THE DANCE HALL OF THE SANTEE BOTTOMS 
ON THE FORT BERTHOLD RESERVATION, 
GARRISON RESERVOIR, NORTH DAKOTA * 
By Donatp D. Harrie 
INTRODUCTION 
A unique structure remaining on the Fort Berthold Indian Reser- 
vation is an old dance hall, a ceremonial building which in some re- 
spects appears to have been an outgrowth of the old Mandan and 
Hidatsa earthlodges (pl. 18, a). The dance hall (82ML41) is 
located in sec. 30, T. 149 N., R. 90 W., McLean County, N. Dak. 
Prior to cultivation, the bottom land surrounding the dance hall was 
covered with the typical flora of the area, mainly cottonwood and 
willow. In the summer of 1954, however, the immediate area was 
under cultivation. 
George Metcalf, at that time assistant archeologist of the Smith- 
sonian Institution Missouri Basin Project staff, now a member of the 
Division of Archeology, United States National Museum, recorded 
this site in 1950 while making a reconnaissance of the area to be in- 
undated by the Garrison Reservoir. It was later decided that since 
the site was one of the many that would be flooded by the Garrison 
Reservoir in the near future, a complete record of the structure should 
be made. During the summer of 1952 the writer, archeologist of the 
Smithsonian Institution River Basin Surveys staff, assisted by 
Charles Proctor and Robert Williams, students at the University of 
Oklahoma, temporarily employed by the Missouri Basin Project, 
visited the site. This party obtained precise measurements and a de- 
scription of the dance hall. Presumably the structure will be demo- 
lished and the timbers salvaged for various purposes prior to inun- 
dation. 
1 Submitted August 1954. 
2The National Park Service in 1952 prepared reports and measured drawings of 12 
historic sites to be lost by flooding in the Missouri River Basin. This was in connection 
with the work of the Historic American Buildings Survey. The Santee Bottoms dance 
hall was included in the group, the reports and measured drawings of which are on file in 
the Director’s office in Washington, D.C. 
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