Archaeological symbols of status and authority : Fort Hoskins, Oregon, 1856-1865

Graduation date: 1993Fort Hoskins is located near Kings Valley, approximately 16 miles from\ud Corvallis. The Fort, built after the Rogue Wars of the 1850s, was intended to safeguard\ud the newly created Indian reserves. During its' ten-years of existence, U.S. Army\ud Regulars manned the Fort from 1856-1861 while volunteers from California,\ud Washington, and Oregon were present from 1861-1865. Life at Fort Hoskins was\ud similar to other peacetime forts, regimented and void of battle heroics.\ud The research problem concerns determining military status and authority as\ud revealed in the archaeological record. The data used was the archaeological material\ud from the excavated site of Fort Hoskins. Artifacts were categorized into a functional\ud classification scheme. Assemblages for the artifact categories produced proportional\ud frequencies providing a method in which to compare differences or similarities between\ud the officers and enlisted men. Fort Hoskins artifacts reveal greater status differences in\ud the Personal and Domestic categories between the two groups. The Military Defense\ud category reveals limited differences to substantiate authority