28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bunn 185 
time the walls of the old pits have slumped and erosion has reduced 
them to shallow, rounded depressions. ‘The primary purpose of the 
1950-51 surveys was to locate occupation areas which would be cov- 
ered or otherwise destroyed by the waters of the reservoir. Since 
these pits were commonly placed in spots which will not be affected 
by the eventual flooding of the valley, the main efforts of the survey 
were away from the spots where they would be most commonly lo- 
cated. A few were found, however, and we were told of others. 
None was found below the edge of the bluffs, and it seems probable, 
in view of the amount of filling shown by those on the upland, that 
evidence of their former presence on slopes or at the foot of bluffs 
has been largely erased. All the pit locations listed below are safe 
from flooding, although some will undoubtedly be destroyed by slump- 
ing when the pool fills. It is unlikely that any more data could be 
obtained from their excavation than are present in the literature. 
With the exception of pits at site 32DU2, none of the pits listed below 
were tested. 
32M E50 (map 1)—The first pit site recorded was located in the 
SWI,NEY, sec. 12, T. 146 N., R. 89 W., on a northward running arm 
of the upland, west of Beaver Creek and south of an eastwardly 
running tributary of that stream. At the time of our visit the site 
of the pit was marked by a depression 18 inches deep at the center, 
about 5 feet long north-south, and 3 feet in width. The depression, 
filled with grass grown taller and greener than that about it, was 
on the west side of the promontory and not far from the north end. 
It overlooked the broken area to the north, west, and southwest. The 
landowner, who guided us to the spot, told us that as a boy he had 
heard old people say that the pit was used by eagle trappers from 
“Old Village”—a term in common use today in referring to Like-a- 
Fishhook Village. 
32DUZ (map 1) —On the right side of the Missouri River, a short 
distance above the site of the Elbowoods bridge, in the SEYASW1, 
sec. 1, T. 147 N., R. 91 W., is a spectacular, sheer-walled butte. The 
top of this, a thousand feet in length, varies in width but nowhere 
exceeds 225 feet. The butte top shows an occupation level, and at the 
southeast end several depressions 12 to 18 inches deep and 20 to 25 
feet in diameter are present. Tests showed limited amounts of 
charcoal in one, while another showed a heavy layer of charcoal 
resting on yellow clay and overlain by 6 inches of sterile soil. The 
others were completely sterile. Local tradition says that these latter, 
sterile depressions were pits constructed for the storage of water by 
people encamped on the butte and fearful of being besieged there. 
At the northwest end of the butte-top were found a number of 
small rounded depressions 8 to 4 feet in diameter and about 6 inches 
in depth. It was suspected that these were the sunken tops of 
