Historical

DOG DAYS AT THE SANTA BARBARA PRESIDIO
(Full story by Robert L. Hoover)
On Sunday, September 7, 2008, the Santa Barbara Presidio will be visited by several four-footed graduates of the Institute for Canine Forensics. For some time, the Institute has been sending out teams of these specially trained dogs to help officials search for long-missing persons at such places as the World Trade Center in New York, the site of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the Loma Prieta and Mexico City Earthquakes, the Oakland Firestorm, and the Oklahoma City bombing site. But, the use of these remarkable human remains detection (HRD) dogs has become very specialized and is one of the most promising recent tools available to archaeologists. HRD dogs trained specifically to locate historical bodies have assisted scientists identifying the Donner Camp at Alder Creek, cemetery plots on Pilot Hill in Truckee, at Half Moon Bay, and the El Dorado Hills, all in California. They also identified a mass grave from the 1815 Napoleonic Wars in the Czech republic. Working with Professor Russ Skowronek, they are helping to identify burials in the Mission Santa Clara cemetery.
(More about the Presidio, click here)

WWII Dive-bomber Crash
In January 1944, a squadron of Dauntless dive-bombers was on a training flight near Watsonville. At 10,000', one of the planes developed mechanical problems, caught on fire and crashed south of the Pajaro River. The Navy reported that the bodies of the two crew members were recovered. However, crash investigations during WWII were cursory due to the large number of crashes during training missions. Pacific Legacy engaged the Institute for Canine Forensics to bring in dogs certified to find historical human remains to look for the remains of the pilot and the gunner...

A Four-legged Agent Looking for Cadaver and for Historical Remains
Czech republic is a small country of 10 million people and it is safe to say, that most of them are dog lovers. And as this case shows, amongst the dog lovers good dog news fly fast. This article is in Czech language; it is from a dog magazine "Psi Kusy", February 2008, Issue 2.

Forensic Dogs Help Preserve Native American Burial Grounds
Tom Mills determined that using search dogs for this project would be cost-effective and, most importantly, leave the area undisturbed. Four dogs and their individual handlers from the Institute for Canine Forensics joined with Caltrans staff in May to systematically check the area. Handlers watched as each dog searched the area separately. When a dog "alerted to a scent," identifying a gravesite area, a small flag was placed at the location. The flags were removed before the next dog searched the same area. All four dogs separately identified the same 13 sites during the eight hours the team worked. The areas identified by the team, where some blue and red glass beads were found, were larger than Caltrans staff had anticipated...

Digging up the past in Peru
In 40C heat, a non-governmental organization, the Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF), scours the ground next to the still-operational military base. Helping them are North American handlers with dogs that have been specially trained to sniff out human remains.

ICF Peru Team Report
"We have done a lot of missing person cases in the US, a lot of criminal cases, a lot of missing Alzheimer's patients, children or suicides," said Pat Lamson, one of the handlers from the US-based Institute for Canine Forensics...

Prague-Zlicin, Czech Republic - Archaeological Excavation
Summer 2007 - Over one hundred burial sites were excavated by archaeologists on a construction site in Prague/Zlicin, Czech Republic.

As it turned out, one of Nessie's alerts was a pure dog find. After this spot was fully excavated in August 2007, it was discovered that it contained not only the human skeletal remains (1.5 meters deep) but also a beautiful and very special, intact glass bottle, both dated to 450 AD.

In archaeology, an HHRD trained canine with impeccable manners, slow and methodical search style, properly trained and certified, may be the Remote Sensing Tool of the future. ICF canine trainers are "writing the book" in this field. Certification standards are high insuring that the ICF certified canines are reliable, non-invasive tools to be used in modern archaeology.
(PLAY VIDEO)

Canines help Caltrans locate burial sites near Lone Pine
When state officials recently sought help in locating a sacred Native American burial ground, they turned to an unlikely source: man’s best friend...

Olancha / Cartago
On May 11 & 12, 2007 teams from Institute for Canine Forensics (ICF) joined a Caltrans archaeologist to determine if a cemetery might be located within the general area identified by the Native American family member

Clarksville Cemetery - EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT
December 2006 - ICF Historical HRD dogs were requested to work an open field area for unmarked graves and boundaries

El Dorado Hills, CA
May 2006 - a common request for the Institute for Canine Forensics (ICF) teams is to help locate historical cemetery boundaries or lost graves on private residential property

Prehistoric Native American Remains at NASA
A construction crew has unearthed the skeletal remains - April 2006

Society for California Archaeology
Annual Meeting in Ventura, CA - March 30, 2006

Buena Vista
The Pacific Legacy, Inc. called the ICF for help to search Me-Wuk Cemetery in Buena Vista, California before the construction of commercial building (PLAY VIDEO)

Canine Remote Sensing Detection - The Bayley Project
Paper presented by Shirley Hammond at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference, Sacramento, California, January 11 – 15, 2006

CANINE TRAINING: HISTORICAL versus CADAVER
Paper presented by Bev Peabody at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference, Sacramento, California, January 11 – 15, 2006

"Is there a human signature in ancient bones that a trained canine can recognize?"
Paper presented by Eva Cecil and Heidi Hill of University of Montana at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference, Sacramento, California, January 11 – 15, 2006
A Noninvasive Method of Searching for Buried Human Remains
"LOLO's Lost Grave" - Paper presented by Eva Cecil at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference, Sacramento, California, January 11 – 15, 2006
LoLo’s Grave, Lewis & Clark Trail, Montana
Researchers investigate using ICF dogs to find long-lost grave (2005) - The group was led by two tongue-lolling border collies named Nessie and Rhea. Their mission: sniff out the 150-year-old grave of the mountain man for whom the trail was named.

Evolution of the Historical Human Remains Detection Dog
Choosing the Best Resource - Paper presented by Adela Morris & Donna Randolph at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference, Sacramento, California, January 11 – 15, 2006

Above ground noninvasive technique to locate human remains and historical graves: The nose knows
Paper presented by Adela Morris at the Society for Historical Archaeology Annual Conference,
Sacramento, California, January 11 – 15, 2006

Bayley House
The Institute for Canine Forensic teams were called in to search a vast area surrounding the Bayley House to help locate the lost and unmarked Bayley family burial plot on the property. It has been a bit of a mystery to where Bayleys are actually buried, although it is known that they are buried somewhere on the property. Mr. Bayley's wish was to be placed to rest under the trees, on a grassy knoll, overlooking the house he so proudly built. ICF teams were called to locate the long-forgotten Bayley family burial plot on the property (1/2005) (PLAY VIDEO)

El Dorado Rock Mounds
ICF teams, using specially trained HRD dogs, search for long-forgotten American Indian and Chinese graves under rock mounds on private land. The El Dorado House and Ranch was established in June of 1850. Documents show that the following December one of the owners of the roadhouse, George Richardson died. It is believed that the cemetery was established at that time was used from 1850 until 1905. (PLAY VIDEO)

Donner Party Campsite Archaeological Dig
George Donner, Jacob Donner, James F. Reed and their families left Springfield, Illinois, on April 15, 1846. They planned to settle in California, claim free land and start a new life. By the time they reached the California mountains the party numbered 81 people in 23 wagons. Early winter prevented them from reaching their destiny. Only 40 people survived this tragic ordeal.excavation results, summer 2004.
Donner Party Campsite Search
The camp at Alder Creek was thought to be the place where George Donner and his family camped in the winter of 1846. Actually, two possible locations at Alder Creek were thought to be where the camps were located, but no evidence was ever found. Alder Creek camp is approx. 6 miles North from where the rest of the Donner Party camped (at what is now Donner Lake.) Archaeologists found a new campsite evidence (PLAY VIDEO)

Town of Boca
Helping US Forest Service to restore the old cemetery, ICF team delineating the boundaries of the historical cemetery in town site of Boca, located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Truckee, California.
Starting in 1866, the Central Pacific Railroad was laying tracks over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A construction camp was set up at the junction of the Truckee River and Little Truckee River, and soon become known as Boca, "mouth" in Spanish. (PLAY VIDEO)

Case Study of Battlefield Burials
The battlefield burials are dated from 1200 to 1600 AD at a site near Prague, Czech Republic - Presented at SWAA 2004 by Eva Cecil

Camp Richardson Washoe Cemetery
The US Forest Service requested ICF teams to search the Washoe Cemetery located in the Historical Camp Richardson, South Lake Tahoe, California in order to identify possible unmarked graves in the cemetery and the adjoining campground prior to its refurbishment. (PLAY VIDEO)

Prague-Liboc Archaeological Excavation
An HRD dog has a rare opportunity to imprint and search for ancient human skeletal remains discovered by archaeologists and excavated on a Neolithic Age burial site in Prague, Czech Republic (PLAY VIDEO)

Identifying The Mission Santa Clara Cemetery
Using Historical Human Remains Detection Dogs - Presented at SWAA 2004 by Bev Peabody

St. Joseph's Cemetery in Fremont
Searching old burial ground for lost graves...

San Mateo County Hospital and Poor Farm
Detecting graves from 1800's. The Poor Farm Graveyard was first established in 1894, when the first dead were buried and their names, places of origin, age and the reason for dying were entered into a logbook. Some 542 graves are listed there but we have seen wooden markers with 600’ numerals still legible. A few of the markers are still standing but most were burned, removed or vandalized. Numbers that had been painted on the grave markers have weathered and most have become illegible over the years.