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Region 3

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Meet the Regional Director — Bryan Jameson

Regional News — April 2009

Texas Archeological Society members in Region 3 remain very active and a list of some of the most recent activities is as follows.

On Saturday, February 14th, Parker County Archeological Society members participated in a field trip to Sam Bass Springs in Parker County to visit the site of a gunfight between Texas Rangers and the outlaw Sam Bass and his gang.  The field trip was arranged by Laurie Moseley.

On Saturday, February 28th, Region 3 members participated in a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art to view the “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” exhibit that will be on display at the museum through May 15th of this year.

On Saturday, March 7th, Region 3 members assisted AR Consultants, Inc. with an archeological survey near the town of Hutchins in Dallas County and a return trip to continue with survey activities is planned for later this year.

On March 7th and 8th, six members of the Tarrant County Archeological Society attended the first TAS Historical Archeology Academy which was held in Lake Jackson.

On Saturday, March 30th, Region 3 members participated in an archeological survey at a Ranch in Montague County and a return trip to continue with survey activities is planned for early May.

In regard to upcoming activities, on Saturday May 16th, and weather permitting, Region 3 members will resume with excavation activities at the Upper Sprague Site (41HM54) in Hamilton, County.

In regard to monthly meetings, the Dallas, Tarrant, and Parker County Archeological Societies remain very active and a list of the programs for the last three months is as follows.

On Thursday evening February 12th, Michael Donahue, Chairman of the Temple College Art Department and an avid researcher and writer on the Battle of the Little Big Horn, gave a presentation to the Tarrant County Archeological Society on the archeological investigations at The Little Big Horn.

On Thursday evening February 19th, Sarah Mistak Caughron with the Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas gave a presentation to the Dallas Archeological Society on the analysis of freshwater mussel from archeological sites in North America.

On Thursday evening February 19th, Laurie Moseley gave a presentation to the Parker County Archeological Society on the outlaw Sam Bass.

On Thursday evening March 12th, Dr. Clair Ossian, Professor at Tarrant County College and a member of the American Research Center in Egypt, gave a presentation to the Tarrant County Archeological Society on the excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamen.

On Thursday evening March 19th, Duane Peter with Geo-Marine, Inc. gave a presentation to the Dallas Archeological Society on Native Americans and their view of archeology today.

On Thursday evening March 19th, the Parker County Archeological Society held a business meeting.

On Thursday evening April 9th, Dr Harry Shafer gave a presentation to the Tarrant County Archeological Society on a Mimbres Pueblo in New Mexico.

On Thursday evening April 16th, Chuck Finsley of the Dallas Paleontological Society gave a presentation to the Dallas Archeological Society on J. D. Sollberger from the 1970’s and his contributions to the understanding and methods of flintknapping.

On Thursday evening April 16th, George Hamilton, owner of the Museum of the Americas in Weatherford, gave a presentation to the Parker County Archeological Society about the museum.

On a personal note, on Saturday March 21st, I assisted the community of Mart in McLennan County and Baylor University Historical Archeology students by coordinating the cleanup and recording of a Historic Black cemetery located on the outskirts of Mart.  The Baylor University Historical Archeology class under the direction of Carol Macaulay and citizens of Mart have taken the initiative of preserving the past by mapping and recording the locations of gravestones that were previously unrecorded.

In closing, TAS members from Region 3 remain actively involved with preparations for the upcoming 2009 TAS field school which will be held for a second year on the Courson Ranch in the Texas Panhandle and work is also in progress in regard to the location for a 2010 field school.

For more information contact: Bryan Jameson at 817-249-5242 or by E-mail at: bryanjameson@sbcglobal.net
Glynn Osburn at 817-571-2727 or by E-mail at: gosburn@comcast.net.
Jay Hornsby at 817-496-5475 or by e-mail at: jhornsby@sihometheater.com

Respectfully submitted, Bryan Jameson

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Bryan Jameson     E-mail: region03@txarch.org

I am a native Texan.  I was born in the town of Muleshoe, Texas.  When I was three months old, my family moved to Friona and it was in this small panhandle town that I grew up.  After graduating from High School I moved to Denver, Colorado to pursue an education in engineering.

In 1968, after graduating from college, I accepted a job offer with General Dynamics and moved to Fort Worth to pursue a career in the aerospace industry.  At present, I am an Engineering Specialist at Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems (formerly General Dynamics) where I have been employed for the past 36 years.  During this time I have been involved in the design and development of laboratory and flight-test hardware on numerous military aircraft programs.

I became interested in archeology when I was about 14 years of age.  One morning, while walking in a neighbor's pasture, I found my first projectile point which I later learned was a dart point.  This discovery made me very curious about the people who had lived then and about the person who had made that point.  As a young man, I really didn't know about opportunities in archeology but I read about archeology whenever I could.  As time went on and I learned more about archeology I started to admire prehistoric peoples and the way they had lived off the land.

While working at Lockheed, I met several members of the Tarrant County Archeological Society and started attending their meetings.  In 1986, I joined the Tarrant County Archeological Society and the following year I joined the Texas Archeological Society.  In 1989 I attended my first field school which was held in Del Rio.  Since that time I have been very involved in the Texas Archeological Society and the Tarrant County Archeological Society.

As a member of the Tarrant County Archeological Society, I have held the offices of Vice President and President.  I served as Vice-President in 1989 and as President from 1990 through 1994.  At present, I am serving a second term as Vice-President.

As a member of the Texas Archeological Society, I served as camp director during the 1991 and 1992 Red River field schools and I have been a member of the Field School Committee since 1997.  During this time I have served as Crew Assignments Coordinator for the 2000, 2001, 2003, and 2004 field schools and I served as Chairman for this same committee for the 2002 Melton Site field school.  I also served on the 2003 Nominating Committee and at present, I am serving as Chairman for the Field School Committee.

I am also a member of the Texas Archeological Stewardship Network for the Archeology Division, Office of the State Archeologist of the Texas Historical Commission.  I have been a Steward in this network for the past nine years.  As an archeological steward, I was once asked what I thought was the greatest challenge facing Texas archeology today.  I believe it is the education of people as to the importance of preserving our cultural history and this can only be accomplished through a very strong outreach program.  Since most archeological sites in Texas are on private property, it is very important that we work with landowners to make them aware of the importance of these sites and what steps they can take to preserve archeological sites on their land.

My greatest satisfaction as a Steward has been working with private landowners who are interested in the preservation of archeological sites on their property.  It's a wonderful experience to work with people who share a common desire to preserve our cultural history.

One of my most rewarding experiences as a member of TAS was during the 1997 and 1998 field schools when we excavated a lime kiln at Mission Espíritu Santo in Victoria County.  It was an incredible experience to be able to work closely with other society members to fully excavate and document this feature.

As an archeological steward for the Texas Historical Commission, one of my most rewarding experiences was the testing of a deeply stratified multi-component site in Hamilton County.  On this project I worked with Mr. Sprague, the landowner, fellow archeological stewards and with Dan Potter and Brett Cruse (Texas Historical Commission regional archeologists).  Because of the work accomplished at this site the Sprague site has since been declared a State Archeological Landmark.

My dream is to one day be able to retire from Lockheed Martin and pursue archeology on a full time basis.  I want to be very active within the Texas Archeological Society and the Texas Historical Commission and contribute to the preservation and knowledge of archeology in Texas.

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