PAP.^o.igf' INVESTIGATIONS AT FORT STEVENSON — SMITH 191 



concerning timber design of the original building (fig. 17). Little 

 could be learned from these fragments concerning the original di- 

 mensions or use of these wood members, because of the extensive fire 

 damage and the contorted state of the rubble, ash, and charred frag- 

 ments. One or two fragments appeared to have originally measured 

 3 inches by i/^ inch, and were probably bits of flooring. At some 

 points along the interior of walls, resting upon the masonry footings, 

 were other fragments of wood, the remains of the ends of floor joists, 

 spaced 14 inches apart, on center, and probably 2 inches by 4 inches 

 dimension. No information was available on the original length of 

 these timbers, but they would, of course, have spanned the width of 

 the wing. Along the exterior of the wall lines, and at or above the 

 level of the footings, were a few charred or decayed remnants of the 

 original siding of the building; though none of these could be ac- 

 curately measured, fragments of siding found had apparently been 

 1 inch by 6 inches dimension, the length unknown. At one point, 

 traces were seen of what were probably the vertical timbers to which 

 the siding had been fastened. These were apparently spaced 2 feet 6 

 inches apart, but no measurement of their size could be obtained. 



The site of the West Wing excavated is that of the wing originally 

 used as a mess hall and kitchen. Even without the available docu- 

 mentary evidence, the earlier use of tliis area would have been quite 

 clear, from the evidence of large quantities of common white earthen- 

 ware ("Ironstone"), metal mess plates, and other mess gear, al- 

 though the actual provenience of these materials is, at least in 

 part, that of the Indian school period rather tlian of the earlier mili- 

 tary period. No divisions or partitions of the wing could be dis- 

 tinguished, however, aside from that of a cellar area near the rear. 

 This cellar area, like otlier interior and exterior areas about this wing, 

 contained large quantities of adobe-brick and fired-brick rubble, 

 charred wood, ash, and the like, derived from the destruction of the 

 building. In addition to much obviously modern farm refuse, it also 

 produced some older liousehold debris, which had been in use in the 

 building at the time of the fire. Here also were traces of two barrels 

 and of wooden staves with metal hoops, which had stood on the dirt 

 floor of the cellar at tlie time of the fire (fig. 17). No evidence was 

 available to indicate whether this cellar had been constructed during 

 the military period at the post. A cellar here is not mentioned in the 

 report of 1879, but it seems probable that it existed at that time. 



At the site of this West Wing of the South Barracks were two dis- 

 tinct areas of fallen fired brick and lime mortar, the remains of 

 chimneys that had collapsed (pi. 41, 6). No bond or masonry pattern 

 was descernible in this debris, the chimneys having fallen in heaps. 

 No footings were found for these chimneys, and they are known from 

 the inspection reports to have merely rested on floor joists, rather 



502329—60 14 



