Artifacts from a past era in downtown Missoula displayed at Cranky Sam Public House
Back in 2019, hundreds of artifacts were discovered in downtown Missoula that give us a clearer vision of what life was like around the turn of the 20th century. Uncovered during the construction of Cranky Sam Public House, the artifacts range from animal bones to glass bottles to medicine and cosmetic jars.
In 1893, the site where all of these artifacts were uncovered was an empty lot that sat next to a Chinese temple. By 1910, the area was being used to house female sex workers who worked in Missoula’s once booming red-light district.
“We knew there was a sex worker industry that was thriving, and we knew that there was also a thriving Chinese community. What we didn't know, or have, were the archaeological signatures of their lives.” said Kelly Dixon, a historical archeologist and professor at UM.
Dixon describes the artifacts uncovered as “tangible contact with the past.” The findings give clues as to what the daily lives of these two marginalized communities may have been like during this era.
Some of the significant findings include Chinese glassware, opium paraphernalia and a spattering of animal bones and bricks, which leads Dixon to believe there may have been an outdoor cooking feature next to the Chinese temple. Other findings of cosmetic jars and perfume bottles are likely connected to the brothels that once lined the streets of this area.
Now that UM’s anthropology department has had time to sift through the artifacts, they are bringing their findings to the public. On the first Friday of this month, Cranky Sam Public House held a public archeology event to share the history of this site with the Missoula community.
“None of this does any of us any good if the knowledge can't be shared,” said Dixon, “It felt like we could reach so many more people if we left the halls of our academic setting.”
