DETROIT, OREGON—Low water levels in Oregon’s Detroit Lake revealed a wooden cargo wagon and a concrete pit near what had been a Forest Service ranger station before the area was flooded in 1953 by the Detroit Dam. U.S. Forest Service archaeologist Cara Kelly interviewed locals who lived in the area, known as Old Detroit, and learned that at one time, the pit in question may have been lined with rocks and filled with goldfish. “It really was the beginning of full administration and protection of the forest reserves. Guard stations during this time served as backcountry living quarters where forest rangers were stationed during the summer, constructing trails, installing telephone lines, and patrolling land on horseback in search of smoke from wildfires,” she said in a report in the Appeal Tribune. To read about another site where the U.S. Forest Service is conducting research, go to "Off the Grid."
