Fort McCoy ArtiFACT: Brick incinerators

Courtesy Photo | A brick structured incinerator is shown in its original form and when it was excavated during an archaeological dig at Fort McCoy, Wis. These incinerators were used more than 100 years ago during some of the earliest days of military training at the lands which are now known as Fort McCoy. In these early days, it was known as Camp Emory Upton, and saw military personnel march down from Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minn. (Photo illustration courtesy of Colorado State University personnel supporting Fort McCoy)  

FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES

01.10.2025

Courtesy Story

Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office           

Researchers with Colorado State University’s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands encountered an interesting structure while investigating what they thought was a homestead not far from the main gate of Fort McCoy.

Within one of the excavation units which had been placed to test a shallow dip in the landscape that was presumed to be man-made, archaeologists encountered a circular masonry structure constructed of brick and mortar with large amounts of artifacts present around it.

Inside the structure were other artifacts including partially burned wood, melted glass, and other burned pieces of metal that were difficult to identify.

Researchers found a second circular brick and mortar masonry structure approximately 60 feet away from the first, and this structure was excavated completely and yielded cans, bacon tins, mammal bones, bottle glass, bottle caps, and more than 200 pieces of metal.

Both structures contained not only food-related artifacts but architectural materials, such as screws and nails, which led researchers to determine that the final use of these brick structures was as an incinerator.

The brick structures may have initially been used as ovens for cooking based on the recovery of food remains including beef bones and food-related bottles and cans, although no artifacts such as cooking utensils, pots and pans were recovered making it difficult to confidently assign a primary use of these structures as brick ovens.

These incinerators were used more than 100 years ago during some of the earliest days of military training at the lands which are now known as Fort McCoy. In these early days, it was known as Camp Emory Upton, and saw military personnel march down from Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minn., to spend roughly two weeks training here.

The military ammunition and uniform items such as buckles, buttons, and insignia found at the site confirm that this particular location was used for military training, and this is further supported by a newspaper article from 1910 which described 55 men and two officers returning from training at Camp Emory Upton.

Camp Emory Upton benefitted from a railroad spur that would have brought most of the resources into camp, including sides of beef, tins of bacon, and buckets of lard from New York. This was the early days of refrigerated rail cars, so it is quite possible that some of the meat was not as well preserved as it would be today.

The high number of condiment jars found at the site might be the best indicator of this, as soldiers were using lots of mustard, ketchup, relish, and steak sauce to make their meals palatable. More than 100 years later, we have mobile kitchens that make the daily lives of soldiers much more comfortable, and they don’t need to use them as incinerators.

All archaeological work conducted at Fort McCoy was sponsored by the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.

Visitors and employees are reminded they should not collect artifacts on Fort McCoy or other government lands and leave the digging to the professionals.

Any individual who excavates, removes, damages, or otherwise alters or defaces any post-contact or pre-contact site, artifact, or object of antiquity on Fort McCoy is in violation of federal law.

The discovery of any archaeological artifact should be reported to the Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch.

(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Archaeology Team.)

• Date Taken: 01.10.2025
• Date Posted: 01.10.2025 14:50
• Story ID: 488924
• Location: FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US