An overview of historic and archaeologic sites
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American Indian Heritage The US National Wildlife Refuges contain many of our country's most important archeological and historical sites, ranging from ancient Native American campsites to recent historic properties that reflect local lifeways and traditional cultures. People relied on these lands and their wildlife for thousands of years, for food and clothing, transportation, settlement, and farming. Our national wildlife refuges contain abundant evidence of American Indian occupation and use, from the remains of prehistoric people who hunted mammoths 11,000 years ago to 20th century traditional subsistence activities. See petroglyphs dating from about 1300 AD in Sevilleta NWR in New Mexico. At Malheur NWR in Oregon see grinding stones used by Indian women to prepare various marsh and desert foods. Other NWRs |
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Exploration and Settlement Explore El Camino del Diablo, 'The Devil's Road' in Cabiza Prieta NWR in Arizona. Spanish explorers and other pioneers suffered over the road during exploration, colonization, and scientific exeditions. A Pony Express station is preserved in one of the few watering spots in a vast desert at what is now Fish Springs NWR in Utah. An 1861 lighthouse, North Light, stands on rocky Thatcher Island NWR in Massachusetts. The cargo of the Bertrand steamship that sunk in the Missouri River in 1865 is displayed at the DeSota NWR in Iowa. Chesser Island Homestead, Okefenokee NWR in Georgia holds exhibits of 1858 settlements and use of swamps in that area. An historic cemetery is protected in Blackwater NWR in Maryland. |
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These United States Downed planes in Alaska Maritime NWR are remnants of the only WW II battle in the US outside of Hawaii. The Saddle Mountain/ Hanford Reach is the newest NWR to protect the last free-flowing part of the Columbia River in Washington State. |
| For an overview map of the National Wildlife Refuges click here. |
Information taken from a brochure of Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
