THE ANCIENT MAN BESIDE THE RIVER

This is the story of Kennewick Man.

It begins beside a river.

And it ends — or rather, reaches its most important chapter — with a DNA test that changed everything.

SECTION 1: THE MOMENT EVERYTHING CHANGED

July 28, 1996.

Kennewick, Washington.

The Benton County coroner, Floyd Johnson, received the call around mid-afternoon.

A skull had been found near Columbia Park, along the river’s edge.

Johnson drove out, took one look at the remains, and immediately recognized that this was not a recent death.

The bone was old.