pip. No^"34r' DEMERY SITE — WOOLWORTH AND WOOD 73 



graphic illustrations ; their quality is a tribute to his skill. Frederic 

 Hadleigh-West was in charge of mapping the site and the excava- 

 tions, a task of no mean proportions considering the distances in^ 

 volved and the equipment available. Permission to excavate on tribal 

 land was kindly granted by the Tribal Council of the Standing Eock 

 Indian Reservation. Mr. J. Dan Howard, then Chairman of the 

 Tribal Council, aided the field party in many ways. Crew members 

 included Robert P. Barr and Stephen W. Robinson of Grand Forks, 

 North Dakota ; George E. Archambault and William C. Gipp of Fort 

 Yates, N. Dak.; Mark F. Blum of Lincoln, Nebr.; and Craig 

 Gannon of Bismarck, N. Dak. The assistance of each of these 

 contributors is gratefully acknowledged. We are also grateful for 

 the comments and constructive criticism of the manuscript provided 

 by Robert L. Stephenson, Warren W. Caldwell, and Robert W. Neu- 

 man, of the Smithsonian Institution, Missouri Basin Project. 



The laboratory analysis of the pottery was carried out by the junior 

 author, who also prepared the final maps and the line drawings. The 

 remaining artifacts were processed by the senior author, and both 

 of us are jointly responsible for the discussion and conclusions. The 

 field notes, maps, photographs, and artifacts from Demery are on file 

 in the museum of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, in 

 Bismarck, for preservation and further study. 



ARCHEOLOGY OF THE SITE 



DESCRIPTION 



The Demery site, 39C01, is in the SEi/^ of sec. 21, and in the 

 SWi^ of sec. 22, T. 23 N., R. 29 W., Corson County, S. Dak. It 

 is on the west bank of the Missouri River about 16 miles downstream 

 from the town of Fort Yates. The site lies on a large, flat terrace 

 overlooking the floodplains of the Missouri River and John Grass 

 Creek (map 7). A large gully separates the site area from the ter- 

 race to the south, and a low swale to the west leaves the site nearly 

 surrounded by low land. To the west, the terrain is level for nearly 

 half a mile, where the Missouri River bluffs rise gradually from the 

 valley floor to the treeless plains. A small intermittent stream, locally 

 known as Black Eagle Creek or as John Grass Creek, is just north of 

 the site. The reputed cabin site of the Dakota chief, John Grass, is 

 a few hundred feet upstream from the bridge spanning the creek bear- 

 ing his name on the Kenel to Fort Yates road. The North Dakota- 

 South Dakota boimdary is just north of John Grass Creek. Fire 

 Heart Butte, a high, flat-topped prominence, rises above the surround- 

 ing upland plains about 5 miles northwest of the site. 



The 1,610-foot contour line roughly delimits the area containing cul- 

 tural remains, but the majority of surface material and most of the 



