There were days when even four-wheel-drive was no match for the water. It was November 2020, and Julie Schablitsky, chief archaeologist at the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration, was trying to navigate swampy terrain in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, in Dorchester County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Some days, it was impossible: After a rain, water pooled on the roads. Even when the crew could get through, the murky liquid breached their boots. When Herschel Johnson, a local history buff who grew up in Dorchester County, tagged along,…
