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Benjamin L. C. Wailes and the Archaeology of Mississippi
Ian W. Brown Abstract
Widely recognized as Mississippi?s first geologist, as well as ?A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region" (Sydnor 1938), B. L. C. Wailes is arguably Mississippi?s first archaeologist too. And, for well into the twentieth century, he remained its finest archaeologist. Wailes contributions to site survey, especially his detailed descriptions, have few competitors in the mid-nineteenth century. He visited most of the well known sites in the state of Mississippi, including Anna, Windsor, Emerald, Haynes Bluff, Fort St. Pierre, Fatherland, Mulatto Bayou, andNanih Waya, and made excellent recordings of their layout, mound dimensions, and other features. This paper is but a small tribute to what was a side interestfor a most eclectic and interesting natural historian.
Introduction
I was introduced to B. L. C. Wailes in 1971. As an undergraduate about ready to set off for Mississippi on what was to be my first fieldwork experience, I knew I was in desperate need of background information. Natchez was my destination, so naturally I looked up ?Natchez? in the Harvard library system. Charles S. Sydnor?s (1938) A Gentleman of the Old Natchez Region seemed like a logical place to start, so Wailes was one of the first historical personages I encountered in my fledgling efforts to be educated about the South. 1 was excited to learn that Wailes had actually been involved in some early archaeological research dealing with potential Paleo-Indian remains (Sydnor 1938:172-77), but beyond that he seemed to be more interested in rocks, bones, and agricultural products, certainly not worthy of more intensive study for me.
In 1975 I was midway through my doctoral research in the Yazoo Bluffs region north of Vicksburg. Gordon Cotton, currently Director of the Old Courthouse Museum and at that time a columnist for the Vicksburg Evening Post, took me under his wing. As a historian, he was fascinated with any-
Mississippi Archaeology: Vol. 33, No. 2