Jun 20

Ohio historian indicted for moving huge rock

An Ohio historian may be caught between a rock and some hard time.

Nine months after Steven Shaffer of Ironton, Ohio, led an effort to remove an 8-ton boulder from the Ohio River, a Greenup County, Ky., grand jury has indicted him on a felony charge for removing the historic rock. Now Shaffer faces a criminal charge of removing an object of antiquity, a Class D felony that could earn him one to five years in prison.

The rock, which Kentucky contends was on its side of the river, is listed on the state’s official antiquities register. Kentucky law requires that a permit be obtained from the Office of State Archaeology before an object on the register is removed.

Shaffer said yesterday that he had not received official notification of the indictment and planned to check with authorities to determine his next step. He said he plans to fight the charge.

“I’m really surprised,” he said. “It’s not about historic preservation, we all know that. It’s about revenge.”

He added: “It just amazes me that it … couldn’t have been resolved any other way.”

The indictment is the latest chapter in an unusual battle that has generated stories in The New York Times and on CBS News.

Shaffer has not disputed allegations that last September he and a group of divers found the boulder and removed it from the river.

The rock, which is about 4 ½ feet tall and 6 feet wide, contains carvings of a crude face — possibly done by prehistoric Indians — and names of Portsmouth, Ohio, families from the early 1900s.

The rock was once a navigational marker and an attraction for locals who ventured out into the river to carve their names into it. But at the time it was removed, it was submerged in the river and hadn’t been seen since the 1920s.

It is now stored in a city garage in Portsmouth, which wants to put it on display at a tourist welcome center because of its historical significance.

Greenup Commonwealth’s Attorney Cliff Duvall said yesterday that extradition proceedings, which could take several months, would begin soon if Shaffer does not turn himself in to Kentucky authorities.

Duvall said the grand jury is also considering indictments against others who helped Shaffer remove the rock from the river.

He said that “what’s important is that all of these things be protected and that the law of Kentucky be observed.”

The attorneys general of Ohio and Kentucky are working with lawmakers and historians to decide what should be done with the rock. Shaffer said he doesn’t understand why “a rock with just graffiti of Portsmouth, Ohio, is protected.”

He said there is mounting evidence that the face carving was not done by an Indian and that the rock is therefore not as significant as historians once believed.

“Nobody tried to prove that (the carving was done by an American Indian) harder than me,” Shaffer said. “I liked the theory, it was romantic.”

This year’s General Assembly approved a resolution condemning the rock’s removal.

Its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Reginald Meeks of Louisville, is a member of Kentucky’s Native American Heritage Commission, which promotes awareness of American Indian issues and works to preserve their cultural resources.

He said in an interview yesterday that the case against Shaffer is not about how Kentucky was preserving the rock or why the rock was significant.

“He willfully violated the law,” he said. “He knew ahead of time there were procedures (for doing archaeological work).”