Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist

09/11/2026

This week we would like to share another projectile point from the Willow Springs Campsite. This one is made from a pinky-purply chert and its size and shape of the blade suggest that it is a retipped arrow point that had previously broken. The side notches and concaved base is characteristic of a Plains side-notched point, what do you guys think?

If you’re interested in learning more about archaeology, the Archaeology Fair is tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 12) over at the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site in Laramie from 10am to 3pm. OWSA will be hosting their own booth about archaeological excavations. We hope to see you there!

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the
Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

09/04/2026

For today’s Willow Springs Campsite Artifact of the Week we are sharing another artifact from the faunal component of the collection. This is a bison phalanx (toe bone) that has very aggressive bone growth encapsulating most of the bone. Pictured next to the affected bone is a healthy bison phalanx to demonstrate the severity of this pathology.

There are a few conditions that result in this kind of bone growth, the most common and most likely cause in this case is severe arthritis. The growth results from inflammation and stress from cartilage wear between joints. Another possibility is heterotopic ossification, a condition that causes bone growths to form due to a severe trauma or injury to the afflicted area.

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

08/28/2026

This week we would like to share another artifact from the Prehistoric component from the Willow Springs Campsite. This is a bone awl that was collected by William Mulloy in the 1960s.

Awls are perforator tools that increase in width away from the tip. They can be made from a variety of materials, including metal, stone, and bone and are commonly used in tandem with needles. Bone awls have been used by humans for thousands of years to perform a variety of tasks including making clothes, basketry, and woodworking. These types of tools were generally made using the limb bones of animals like bison, deer or pronghorn, and this particular awl was made from a metapodial, or lower leg bone, of a deer or pronghorn. As we all know, the Laramie Valley can get quite cold, so the most likely use of awls at Willow Springs was for puncturing bison hides to make clothing or shelter.

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

08/26/2026

08/21/2026

Continuing our exploration of the historical component of the Willow Springs Campsite, we would like to highlight some of the lead bullets collected by William Mulloy in the 1960s. A few of the bullets pictured are warped from the impact of hitting their target.

There are a couple of possibilities for the presence of fired lead bullets in the area. Willow Springs is believed to be the site of a stagecoach station, and it is possible that there was a skirmish where the station was being fired upon. The other more likely explanation is that this spot was designated for butchering game and the bullets were introduced into the site from the animal carcasses.

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

08/14/2026

For this week’s Willow Springs Campsite Artifact of the Week we are featuring one of the most common types of cartridges in the collection, the double rimfire cartridges from the ammunition of a .44 Henry or a Wi******er 1866 rifle.

The .44 Henry rifle was one of the first successful mass produced repeating lever action rifles and was among the early metallic cartridge weapons. One of the unique characteristics of both the Henry and the Wi******er 1866 was the twin firing pins that were designed to minimize misfiring. The cartridge with the raised “H” headstamp was manufactured by Wi******er Repeating Arms Company sometime between 1866 and the 1880s and stands for the cartridge’s inventor, Benjamin Tyler Henry. The raised U headstamp stands for the Union Metallic Cartridge Company, which later became the Re*****on Arms Company.

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

08/07/2026

For today’s Willow Springs Artifact of the Week we would like to feature more of the historical component of this collection. This is the base of the stem from a clay to***co pipe.

If you look very closely, “78” is stamped on the side. This “78” stamp can be associated with the company, William White and Sons, a white clay pipe manufacturer out of Glasgow, Scotland. They were a well known and popular clay pipe brand due to their large array of designs and affordable prices. The company was founded in 1805, but did not reach its height in popularity until the mid 19th century. There are many other examples of William White and Sons pipes from historical sites across the state of Wyoming, including Fort Bridger.

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

07/31/2026

This week for our Willow Springs Artifact of the Week we are sharing one of several historic buttons collected by Mulloy in the 1960s.

This incomplete Engineer Coat button was likely from a utility coat or overalls commonly worn by the Army Corps of Engineers or railroad engineers. The Willow Springs site is believed to have been a stop of the Overland Trail - which operated in the Laramie Valley between 1862 and 1869 - and the Army Corps of Engineers was deployed to assist with the trail’s construction. Additionally, the first train arrived in Laramie in 1868 as the newest part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Regardless of which group may have brought this button to Willow Springs, its presence deepens the connection between this site and the surrounding area during a time of great transition for Western Expansion. We have been unsuccessful in finding a direct comparison for this button so if you have any ideas or sources let us know!

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

07/24/2026

We are back with another installment of the Willow Springs Artifact of the Week series! This week we have a mystery we need your help to solve. What is the unusual growth on this bone? This bone fragment is likely from a medium or large animal and has an interestingly uniform growth emerging from a broken and weathered edge; honestly, we don’t know what this is.

There are a few pathologies that are identifiable by the abnormal bone growths that appear in the affected area, such as arthritis or osteophytes (aka bone spurs). In both of these cases the growths are the result of the bone trying to repair the damaged cartilage or joint. However, there are instances of unexplainable random growths that are just specific to that individual. This pathology does not look at all like arthritis or an osteophyte, so we would love to hear your opinions on what you think this is!

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund

07/17/2026

It’s time for our next installment of the Willow Springs Artifact of the Week series! This week we are talking about obsidian! As our curation technicians work through the collection we have yet to catalog any obsidian tools, but we do have 167 flakes. But why talk about simple debitage?

Obsidian flakes are especially interesting because we can chemically source the quarry from which the piece of obsidian was mined using a technique called X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, or XRF. Using this method, obsidian from the Willow Springs Campsite has been sourced to four different locations: Malad and Bear Gulch, ID; Obsidian Cliff, WY; and Valle Grande, NM. This tells us the people occupying this site had connections to both northern New Mexico and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of Wyoming and Idaho through either trade or travel. Isn’t it amazing how even the smallest things have the ability to reveal huge networks?

Supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources. WyoCulturalTrustFund