56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 176 



SITE 39LM57 



During September 1950 an attempt was made to establish archeo- 

 logically the actual locations of Fort Lookout Trading Post (Fort 

 Lookout II) and Fort Kiowa (Fort Lookout I), since the two were 

 thought to be either very close together or possibly to occupy one and 

 the same site. Site 39LM57 was found by an archeological survey 

 party of the Missouri Basin Project of the River Basin Surveys, led 

 by Thomas R. Garth, in approximately the place where it was postu- 

 lated, from documentary evidence, a post should have been situated. 

 Two areas of occupation were apparent, and as they were several hun- 

 dred feet apart it is questionable whether both should have been 

 included under the same site number. One was much larger than the 

 other and there is little doubt but that it was the location of the mili- 

 tary post. Fort Lookout IV, of 1856. The smaller area is the one with 

 which this report is chiefly concerned. The site, located 10 miles north 

 of Oacoma, S. Dak., and 300 yards south of the Lower Brule Indian 

 Reservation line, was on the secondary terrace of Fort Hale Bottoms 

 three-quarters of a mile west of the Missouri River in Lyman County. 

 There the flats were covered with typical prairie grasses, and trees were 

 growing in the flood plain and beds of the tributary streams between 

 the flats and the river's edge. Except for the fact that the river had 

 shifted its course some distance eastward, the general appearance of the 

 setting probably was quite similar to that when the post was occupied. 

 To determine whether the smaller area was the real location of the old 

 trading post and/or the old fort, some digging was done by Garth at 

 that time, but the results were not wholly satisfactory (Garth, MS.). 

 It was later decided to carry on additional work the following season 

 and, as Garth was no longer a member of the staff, the writer was placed 

 in charge of the investigations. Digging was started in the latter part 

 of July 1951, and continued until the middle of September when the 

 student help returned to school. 



During the first season a rough north-south rectangular area, lying 

 parallel to the edge of the flat, about 70 feet long and 15 feet wide, 

 was excavated. Materials found there led to the conclusion that it 

 was the location of a several-roomed structure that had burned. No 

 data were obtained as to its size and shape, however. At the start 

 of the second season that area was carefully cleaned, ranging in depth 

 from 0.3 to 0.5 foot, and it was found that the coordinate stakes of 

 the year before were still intact. Since the marking had been oblit- 

 erated it was necessary to redesignate each stake. The method 

 previously used was not known, but it was hoped that it would be 

 possible to tie in our results with those of the year before. Starting 

 on the floor of the earlier excavation, layers 0.1 foot thick were re- 

 moved. Numerous bits of burned clay bearing the imprints of twigs 



