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Wilbur A. Davis ’49

Wilbur A. Davis ’49, July 27, 1999, at his home in Albany, Oregon. Prior to attending Reed, Buck was employed in the lumber industry and served with the marine corps during World War II. He earned a master’s degree in anthropology in 1956 and a PhD in 1962 from the University of Oregon. He was an archaeologist and anthropologist at the Museum of Natural History in Santa Barbara, California, and at the State Museum in Carson City, Nevada. He taught anthropology at the University of Oregon and the University of Nevada. In 1966, he joined the faculty of Oregon State University, where he set up the department of anthropology and served as its chairman until retiring in 1977. He conducted archaeological digs in Alaska, California, and Nevada every summer from 1950 to 1977. In addition to numerous scientific publications, he published articles on Western folklore, including “Logger and Splinter-Picker Talk,” a treatise comparing the lives of old-time loggers to those of the ’50s. His hobbies included furniture design and crafting, building guitars, and hunting. Survivors include his wife, two nephews, and three grand-nephews.

Appeared in Reed magazine: November 1999