upon and below its surface.

The photographic record has also received substantial attention, though limited by the means at our disposal. A small camera has been Mr. W.L. Calver's invariable accompaniment whether on scout, field or museum work. In the hundreds of views taken are those showing work in progress, the methods pursued and the results discovered, many of which, reproduced in lantern slides, have afforded entertainment and interest to a great many people in audiences throughout the City, and to the children of many of its public and private schools.

The interest has spread to the public press and has resulted in the preparation of numerous articles of historical subjects, which have reached interested readers in remote parts of our country and has brought us valuable correspondence from students and authorities in foreign countries.

We are often asked if our work has been supported by some society. We have had only the sympathetic encouragement of the American Scenic and Historic Society, and the valued personal aid of its experienced secretary, our good fellow-laborer, Edward Hagaman Hall. But the larger society of the interested public who by visit, by correspondence and by attendance at addresses, has been our chief source of inspiration, evidencing by thir eager appreciation the value of the labor, and affording at the same time an abundant recompense in their enthusiasm, interest and encouragement, and in many sincere and we hope lifelong friendships.

The scope of our work has included the remains of aboriginal, Colonial and Revolutionary occupation of the locality, and the search has led us a field into Westchester County, up the Hudson and into Staten Island.

Indian Remains and Colonial Material

Indian remains on Manhattan are located readily by the presence of oyster shells, in beds in pockets and in pits, the most characteristic being burials, under a protecting covering of shells, of human and dog skeletons. These have been found in the Inwood regions, at several places on the Nagel and Dyckman farms. The dog burials are a local feature, probably a tribal ceremony since the animal was buried complete, always carefully curled round at the bottom of a shallow pit and packed above with shells and occasional scraps of pottery. The variety of materials of which the local Indian artifacts were made is indicative of the trading habits of the Weck-quas-Keeks who inhabited the region.

The objects collected up to 1909 have been acquired by the American Museum of Natural History, and those gathered since that date have been donated to the new Museum of the American Indian (Heye Foundation) now being erected on Washington Heights.

Colonial material is usually found in the rubbish pits or vaults of the ruined dwellings. These are located by observation of the richness of the soil and its effect on growth of weeds. In such explorations we have come across much castaway material often in excellent condition, including Colonial china and porcelain and pottery ware, the restoration of which, by the use of plaster-of-paris, has afforded occupation in winter evenings and is a fascinating pastime. Thus we were able to restore to complete form some excellent chinaware found in a stone vault at the rear of the site of the Lewis Morris residence near Willis Avenue bridge, which house was probably destroyed in the Revolutionary War. These and other objects from another nearby site, possibly that of Jonas Bronck's dwelling, are placed on view in the collection of the Bronx Society of Arts and Sciences at the Lorillard Mansion in Bronx Park. The site of the old Oblienus farmhouse at West 176th Street yielded some excellent Bristol china, hand painted, together with earthenware and pottery of early American manufacture.

Discoveries on the Dyckman Farm

The explorations on military sites naturally presented the most difficulty and at the same time afforded the keenest inducements, since they have had to be located by a process of deductive reasoning aided by the use of the steel boring rod or sounder with which practice has enabled the workers to feel several feet below the surface objects foreign to the soil. It was the use of this tool that determined the nature of the dug-out huts constructed by the troops on the sheltered hillsides of the Heights. The rod striking the leveled floor is the guide to the long buried excavation, and in the case of the Arden Street Camp of the Hessian "Body Regiment," twenty of these huts were found by its use, from which many objects were taken illustrative of the life of the mercenary troops, such as bayonets, broken weapons, canteens, coins and accoutrements.

In the great camp on the Dyckman farm, at Seaman and Prescott Avenues, a persistent course of exploration has located, up-to-date, over fifty such dug-out huts, out of a probable extent of a hundred or more.

In many of these the stone fire-places were found still standing, the hearths buried under deep layers of ashes of their long abandoned fires, and the floors blackened with the burned timbers of their roofs and walls. Around the hearths and in dumps or cess-pits outside the hut entrances the reckless soldiery had cast or lost hundreds of objects, which tell the story of camp life. The military buttons of the British troops in particular afford definite information as to the date of occupation of the huts, and determine their practically continuous use every winter season during the period of the Revolution.

Of such interest has this camp become that with the aid of the generous donors of the Dyckman House, we were enabled to remove the fireplace and hearth of one of these huts, and to reconstruct out of ancient lumber a typical officers' dug-out dwelling in the Park at the rear of the old farm house. In this are placed many of the rough objects which are found in the abandoned huts, some of which, such as nails, hinges and straps, were utilized in its construction. Its rough table is set with the china and glassware, the knives, forks and spoons, oyster and clam shells of many a camp meal of those long bygone days, and the whole affords a unique picture of the military life of that period, and a permanent record of our fascinating work

Since the above article was written the New York Historical Society has elected Mr.Reginald Pelham Bolton and Mr. W.L. Calver members in recognition of their valuable work.-Ed.