Pap. No!"2of' ARCHEOLOGY AT KIPP'S POST — WOOLWORTH, WOOD 287 



The post was well located with respect to fur-trading opportunities, 

 as it was situated at the mouth of the White Earth valley, which was 

 formerly rich in game and fur animals. This river drains into the 

 Missouri from the north, and provided an easy travel route for Indian 

 groups as far north as present-day Canada. The Assiniboin were at 

 tliat time ranging north of the site, and it is recorded that the site 

 was built expressly for their trade. The scanty records available 

 (Breeling, 1954; Wied-Neuwied, 1906, vol. 23, p. 228) indicate that 

 they did trade at the site. At the time of its construction, the nearest 

 trading post was apparently at the Mandan villages near the Knife 

 River, a distance of about 80 miles. Thus located in an area relatively 

 free of competition, it would be reasonable to suspect that it was a 

 profitable business venture. 



MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS 



The palisade appears to have been oriented with respect to topog- 

 raphy and not expressly with compass direction. The south wall of 

 the palisade faces slightly Avest of south, and is approximately parallel 

 to the edge of the terrace upon which it was constructed. 



The post enclosure was a simple quadrilateral structure, approxi- 

 mately square, and 96 feet on a side. The palisade walls were formed 

 by Cottonwood posts or logs set upright in a narrow trench. The 

 remains of 673 posts, some of which had been split in half, were found 

 by excavation. A range of four buildings faced the entrance on the 

 north side of the enclosure. The placement of these buildings, which 

 were near and just under the log palisade, afforded a windbreak from 

 the prevailing northwest winds and also afforded winter warmth from 

 the low angle, unobstructed sunlight. 



A quadrilateral bastion or blockhouse projected about 5 feet from 

 the northeast corner of the palisade, and was an extension of the 

 palisade trench. The walls of the bastion consisted of vertical posts, 

 as in the palisade walls. One might speculate that some structure was 

 mounted above the vertical wall timbers, but no evidence of any such 

 structure was found. The southwest corner of the palisade revealed no 

 bastion, but fired-clay chinking found here suggests some elaboration 

 of the palisade. Enfilade fire along the north and east walls would 

 have been afforded by the bastion, and it is possible that some de- 

 fensive structure also existed in the southeast corner, although no 

 evidence was found to indicate that such was the case. 



The entrance to the stockade was in the middle of the southern pali- 

 sade line, facing the Missouri and White Earth Rivers. It was in- 

 dicated by a 914-foot gap in the palisade trench line. Two rather 

 heavy posts were found in the palisade trench on either side of the 

 entrance and gates were presumably attached to these posts. The 



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