pip.mieF' HISTORIC SITES ARCHEOLOGY — MILLS 39 



by the settlers of the 1870's for fuel and building material. The north 

 wall was probably left standing to form a windbreak for the supply 

 depot that was established on the site after the abandonment of Whet- 

 stone Army Post by the military in 1872. The subsequent destruction 

 of this wall by fire may have come about at any time thereafter. The 

 neat rectangular shape assumed by the stockade wall on three sides was 

 offset by the west wall, which was angulated enough to break the 

 rectangular pattern (fig. 2) . This departure from right- angle corners 

 as found in the northwest and southeast corners was confusing at first 

 discovery but the reason became apparent upon further excavation. 

 The laborers — soldiers or Indians — cutting the trench to set the cedar 

 posts, had run into a deposit of river sand (pi. 4, a) 8.5 feet south of 

 the northwest comer. They were forced to angle the trench line 

 inward to seek firmer ground, as the posts could not be securely set in 

 this loose sand. 



An intrusive pit, 5.0 feet square, was found outside the northwest 

 corner of the stockade (fig. 2). This may have been an excavation 

 placed in that corner to receive a support for an above-ground structure 

 such, perhaps, as a blockhouse. 



The southwest corner was a deviation from the other three corner 

 forms in that it projected 0.8 feet beyond its union with the west wall. 

 Centered in this corner were remains of a cedar post (pi. 4, &) the 

 fragmentary charred proximal end of which was studded with square- 

 cut nails. 



Bone fragments, found in the east and south walls, possibly evidence 

 tamping for cedar posts in the stockade line. Outside the south wall 

 were four areas of ash concentration. These probably represent dumps 

 where ashes were disposed of when the firepits within the stockade 

 were cleaned out. 



Archeological evidence of interior structures (fig. 2) indicates that 

 they were made of cottonwood. All the wood was burned, probably 

 in the same conflagration that had destroyed the north stockade wall. 

 The burned remains were spread from the east to the west wall, with 

 the largest clusters in the northeast and northwest sectors. Large 

 quantities of square nails were recovered on and underneath the tim- 

 bers. They had been used to tag the timber forms together. The 

 quantity and position of the burned remains indicate that these had 

 been small structures built against the north stockade wall. The struc- 

 tures were erected after the ground plan was made, as they are not 

 indicated as a detail of this plan. Thus they represent a late period of 

 construction in the army post, or were built during the activation of 

 the supply depot that followed the military abandonment of Fort 

 Wlietstone. 



