110 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Boll. 17« 



of School and Public Lands, Ms. Field Notes of the Survey of Township 5 North 

 of Range 31 East, of the Black Hills Meridian, South Dakota, vol. 203, pp. 

 437-438, 447). 



This statement, containing information obtained in 1890, records 

 the fact that in that year the former locations of Fort Pierre Chouteau, 

 in sec. 16, and of Fort Pierre II, in sec. 4, were well known. The 

 statement in question is, of course, hearsay evidence, inasmuch as 

 visible remains of both earlier trade establislnnents had disappeared, 

 except for "trenches" and "heaps of earth" — evidence probably com- 

 monly understood in the area at the time, and readily obtained by the 

 surveyors. The obvious error in the date of establishment of old Fort 

 Pierre — 1855 — is an miderstandable one, that year having been the 

 date of acquisition of the former trading post as a military post. 

 This detectable error in the sworn statement of 1890, far from throw- 

 ing doubt upon the reliability of the statement as a whole, indirectly 

 reveals the dependence of the surveyors upon hearsay evidence for 

 portions of their record — local testimony concerning historic facts. 

 Other portions of the statement, e.g., the references to the dwelling of 

 the well-known J. W. ("Scotty") Philip, the trenches, and the heaps 

 of earth are, of course, eyewitness data. (It may here be noted also 

 that, as evidence, portions of the G.L.O. record are not essentially 

 different from the historical statements of DeLand concerning the 

 sites in question, statements also based in part upon hearsay evidence.) 



In the absence of precise location data for these trading posts con- 

 temporary with their actual use — data scarcely to be hoped for in view 

 of the fact that adequate topographic maps were lacking for this 

 region prior to the opening of the former Sioux Indian Reservation 

 and the Land Office surveys of 1890 — the record of that year must be 

 accepted as demonstrating beyond reasonable doubt the original loca- 

 tion of the two sites of particular importance here — that of Fort 

 Pierre Chouteau, and that of Fort Pierre II. In view of the use of 

 the area near the mouth of the Bad Eiver during the heyday of the 

 fur-trade and Indian-trade by various firms and individuals, some- 

 times simultaneously in the same immediate region, the preservation 

 of such specific and presumably impartial and unbiased records as 

 these is a fortunate circumstance for historical purposes. 



As shown on the Corps of Engineers maps cited above, site 39ST217 

 is situated approximately 1,000 feet west of the present channel of the 

 Missouri River, at an elevation above sea level of approximately 1,430 

 feet. This point is on the bottom land or flood plain of the river, but 

 the site is now screened in this section of the valley from a view of 

 the channel by trees and underbrush. Immediately west of the site, 

 at an additional distance of approximately 1,000 feet, the first terrace 

 of the valley (locally known as the "first bench") rises some 20 feet 

 liigher, a notable topographic feature when viewed from the lower 



