EAST—In early July, Archaeological Conservancy Eastern staff and site stewards gathered at the Egg Mountain Preserve in southwestern Vermont to stabilize the site and backfill excavation units from earlier work. The property holds the remains of a late 1700s–early 1800s settlement long linked by local tradition to Daniel Shays, who reportedly fled here after leading an unsuccessful tax revolt in Massachusetts.
Dr. Stephen Butz has conducted extensive archival research suggesting a strong connection to Shays and has led field schools investigating the site’s stone foundations. His recently completed dissertation places Egg Mountain within a broader archaeological and historical context.
The Conservancy acquired the property from The Conservation Fund, which hopes to sell surrounding lands to the state for a new state forest—an outcome that would aid the Conservancy’s stewardship. In the meantime, staff and stewards addressed safety and preservation concerns by lining an excavated privy with culvert pipes donated by the Sandgate Highway Department and backfilling the unit.
The Conservancy thanks its wonderful stewards Jim Henderson, Stephen Butz, Jack Blandford, and Dave Mance for their work, as well as Tyler and Jeannette Dogget of the Gosnell Foundation for funding educational materials and interpretive signage now in development.
Pictured, left to right: Egg Mountain Preserve stewards Jim Henderson, Stephen Butz, Jack Blandford, and Dave Mance work to backfill the site.
