68 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1947 



occupation than that west of the Missouri occur in the Jamestown- 

 Devils Lake-Sheyenne area. Along the main stream of the Missouri 

 in the Dakotas are some of the largest and best preserved and most 

 impressive fortified Indian village sites in the United States. They 

 contain much of the story of the development of Arikara, Mandan, 

 and other upper Missouri cultures. 



In many of the sites there is evidence of stratification and a se- 

 quence of cultures or a series of stages in cultural development. 

 Others contain the record of prehistoric floods, of silting and soil 

 erosion, of recurrent droughts, and fluctuation in climate. The ex- 

 cavation and the interpretation of the data contained in such sites 

 will contribute greatly, not only to the story of the growth and 

 development of the Plains Indians, but to our understanding of 

 conditions similar to those met and overcome by the aboriginal peoples. 

 For this reason the excavation and testing of several sites in three 

 Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs was recommended for the fiscal 

 year 1948, and for two important sites at one Corps of Engineers 

 project. 



J. Joseph Bauxar, archeologist, joined the Missouri Basin staff 

 on July 16, 1946. From that date until August 3 he devoted his time 

 to obtaining information on archeological remains in the Dakotas, 

 from reports on previous excavations and surveys in that area, and 

 in making preparations for work in the field. From August 3 until 

 September 22, in company with Paul L. Cooper, he engaged in a 

 preliminary reconnaissance of reservoir projects in Nebraska, South 

 Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana. In these reservoir basins a 

 total of 68 sites were examined, site locations and descriptions being 

 recorded and surface collections made. During the laboratory period, 

 from September 22 until April 24, 1947, Mr. Bauxar prepared pre- 

 liminary reports for seven of the reservoirs, Angostura, Box Butte, 

 Bronco, Crosby, Deslacs, Fort Randall, and Jamestown, and pre- 

 pared a technical report entitled "Notes on the Archeology of the 

 Upper James and Sheyenne River Valleys and the Devils Lake 

 Area." From April 24 until May 7 he joined Wesley L. Bliss in 

 preliminary surveys of three reservoirs in Kansas, one in Colorado, 

 and five in Nebraska. During this period 25 sites, none of which had 

 been recorded previously, were visited. From May 7 to June 2 the 

 time was spent in collaborating with Wesley L. Bliss and Theodore 

 E. White on a report entitled "Preliminary Appraisal of Archeologi- 

 cal and Paleontological Resources of the Proposed Reservoirs in the 

 RepubJican River Basin." On June 2 Mr. Bauxar left Lincoln, as 

 a member of the field party under the direction of Paul L. Cooper, to 

 make a reconnaissance of the Fort Randall Reservoir in South Da- 

 kota. This work was still in progress at the end of the fiscal year. 



