Gerard Fowke
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Gerard Fowke (June 25, 1855 – March 5, 1933) was an American archeologist and geologist best known for his studies of Native American mounds.Leahy, Ethel C. ''Who's Who on the Ohio River and Its Tributaries''. Cincinnati: The E.C. Leahy Publishing Company, 1931. pages 422–3.Print.Hansford, Hazel, and Logan. "Gerard Fowke(Charles Mitchell Smith)". ''Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science''. Volume 43 (1933) pages 20–23.Print."Gerard Fowke Found Dead". ''Madison Daily Herald''. adison, Indiana6 March 1933.Print.


Childhood

Born Charles Mitchell Smith in Charleston Bottom,
Mason County, Kentucky Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,120. Its county seat is Maysville. The county was created from Bourbon County, Virginia in 1788 and named for George Mason, a Vir ...
, near Maysville, his parents were John D. Smith and Sibella Smith."Gerard Fowke Found Dead". ''Madison Daily Herald''. adison, Indiana6 March 1933. PrintNecrology Scrapbook, Missouri History Museum Library, Saint Louis, Missouri He was the eldest of five children and the only one to survive to adulthood. Fowke's mother died before he reached ten years of age. He spent his childhood in Kentucky and was raised by his father and other relatives. In 1887, he legally changed his name to Gerard Fowke, naming himself after a prominent American ancestor of his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Fowke.Fowler, Ila Earle. (1978). Kentucky Pioneers and Their Descendants (p. 9). Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company.


Early career

He worked as a bookkeeper and clerk in
Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
, before returning to Kentucky in 1873. From 1873 to 1876, Fowke was a student and farmer in Kentucky. In 1876, he moved to central
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, where he taught grammar school for two years. He then taught in Brown County,
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, before taking a position as a grammar school principal in
Sidney, Ohio Sidney is a city in Shelby County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,421 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is approximately north of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton and south of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo, and is a ...
, from 1879 to 1881. In 1881, he took a class at Ohio State University in
geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
and
archeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeolo ...
. After this course, he became interested enough in the subject to spend the rest of his life in the study of geology and archeology.


Career

Fowke's career in science began in 1883 when he studied geological formations associated with the Wabash,
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, and
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
s. The river he spent most of his time studying, though, was the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
. During the course of his career, Fowke thoroughly investigated the geology of the Ohio River from its mouth to its source. He studied Flint Ridge for the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
, detailing his findings in the "Smithsonian Report" in 1884.Moorehead, Warren K. "A Narrative of Explorations in New Mexico, Arizona, and Indiana, Etc." ''Bulletin of Phillips Academy, Andover, Department of Archeology''. Bulletin III.(1906): page 107. Print. In 1886, he studied the archeology of the
Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
Valley of
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
. Fowke was hired by antiquities collector Warren Moorehead in 1889 to study Native American mounds in
Ross County, Ohio Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, ...
. Working together with a team of laborers for about a month, the two excavated 12–15 Native American mounds.Moorehead, Warren King. ''The Field Diary of an Archeological Collector''. Harvard University Tozzar Library, 1902. Pages 6–7.Print. Fowke worked for the Smithsonian Institution, under the Bureau of Ethnology, from 1885 to 1888, studying Native American sites in the eastern United States."Gerard Fowke, Noted Archeologist, Dies". ''Saint Louis Post Dispatch'' 10 March 1933, page 3B. Print. He searched for evidence of pre-historic settlements on
Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
from 1896 to 1897. He travelled in
Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
on the
Amur River The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ''proper'' is ...
, looking for evidence that East Asians migrated to North America to become Native Americans. Working for the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...
of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,Randall, E.O. Preface. Fowke, Gerard. ''Archeological History of Ohio''. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State Archeological and Historical Society, 1902.Page iii. Print. he travelled to
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
in 1898 with fellow researcher Berthold Laufer. The two spent several months together. They travelled the Amur River in Siberia by boat,Bloch, Alexia, and Kendall, Laurel. ''The Museum at the End of the World: Encounters in the Russian Far East.'' University of Pennsylvania:2004. Page X. Print. studying the Tungusic, Ainu, and Gilyak peoples. They took photos and recorded songs, and studied artifacts and native cultures.Shirina, Danara. "Jesup North Pacific Expedition". ''Encyclopedia of the Arctic''. Volume 1, 2, and 3. New York: 2005. Page 1045. Print. The two researchers later split up, with Fowke continuing to travel the Amur River by canoe, accompanied only by a stranded sailor and a Tungusic native. Fowke started this expedition from
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
, sailing first to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, then Vladivostok, then
Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...
, Siberia. From there, he boated on a canoe for 700 miles along the Amur River to the Channel of Tartary, down the coast to the
Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk; Historically also known as , or as ; ) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japan's island of Hokkaido on the sou ...
, then back to Nikolayevsk-on-Amur. From 1911 to 1916, he worked for the Missouri Historical Society, studying the geology of the Saint Louis,
Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
area. Before this, he had studied geology in Ohio. Fowke also worked for the Jefferson Memorial in Saint Louis, setting up a collection there of Native American relics. He rearranged them in 1926, and set up a new collection in 1930. In 1912, Fowke travelled to
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
, where he examined ancient mounds in the abandoned Mayan city of Quirigua. He travelled to the
Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
, looking in vain for a pre-historic population. Fowke spent several months examining pre-historic remains in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, and the Carlsbad Caverns. He was once given a grant of 2500 U.S. dollars, spending the money investigating the geology of
Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...
. In 1926, he studied Native American burial mounds in the present day Marksville State Historic Site in
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. Working for the Smithsonian Institution, he was the first archeologist to study the area and produce a detailed map."Marksville State Historic Site." Louisiana Office of State Parks. State of Louisiana, 11 September 2013.Web.http://www.crt.state.la.us/parks/imarksvle.aspx Fowke spent much of his life studying ancient mounds of rocks and earth, trying to prove the existence of a civilization that pre-dated what we currently understand to be the Native Americans. He never found evidence of a civilization distinct from the later Native Americans. His 1902 book ''Archaeological History of Ohio'', which summarized his research, helped to prove that these mounds were indeed made by the Native Americans. His research was sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History of New York, the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Science, the Smithsonian Institution, and others. Fowke published at least 59 works during his career, mostly regarding his research on Native American archeology. His publications appeared in numerous journals, newspapers, and magazines, including ''
Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
'', ''
Popular Science Popular science (also called pop-science or popsci) is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad ranging. It may be written ...
'', and publications of the Smithsonian Institution. Most of Fowke's research was done on foot. He walked an estimated 100,000 miles during the course of his career. He did geological or archeological research in nearly every state in the United States."Gerard Fowke Dead". ''Madison Courier'' adison, Indiana6 March 1933. Print. Fowke was a lifelong bachelor and died with no close kin. He moved to Madison,
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
, in 1922 and lived there the remainder of his life. Fowke died in King's Daughters' Hospital in Madison of natural causes at age of 78 and was interred in Springdale Cemetery in Madison, Indiana.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowke, Gerald 1855 births 1933 deaths People from Mason County, Kentucky Writers from Kentucky 19th-century American geologists American science writers Writers from Indiana People from Madison, Indiana 20th-century American geologists