SECRETARY'S REPORT 53 



covered. Much of the fill removed from the rectangular house pit 

 consisted of sherds, bone, and other refuse material attributable to 

 an intermediate late prehistoric occupation for which no houses have 

 yet been opened on the site. The 1955 work apparently confirms earlier 

 inferences that the site represents three separate occupations, the 

 earliest probably postdating circa A. D. 1300, the latest antedating 

 1800 and in all likelihood attributable to the Arikara. At the close 

 of the season Dr. Wedel recommended further investigations during 

 the 1956 season in order to ascertain the nature of the dwellings left 

 by the second occupation which it has been suggested may belong to 

 the Bennett Focus. The site also promises important data bearing 

 on the interpretation of village plans, the cultural sequences, and the 

 way of life of the prehistoric Indians of that area. 



The fourth party in the Oahe area in the 1955 season was sponsored 

 by the University of South Dakota and the South Dakota Archeo- 

 logical Commission working under a cooperative agreement with the 

 National Park Service. Dr. Wesley R. Hurt, of the University of 

 South Dakota, was the director, and the party continued excavation 

 of the Swan Creek site (39WW7) which was begun the previous year, 

 ending a 7-week season on August 1. Human burials, a moat, a pali- 

 sade, and houses were excavated, greatly increasing the information 

 on these features for the region. This party also conducted limited 

 test excavations at sites 39WW300, 39WW301, 39WW302, and 39- 

 WW303. 



In the North Dakota portion of the Oahe Reservoir area the State 

 Historical Society of North Dakota, working under a cooperative 

 agreement with the National Park Service, comprised the fifth field 

 party in that reservoir. The party, directed by Alan R. Woolworth, 

 conducted excavations at the Paul Brave (or Fort Yates) site (32S14) 

 from early July until late August. Three earth lodges of rectangular 

 pattern were excavated. Limited testing was also accomplished in 

 sites 32SI2 and 32SI3. Surface collections were made at a series of 

 other sites in the vicinity, and aerial survey provided photographic 

 records of 10 other sites in the North Dakota portion of the reservoir. 



The 1956 field season in the Oahe Reservoir area began early, and 

 by the end of the fiscal year six parties were in the field. G. Hubert 

 Smith led a Smithsonian Institution party to the vicinity of the dam- 

 construction area on May 21 and was still in the field at the end of 

 the fiscal year. Smith's party spent some time examining old historic 

 land records in the General Land Office at the State Capitol in Pierre, 

 as well as records in the South Dakota Historical Society, in an effort 

 to determine the location of various frontier trading posts. They then 

 covered the area carefully on foot and finally found what appear to be 

 the remains of Fort Pierre II which was in use around 1859-63. It 



