friends of coldwater

Clouse Report ::::

A truthful, open, and ongoing environmental review process carried out by the public for the public, is needed to examine, document, and review all actions planned or undertaken by public agencies and private entities within the area of Mdote Minisota. Without such a process in place, this sacred and historic space may continue to be destroyed, bit by bit, historic property by historic property...

-Mdote Minisota, A Public EIS, Part 1

Read the (Secret) Clouse Report, Finally

by William W. Folwell

The draft Clouse Report about the former Bureau of Mines-Twin Cities Campus, the report that the National Park Service believes has the capacity to cause harm if it is read by the public, is available for public examination.

Actually it has been available for public examination for several years, though most of the public did not know it. Those who are interested can read it in the form of a number of Adobe Acrobat files available below. Or they can read it at Minnesota's Legislative Reference Library in the State Office Building in St. Paul. The Legislative Reference Library is an institution open not only to Minnesota's elected public representatives, but also to the people who elected them, the citizens of Minnesota.

Although the draft version of the Clouse report does not include a detailed description of all of the artifacts he found, a major point that emerges from this draft version is that much of the Bureau of Mines-Twin Cities Campus is covered with a thick layer of fill deposited in the last 150 years, covering intact soils surfaces from the early 19th century. Underneath those intact soil surfaces Clouse found artifacts from the early 19th century. As a result Clouse recommended that the boundaries of the Fort Snelling Landmark/ Historic District be expanded to include additional portions of the western edge of the property, beyond the Coldwater Spring basin.

Q: What was so controversial in the draft Clouse report which could explain why the Park Service was keeping it from the public for five years?
A: Many people are scratching their heads about this.One possible explanation is that Clouse's recommendation for expanding the Fort Snelling Landmark/Historic District boundary is a problem for the agency. The Park Service (or the Department of Interior, which will be making the final decision) may have wanted to keep its options open. Beyond that the Park Service may think that the archaeological evidence in the Clouse Report will prejudice any outcome it may decide to support in relation to the current Bureau of Mines EIS process.

For more discussion online about what is in the report visit MinnesotaHistory.net.

These files are in .PDF format
Ya need the READER! See below.

Archaeological Research at the former
Twin Cities Bureau of Mines Testing Facility, Minnesota
By Robert A. Clouse, RPA
Archaeology Department, Minnesota Historical Society, 2001
Prepared for the National Park Service Midwest Archaeological Center, Lincoln, Nebraska

Part 1
Title page, table of contents, summary
click here

Part 2
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Theoretical Constructs
Chapter 3: Military Context
Chapter 4: Environmental Setting
click here

Part 3
Chapter 5: Historical Context and Growth of Fort Snelling
click here

Part 4
Chapter 6: History of the Camp Coldwater Locality
click here

Part 5
Chapter 7: Previous Archaeological Research
Chapter 8: Field Methods
click here

Part 6
Chapter 9: Project Results
click here

Part 7
Chapter 10: Management Recommendations
References
click here