pip.^aiof' ARCHEOLOGY AT KIPP'S POST — WOOLWORTH, WOOD 255 



It is the present writers' opinion that McKenzie, Kipp, and other 

 employees of the Columbia Fur Company started for the mouth of 

 the Yellowstone River in November of 1826, with a supply of trade 

 goods for the Assiniboin tribe and with intentions to build a trading 

 post at the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Halted by winter, a 

 wintering house was built at the mouth of the White Earth River for 

 trade with the Assiniboin and as an advance base for the construc- 

 tion of a post on the mouth of the Yellowstone River. Why else 

 would McKenzie, the reputed head of the firm, accompany an ex- 

 perienced trader (Kipp) to a mere wintering establishment? It is 

 quite conceivable also that when the Assiniboin and other northern 

 Indians came to the Mandan villages in the fall of 1825, they were 

 promised a trading post in their territory. Certainly Larpenteur's 

 statement quoted above indicates this to be fact. Promises of some 

 sort must have been made to these Indians or they would have con- 

 tinued to trade with the British. 



In July of 1827, the Columbia Fur Company merged with the 

 American Fur Company. In October of 1828, Kenneth McKenzie 

 wrote that a fort at the mouth of the Yellowstone was under con- 

 struction (Chittenden, 1954, vol. 1, p. 958). If the merger with the 

 American Fur Company had not taken place, it is quite possible that 

 the Columbia Fur Company, encouraged by the returns from Kipp's 

 Post, would have erected its own establishment at that location. With 

 Fort Union well established, Kipp's Post became less important and 

 was abandoned in 1829 or 1830. 



ARCHEOLOGICAL FIELDWORK 



The site was known from traditional information for years prior 

 to 1938 when Thad C. Hecker located and mapped the visible features 

 (Hecker, MS.). A brief note on the site (Will and Hecker, 1944, p. 

 84) has been published, but not until 1951 were systematic efforts 

 made to obtain further data on the site. 



In that year a River Basin Surveys field party under the direction 

 of G. Hubert Smith obtained permission to carry out test excavations 

 at the site. At this time, Smith's party located the palisade trench 

 and recovered some artifacts. A valuable sketch map of the site was 

 made, as were photographs and notes. With this information at 

 hand, the State Historical Society of North Dakota commenced ex- 

 cavation in July 1954. 



The excavation of the site proceeded as follows. The location of 

 the post was determined with the use of Smith's notes; then the 

 outline of the palisade trench was exposed by means of test pits. 

 The sod was then stripped from an area extending about 10 feet 

 outside the perimeter of the palisade trench. At this time the site 

 was photographed and a contour map prepared showing the eleva- 



502329—60 18 



