Car dealer gets probation for bulldozing burial site
Story-Date: 04:37 p.m. PST Monday   , September 22, 1997

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Car dealer gets probation for bulldozing burial site


By Bob Baum
Associated Press Writer


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- A federal judge sentenced a southern Oregon car
dealer to four years' probation Monday for bulldozing an ancient Indian
burial ground to improve a small dam on his ranch.

U.S. District Judge Malcolm Marsh accepted the sentence for Oliver Spires,
43, of Klamath Falls as part of a settlement of a series of lawsuits.

But Marsh said that state and federal agencies that approved the dam
project deserve a share of the blame.

Under the settlement, Spires must help pay for the reburial of Indian
remains and funeral objects.

Several tribal members, including Klamath tribal chairman Jeff Mitchell,
sat in the courtroom as Spires was sentenced. They listened expressionless
as he said he was sorry.

"I apologize to the tribes for any unintentional damage that was done to
any cultural resource on my land or on federal land," Spires said.

Outside the courthouse, Mitchell said it was the first time Spires had
apologized for the damage done to the burial site of the Yahooskin band of
the Paiute Indians.

"It makes me wonder about how sincere he was" because the apology didn't
come until Spires was standing in front of a judge, Mitchell said.

In the fall of 1993, with approval and encouragement from federal and state
wildlife agencies, Spires hired a contractor to shore up a 70-year-old dam
to establish a wetland on his River's End Ranch 25 miles north of Lakeview.

Prosecutors said he should have known the land was a 5,000-year-old Indian
village site.

Spires initially was charged with a felony but, as part of the settlement,
the charge was reduced to two misdemeanor counts of disturbing an
architectural site on federal land. While no human remains were found on
the land that was disturbed, some human bone fragments were found in the
dike adjacent to the dam.

The Klamath tribe plans to file an appeal to get those bones returned for
re-burial.

Several, but not all, tribes have agreed to the settlement. However, the
settlement has resolved all outstanding lawsuits arising from the incident.

As part of the settlement, federal and state agencies will spend $380,000
to ease the damage.

The sentencing brought an end to the complex, 3-year-old case but did not
resolve the Indians' resentment.

"It's not ended as far as the families of the Yahooskin people who are
still alive today," Mitchell said. "It will probably never end until they
can have the opportunity to re-inter the remains of their relatives."

The settlement calls for sifting through the top layer of earth on the dam
and dike for human remains. The rest of the earth moved to bolster the dam
will not be examined.

Spires said he didn't know the area was an Indian burial site until after
the earth was moved. He said 13 federal and state agencies had reviewed the
project and that government officials periodically monitored the work with
no mention of the burial site.

Marsh agreed it was convenient for the blame "to settle on Mr. Spires when
there are many people in these faceless agencies and organizations that are
involved."

The judge said he considered rejecting the settlement and bringing the case
to trial to expose the role government agencies played in the damage. But
he accepted the compromise to bring the matter to conclusion.

Marsh said he believed Spires had "learned a hard lesson" by barging ahead
with his project without carefully studying its ramifications.

Spires, who operates car dealerships in Klamath Falls and Lakeview, said he
has spent $500,000 on the project and would spend $200,000 more under terms
of the settlement. He considers himself a scapegoat.

"I think I got thrown under the bus on this deal," he said, "but that's
water under the bridge right now."

He said there are no winners in the case and feels badly that the tribes
remain upset.

Spires said his main concern was to develop a wetland for wildlife, but he
acknowledged that he would get water rights for irrigation on some of his
land as part of the project. Mitchell said Spires also stands to make money
with private hunting outings on his land.

"The tribes are disappointed," Mitchell said. "We're frustrated by what's
occurred throughout this whole incident. ... Ever since we signed the
treaty with the United States government in 1864, the impact of the
legislative branch, judicial branch and executive branch has always
concerned the destruction, it seems, of Indian lands and resources.

"Now it's come to the point of even affecting the burial grounds of our
people."



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