74 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1953 



is important because the fort was established in connection with the 

 large Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara village, called Like-a-Fishhook, which 

 was occupied from about 1845 to 1890. The remams of the Indian 

 village were studied by parties from the North Dakota State Historical 

 Society under a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service, 

 but much information was needed with respect to the fort and the 

 evidence it might contain bearing on the relationships between the 

 Indians and the Whites. Fort Berthold was originally built in 1858 

 as a trading post and was known as Fort Atkinson. Its name was 

 changed in 1862, and from 1863 to 1867 it served as a military post. 

 Later it became the agency for the three tribes living in the adjacent 

 village. While there is fairly extensive documentary evidence about 

 the military and trading post, there are many gaps in the record and 

 the archeological excavations contributed information which will help 

 to complete the story of the activities there. About 75 percent of the 

 fort, including the stockade line and two bastions, was excavated. 

 Plans call for further work there during fiscal 1954, 



In July and August one party excavated the site of a fortified 

 village on the top of a small butte on the north bank of the Missouri 

 about 10 miles above Fort Berthold. The site is known by the name 

 Night- Walker's Butte in the Bull Pasture because there is an Indian 

 tradition to the eflect that a Hidatsa chief by the name of Night- 

 Walker broke away from the main tribe and led his band to the top of 

 a butte where he built a village. Two other sites in the area are also 

 in somewhat similar locations, and which of the three actually was the 

 Night-Walker village is open to question. Nothing found during the 

 excavations throws any light on the problem. The floor areas of 27 

 earth lodges were uncovered ; 29 fire pits, 26 cache pits, 10 roasting 

 pits, and 2 sweat lodges were dug; and approximately three-fourths of 

 the stockade which encircled the edge of the butte was traced. Ma- 

 terials found there suggest that the village was built about or shortly 

 before 1800. The excavations were completed and the detailed tech- 

 nical report on the results was well in progress at the end of the year. 



In September the party that worked on the butte investigated the 

 remains of an earth lodge across the river from the village site. It 

 was called Grandmother's Lodge and was the traditional dwelling 

 place of one of the Mandan or Hidatsa supernatural beings who was 

 believed to be the patroness of gardens and crops. The ceremonial 

 lodge, which was only partially excavated, appears to have been rec- 

 tangular in floor plan and may be older than any other lodge thus 

 far reported for that area. At least one additional lodge and prob- 

 ably several others are present at the site and further work is planned 

 for it during fiscal 1954. That particular location provides an ex- 

 cellent opportunity for comparing evidence obtained through archeo- 



