Birth Name: Roberta McGonagle
Birth Date: 10/24/1941
Birth Place: McCloud, California
Date of Death: 07/20/2025
Place of Death: Battle Mountain, Nevada
After graduating high school Bobbie attended UC Davis, earning both her Bachelor, and Masters of Arts degrees. Continuing her education, she went on to earn a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Missouri, Columbia, in 1974.
Although the school was in Missouri, the subject of her research was in Nevada in the Black Rock country. Her dissertation was titled “Time and Space Distributions of Prehistoric Occupation of the High Rock Lake Locality, Northwest Nevada.” Five years later is was republished by Desert Research Institute as “Surface Archaeology at High Rock Lake” (Desert Research Institute Publications in the Social Sciences, No. 14. Reno, Nevada).
Bobbie moved to Battle Mountain, Nev. in 1975 where she began her professional career which spanned more than three decades including 31 years working as an archaeologist for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). As only the second woman archaeologist in the Agency, she spent her entire federal career serving in the Battle Mountain District, where she mentored many young federal archaeologists. Among the many rock art sites she personally recorded and helped to manage, Bobbie was instrumental in establishing the Hickson Petroglyph Recreation Area. She documented Hispanic arborglyphs (tree carvings) on Bates Mountain. Them being Hispanic is unusual, as most arborglyphs were created by Basques. She wrote articles about the arborglyphs that appeared in the Nevada Free Press and Women in Natural Resources (Volume 12, No.1. 1990). She also co-authored one of the Nevada BLM report series with Lynda L. Waski, “Archaeological Survey of Springs in the Tonopah Resource Area” (BLM, Nevada, Contributions to the Study of Cultural Resources, Technical Report No. 2, Reno,. 1978). This report is still referenced in Central Nevada historic contexts.
Bobbie authored or co-authored 123 reports supporting projects that include: range leases and improvements such as corals, spring and well developments, fences, etc.; pipe-lines for water, gas and oil; access roads, haul roads and highway alignments; land sales and exchanges; controlled burn areas; borrow pits; communication sites and lines; off-road recreational trails and routes; landfills; mining projects; and renewable energy exploration in geothermal, wind, and solar. Bobbie retired from the BLM in September of 2006.
After her retirement, she began to fully pursue her love of photography, creating one of a kind hand-crafted jewelry, and traveling the world. All total she visited 28 countries on 32 different trips. Kat Russel was her traveling companion. She visited Albania, Argentina, Austria, Cambodia, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Lithuania, Miramar, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, the Netherlands, North Macedonia, Peru, Scotland, Tanzania, Turkey, and Vietnam.
A member of the Nevada Archaeological Association (NAA) and on the Board of Directors of the Nevada Rock Art Foundation, she was a longtime supporter of both organizations. In 2013 she was awarded the Silver Towel by the NAA, which is presented to professionals that have spent the majority of their professional career working in Nevada, have made outstanding, positive, and lasting contributions to archaeology in Nevada, and have maintained the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in the conduct of his or her career.
Bobbie passed away Sunday, July 20, 2025, at the age of 83 at her home in Battle Mountain, surrounded by her close friends, and those she considered her family. Her ashes are scattered on Bates Mountain, and her extensive collection of First Nations art and jewelry is being auctioned at NAA meetings, the proceeds of which will fund undergraduate archaeology scholarships.
Written by Kat Russell.
