Richard Daugherty

Richard Deo Daugherty (March 31, 1922 – February 22, 2014) was an American archaeologist and professor, who led the excavation of the Ozette Indian Village Archeological Site in Washington state during the 1970s. The Ozette Indian Village, which was buried and preserved in a mudslide in the 1700s, has been called "most significant archaeological digs of the 20th century" in the Pacific Northwest. Daugherty collaborated closely with the Makah during the dig, which uncovered more than 55,000 artifacts.

Daugherty was born in Aberdeen, Washington, in March 31, 1922. He developed an interest in archeology as a child when he found buried objects around Grays Harbor. He enlisted during World War II. Daugherty was based at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst in Lakehurst, New Jersey, where he flew blimps over the Atlantic to watch for potential German attacks.

He enrolled at the University of Washington after the war, where he received a doctorate in ethnography in 1954. He joined Washington State University as an assistant professor in 1954, where he taught for about thirty years, He eventually became the chairman of the department.

In 1966, Daugherty joined with both Washington state U.S. senators, Sen. Henry M. Jackson and Warren Magnuson, to successfully pass the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

In 1970, a winter storm uncovered the remains of a pre-European village at Cape Alava, now known as the Ozette Indian Village Archeological Site, which had been buried by a mudslide in the 1700s. Edward Eugene Claplanhoo, who was chairman of the Makah at the time, immediately recognized the significance of the discovery. Claplanhoo contacted Richard Daugherty at Washington State University. Daugherty and Claplanhoo had known each other since the 1950s. In the early 1950s, Daugherty has served as the WCU freshman class adviser when Claplanhoo held office as the freshman class treasurer.

Daugherty sought the advice of Claplanhoo and other Makah leaders during the excavation. While it is common today to consult with local and indigenous communities, Daugherty's manner of working with Makah officials was considered revolutionary at the time. According to Janine Bowechop, a historic preservation officer for the Makah, "He was so progressive at a time when it was so uncommon...Dr. Daugherty taught people how tribes and scientists can work together." Claplanhoo lobbied on behalf of the Makah to keep the Ozette artifacts in local hands. The artifacts are now housed and displayed at the Makah Museum, which opened in 1979. In 2010, Ruth Kirk, an author of books on Ozette (and Daugherty's wife since 2007), spoke of Daugherty's and Claplanhoo close partnership on Ozette dig saying, "Ed and Dick were really instrumental in getting the museum set up. Usually, back then, artifacts were taken back to the university, but here Dick always wanted them, and Ed worked with him because the Makah wanted them to stay in Neah Bay...Now it is common to do that, but back then it was a new idea."

Daugherty also directed the excavation of the Marmes Rockshelter, in which 10,000-year-old human remains were discovered, before the area was submerged by water due to the construction of the Lower Monumental Dam on the Snake River in 1969.

Daugherty and Ruth Kirk, a nature writer, co-authored "Hunters of the Whale," which explored the early years of the Ozette Indian Village Archeological Site through 1974. Kirk and Daugherty further published another book, "Archaeology in Washington," released in 2007. Ruth Kirk and Daugherty, who were both widowed and longtime friends, married in 2007 in a wedding held in a historic replica of an Ozette-era longhouse.

Richard Daugherty died in Pullman, Washington, on February 22, 2014, at the age of 91. He was a resident of the Panorama retirement community in Lacey, Washington, at the time. His wife, Ruth Kirk, had just completed a draft of a new book on the Ozette Indian Village a few days before his death.