Three Island Park reveals 1,000-year-old fish pot, ancient artifacts

Beltrami County’s Three Island Park now sits at the center of a preservation effort after archaeologists recovered a nearly complete fish pot estimated to be about 1,000 years old, along with 1,702 artifacts and 2,737 faunal remains. The find adds a prehistoric layer to a 2,915-acre park about 12 miles north of Bemidji, where residents still use the land for skiing, hiking and winter travel.

The park was deeded to Beltrami County in 1967 from the State of Minnesota and sits on Three Island Lake, where the Turtle River flows out of the lake and shapes the rolling terrain and habitat diversity. That same landscape is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an archaeological site, with the Three Island Park Site carrying NRHP #12000427 and a 2012 listing date. The designation identifies it as significant for prehistoric archaeological value and part of Minnesota’s Woodland Tradition.

Archaeologist Katie Terrell of Two Pines called Three Island Park “a very important site.” Terrell said Two Pines typically conducts 15 to 20 archaeological investigations a year, but this lightly wooded shoreline site drew attention early. The fish pot still contained fish bone layers, giving archaeologists a direct window into how people used the shoreline long before the park existed in Port Hope Township.

People have lived, hunted, fished and collected wild rice in the area northeast of Lake Bemidji for at least 1,000 years, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Three Island Park is one of the region’s especially rich archaeological sites, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Three Island Park remains a working recreation area, not a closed preserve. Beltrami County says summer use includes horseback riding, running, hunter walking and sightseeing, with three trailheads and basic amenities such as gravel parking, a vault toilet and a hand pump well. In winter, the park offers more than 28 kilometers of cross-country ski trails, 7 miles of snowmobile trails and a 2.12-mile snowshoe trail. The shelter serves as a warming house from Dec. 1 to March 31 and can be rented the rest of the year, while a species-of-concern protection area stays closed to recreation from Feb. 1 to July 31.

The county’s parks and recreation system manages more than 146,500 acres of county-owned and tax-forfeited land, but Three Island Park carries a different burden than most. The National Park Service says the National Register of Historic Places is the federal program for identifying and protecting historic and archaeological resources.