SMALL SITES ON AND ABOUT FORT BERTHOLD 
INDIAN RESERVATION, GARRISON RESER- 
VOIR, NORTH DAKOTA * 
By Gerorer Mercatr 
INTRODUCTION 
The Inter-Agency Salvage Program was set up in 1945 as a means 
by which the salvage of information from archeological sites threat- 
ened with destruction by the initiation of federal reservoir construc- 
tion could be most effectively conducted. It was based on a 
memorandum of understanding between the Smithsonian Institution 
and the National Park Service and on agreements between the Na- 
tional Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the Corps of 
Engineers. With funds made available by the Bureau of Reclama- 
tion, through the National Park Service, the River Basin Surveys 
was organized by the Smithsonian Institution, to locate, record, and 
evaluate sites endangered by the water-control projects and to exca- 
vate at such key sites as available time and funds would allow. This 
organization was divided into groups on the basis of affected water- 
sheds, and of these the Missouri Basin Project was one. 
The archeological reconnaissance of the Garrison Reservoir was 
initiated by Marvin F. Kivett in the early summer of 1947 as a project 
of the River Basin Surveys. This phase of the work consisted of 
locating, listing, and evaluating all sites likely to be lost through 
construction activities while the dam was being built, and by flooding 
and wave action when the reservoir filled. In Garrison Reservoir a 
total of 70 sites were thus recorded. In 1947, however, it was impos- 
sible to obtain permission to examine the Fort Berthold Indian Res- 
ervation for sites. This permission was granted in 1950, and at that 
time the writer and an assistant, detached from the field unit engaged 
in excavating the Rock Village site (832ME15),? were detailed to 
finish the survey of the Garrison Reservoir area. A period of 7 
weeks was spent on this assignment, and 55 new sites were recorded. 
1 Submitted May 1955. 
2 Site designations used in this report are trinomial in character, consisting of symbols 
for State, county, and site. The State is indicated by the first number, according to 
the position of the State name in an alphabetical list of the United States; thus, for 
example, 48 indicates Wyoming, 32 indicates North Dakota. Counties are indicated by a 
two-letter abbreviation ; for example, ME for Mercer County, DU for Dunn County, ete. 
The final number refers to the specific site within the indicated State and county. 
597967—63——2 5 
