138 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BuLL. 185 
Crawford (1931) devoted a few brief lines to the site in his “History 
of North Dakota”: 
77 Crow Flies High. On west side of the Missouri opposite and one mile 
north of the Little Knife River. The village was made up of log buildings and 
is near the John Goodall ranch. 
One other remark which Crawford makes regarding the Indians who 
occupied Crow-Flies-High Village was as follows (ibid., p. 535) : 
79 Yellowstone River site near Buford. Occupied by Crow Flies High’s band 
in the ’70s. 
Crawford made no effort to explain these two notations in his history, 
but they are merely presented as isolated facts. Informant data, how- 
ever, reveal that there was a definite connection between the two 
villages since both were occupied seasonally by Crow-Flies-High’s 
band. 
Will and Hecker also published a brief note on the site, but it has 
proved to be somewhat less accurate than that of Crawford. Will 
and Hecker (1944, p. 116) wrote thus: 
The Crow Flies High Village (Hidatsa), across the river from Sanish, North 
Dakota. This is one of the latest Hidatsa earth lodge villages and was oc- 
cupied by a band of reactionary Hidatsa who objected to being confined to the 
Reservation. 
While earlier reports mention “dwellings” or “log buildings,” that of 
Will and Hecker now listed it as an earthlodge village. 
In 1947 a Smithsonian Institution, River Basin Surveys party, 
under Marvin F. Kivett, examined the site and furnished the first spe- 
cific information on its archeological potential. They noted that sev- 
eral cache pits were visible in the uncultivated area next to the river 
bluff. Shallow depressions in the cultivated sections were thought to 
“probably indicate earth lodges.” 2 Kivett also noted that broken glass, 
leather pieces, metal objects, broken stones, bone ash, and other items 
were scattered over an area about one-quarter mile long. The field 
notes of the River Basin Surveys party (Kivett, 1948, p. 10) revealed : 
The greater part of the area has been under cultivation for a number of years, 
but considerable evidence remains, particularly in the sodded areas near the 
northeast edge of the village. In this section are several small circular de- 
pressions, one of which was excavated. This was found to be an abandoned 
storage pit which had been filled with ashes, metal plates, files, and similar 
items of white manufacture. Tests in the cultivated sections of the site revealed 
extensive areas of charcoal and burnt earth which may indicate the remains of 
earthlodges. 
Finally, Waldo Wedel (1948, p. 23) referred to Crow-Flies-High 
Village in a published account: 
* Smithsonian Institution, River Basin Surveys, field sheet, Site 32 MZ1, dated 7/29/47, 
recorded by Kivett, with additional notes by George Metcalf, 1/3/51. It is possible that 
Kivett was influenced by Will and Hecker’s report in expressing this opinion of earth- 
lodges. 
