Letter to the Editor

A tempest in a teapot

EDITOR: One is mystified as to the purpose served when a worthy archeological oriented society, more for entertainment than knowledge, lays forth as a puzzle for the audience to solve, something which resulted in an archeological dispute long in the past. It serves no purpose. The honorable Ellsworth Cowles called the dispute, to use my words, not worth a hill of beans. A Rome pseudo expert sought to attack Ellsworth who himself was respected as a noted archeologist and historian. That same party also cast aspersions on other notables. In his effort to discredit Cowles he cited a prior dig by a third party in 1931 in which no post molds were found to prove there ever had been a fortification atop Spanish Hill near today's Waverly, N.Y.; the Cowles detractor then contended French explorer Etienne Brule, fur buyer for Champlain, never visited this location in 1615, despite a 1915 State dedicated monument placed thereupon. In the exchanges of letters between the parties, dated February 1985, my name was mentioned. Ells who shared this correspondence with our esteemed Valley scholar Ted Keir and myself, handled this matter in an always gentlemanly way. It is obvious the now long ago attempt to discredit Ellsworth by this resident of Rome was an attempt to feather himself at the expense of his betters. This man's animosity, or thirst for personal grandeur was so deep that he cast aspersions on others, on Civil War veteran General John Clark whose definitive sketches of Newtown Battlefield inspired my writing "March Into the Endless Mountains." Cowles was indispensable in the saving of Spanish Hill during construction of Route 17 - its importance instantly established when items he collected from the top were viewed at Harrisburg in June 1970 eliciting the comment "Five thousand years of history." He was respected by Dr. S.K. Stevens, executive director of the State Museum and by the Pennsylvania State Archeological Society's head John Koch, my brother-in-law, in which Cowles had served as secretary. It makes no sense to encourage future flawed derivative extrapolations as cited above, always there being half-baked wannabes.

This tempest in a tea pot had its origins in the 1931 archeological dig that missed the mark as to the fortification. Cowles happened to assist the equally young leader. It became the basis for the Rome 'expert' taking upon himself to discredit Cowles. Instead the effort was counterproductive, discrediting the pretender. Before me are comments by early residents who viewed the ruins. Constant plowing eradicated traces of the outer walls, but not the inner cross-wall. This wall divided the fort into two compartments, one portion to be breached requiring the defenders to retreat.

Patently Cowles advanced knowledge tempest in a teapot where others left off. Why then reexamination of history, or speculation today? Does this rise from want of the above background? As an historian, in my possession are pages of observations by early settlers; too, Cowles calculated post height of this site, and below ground footage.

There is a lesson here. Speculating upon non-findings of a dig, can backfire. It leads back into a controversy long resolved. Inadvertently one invites future debate. Unintentionally the Susquehanna River Archeological Center as a source center brings attention upon itself in a matter long settled. It is an honest error. SRAC houses and respects the archeological work of my late friend, who was founder of the Town of Erwin Museum, whose death drew a front page headline in the Corning Leader newspaper March 9, 1992, he eulogized as 'one of God's noblemen.'

SRAC has an important function to fulfill. With its broad spectrum name which I proposed at time of formation, by referring to its river identity it should include as speakers scholars from all parts of this Indian-settled 440 mile waterway. This challenge, for which there is a thirst, the association is capable of achieving. The name envisions SRAC as a regional center. The coinage appropriately continues to reflect that purpose, thus is a valid representation of its potential. It can be accomplished through its speaker program, well received locally. It must import. The fields of archeology and history are closely entwined. Credentialed speakers describing first hand research can motivate young minds. I have had youngsters say they want to write books like me. A 'living' program of SRAC speakers can as well do that; not so when too few charge themselves with that responsibility, credit to them for that burden.

Ray Ward

Waverly, N.Y.

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