© 2010 Mitzi Rossillon, RTI, and the Mai Wah Society

A vacant lot in uptown Butte, Montana, yielded intriguing objects when it was carefully excavated in the summer of 2007. The artifacts unearthed provide a rare glimpse into everyday life in Butte’s thriving Chinatown community in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s.

Through a cooperative arrangement with the Montana Historical Society and the Mai Wah Society, an educational footlocker containing genuine artifacts from the excavation is available for checkout to Montana teachers. Additional footlocker contents were made possible through a grant funded by the Montana Archaeological Society. Links in the sidebar to the right lead to resources to assist educators in using the Digging the Past footlocker with their students.

The footlocker lessons are appropriate for 4th-8th grade classes. The inclusion of many links to optional challenging web sites extends the footlocker’s utility to the high school level.

Montana Historical Society Footlockers