128 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 17tf 



and trade, it is possible that the pit had once held goods of the trade 

 rather than foodstuffs, but certainty on this point is not now attainable. 



In view of the presence of military groups in this region at various 

 times after 1855, the question naturally arises whether Fort Pierre II, 

 a trading post, may in any way have been altered or modified by them. 

 Soldier labor would have been available at any time after the occupa- 

 tion of Fort Pierre Chouteau by the Army in the summer of that year, 

 and plentifully with the summer of 1863 and the arrival of Sully's 

 campaign forces. As has been noted, it is improbable that the present 

 post was established until the year 1859, and by 1863 trading activities 

 had been moved from this area downstream to the site of the first Fort 

 Sully. Military construction or alteration of existing trading posts 

 may have been accomplished at certain points in the area, as is sug- 

 gested by the scanty records of this brief 4-year period, but no specific 

 mention has been found of the employment of soldiers on the present 

 post, or of the quartering of soldiers here, which aids in the study of 

 its construction and use. 



There is, on the other hand, evidence to suggest that the post was 

 wholly the work of others than military personnel. At one point 

 along the west stockade line, two ax blades were found in the original 

 fill of the stockade trench, one a single-bit woodsman's ax lacking 

 distinctive features, the other a half ax of the variety frequently called 

 a squaw ax, ordinarily employed by Indian women in gathering fuel 

 and of little use for other purposes. Numerous small glass beads were 

 also obtained from the fill of the stockade trench at various points 

 along its entire course, whereas no military objects were found in the 

 excavation of the trench. The few objects of ultimate military origin 

 found elsewhere, particularly at House-site B, furthermore, do not 

 support the notion of actual residence of troops here. It is probable, 

 therefore, that the original construction of buildings and stockade was 

 accomplished in part with native labor (perhaps Indian women) , and 

 probably about the year 1859 rather than subsequently. The use of 

 native labor would have been in keeping with the character of trading 

 operations ; "VVliite labor was ordinarily at a premium on the frontier, 

 and the traders frequently employed native labor when and where 

 available. 



The possibility of the use of the post by the military, after its com- 

 pletion, is not, however, to be disregarded in the study of the site of 

 Fort Pierre II, despite lack of documentation or physical evidence of 

 such use. In the fall of 1856, Galpin, as representative of the Chou- 

 teau firm, was officially notified of an opportmiity of applying for the 

 position of sutler for the troops at Fort Pierre Chouteau, then number- 

 ing 175 men (Capt. C. S. Lovell, Fort Pierre [Chouteau], to Galpin, 

 Oct. 30, 1856 ; in Chouteau Collections, Mo. Hist. Soc. ; information 

 courtesy of Miss Barbara Kell, Oct. 19, 1956) . IVliether Galpin was 



