pl^.^o/isf' HISTORIC SITES ARCHEOLOGY — MATTES 7 



times make. A second and oftentimes quite important justification 

 for tliis type of project is the collection of historical objects that help 

 to throw light on living conditions of the period and place, or that 

 may illuminate specific problems. Museums, deluged with random 

 items of dubious authenticity, appreciate receiving collections that 

 have been scientifically assembled by excavation, the plans guided 

 and the results interpreted by qualified technicians. 



THE MISSOURI BASIN 



The Missouri Basin, occupying approximately one-sixth of the land 

 surface of the continental United States but comprising less than one- 

 twentieth of the population, is the heartland of the traditional fron- 

 tier American West. The seemingly interminable Great Plains, ris- 

 ing imperceptibly to the sudden crescendo of the Rocky Mountains, 

 was the last major region in the United States to settle down to a 

 peaceful domestic routine. Long after territories east of the Mis- 

 sissippi had been well populated and methodically "civilized," the 

 wild empire of the buffalo, the Sioux Indian, and the bighorn sheep 

 attracted only the more rugged citizens — traders, trappers, soldiers, 

 freighters, prospectors, missionaries, and Indian fighters — typical 

 frontiersmen all (Briggs, 1950). 



There is, of course, no official date for the end of the "trans-Missis- 

 sippi frontier," but the carnage at Womided Knee Creek, in late De- 

 cember 1890, the last important clash between red man and white on 

 the American continent, makes an excellent milestone (Mooney, 1896) . 

 It is more difficult to determine when this frontier began. Presum- 

 ably this was whenever the first white man reached its easternmost 

 limits. True, Lewis and Clark were the first recorded white men to 

 ascend the Missouri to its uppermost reaches, cross the Continental 

 Divide, and reach the Pacific Ocean by land route, but many white 

 men preceded them in the exploration of the Great Plains (Lewis and 

 Clark, 1904; Coues, 1893). Just how far west the La Verendrye 

 brothers traveled in 1742-43 is an unsettled point, but it is certain that 

 for decades prior to Lewis and Clark traders of French, Spanish, and 

 British origin or auspices did invade the Plains (Nasatir, 1952). 

 We know that Coronado entered the southern limits of the basin in 

 1541 and the conquistadores who succeeded him penetrated the basin 

 many times. The Villasur party, victims of Pawnee treachery, 

 reached the forks of the Platte in 1720 (Bolton, 1949, App., pp. 

 282-304 ; Folmer, 1953, pp. 280-284) . 



The Platte-North Platte-Sweetwater route to South Pass was dis- 

 covered in 1812 by Robert Stuart and his Returning Astorians, and 

 in 1824 it was first utilized by trappers and traders of the Rocky 

 Mountain Fur Co. as a route to the settlements (Rollins, 1935 ; Dale, 



502329—60 2 



