Animal Bones

Animal remains can give us insight into a soldier's diet at the historic fort. Although soldiers received regular rations of meat from the Continental Army, there were also instances of them hunting and fishing in the area of the Oneida Carry. Some even kept pets. A large quantity of animal bone was recovered from cellar holes, the sallyport area, and an area beneath the north end of the bridge. Below are a few examples of animal remains in the collections of Fort Stanwix National Monument.

Hogs for Pork

These pig bones were found during archeological excavations and are the remains from food (pork) eaten by the 18th century soldiers. These fragments in the are the result of cutting and smashing the bones to get the meat and marrow. "Salt pork" (think a salty block of bacon) would've been a staple of a Continental Soldier's diet. At Fort Schuyler, several of the soldiers' families also kept pigs as livestock. In 1778, orders are given for soldiers and civilians to ring the noses of the pigs so they cannot dig under the forts walls and undermine the works. By 1780, as illustrated by the following orderly book entry, some of them had become unwieldly.

Garrison Orders Fort Schuyler 9th May 1780
Officer for the Day to morrow Captn Lt young for guard Lt Valkenbergh = as the fences is ordered to be repaired and made up the Inhabitants or Other persons Who may be Own any hogs at this garrison are hereby Desired to have them yoked Immediately or kept up or they may Depend when the fences are finished and if any found in the meadow or Gardians that they will be Immediately shot and taken for the Use of the Troops
By Order of Coll Van Dyck Comadt _____

Cattle

Only cattle are mentioned in written accounts as having been sent to Fort Stanwix to supplement salted meats. Between May, 1780, and May, 1781, George Washington ordered at least 334 barrels of salted meat sent to Fort Stanwix. In November 1780, the garrison had in stores 500 pounds of cattle on the hoof and 960 pounds of salted beef in 40 barrels. By February 8, 1781, the salt beef was running low and the ration was cut back to 1/2 pound per day augmented with 1-1/2 pounds of bread. On February 28, the accumulative deficiency was made up when the fort was re-supplied; except for three barrels which were stolen after delivery. If the faunal remains from the sally port garbage dump (Level II) is representative of the entire site, beef made up 55 percent of the fresh meat available to the garrison. Pork and venison made up most of the remainder. In addition to cattle being used for meat, several families attached to the garrison of the fort would have used them as milch cows.

Sometimes bone remains can give us hints to the health of the animals. For example, the image to the right is a cow maxilla (upper jaw) fragment. We see two different incidents in this image. The holes in the bone tell us that the cow had a severe infection while the horizontal lines on the cow’s teeth show signs of malnutrition. What this maxilla does not tell us is which incident happened first or if one incident caused the other, or if the health of the animals being consumed affected the health of the people eating it.

Cattle weren't always used for meat and milk. Other products, such as leather for shoes, would also have been made from them. On the left, you can see a horn core, also known as the pith. It is found in the center of the horn of an animal such as a cow. The core is removed so the horn can be used to make various items from buttons and drinking vessels, to powder horns, and rum horns. These horn cores were excavated in the early 1970’s from a feature near the sallyport. It is uncertain how or where the soldiers would have obtained horns for this purpose.

Fish

During the 18th century, it is difficult to pinpoint native fish to the Mohawk River and Wood Creek watersheds simply because these areas were stocked by locals early on. Walleye pike, brook trout, northern pike, perch, large and small mouth bass, and sunfish have consistently been recorded throughout the lakes, streams, and rivers of the modern New York area, including the Mohawk; perhaps making a tasty meal for those traversing the Oneida Carry! It was even a pair of fishermen who helped to save Captain James Gregg after a scalping near Wood Creek.

For the soldiers of the 1780 garrison, leaving the fort walls for hunting or fishing purposes was considered too dangerous, and expressly prohibited by their commander. But for prior regiments, it is obvious that their food stores were being constantly supplemented by hunting and foraging due to the number and varieties of remains found.

Birds

Duck, grouse and passenger pigeons (the latter now extinct) were hunted for sport. Once so numerous that their flocks stretched for miles and darkened the skies of the Eastern US, passenger pigeons were caught and consumed at Fort Stanwix to supplement the monotonous diets of the soldiers. Indeed, this tiny bone from the museum collection is likely from a passenger pigeon and is one of five found in a trash pit near the fort's salleyport.

As Colonel Peter Gansevoort wrote to his fiance not long after arriving at the fort “I have exceedingly good living here” with “plenty of veal pigeons and fish of different sorts.” The birds were so numerous they could be caught by throwing a net or a stick from the walls of the fort. Passenger pigeons continued to be plentiful until the late 19th Century, when over hunting decimated their numbers. By 1914, they became extinct.

Pets and Other Animals

Pets have lived with humans throughout time and memoriam. Although there were several pet dogs recorded as living at the fort with their owners, this dog likely lived during the mid-1800s. Its skull was discovered during the excavations in the 1970's.

Other animal bones found during archeological excavations include: goat, deer, bear, fox, muskrat, racoon, turtle, snake, chicken, duck, goose, grouse, and rail. All of these were found in the garbage pit near the sallyport. All of the larger bones had been split to get at the marrow and the condition of the skull fragments indicates that the brain cases were broken to remove their contents. Not a single saw mark was found on the 18th-century bones, while the 19th-century bones were almost exclusively sawed. A few articulated leg joint were found with splintered ends, but we cannot infer much concerning butchering techniques except that it was designed to get as much nourishment from the animals as possible.

Source:

Hanson, Lee M. Casemates and Cannonballs: Archaeological Investigations at Fort Stanwix, Rome, New York. Washington: National Park Service, 1975.