Father and son plead guilty to illegally digging up arrowheads

Two Orofino men pled guilty Monday to digging up native American artifacts on federally managed land.

The U.S. attorney’s office announced that Eddie Leroy Anderson, 67, and Eddie Joseph Anderson, Jr., 33, admitted that they dug up “chips” or arrowheads last year on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho County.

Anderson and Anderson said they went to the Salmon River Canyon and dug several holes, sifted soil, and found the arrowheads.  Taking the artifacts on BLM land without a permit violates the Archaeological Resources Protection Act.

The two men face a federal misdemeanor charge, which carries a maximum prison sentence of one year and a fine of up to $10,000.  A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.