Archaeological dig to happen at Kam Wah Chung
By Logan Bagett on Wednesday, July 6th, 2022 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News Eastern/Southeast Oregon Top Stories
JOHN DAY – Chelsea Rose, Archaeologist for Southern Oregon University was on Coffee Time last week and reminded listeners that she and her team will doing an archaeological dig this month in John Day:
“We’re going to be coming back up there for, I think, our fifth field season doing some archaeology; looking at the Chinese residents of Grant County in the 19th and early 20th century. This time we’re going to be focusing on the Kam Wah Chung & Co.’s site as part of the excavations into the early John Day Chinatown.”
They’ll begin work on July 11th, and a special day for the public will be on Saturday, the 16th:
“One of the things we’re doing is a ‘Public Day’ on Saturday, July 16th and we’re inviting everyone to come out with us between nine [a.m.] and three [p.m.] to see the archaeologist in action, to see some of the artifacts we’re finding. We’re also going to have Malheur National Forest and the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument out there with us, as well as State Parks, so it should be really fun and a great way for people to see what we’re doing.”
The Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site will be building a new interpretive center, and Rose said their findings could help determine the specific location of the new building. We’ll keep you updated as the team begins work next week.
