The Cashmere Museum in Cashmere, Washington includes an exhibit of the Willis Carey Artifacts. On display are both prehistoric and historic American Indian artifacts with no descriptions. All of these artifacts appear to be associated with the Indian people who lived along the Columbia River in central Washington.
Artifacts such as these can provide important clues about prehistory—that period of time for which there are no written accounts. Unfortunately, when such artifacts are removed from the sites where they had been for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, they tell us almost nothing about life in the past.
Shown above is a prehistoric stone bowl which would have been used for grinding seeds, nuts, and berries; historic beaded moccasins with reservation era patterns; and some prehistoric stone spear points.
Shown above is a prehistoric stone pestle which would have been used for grinding seeds, nuts, and berries.
Shown above are some prehistoric stone mauls.
Another view of the mauls.
More stone mauls.
Shown above is a woven basket and two mauls.
Shown above is a piece of a petroglyph—a design carved or pecked into stone. The ray design is sometimes associated with medicine people.
Shown above is a woven basket.
Shown above are some beaded moccasins.
Shown above are some flaked stone arrowheads.
Shown above are some flaked stone projectile points.
Shown above is a stone pestle and some flaked stone spear points.
Shown above is a wooden mortar which would have been used with a stone pestle for grinding foods.
Another view of the wooden mortar.
Shown above is a coiled basket.
Shown above is what appears to be a moccasin and a couple of spear points.
Shown above are beaded gauntlets and a basket.
Shown above is a stone mortar and a stone maul. The hole in the mortar means that it was placed over a basket and the ground material would fall into the basket.
Shown above are a couple of buffalo horns and some stone projectile points. Horns like this were sometimes used as cups and for pouring water over hot stones in the sweat lodge.
More Ancient America
Ancient America: The Old Copper People
Ancient America: Aboriginal Mining
Ancient America: Astronomy
Ancient America: North American Camels
Ancient America: Displaying a collection of artifacts (photo diary)
Ancient America: An arrowhead display (museum tour)
Ancient America: Stone Artifacts from the Columbia Plateau (Photo Diary)
Ancient America: The East Wenatchee Clovis Site (museum tour)