SECRETARY'S REPORT Sl 
August 17, under the sponsorship of the River Basin Surveys, he 
began excavation of the large double mound by cutting a trench 
across the saddle between the two parts of the unit. The southern 
face of the trench was then carried forward toward the larger mound. 
Joseph R. Caldwell joined Bell on August 19 and they decided that 
neither the available time nor funds would permit the customary 
method of cutting forward with a continuous vertical face. Accord- 
ingly, a 10-foot trench was driven through the north-south axis of 
the mound to reach its base and to obtain a complete profile. The 
work continued until September 22. Surprisingly, the mound 
yielded very few specimens. Potsherds and artifacts were scarce 
throughout its various levels. It was learned, however, that its 
main portion was composed of six superimposed platforms which 
probably had been the placements for public buildings, although no 
complete post-hole patterns were discovered. The summit of the 
fifth stage above the base had been divided into two nearly equal 
areas by a single row of posts, and the entire level gave evidence of a 
severe conflagration in prehistoric times. Four human burials were 
found in the top level, but they were in such an advanced stage of 
decomposition that little remained to indicate their character. A 
number of glass beads in the same level suggests a historic contact in 
the final days of occupation. The results of the digging indicated 
that no additional work was required at the Norman site. During 
the course of the investigations there, however, another site was 
located which appears to be an important one, and it was recommended 
that further efforts in the Fort Gibson area be concentrated there. 
Red River of the North Basin.—Between August 27 and October 
29, 1948, Richard P. Wheeler, archeologist, investigated four Corps 
of Engineers reservoir areas in the Red River of the North Drainage 
Basin: the Homme Reservoir, under construction on the South Branch 
of the Park River, the proposed Pembina River and Tongue River 
Reservoirs, in northeastern North Dakota; and the proposed Orwell 
Reservoir, on the Ottertail River, in west-central Minnesota. In 
reports on those surveys, prepared at the Lincoln office of the River 
Basin Surveys between November 5 and 19 and issued at Washington, 
D. C., in December 1948, Wheeler noted the occurrence of sites in the 
vicinity of the Homme and Orwell Reservoirs but recorded the dis- 
covery of only one archeological site in the reservoir areas proper, 
an occupation site in the Pembina River Reservoir. The finding of 
bison bones in all four of the reservoir areas indicates that the river 
valleys were formerly the habitat of bison and perhaps of other large 
game and were possibly visited by hunting bands in prehistoric and 
historic times. It was recommended that rechecks be made at the 
Homme Reservoir, following the clearing of timber and underbrush, 
