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Native Americans Were Original Residents of Nation's Capital

Cecily Hilleary

   WASHINGTON - During his time in the White House, Former President
   Gerald Ford decided to build an outdoor swimming pool. National Park
   Service archaeologists examined the site of the dig, which is standard
   operating procedure when anything is constructed on national parkland.
   They found Native American artifacts, evidence of an indigenous
   presence in Washington dating back millennia.

   "Very little is known about the earliest Native Americans in
   Washington, say from 12,000 to 16,000 years ago," said Ruth Trocolli,
   city archaeologist for the District of Columbia ( D.C.), who works to
   identify and preserve Washington's archaeological heritage. "D.C.
   developed far too quickly for those kinds of sites to be easily
   identified today."

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