58 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[Bdll. 176 



orrs 



SCALE 



39LM57 



2ND LEVEL 



Figure 4. — Representation of the tangible remains of La Barge Trading Post with its 

 associated features and position of charred beams on floor of the structure. 



that part of the building. The scattered pieces of chalkstone suggest 

 they may have been used in the construction of the fireplace, while 

 the burned clay daubing indicates a stick-mud chimney such as was 

 in vogue at that time in frontier outposts. 



In the vicinity of the fireplace footing were sections of charred 

 beams ranging in length from 1 to 4 feet, in width from 5 to 6 inches, 

 and in thickness from I14 to 2i/^ inches. Small pieces of flooring 

 planks that were intact measured 6 to 10 inches in width, from li/4 to 

 2 inches in thickness, and from 1 to 2 feet in length. All were so badly 

 fire checked, however, that it was impossible to determine whether 

 they were sawed or hewn. Charred wood was not found over the 

 entire 70- X 20-foot area and it may be that the building had partinlly 

 tumbled down prior to the fire, with the result that the northern 

 portions were more readily consumed than the southern. Hence the 

 greater concentration of ash and the paucity of charcoal in the 

 northern end of the area (fig. 4) . 



Scattered over the floor of the structure were various-sized glass 

 trade beads, a few square-cut nails, metal objects, and pieces of white- 

 clay trade pipes. In the vicinity of the chimney footing percussion 

 caps of the type manufactured after 1820 were found. 



Two interesting features, Nos. 5 and 11 (fig. 4), were rectangular 

 pits with vertical walls and flat bottoms suggesting storage bins or 

 perhaps wine cellars such as found in houses at Jamestown Island, 

 Virginia. The latter, however, were lined with brick, while the South 

 Dakota examples were unlined. No remains of bottles were found in 

 them, however. In the ash-filled soil in Feature 5 (pi. 12, a) were the 

 charred remains of a wooden stirring paddle associated with a flat disk- 

 shaped stone, fragments of charred boards, a few square-cut nails, and 



