What LiesBeneath ...

Stories About What Is Buried By

Jakie Shelter

Table Rock Lake © Tom Koob 2023

People lived on the alluvial terraces of the White River thousands of years before Table Rock Lake. The Bluffdwellers made their homes in rock shelters on the bluffs and ridges above the river. They hunted mastodon, giant sloth and short-faced bear. The Bluffdwellers fished the streams and gathered foods from the forest and glades. Eventually they cultivated an early form of corn. But these people either died out, moved on or were forced out of their hunting grounds by other First Nations people.

During the early development phase of the Table Rock project, the Universities of Missouri and Arkansas and the Missouri Archaeological Society made heroic efforts to identify and analyze these ancient sites before they were inundated by the big reservoir. Sites were found all along the White River and its many tributaries. Digs at these locations revealed much about the lives of the Bluffdwellers through the objects and human remains unearthed.

From 1955 through 1956, the Table Rock Salvage Project excavated a very important site on the upper Kings River — Jakie Shelter. Jakie was a large rock shelter about a half mile up Jakie Hollow from the Kings.

Excavation at Jakie Shelter revealed evidence of use over a prolonged period of time. A variety of artifacts were found in the different layers excavated, including seventeen burial sites. One of the interred

People lived on the alluvial terraces of the White River thousands of years before Table Rock Lake. The Bluffdwellers made their homes in rock shelters on the bluffs and ridges above the river. They hunted mastodon, giant sloth and short-faced bear. The Bluffdwellers fished the streams and gathered foods from the forest and glades. Eventually they cultivated an early form of corn. But these people either died out, moved on or were forced out of their hunting grounds by other First Nations people.

During the early development phase of the Table Rock project, the Universities of Missouri and Arkansas and the Missouri Archaeological Society made heroic efforts to identify and analyze these ancient sites before they were inundated by the big reservoir. Sites were found all along the White River and its many tributaries. Digs at these locations revealed much about the lives of the Bluffdwellers through the objects and human remains unearthed.

From 1955 through 1956, the Table Rock Salvage Project excavated a very important site on the upper Kings River — Jakie Shelter. Jakie was a large rock shelter about a half mile up Jakie Hollow from the Kings.

Excavation at Jakie Shelter revealed evidence of use over a prolonged period of time. A variety of artifacts were found in the different layers excavated, including seventeen burial sites. One of the interred skeletons was deemed to be that of a “medicine woman”. Along with her remains was an interesting assortment of personal belongings including beads, awls, a whistle, red ocher and a flint knife. The other skeletal finds ranged from the remains of infants to adults. It was hoped the bones would yield information on the life style and diseases of these early people. The Jakie Stemmed point is named for the unique shaped stone blades found at this site. They date from 5000-4000 BC.

An “open house” was held at the Jakie site in May, 1956. Over 5000 people from the area visited the dig site to view the archaeological work in progress.

Keith Shumaker of Golden, Mo. worked at the Jakie Shelter site in 1956. Keith was one of three local young men hired by the Table Rock Salvage Project to assist with the dig at Jakie. Local help was employed to help locate possible archaeological sites and also to work the digs. Keith was paid cont on page 46

$1.25 an hour for his hard work at Jakie.

Carl Chapman and Robert Bray of the University of Missouri and other members of the Missouri Archaeological Society oversaw the work at Jakie Shelter. Keith Shumaker described the site as a large bluff shelter with a significant overhang in the bluff wall next to Jakie Creek. The shelter was “dry” in that it did not have water flowing through it and was protected from the elements. Archaeological relics are typically much better preserved in a “dry” shelter. The area in and around the bluff shelter was marked off in a grid pattern with each square given its own identification. Using a mattock, Keith and the others working the site scraped away the soil looking for ashes, flint chips or any other sign of human habitation. If an interesting stratum was found, a small shovel, trowel and paint brush were used to carefully outline and remove an object. Bones were of particular interest.

Keith Shumaker was digging in one of the grid squares when his mattock struck something unusual. He immediately informed Bob Bray and upon further examination, they uncovered a human skull. This find was the burial of the “medicine woman” found at Jakie.

Keith remembers the open house held at Jakie Shelter as being a very large event with thousands of visitors coming from the region to view the archaeological work. To accommodate the big crowd, the road to Jakie was improved by grading. Local Boy Scouts, Sheriff’s deputies and several members of the Missouri Archaeological Society were recruited for crowd control and as guides.

Keith says the local store ran out of refreshments well before noon. Shumaker says he learned a lot from Chapman and Bray and is glad he had the experience working at Jakie Shelter.

Jakie Shelter was just one of hundreds of ancient sites examined in the White River Valley. Almost all of these locations are now covered by tons of Table Rock Lake water. The hard work done by archaeologists of the Table Rock Lake Salvage project was able to capture important information and clues about the lives of the people who inhabited this Ozarks region before their traces were forever buried by Table Rock Lake.

Tom Koob is a local author who has written several books about Ozarks history.

His work is available on Amazon “new” books or by contacting him at: wolpublishing@gmail.com.