NO. 6 MISSOURI VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM WEDEL II 



tion to the archeology and paleontology of neighboring districts and 

 of the Basin as a whole; (5) the preparation and publication of com- 

 plete technical reports and nontechnical accounts of the findings ; and 

 (6) the proper disposition and preservation of specimens, records, 

 and other basic data that may be collected. 



To finance the beginning field surveys, funds were allotted by the 

 Bureau of Reclamation to the Smithsonian Institution through the 

 National Park Service. The sum of $20,000 was made available in 

 fiscal 1946, and this has been augmented by an allotment of $40,000 

 for fiscal 1947. By agreement, these funds are to be used on Corps 

 of Engineers as well as Bureau of Reclamation projects. 



On July 8, 1946, the writer left Washington for Lincoln, Nebr., to 

 set in motion the first phases of the program. Through the courtesy 

 of officials and members of the teaching staff of the University of Ne- 

 braska, a field office was established at the university's Laboratory 

 of Anthropology. At present, this office and the project laboratory 

 are located in the basement of Love Memorial Library on the campus. 

 In addition to the immediate availability of adequate quarters and fa- 

 cilities where there was already an active anthropological laboratory, 

 consideration was given to Lincoln's proximity to the regional office 

 of the National Park Service and the Division office of the Corps of 

 Engineers, both in Omaha ; to the fact that excellent library and mu- 

 seum facilities, as well as professional consultants in a variety of 

 specialized fields, were close at hand ; and to the Cross-Cultural Sur- 

 vey on several Missouri Basin tribes now being carried on here 

 jointly by the University of Nebraska and Yale University. 



The professional staff of the Missouri River Basin project now in- 

 cludes 6 full-time archeologists : Paul L. Cooper, acting field director 

 during such periods as the writer's official duties keep him in Wash- 

 ington; Robert B. Cumming, Jr., laboratory supervisor; Wesley L. 

 Bliss, Marvin F. Kivett, J. Joe Bauxar, and Jack T. Hughes. There 

 is also one expert laborer, J. M. Shippee ; and a temporary office assis- 

 tant. Plans are under consideration for adding one or more paleon- 

 tologists, as needed, and such laboratory help as may be required from 

 time to time. This staff has been set up in accord with Civil Service 

 Commission procedure. It will engage in field work during the sum- 

 mer, and in laboratory research and preparation of reports during the 

 winter. Through these reports, both technical and nontechnical, the 

 Survey findings will be made available to the interested public. Pre- 

 liminary reports on the 1946 work are currently in preparation. The 



