NO. 2 SALVAGE PROGRAM, I95O-I95I — COOPER 55 



barrel, a toothed flesher of iron similar in design to the fleshers made 

 from bison or elk metapodials which occur commonly in relatively 

 late Plains Indian sites, a stoneware crock marked "Dakota City, 

 N.T." probably made by the Dakota City Pottery (in operation as 

 early as 1859), a number of metal wagon parts, and miscellaneous 

 items such as chain links, buttons, etc. The ice gliders, made from 

 the ribs of large mammals, are undoubtedly of Indian manufacture. 

 The complete specimens are pointed at one end, while the square bases 

 are hollowed to receive the feathered sticks which were originally 

 part of these objects. Thirteen of the specimens are decorated with 

 incised designs of various kinds which include series of diamonds, 

 series of triangles, dots forming a triangle, and straight lines. Among 

 the few realistic representations are one of a bird and one of an 

 actual ice glider, complete with feathers. Their presence in the well 

 suggests that it may have served as a target in the game with which 

 these objects were associated. 



There is apparently no historical record which will permit the iden- 

 tification of this site on the basis of its location alone. The presence 

 of military items, the dates indicated by some of the specimens, and 

 the location of the site within a few miles of the Lower Brule Agency 

 at the mouth of American Crow Creek strongly suggest, however, 

 that it is the site of the original Fort Lower Brule, the military post 

 established for the protection of the Agency in 1870, but moved to 

 Fort Hale in the same year. Both the earthenware crock, which can- 

 not be earlier than 1859, and the cartridges in use during the i86o's 

 and 1870's are consistent with this identification. 



During the excavations at site 39LM53, tests made in a depression 

 a few hundred feet distant and on a higher terrace revealed the pres- 

 ence of a prehistoric occupation. Extensions of the test trenches un- 

 covered a rectangular house and yielded a moderate quantity of pot- 

 tery and other artifactual materials, which appear to be similar to 

 materials from the Thomas Riggs site (Meleen, 1949). Further ex- 

 cavations should be undertaken at that site, 39LM55, to permit a 

 more comprehensive definition of the complex represented. 



Late in the season the party accomplished small-scale testing in two 

 sites on the west side of the river near the southern boundary of the 

 Lower Brule Indian Reservation. At one of them, the site of a mili- 

 tary post. Fort Lookout (39LM63), occupied for only a year in 1856 

 and 1857, evidence was found of the former presence of structures. 

 About 300 yards to the southeast stripping also uncovered evidences 

 of occupation. Limitations of time and personnel prevented more 



