THE EXCAVATION AND INVESTIGATION OP 

 FORT LOOKOUT TRADING POST II (SITE 

 39LM57) IN THE PORT RANDALL RESERVOIR, 

 SOUTH DAKOTA^ 



By Carl F. Miller 



INTRODUCTION 



The purpose of this paper is to report on the archeology of the multi- 

 ple components of Site o9LM57 in South Dakota, for which Mr. Mattes 

 has provided the historical background in River Basin Surveys Paper 

 No. 15. Starting in the uppermost level were the remains of Fort Look- 

 out II, probably established in 1831 by the French Fur Trading Co. 

 and subsequently occupied, 1840-51, by the trader La Barge. Below 

 them were traces of two prehistoric aboriginal horizons. The excava- 

 tions were carried on in accordance with an agreement between the 

 River Basin Surveys of the Smithsonian Institution and the National 

 Park Service whereby sites determined by the Service historians to be 

 of historical significance to the Inter- Agency Salvage Program would 

 be investigated by Smithsonian archeologists. 



The writer wishes to acl-aiowledge, first of all, the patience and for- 

 bearance of Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., director of the River Basin 

 Surveys, while this paper was being written. Appreciation is extended 

 to Merrill J. Mattes and Roy Mattison, historians of the Region Two 

 office of the National Park Service at Omaha, Nebr., for the use of 

 their documentary references and for their suggestions and advice 

 while in the field. Special thanks are given to the Honorable M. Q. 

 Sharp, of Kennebec, S. Dak., former Governor of the State, for his 

 permission to excavate the site which was located upon his property. 

 Acknowledgments are also made to K. Anton Kolthoff of the Fort 

 Thompson Agency who made Indian labor available ; to Dr. Jolm L. 

 Champe, of the Department of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, 

 for his interest in the site and his helpful suggestions; to Edward 

 Schumacher for the many fine line drawings used to illustrate this 

 paper ; to Ruth W. Miller, my wife, for her help in the field and suffer- 

 ance while this paper was in preparation; and to many othei^s who 

 at one time or another rendered assistance during the course of the 

 work. 



> Submitted December 1953. 



55 



