SUBLETTE COUNTY – Artifacts from the Wardell Buffalo Trap, several miles east of Big Piney and Marbleton near the Green River, make up a central display at the Green River Valley Museum in Big Piney.

Many of these finds gathered in early excavations gave clues about how early Native Americans herded bison over a cliff to be butchered, each part of the animal valuable for many purposes. These earlier excavations were considered crude, stripping down the site, compared with modern archeological explorations.

In 2020, Cannon Heritage Consultants returned to the Wardell Bison Trap site to carry out more sensitive cultural fieldwork. The company also surveyed the New Fork River historic river-crossing park before it was developed by the Sublette County Historical Society.

New findings from the Wardell Site are ready to be shared with the public as part of the 2021 Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists.

“The Wardell Site: A Fresh Look and New Findings” will be presented virtually on Friday, Feb. 26, from 4 to 5 p.m. by CHC archeologists Ken Cannon and Ethan Ryan.

To join this virtual presentation, follow the Zoom link:

https://uwyo.zoom.us/j/99403216933?pwd=RW9GaXhNS0h2YXNESEtxOGRQcE8yQT09. Passcode: 762901. Meeting ID: 994 0321 6933.

Funds for this work are from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Cultural Heritage Program and the Jonah Interagency Mitigation and Reclamation Office.