Fort Rock State Park

 Hiya all.
Little Fox, archaeologist here. It's summer school and I am on a field trip for my archeology program.

Today, we are exploring Fort Rock.  Fort Rock is an unincorporated place in SE Oregon (i.e. a small town).  However, Fort Rock wasn't always  small town.  Back in the day, like 9,000 years ago, it was a thriving lakeside community. Archeologist Luther Cressman found the famed Fort Rock Sandals in a cave at Fort Rock.  These sandals are about 9,000 years old and these sandals were found in all sorts of sizes.

As you can see Fort Rock is pretty desolate right now.  Why sandals found here?  Go back many  years and this area was not a desert but a lake.  

This lake was about 2,300 square kilometers so it makes sense that people would live around the lake.  2,300 square kilometers seems bug but Fort Rock lake was actually pretty small compared to others of that time.   

The park is open to hiking and exploring (but it's hot so our exploring is going to be limited).  The cave where the archeology treasures were found is closed off to the public.  Hmm, this looks interesting.  I read that bats live nearby and a few lizards.  I think this might be a fissure, I wonder how the rock got cracked?

In the last 150 years or so this land was open to the homestead act.  Many people tried to make a go at it and Fort Rock is a pretty tough place to farm and most homesteaders left after a decade. The natural history museum is in hte process of preserving building from various ranchs.

Time for lunch! Good news!  The restaurant is open.

What should I order?  Club sandwich and garlic bread.  

To counteract the sandwich I also got a chef salad.

Off to my next adventure.  Better stay hydrated.

PS Jerry and Ben there was also pie for dessert (humans scarfed it down too fast for a proper picture).