Buttons. Nails. A broken shovel. A shard from a ceramic plate.
The items read like contents from a landfill, but for archaeologists with the University of Idaho, they tell the story of an early farm near Boise in a way history books can’t.
The Dry Creek Historical Society asked professors and students from the university to visit the Schick-Ostolasa farm in the Foothills north of Boise last week to uncover this sort of history. The property is considered one of the oldest farmsteads in the Treasure Valley, and University of Idaho archaeology professor Mark Warner said oral tradition suggested a blacksmith building had once stood in what is now a grassy area near the historic farmhouse and other structures…