Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 10, 2006 Construction worker Brian Vosburgh holds a light on the area under the guest house where a young girl�s skull was found during a remodel in the 1500 block of East Main Street in Medford. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell The mystery skull Remodel workers unearth piece of the past beneath guest home; remains thought to be at least 100 years old By CHRIS CONRAD Mail Tribune "This is where we found the skull," Brian Vosburgh said, as he disappeared into a hole cut in the guest house floor. There’s only about two feet of space between the floor and the dark earth underneath, so the construction worker had to stoop to keep from hitting his head on the wooden beams above. He stopped in the back corner and pointed his floodlight to an area near the foundation. It was there on Jan. 19 that one of his co-workers found a human skull buried in shallow, loose dirt. The discovery came as construction crews were deep into a remodel of Medford’s historic Frank Owen House in the 1500 block of East Main Street. Advertisement Police arrived at the house at about 3:30 p.m. and collected the skull. The next day, they borrowed a pipe-inspection camera from a local plumbing company. The camera scanned the ground below the house. No more human remains were found, Medford police Lt. Tim George said. A preliminary inspection of the skull revealed that it belonged to an adolescent female and was perhaps more than 100 years old, George said. Because of its age, "we don’t have any reason to believe it’s a criminal case," he said. The skull was turned over to state medical examiner Dr. James Olson, who will try to determine the skull’s ethnicity and exact age. He will enlist the help of scientific authorities throughout the state, George said. It could take some time before any results are returned, he said. The area on which the house sits was first claimed in about 1852 by a man named Napoleon Evens, said Carol Samuelson of the Southern Oregon Historical Society. The federal government established the Donation Land Claim Act in 1850 to bring people to Southern Oregon and other rural areas for reasons other than gold prospecting, Samuelson said. A married man was granted 320 acres of land, provided that he build a dwelling upon the property. Census records show Evens disappeared from the area in 1859. According to records provided by SOHS, the house was designed by architect Frank Clark in 1914-15 for lumber executive Frank Owen. In 1924, Owen established the Owen-Oregon Lumber Co., which later became the Medford Corporation. Over the years, the house changed hands five times and has been frequently remodeled. Currently, the house is owned by Medford residents John and Gwen Johnson. The Johnsons are out of town and could not be reached for comment. Long before European settlers laid claim to the Rogue Valley, various Native American tribes called the land home. What happens if the skull dates back to before white settlers descended on Southern Oregon? Southern Oregon University professor of archaeology and anthropology Mark Tveskov said if the skull belonged to a Native American girl, the state government, the property owner and officials from Oregon’s nine federally recognized tribes would discuss what should be done with it. The three tribes that have jurisdiction in Southern Oregon are the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Confederated Tribes of Siletz and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, Tveskov said. The current remodel has turned up other fragments of the past. Workers found a marking stone bearing the inscription "1780 LBB" underneath the main house. Also, a suspicious bone fragment that appeared to have been sawed in half turned up under the dining room. It turned out to be a steak bone. But after the discovery under the guest house, one can never be too sure. "I don’t want to find any more bones when I’m digging," Vosburgh said. Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail The mystery skull ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Computer Security Discount Hotel Reservations Casinos Canada dvd-r Generic Viagra Myspace Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Student Loans Sudoku Online Advertisement s Advertisement