Oral Histories

Thomas E. Marceau is an archaeologist and cultural resources specialist at the Hanford site. In this interview, he discusses the geological history of the Hanford area and the Native American tribes that have lived in the area for thousands of years. He also highlights how the displacement of Native Americans has resulted in a cultural and historical crisis for these tribes, because their identities, lives, and communities revolve around the lands their ancestors inhabited. He emphasizes the importance of risk assessments of the Hanford land that include the perspective and concerns of Native American tribes.

Colonel Franklin Matthias, a civil engineer, was a close associate of General Groves throughout the Manhattan Project, and was asked to review sites in the West. Matthias and two Du Pont representa­tives looked quickly at possible sites in Montana, Oregon, and California, as well as Washington. Matthias decided Hanford, isolated and with a good supply of water, was the best choice. Groves appointed Matthias officer-in-charge at Hanford, granting him authority over civilian operations as well as military.

By 1984, at the time of this interview, the Wanapum Tribe numbered two full-blooded survivors. One was Frank Buck, 16 years old when the Army came to build the Hanford Engineer Works. He was the son of Chief Johnny Buck, who became a friend of many Hanford project people. Frank was uncle to Rex Buck, whose interview is also featured on this site. Frank worked at the Wanapum Dam information center, upstream from Hanford, talking to visitors about the history of his tribe.

Rex Buck, a member of the Wanapum Indian tribe, grew up near the Manhattan Project site at Hanford along the Columbia River. When the government selected Hanford as a site for plutonium production, Buck and the rest of the Wanapum tribes were forced off their land. Buck discusses the impact of being forced off aboriginal lands and how the tribe coped with this event. He also discusses the Indians’ connection with the land and expresses his hope for future generations of Wanapum Indians.