Lost And Found In American History

Nebraska had long searched for this piece of its heritage.

- Jana Bommersbach

For 184 years, it was lost. Then they found a metal military button— eventually, they’d find 39. Then glass trading beads—the first of 434. Then an early 1800s trigger guard, and then they knew: Nebraska investigators had found the 1819-’20 site of a very special winter camp that was named Engineer Cantonment.

The discovery in 2003 was so special, Nebraska State Archaeologist Gayle F. Carlson declared he could “die in peace, now that Engineer Cantonment has been found.”

By the time Carlson died in 2015, the nation knew how special this find was.