Three mysterious structures in Bayou Bartholomew may soon become the 186th archaeological site in Morehouse Parish to be recorded with the state.
While paddling Bartholomew for the LSU AgCenter’s Water Trails project last month, river guide John Ruskey of Clarksdale, Miss. and Joe Rolfe of Oak Ridge came upon submerged wooden structures that resemble parts of an old bridge or boat hull.
Given the location of the three structures, a tentative explanation may be that these are components of Vester’s Ferry, one of several small raft ferries that citizens used to cross the bayou in the days before bridges were constructed in 1925.
Agents with the state Division of Archaeology plan to visit the structures in the very near future to take measurements, photos and perhaps solve the mystery behind them.
Ferries -- once common, now almost vanished from Louisiana waterways -- are recorded in the same manner as shipwrecks and American Indian archaeological sites.
In August, the Division of Archaeology recorded the sunken steamboat Big Horn as the 185th archaeological site in Morehouse Parish. The new site will become only the second non-terrestrial archaeological site recorded in Morehouse.
Author: Wes Helbling | Source: Bastrop Enterprise [October 18, 2011]
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| Archaeologists hope to determine whether or not this wooden vessel in Bayou Bartholomew is part of a turn-of-the-century ferry [Credit: Wes Helbling] |
Given the location of the three structures, a tentative explanation may be that these are components of Vester’s Ferry, one of several small raft ferries that citizens used to cross the bayou in the days before bridges were constructed in 1925.
Agents with the state Division of Archaeology plan to visit the structures in the very near future to take measurements, photos and perhaps solve the mystery behind them.
Ferries -- once common, now almost vanished from Louisiana waterways -- are recorded in the same manner as shipwrecks and American Indian archaeological sites.
In August, the Division of Archaeology recorded the sunken steamboat Big Horn as the 185th archaeological site in Morehouse Parish. The new site will become only the second non-terrestrial archaeological site recorded in Morehouse.
Author: Wes Helbling | Source: Bastrop Enterprise [October 18, 2011]