SECRETARY'S REPORT 71 



MissouH Basin. — The Missouri Basin Project continued to operate 

 throughout fiscal 1953 from the field headquarters at Lincoln, Nebr. 

 Ralph D. Brown served as chief of the project from July 1 to Septem- 

 ber 7, when he died as the result of an accident. On September 22, 

 Robert L. Stephenson, who had been on leave from the River Basin 

 Surveys' staff, returned to active duty and was assigned to the super- 

 vision of the project, serving as acting chief throughout the remainder 

 of the year. In the interval from September 7 to 22, Dr. Frank H. H. 

 Roberts, Jr., was in direct charge of the Lincoln office. Activities dur- 

 ing the year were concerned with all four phases of the salvage pro- 

 gram. There were preliminary surveys; excavations; processing of 

 the collections obtained from the digging, analyses and study of the 

 materials, and the preparation of general and technical manuscripts 

 on the results ; and the publication and dissemination of scientific and 

 popular reports. Most of the work was in the second and third phases. 

 Much of phase 1 was finished in previous years and phase 4 will not get 

 into full swing until more of phase 3 is completed. At the start of 

 the year there was a permanent staff for the Missouri Basin Project 

 of 20 persons. In addition there were 4 temporary part-time em- 

 ployees assisting in the laboratory. Through July and August and 

 part of September 6 temporary assistant archeologists, 60 temporary 

 student laborers, and 25 local nonstudent laborers were employed in 

 the field. During the summer season 11 of the regular staff were also 

 engaged in fieldwork. As the surveys and excavations were brought 

 to a close the temporary employees were gradually laid off and by the 

 first of November only the permanent staff of 20 and a temporary 

 draftsman-illustrator were on the rolls. In May it became evident 

 that a much more limited budget would be available for 1954 and that 

 a reduction in force would be necessary. Consequently by the close of 

 the day's work on June 30 the staff had been reduced to 11 persons. 



On May 18 and 19 the Interior Missouri Basin Field Committee, 

 consisting of representatives from all the agencies of the Department 

 of the Interior concerned with the over-all Missouri Basin program, 

 held its 61st regular meeting at the River Basin Surveys' head- 

 quarters on the campus of the University of Nebraska, at the invitation 

 of the Missouri Basin Project and the Laboratory of Anthropology of 

 the University. The first session was devoted to routine business, but 

 during the evening of May 18 the members visited the Surveys' labo- 

 ratory located in the business section of Lincoln and heard Mr. 

 Stephenson explain in detail the mechanics of the field and laboratory 

 work of the salvage program. A series of exhibits of fossil speci- 

 mens, objects from historic sites, Indian-site artifacts, and methods 

 of pottery reconstruction was used to illustrate portions of Mr. Steph- 

 enson's talk. The visitors were also shown the entire process of han- 



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