SPRINGFIELD (AP) — Archeologists say the remains of four people and 12 graves from 19th-century white settlers in the Willamette Valley have been found this year at the site of a new hospital in Springfield.

A backhoe operator in May spotted what appeared to be a human bone. Archeologists were called in. They held a press conference Tuesday to describe their findings.

Tom Connolly of the University of Oregon says the remains are believed to be from the Stevens family, possibly the first white family in the town.

He says the family buried a dozen members at the site by the mid-1880s, but in 1901, eight burials were relocated.

He says it’s possible that the four burials left behind had been marked with wooden crosses and the locations forgotten by the time of the relocations.

The site of the Sacred Heart RiverBend Hospital is within the pioneering land claim of William M. Stevens, according to the researchers.

In 1847, Stevens and his wife, Hixey, and 10 children traveled from Missouri to Oregon in a covered wagon and settled on a 640-acre land claim near the McKenzie River.

Stevens died in 1860 in a farm accident. The original homestead was divided among family members and resold by 1900.

“The recovered remains include that of an adult male, two children younger than age 10, and an infant,” said Connolly, director of research at the university’s Museum of Natural and Cultural History.

The remains have not been identified. They were found among 12 grave sites.

Along with the human remains, researchers found coffin wood, hardware and nails, buttons, a suspender buckle, glass beads and a ring, among other items.

Steve Moore of Eugene and his brother, Gary Moore of Medford, were at the press conference. William M. Stevens was their great-great-great-great-grandfather.

“Had no idea,” said Gary Moore, a 1969 graduate of Springfield High School. “It’s quite amazing because as kids we picked berries in that area. All I knew back to was Welby.”

Welby Stevens, grandson of William M. Stevens, was the mayor of Springfield in the 1930s, said Steve Moore.

He brought along the family Bible that William M. Stevens carried on the Oregon Trail as well as the land donation claims of the family, one signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, the other by President Rutherford B. Hayes.