NO. 2 SALVAGE PROGRAM, I95O-I95I — COOPER 37 



grasses on the uplands away from the streams, cknnps of cottonwoods 

 along the channels, and sporadic junipers on the valley slopes. A 

 minor proportion of the area to be affected by the reservoir was ex- 

 amined during the brief 1950 reconnaissance, but three archeological 

 sites were recorded. The only one of these which produced pottery 

 (25CE210) is apparently the site visited by Wedel in 1931 and re- 

 ported in a paper (1947a) devoted primarily to a description of sherds 

 from northeastern Wyoming. Wedel's impression, based on his mem- 

 ory of the materials observed in 1931, was that they closely resembled 

 the Wyoming specimens. The present collection is too small to permit 

 any appreciable contribution in this regard ; the few small body sherds 

 recorded are either plain or are decorated with narrow incised lines 

 and seem to be compatible with Wedel's description of the Wyoming 

 pottery. The other two sites, apparently the locations of camps, pro- 

 duced small numbers of stone objects. 



Ponca Creek Reservoir site. — Potential Ponca Creek Reservoir, 

 although for administrative reasons included by the Bureau of Recla- 

 mation in the Niobrara River Basin, is on a stream which lies outside 

 the drainage of this river. Ponca Creek rises in Tripp County, S. Dak., 

 and enters the Missouri River only a few miles above the mouth of 

 the Niobrara. The reservoir is planned for a location near Butte, in 

 Boyd County, Nebr., where it will flood approximately 9 miles of a 

 valley which is bordered by high, loess-mantled terraces. Deciduous 

 trees line the banks of the streams, and there is some timber on the 

 slopes to the uplands. The reconnaissance of 1950, which constituted 

 merely a spot check of part of the area, resulted in the recording 

 of seven archeological sites, all occupational areas. Two of these 

 (25BD201 and 25BD207) are extensive villages, in one of which 

 evidences of three house structures were observed in the edge of an 

 abandoned gravel pit, which had destroyed part of the site. The col- 

 lections of pottery from these two villages appear to belong to closely 

 related, though perhaps not identical, complexes. Both collections 

 contain pottery with smooth or cord-marked surfaces, rims which are 

 usually flaring and predominantly undecorated except for impressions 

 or incisions on the lip panel or border, and punctated and incised or 

 trailed shoulders. Collared rims are rare, as are rims whose exterior 

 surfaces have been decorated by incising or trailing. The exterior 

 surface of this part of the vessel is frequently cord-marked. There 

 are differences in the samples from the two sites which may or may 

 not accurately reflect differences in the total pottery complexes. These 

 include the presence of handles and a greater frequency of shoulder 

 decoration in the materials from 25BD201 and, on the other hand, 



