By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Groveland Twp. — In October 1977, Brandon Township farmer Harold Shelton was dredging a pond along an existing creek bed. During the excavation two local teenagers found in the dredged soil part of a skull, teeth and a portion of a tusk of a 12,000 year old American mastodon. Paleontologists for The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor determined the mastodon was 13-17 years old and only the right tusk developed. Nearby two projectile points were found that were 8,500-9,000 years old.
The “Shelton mastodon,” is just one of the pieces of history that local historian, Carol Egbo will discuss from 6-7 p.m., Nov. 19, as the Brandon Township Public Library, 304 South St., Ortonville will present “Waterways, Trails, Artifacts and Wild Rice: Indigenous Connections to Oakland County.”
“People have been moving through the Oakland County area for thousands of years,” said Egbo. “They came back to the area that had resources such as lakes, rivers and woodlots.”
Egbo will also discuss a group of burial mounds in Groveland Township near the center.
“The mounds were a spiritual site often for leaders,” she said. “Other sites were along trials through the area.”