Dubois Remains

Monday, June 22, 2009

On Sunday Dan Stratmoen, the deputy coroner that I rode with to my first autopsy, was out with his friend John Sharp, rock hunting. They had a very successful day because they found a long limb of petrified wood, although they couldn’t take it because it was heavy and fragile. But the part that makes this story interesting is that they ran across a human skull. Which is what filled our day’s activities.

Today I get to do my first assigned case. It started when Ed, Mark, and I drove on Highway 28 to East Fork Road. There we met with Paul, an FBI agent, Dan Nowlin, John Sharp, William Mathews, a Bureau of Indian Affairs agent (BIA), and Bobby St. Clair with the Tribal Fish and Game. (Game and Fish is with the state government and Fish and Game does the same thing on Indian reservations). Together we drove this road down into a valley, up and over hills, and past multiple properties that had green pastures, a stream flowing beside those in the valley, and trees surrounding each property. It was really pretty. There is a trial lawyers college hidden in the valley owned by Jerry Spence, a lawyer in Teton county that used to be the Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney. Actually, when we were driving out we passed a semi that was traveling on those winding dirt roads carrying food. It was our guess that he had delivered food to the college.

The remains were located in section of hills that were made up of sandstone. There some traces of trona, and samsonite, the round stones that are heated up for sweats. Sandstone is a very soft rock that doesn’t withstand the elements very well. In this area there were lots of water holes in this hill from the water weathering away the rock.
As you can see from this picture the cranium is partly buried in the dirt on the side of hill. We believe the skull was either buried in the location it is found or else fell down the hill when it was raining, causing it to fall to that spot. Either way the rain made it possible for John and Dan to find it.

From the weathering on the skull we all decided it was older, and probably that of a Native American, so we buried it again according to the wishes of Bobby and Will, who have authority to speak for the Reservation. Ed took these pictures of it first.
Then Ed started trying to move the skull so it could be reburied in a better location. However, the dirt around the cranium was hard to move, especially without damaging the skull. Ed stated that the dirt was similar to cement, so to protect the cranium he took dirt from the surrounding area and covered it and placed rocks on the uphill side to help keep the dirt in place for when it rained again.

While Ed was burying the cranium Mark, Bobby, Will, and I wandered around the site looking for other human remains. This was quite a task because there were a lot of animal bones in this area. We found some bones below the cranium on the hill but they were animal. All the rest of the bones we found were from antelope, although we did fine a few scattered cow bones on the other side of the hill. I took pictures of all of these just to document the site.

At the top of the hill I was told by Bobby that there weren't any other bones. After the remains were covered Ed made sure everyone came to see the spot. Bobby placed a lit cigarette on top of the mound. This was to make sure the spirit, which they believe has lost its human qualities after death, does not follow any of us.

This was a great experience because it allowed me to incorporate what I have learned from my physical anthropology classes into the field. My anthropology background has helped a lot in these situations and I find it useful to review my anthropology guides and procedures to identify bones as human and non-human, as well as sex, age, ancestry, and pathological conditions for a set of remains. Also, this field experience allows me to see and hear first hand experiences from Native Americans who have to balance their cultural beliefs with their job of working with remains.

Here is a copy of my report which is the main report. I thought this was pretty cool. I have omitted the location of this event because it is important that these remains stay in place.

Date of Call: Time: 0800 hrs Case #:

Scene Location: *********

Victim Information:
Name: unknown
Date of Birth: unknown

Manner of Death: undetermined

Scene Description:
East Fork Road just inside the Reservation Boundary. Please refer to M. Stratmoen’s report. The remains were located on the North side of the road between two hills within a sink. The hills had very little vegetation and the sinks were made from weather conditions. The position of the cranium made it difficult to determine as to whether the cranium fell down the hill or if it was buried in the condition it which it was discovered.

Call Description:
Sunday there was human cranium discovered by Dan Nowlin and his friend John Sharp while rock hunting. They called Coroner Ed McAuslan to let him know of the discovery and plans were made to meet the following day at 0900 hrs.

Monday at 0800 hrs Ed, Mark Stratmoen, and I drove to East Fork Road turn off of Highway 26 and met up with Paul Swenson (FBI), William Mathews (BIA), Bobby St. Clair (Tribal Fish and Game), John Sharp and Dan Nowlin. As a group we followed Dan and John to the site. At the site Mark took the GPS coordinates so that we could return if more information needs to be collected from the remains.

A search of the area recovered numerous animal bones including two bovine acromion processes, one antelope thoracic vertebra, multiple bovine long bones, and a non-human rib. Bobby and William deemed that it would be best if the cranium was not moved. With the use of a shovel Ed tried to remove the cranium from the soil to place it in a better location for burial. However, when trying to dig it out he found a fractured rib, supporting the hypothesis that the individual was buried in that location found, and that it had not fallen down the hill. For fear that the skeletal remains would be harmed during relocation, it was decided that the cranium would be buried with dirt from the surrounding area.

Ed and Paul hauled the dirt and Ed placed rocks on top of the newly created mound on the uphill side to help keep the dirt in place during wet conditions. Ed and I took 56 pictures of the scene to help document the location and body for future reference. Call ended at approximately 1100 hrs.

Body Description:
There was an extreme amount of weathering present on the cranium with a small amount of separation between the left temporal and the left parietal and portions of the anterior parietal from the posterior parietal. This is a result of exposure to the environment for at least two decades, which indicates the remains could be prehistoric or archaic. The portion of the cranium that could be viewed supplied the following the information.
The size of the skull was smaller which is indicative of the individual being either female or a child. The only teeth present were an erupted 2nd left molar and an unerupted third molar which indicates that the individual was approximately around the age of 10-21 years. The sex of the individual if adult could be female because the supraorbital ridge is not prominent and the superior portion of the orbit is sharper. If the individual is a child then these characteristics are common in both sexes making the sex unknown.
The shape of the cranium was globular, which is indicative of Native American. It also has flaring malars which indicate Native American ancestry. There is medium prognathism which is seen mostly in Caucasoids and some evidence of Negroid ancestry (please refer to attachment from Dr. Weathermon).

REPORT COMPLETED BY: Lauren Westling Date: