NO. 6 MISSOURI VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM — WEDEL I5 



be a time-consuming and arduous task — but one that also promises 

 important scientific returns. 



It is believed that the consummation of the foregoing steps, together 

 with the advice of experienced workers in upper Missouri Valley ar- 

 cheology, will enable us in another year to select those few key sites 

 which it may be possible to investigate thoroughly in the various proj- 

 ect units. 



In addition, it is proposed that excavations be undertaken at certain 

 immediate trouble spots. For this purpose, funds are being requested 

 for investigations in 1947 at Angostura Reservoir, on Cheyenne River 

 in southwestern South Dakota ; at Boysen Reservoir, now under con- 

 struction on Bighorn River in west-central Wyoming ; and at Heart 

 Butte, on Heart River in west-central North Dakota. The Boysen 

 unit presents both archeological and paleontological problems ; Angos- 

 tura and Heart Butte at present are of archeological interest primarily. 



It is expected further that if Oahe dam reaches construction status 

 in 1947 funds will also be requested for excavation of two well- 

 preserved fortified village sites nearby which will almost certainly 

 be destroyed by, or as a result of, construction activities. At Fort 

 Randall and Garrison damsites there appears to be no immediate need 

 for large-scale salvage work on Indian remains. 



It should be apparent that the scientific recovery operations now 

 under way in the Missouri River Basin are a race against time. From 

 the viewpoint of the archeologist, the work can be considered ended 

 only when the rising waters finally submerge the archeological and 

 paleontological sites, or when construction of dams, spillways, and 

 canals destroys them. The scale of the investigations must be limited 

 only by the means and personnel available. 



It ought to be evident, too, that in this work of salvage there must 

 be no holding back by State, local, and other non-Federal agencies 

 and organizations interested in Missouri River Basin prehistory. 

 Federal participation in the task may be taken as recognition of the 

 fact that the Missouri Valley program has outgrown private and 

 State enterprise ; that the Government, whose planning will be respon- 

 sible for mass destruction of archeological, paleontological, and his- 

 torical remains, assumes a measure of responsibility for their partial 

 recovery and preservation. Unlike many of their sister States, some 

 of those in the Basin have been slow to develop their archeological 

 and other scientific materials ; none has the trained personnel or the 

 resources to cope single-handed with the task ahead. It is the full in- 

 tention of the Smithsonian Institution and the National Park Service 



