PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 
issued (0A 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 
Vol. 92 Washington: 1942 No. 3134 
THE FREDA, N. DAK.. METEORITE: A NICKEL-RICH 
ATAXITE 
By E. P. Henprerson and Stuarr H. Perry 
Wuite plowing sod in May 1919, Henry G. Meyer, of Shields, 
N. Dak., found a unique little meteorite, weighing 268 grams, 2 miles 
southwest of Freda, N. Dak. (lat. 46°23’ N., long. 101°14’ W.). AJ- 
though not a witnessed fall, it must be a fairly recent one, as the 
external surface is fresh and has some of the fused crust still attached. 
It is a beautifully oriented individual (see pl. 1), exhibiting the 
flight markings as perfectly as in any iron meteorite with which the 
authors are familiar. In front of it the air was heated sufficiently 
to soften the metal and cause it to flow. The rounded end was the 
forward face, and some of the delicately carved furrows curve upward 
toward the crown, while others run down the sloping sides from the 
front face. The concave side, assumed to be the under side in the 
flight, is also marked by similar features. 
The metal at the edge is rolled over and down on the concave side 
as if it had been hammered down, and perhaps it was—driven down 
by the resistance of the air. Since this overhanging metal fringe 
is covered with the delicate flight markings, it gives positive evidence 
that this feature is a phenomenon of the flight and not of its striking 
the earth. 
From the color of the metal one might suspect that it has a high 
nickel content. A thin slice was removed from the rear of the sample 
and polished for study. After completion of the metallurgical study, 
this slice was analyzed. Table 1 gives the chemical composition of 
423983—42 1 
