24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I26 



the reconnaissance party, but it is presumed that the previous activi- 

 ties of collectors is largely responsible for this fact. 



Smith Reservoir site. — An attempt was made in June 195 1 to 

 survey the proposed reservoir area, but unfavorable weather pre- 

 vented extensive examination of the surface. No sites were found 

 and it seems unlikely that this small reservoir, at an elevation of over 

 8,000 feet above sea level on the North Fork of the Powder River, 

 Wyo., will destroy archeological remains of consequence. 



South Fork Reservoir site. — As proposed, the South Fork Dam 

 will form a lake less than 2 miles long on the South Fork of the 

 Tongue River in Sheridan County, Wyo. Situated on a high plateau 

 in the Bighorn Mountains, at an elevation in excess of 7,500 feet, the 

 area to be inundated consists largely of rather steep, densely wooded 

 slopes. No locations of archeological interest were observed, and no 

 information was obtained to suggest that archeological materials had 

 ever been found in the immediate vicinity. 



Sun Butte Reservoir site.^ — The site of the proposed Sun Butte 

 Dam is just above the existing Gibson Reservoir on the North Fork 

 of the North Fork of the Sun River approximately 24 miles north- 

 west of Augusta, Mont. The terrain in which the 5- or 6-mile-long 

 lake will lie consists of pine-clad slopes on the right side of the stream 

 and grassy terraces flanked by forested hills on the left side. Only 

 two sites reflecting aboriginal activity were recorded during the brief 

 but comprehensive reconnaissance in July 1950. Neither of the 

 sites — one a small camp site yielding a small triangular point of 

 obsidian, charcoal, and bones, the other a petroglyph locality — will 

 be flooded. 



Tiber Reservoir site. — The Tiber Dam, situated about 45 miles 

 above the mouth of the Marias River, a major tributary of the Mis- 

 souri in northern Montana, will form a reservoir about 26 miles long. 

 The area in question, although unsuitable for native agriculture, once 

 possessed considerable food resources for the aboriginal population, as 

 shown by Meriwether Lewis's observation of abundant game during 

 his exploration of the Marias River in 1806. The Blackfoot and Gros 

 Ventres hunted the territory in historic times. 



The comprehensive reconnaissance of the reservoir area in 1946 

 and 1947 (Wedel, 1948, pp. 34-36) revealed 53 locations of archeo- 

 logical significance, including sites of "tipi rings" and of hearths, 

 both surface and buried. In 1950 a party under the supervision of 

 Walter D. Enger, Jr., spent the period from June 9 to September 20 



2 Formerly Wilson Reservoir. 



