Roald H. Fryxell

Roald Hilding Fryxell (February 18, 1934 – May 18, 1974) was an American educator, geologist and archaeologist. He was a Professor of Anthropology at Washington State University (WSU) and pioneer in the interdisciplinary field of geoarchaeology, with a career that involved work on monumental projects in North America and even outer space.

Early life Roald H. Fryxell, or later known as "Fryx" to his friends, was born on February 18, 1934, in Moline, Illinois. His parents were Fritiof Fryxell, a renowned mountain climber, writer, and Professor of Geology, and Regina Holmén Fryxell, an organist and music teacher. Both parents were on the faculty of Augustana College in Illinois. From a young age, Roald was involved in drawing, sports, and poetry but pursued science, and later selected geology for his graduate studies.

Education Fryxell graduated in 1956 with an A.B. degree in geology from Augustana College, where his parents worked. After graduating, Roald married his college sweetheart, Helen Broberg. After their honeymoon in Jackson Hole, Roald worked a short stint as the naturalist for Grand Teton National Park until starting graduate school at Washington State University (WSU). While at WSU, Roald broadened his education, taking classes in ecology, archaeology, and pedology under Rexford F. Daubenmire, Richard Daugherty and Henry Smith. In the summers of graduate school, 1957 and 58, Roald worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Colville Reservation. During this time Roald and Helen had two children, Jenny and Tom. While raising his family, Roald took a job as Superintendent of Ginkgo Petrified Forest State Park. In September 1971 Roald returned to WSU and was hired as a Junior Geologist. Fryxell worked with his students and Richard Daugherty on the Marmes Rock Shelter at the confluence of the Palouse and Snake Rivers. The site was found to be 10,000 to 12,000 years old and therefore a monumental find in North America. In 1971 Fryxell completed his Ph.D. at the University of Idaho.

Career Dr. Fryxell, known as "Fryx" by his friends, later became professor of anthropology specializing in geochronology at Washington State University. He was noted for his interdisciplinary work in geoarchaeology. During the 1960s Fryxell worked with two members of the U.S. Geological Survey under a National Science Foundation grant to study an archeological site named Hueyatlaco, at the north shore of the Valsequillo Reservoir, in the state of Puebla, Mexico. They discovered stone tools that they dated from 250,000 years ago. This finding was received with great skepticism by the archaeological community.

In 1968 Fryxell was a co-principal investigator with Richard Daugherty (WSU) during the unearthing of the Marmes Rockshelter from the floodplain of the Palouse River near the confluence of the Palouse and Snake Rivers in southeastern Washington. The site was found to contain some of the oldest human remains in the western hemisphere at 12,000 years of age.

In 1969, The Senate of the State of Washington offered Roald Fryxell and Richard Daugherty the titles of "Distinguished Citizen". Fryxell was then listed as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America in Who's Who in the West.

Although a geologist by training, his work was extremely interdisciplinary. He was influenced by the archaeology of Dr. Daugherty and created new methods for archaeological sampling methods. For example, his soil stratigraphy sampling which later became known as soil monoliths. This preserved entire sections of the stratigraphy of a site, which could then be brought back to the archaeological laboratory at Washington State University.

Teaching was of primary importance to Fryxell and he involved students on many of his monumental projects. Leslie Wildeson remembers him as teaching his students to truly understand the why behind every question, the reason for every method and power of the scientific method. With the site's location above Lower Monumental Dam, it was to be quickly inundated with the rising reservoir in February 1969. This led to an enormous archaeological salvage effort in the months leading up to the water rise. Despite the salvage efforts, Fryxell and Daugherty continued to fight the Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Government to delay the inundation of the site and preserve the area for future generations. The two professors gave talks, presentations and sent pleas for help through hundreds of institutions. They caught the attention of President Lyndon B. Johnson, who issued an Executive Order to protect the site. This order allotted 1.5 million dollars toward building a coffer dam around the site to hold back the water. However, disaster struck when the barrier failed, and water seeped through the earth-fill wall. Excavation of the site had little more than started when the barrier failed. An army of volunteers and archaeologists were present at the site as it became inundated by the reservoir waters. They attempted to protect the site with tarps and tons of sand and gravel in hopes of preserving it for future studies.