Riv. Bas. Sour. , ae 
Riv, Bas. So% SMALL SITES ABOUT FORT BERTHOLD—METCALF 23 
72 inches in length. Long ash poles, 3 or 4 inches in diameter and 
12 to 15 feet long were then leaned against this foundation, forming 
a conical structure some 15 feet in extreme diameter at the base. 
Shorter poles and even rather large, short billets of wood had been 
placed on these to close gaps and chinks. Many fragments of bark, 
which in some cases formed large sheets, showed that slabs of this 
material had been placed, overlapping in shingle-fashion, on top of 
the poles. No trace of the method used to fasten the bark was noted. 
A bank of earth about the base of the structure suggested that 
originally a certain amount of earth had been placed over the bark for 
some distance up the sides. Considerable bark still remained on the 
poles at the west side, and there the earth bank at the base attained 
a height of 18 inches. 
No testing was done inside the lodge to determine the presence or 
absence of a fireplace, or its size and shape if present. One of the 
central support posts had fallen, allowing the entire structure to fall 
partially, twisting as it collapsed (pl. 3, a), and the floor could have 
been reached only by completely destroying the remains of the lodge. 
However, a small fire could safely have been built between the four 
center posts, the interlaced poles at the peak permitting free escape 
of the smoke if the bark and earth covering was not carried to the 
top. The entrance could not be definitely located, but a gap in the 
partially collapsed circle of poles suggested that the entrance was 
merely a segment of the circle left open and uncovered in the east 
side of the structure. 
Except in the immediate vicinity of the lodge, the grove in which 
it stood contained many dead and fallen poles of the size used as 
leaners, suggesting that dead poles were used in its construction. That 
this was the case is further indicated by the fact that only the four 
central posts and stringers, the largest timbers used, showed ax marks. 
Bowers has described lodges of this type for the Mandan (Bowers, 
1950, pp. 232-233), and I am inclined to suspect that this lodge may 
be the one occupied by him and his informants while he was studying 
the eagle-trapping ceremonies. The structure is also very similar 
to those described for the Hidatsa (Wilson, 1934, pp. 411-414) except 
for the absence of a brush and grass covering beneath the bark and 
the absence of outer rails. However, this lodge had been long dis- 
used, and any grass or brush covering, if originally present, may 
have succumbed to the ravages of time and the elements. I am inclined 
to think, though, that it was never present. 
It was probably lodges of this type that Maximilian saw in 1833 
somewhere between the present Elbowoods and the Garrison Dam and 
which he described as “. . . some old Indian hunting lodges, built, 
in a conical form, of dry timber. They had, doubtless, been left by 
597967—63——4 
