Archaeological dig resumes at former Bush homestead

For the second year, The Evergreen State College will conduct an archaeological field school at the historic Bush Prairie Farm.

Visitors are invited to learn about the site and help unearth a bit of Washington history themselves during tours that will be from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 22-25 and Aug. 29. A new tour begins every half hour at the site at 8400 Old Highway 99 SE, Tumwater.

The property is where George Bush and his wife, Isabella, and their children homesteaded in 1845. More than 500 acres of Bush’s land was sold and is now part of the Olympia Regional Airport. The former homestead site where the dig is located is part of Bush Prairie Farms, a Community Supported Agriculture farm owned by Kathleen and Mark Clark.

In June, the project took a new turn when the college partnered with Steven Hackenberger of Central Washington University to employ ground-penetrating radar to determine the location of a buried structure, according to Evergreen faculty member Ulrike Krotscheck.

“This may be the next step in uncovering additional structures, artifacts and understanding Washington State’s early history,” she said.

Last summer, the project revealed about 4,000 artifacts, including an ax head, a piece from a tractor, and several pieces of dishes, including one that dated to the 1800s, based on a maker’s mark.

For more information on the project, go to blogs.evergreen.edu/bushhomestead.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Archaeological dig resumes at former Bush homestead."