The flag Doug Larson found in the old garage had just 42 stars. The photograph Doug also found was of a company-sized unit of soldiers, probably from Jamestown, N.D., in the Spanish-American War era.

For years, archaeologists thought it was just a flag. However, former Jamestown curator Bly Straube proposed that the flag could indicate an enclosure or even a garden. A close-up view of James ...