﻿68 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  Returning 
  to 
  the 
  bureau 
  on 
  June 
  15, 
  Doctor 
  Waterman 
  began 
  the 
  

   preparation 
  of 
  a 
  report 
  on 
  the 
  Alaskan 
  monuments. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  1921, 
  Mr. 
  W. 
  E. 
  Myer 
  investigated 
  sites 
  in 
  South 
  

   Dakota 
  and 
  western 
  Missouri, 
  known 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  

   Omahas 
  and 
  Osages 
  in 
  early 
  historic 
  times, 
  after 
  they 
  had 
  come 
  in 
  

   contact 
  with 
  the 
  whites 
  but 
  before 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  changed 
  thereby 
  

   to 
  any 
  considerable 
  extent. 
  

  

  Especial 
  attention 
  was 
  paid 
  to 
  any 
  resemblance 
  to 
  the 
  ancient 
  

   cultures 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  valleys 
  of 
  the 
  Ohio, 
  Cumberland, 
  and 
  Ten- 
  

   nessee 
  Rivers. 
  This 
  line 
  of 
  research 
  was 
  suggested 
  by 
  certain 
  tradi- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  both 
  the 
  Omahas 
  and 
  the 
  Osages, 
  and 
  other 
  branches 
  of 
  the 
  

   great 
  Siouan 
  linguistic 
  family, 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  lived 
  east 
  

   of 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  River, 
  and 
  after 
  many 
  wanderings, 
  stopping 
  here 
  

   and 
  there 
  for 
  years, 
  finally 
  reached 
  their 
  present 
  homes 
  in 
  South 
  

   Dakota 
  and 
  western 
  Missouri. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Francis 
  La 
  Flesche 
  reported 
  that 
  the 
  traditions 
  of 
  his 
  people, 
  

   the 
  Omahas, 
  were 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  occupied 
  two 
  important 
  villages 
  on 
  

   what 
  the 
  Omahas 
  call 
  " 
  The 
  Big 
  Bend 
  of 
  the 
  Xe," 
  at 
  some 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  

   seventeenth 
  or 
  eighteenth 
  century. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  M}'er 
  was 
  enabled 
  to 
  locate 
  these 
  two 
  ancient 
  villages 
  ; 
  one. 
  

   Split 
  Rock 
  site 
  on 
  the 
  Big 
  Sioux 
  River, 
  at 
  its 
  junction 
  with 
  Split 
  

   Rock 
  River; 
  the 
  other 
  where 
  the 
  Rock 
  Island 
  Railroad 
  now 
  crosses 
  

   the 
  Big 
  Sioux 
  River, 
  about 
  10 
  miles 
  southeast 
  of 
  Sioux 
  Falls. 
  It 
  is 
  

   here 
  designated 
  the 
  Rock 
  Island 
  site. 
  

  

  Sometime 
  in 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  century 
  the 
  Omahas 
  and 
  Poncas 
  re- 
  

   moved 
  from 
  the 
  Pipestone 
  region 
  in 
  Minnesota 
  and 
  finally, 
  after 
  

   some 
  further 
  wanderings, 
  built 
  a 
  fortified 
  town 
  on 
  the 
  Rock 
  Island 
  

   site. 
  While 
  living 
  in 
  this 
  fortified 
  place 
  they 
  were 
  attacked 
  and 
  de- 
  

   feated 
  by 
  an 
  enemy, 
  most 
  probably 
  the 
  Dakotas, 
  and 
  finally 
  forced 
  

   to 
  leave 
  the 
  region. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  tradition 
  that 
  they 
  buried 
  their 
  dead 
  

   from 
  this 
  fight 
  in 
  a 
  mound. 
  This 
  tradition 
  was 
  confirmed 
  by 
  excava- 
  

   tions 
  made 
  by 
  Mr. 
  A. 
  G. 
  Risty 
  and 
  Mr. 
  F. 
  W. 
  Pettigrew, 
  who 
  report 
  

   finding 
  a 
  considerable 
  amount 
  of 
  human 
  bones. 
  Some 
  glass 
  beads 
  and 
  

   small 
  copper 
  bells 
  of 
  white 
  man's 
  make 
  were 
  also 
  found 
  in 
  one 
  of 
  these 
  

   mounds. 
  There 
  is 
  evidence 
  that 
  this 
  site 
  was 
  occupied 
  somewhere 
  

   between 
  1700 
  and 
  1725. 
  

  

  After 
  leaving 
  the 
  Rock 
  Island 
  site, 
  the 
  Omahas 
  and 
  Poncas 
  roved 
  

   without 
  long 
  permanent 
  settlements 
  for 
  several 
  years, 
  but 
  finally 
  re- 
  

   turned 
  to 
  the 
  Xe 
  and 
  built 
  a 
  permanent 
  village 
  at 
  Split 
  Rock 
  at 
  the 
  

   junction 
  of 
  the 
  Big 
  Sioux 
  and 
  Split 
  Rock 
  Rivers. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Myer 
  spent 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  October, 
  1921, 
  in 
  exploring 
  this 
  Split 
  

   Rock 
  site. 
  Many 
  interesting 
  relics 
  of 
  the 
  Omahas 
  were 
  here 
  un- 
  

   earthed, 
  which 
  throw 
  new 
  light 
  on 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  these 
  people 
  before 
  they 
  

   had 
  been 
  very 
  much 
  changed 
  by 
  contact 
  with 
  the 
  whites. 
  

  

  