Archaeological Report
Harney County Oregon, Range Seeding Projects

Mill Gulch seeding encompasses about 570 acres, or 228 hectares, of land. Warm Springs Creek and its tributary, Mill Gulch Creek, bisect the project area and their broad, gently sloping floodplains cover about half of the seeding area. The rest of the area consists of the lower slopes and terraces of the steep hills on either side of the creeks. Elevation varies from slightly under 3800 feet to 4000 feet. Vegetation is primarily sagebrush with some areas of scattered junipers.

The entire Mill Gulch survey was conducted by Goheen, apparently on April 10, 11, 12, 14, 17 and 18, 1980. Twelve archeological sites and one isolated find were recorded. Of the twelve sites, ten were less than a hectare in extent, ranging from .03 to .6 hectares with a mean size of .28 hectare. Three of these small sites were located adjacent to Warm Springs Creek or Mill Gulch Creek and the others were at slightly higher elevations along intermittent side drainages. A total of 23 tools were recorded from the ten small sites: 11 projectile points, nine bifaces and three unifaces. Eight of the ten sites were rated S-3 in significance and the other two were rated S-2.

Of the two large sites, one covers four hectares adjacent to Mill Gulch Creek, and the other covers ten hectares at the confluence of Mill Gulch Creek and Warm Springs Creek. Nine projectile points and no other tools were observed at the smaller of the two sites, while the other site yielded four projectile points and two bifaces. Both of these sites were rated S-2 in significance. In the brief survey report, the investigator suggests that they may be eligible for the National Register of Historic places if testing reveals subsurface deposits. No such testing is anticipated in the near future.