Archaeological Evidence of Elk (Cervus canadensis) in Alabama

Evidence suggests elk (Cervus canadensis), known as red deer in Eurasia, crossed the Bering Land Bridge and colonized much of North America ~15,000 years ago about the same time people did. Although most people don’t think of elk when they consider fauna of the deep south, there is archaeological and historical evidence elk inhabited southeastern North America until the 19th century at least as far south as the piedmont region. There is no evidence elk occurred on the lower coastal plain or Florida, so the piedmont was likely the southeasternmost limit for this species. Oddly enough, it seems the open pine savannahs of the coastal plain would’ve been good habitat for elk because they are grazers, but apparently, they were absent there. Perhaps, they couldn’t adapt to the types of flies and gnats that tormented them on these humid plains. Good habitat on the piedmont included pine savannahs and woodlands on foothills and fall line hills, kept open by frequent fire. An example of elk friendly habitat in this region can be found on Burke’s Mountain in northern Columbia County, Georgia where ultramafic soils inhibit tree growth and allow grasslands to predominate. This site might be where William Bartram found elk, bison, and deer bones mixed with human remains when he traveled through the south during 1776. An elk bone was found in Kingston Saltpeter Cave in Bartow County, Georgia, but this specimen was never described. Another elk specimen was found near Charleston, South Carolina, but the best evidence of elk in the south is from Alabama.

Burke’s Mountain in Columbia, County Georgia. This is the type of habitat elk inhabited in the piedmont region of southeastern North America. Photo by Alan Cressler.

Map showing where elk remains dating to the late Pleistocene and the Holocene have been found in Alabama. Image from the below reference by Ebersole.

As the above map shows, elk remains dating to the late Pleistocene and from just a few thousand years ago has been found at a number of sites in Alabama including Greene County, Pickens County, Dekalb County, and along the Tongbigbee River. The elk remains in Pickens County probably date to between 5,000-12,000 years ago. Elk toe bones found at the Bluff Creek Site before it was flooded by the Tennessee Valley Authority when they constructed the Pickwick Landing Dam were modified by humans. One of the toe bones was burned, and the other was ingested and defecated by a carnivore, but archaeologists can still determine they were modified by Indians.

Indians made fishhooks from deer and elk toe bones, but the ones found in Alabama were gaming pieces. Indians played a game with them that required great dexterity. They polished the elk toe bones, bored holes in them, and attached them to a string that was in turn attached to a needle. 3-9 toe bones were attached to this needle. While holding the needle, the player would toss the toe bones in the air and try to get them to land on the needle. The winner was the person who got the most toe bones to land on the needle. The Sioux Indians played this game. It seems low tech but challenging.

Image of elk toe bones discovered in Lauderdale County in northwest Alabama. From the below reference by Lev-Tov.

Image of elk toe bones used in the ring and pin game. Note the boreholes. From the below reference by Lev-Tov.

Illustration of the ring and pin game played by the Sioux and other Indians. The player held the bottom end of the needle and tried to get the bones and loops of beads to land on the needle.

References:

Ebersole, J.; and S. Ebersole

“Late Pleistocene Mammals of Alabama: A Comprehensive Faunal Review with 21 Previously Unreported Taxa”

Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin December 2011

Lev-Tov, J.

“The Function, Date, and Cultural Implications of Modified Phalanges from Russell Cave and the Bluff Creek Site in Alabama”

Alabama Medicine: Journal of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama 48 (1) Jan 2002

Vacation 2024 Part 2: The Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia

Franklin Roosevelt was the 2nd greatest President in American history in my opinion. Abraham Lincoln saved the United States from being shattered into at least 2 different countries, and this makes him the greatest, but Roosevelt led the U.S. out of the Great Depression and prevented our country from becoming a totalitarian state. He accomplished this despite being stricken with polio during the early part of his political career. For the rest of his life he was forced to spend most of his time in a wheelchair. During the 1920’s he learned about Warm Springs, Georgia. Cold water flows from most springs in Georgia, but Warm Springs was unique. Warm mineral rich water flows here, and people mistakenly thought this would be a curative for his condition. He did feel better when he went in the warm waters, probably because he was able to stand in 4 feet of water without help. His experience inspired him to purchase farmland around the springs, and he had a vacation home built nearby. He visited his vacation home over 40 times and would spend weeks at a time there. It became known as the Little White House after he became President because he spent so much time there. Many well-to-do northerners spent winter vacations in Georgia during the early 20th century. Florida was still mostly undeveloped, and Georgia was not as long a train ride.

The springs emerge into a manmade swimming pool, but that attraction was closed for maintenance when we visited.

This was FDR’s favorite picnic spot. It’s located a few minutes from the Little White House and is next to FDR State Park.

Many beautiful wildflowers occur at Roosevelt’s favorite picnic spot. This is a species of morning glory, Ipomoea pandurata.

The area around Warm Springs has more hickory trees than I have ever seen in my life. I also heard a cuckoo in the surrounding forests.

This is the view from Roosevelt’s favorite picnic spot. During his time there were a lot less trees, and it was mostly cleared farmland.

One of Roosevelt’s cars. He had special hand controls installed, so he could drive because his legs were somewhat useless.

Roosevelt’s other car. Special hand controls were installed on this too. He also had a horse driven buggy.

Roosevelt’s wheelchair and leg braces. When he made long public speeches assistants would help him stand up, then the leg braces would keep him in a standing position.

These people were Roosevelt’s servants at Warm Springs. He had a cook, a valet, a driver, and a housekeeper. The valet helped him get out of bed, get dressed, and go to the bathroom. My wife has been disabled for 29 years, and I perform all 4 duties. They could have saved money by hiring someone like me. Roosevelt’s favorite dishes made by this cook were country captain chicken and broiled pigs’ feet with melted butter.

Vintage electric range used to cook Roosevelt’s meals. The Little White House had modern electricity and indoor plumbing, both of which were uncommon in Georgia during the 1930s.

View of The Little White House.

Roosevelt’s living room at The Little White House.

Switchboard in Roosevelt’s secretary’s bedroom.

View from the back porch of The Little White House. The whole complex was surrounded by Secret Service and Marine sentry outposts. When Roosevelt was alive he could see Alabama from here, but 2nd growth forest has grown and blocked the view.

I was surprised how small Roosevelt’s bed was. He no longer slept with his wife, Eleanor. Although they had 6 children between 1906-1916, he had an affair with his wife’s social secretary, Lucy Mercer, and the Roosevelts stopped sleeping together after Eleanor discovered the betrayal. Teddy Roosevelt’s daughter encouraged the affair. She said, “Franklin deserved some fun; he was married to Eleanor.” Eleanor likely had a lesbian love affair with a journalist after she stopped sleeping with Franklin. Lucy Mercer married a rich man, but after her husband died, Franklin asked his daughter to re-connect him with Lucy. They saw each other regularly at The Little White House, and Lucy was with him there when he suffered his fatal brain hemorrhage.

Vacation 2024 part 1: Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia

In my old age I feel less and less like traveling. I hate sitting cooped up in a car for hours, and I don’t particularly enjoy being in strange places. Paying $10 for a fast-food hamburger or chicken sandwich on the way there or back home just pisses me off. Nevertheless, my family demanded a summer vacation, so we went to Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. Callaway Gardens was founded by Cason Callaway who inherited a cotton mill business from his father. During the 1930s he gave his interest in the business to his brother and instead farmed the hundreds of acres of land that he owned in Harris County, Georgia. He developed this land into the residential vacation area now known as Callaway Gardens. We stayed at the Callaway Gardens Lodge and Spa–an upscale hotel–but it is surrounded by rental cottages. There is a golf course, many swimming beaches, fishing in manmade lakes, and several interesting attractions. Unfortunately, the experimental horticultural station, site of a long-running PBS show about gardening, is no longer in operation. We did visit the Day Butterfly Center, and the Discover Center where we saw well trained rehabbed raptors fly.

Magnolia trees were in bloom. This is a common tree at Callaway Gardens.

This bigleaf magnolia has huge leaves.

I saw a mouse in the brush and when I moved closer to identify it, I ran into this deer.

Another deer.

Many flowers to attract butterflies. Goldfish swim in the pool.

The Day Butterfly Center is named after the guy who founded Day’s Inn.

The Day Butterfly Center is fake. They import non-native tropical butterfly pupas from butterfly farms located in Asia, South America, and Africa. The plants inside the center are not host plants for their larval caterpillars, so these butterflies are in a kind of hell where they can’t reproduce.

Just think. This butterfly flies around for a few weeks, fruitlessly searching for a plant to lay its eggs on, but none of them are the right host species.

Soft-shelled turtle. It was outnumbered by yellow-bellied sliders.

One-eyed red-tailed hawk that was injured by a car and shot by a farmer. These raptors were well trained. I think they were putting dead mice on top of the posts to lure the birds into flying there.

Great-horned owl.

Harris Hawk. This species lives in the deserts of southwestern North America, and in the wild they hunt in teams.

At the Discover Center have a really nice display of replicas of rare and endangered plants found in Georgia and Alabama including Coosa Valley sunflower, giant trillium, and sandhill aster.

Madagascar hissing cockroaches on display at the Discover Center. They are even bigger than the ones in our house.

Pine savannah at Callaway Gardens.

Supposedly, there are fox squirrels living near the golf course, but I didn’t see any. I did see 7 gray squirrels. There is a good population of bluebirds at Callaway Gardens, and they do have bluebird nesting boxes everywhere. Most of the natural woods at Callaway Gardens are dominated by shortleaf pine, water oak, and willow oak.

I forgot to take photos of the food we ate at the restaurants at Pine Mountain. Fox’s Pizza Den was very popular, and the food was good. I had a vegetable stromboli. I ordered it because it is sometimes hard to get vegetable servings on vacations. The 2nd night we went to Eatz on the Corner–a Jamaican restaurant. I ate jerk chicken with black beans and rice. The plantains served with this dish were the best tasting I ever ate.