24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



angular point with a concave base. In the same stratum were ovoid 

 knives, crude scrapers, a long-stemmed drill, hand-size cobbles, and 

 fragments of bison bone. No pottery was in association. Site 

 39BF270, located about 2 miles west of 39BF224, consisted of four 

 low circular mounds, three of which were excavated. The recovered 

 artifacts compare closely with those from the Truman Mound site. 



At site 39LM238, on the west side of the Missouri at the mouth 

 of Good Soldier Creek, where the west abutment of the dam is to be 

 built, a large "mound" was extensively cross-trenched and a series of 

 test pits were excavated in an effort to locate village remains. The 

 "mound" proved to be of natural origin (165 feet long, 90 feet wide, 

 5 feet high) but capped by two occupational deposits separated strat- 

 igraphically by a stratum of sterile yellow silt. The upper component 

 contained simple-stamped pottery, triangular points, scattered post 

 molds (many with bone wedges), and a few shallow firepits. The 

 lower component contained cord-paddled pottery, large side-notched 

 points, shallow basin-shaped firepits, and a large rock-filled hearth. 

 A small rock shelter (39LM239), located about a mile and a half 

 upstream from Good Soldier Creek, was briefly tested. It was 

 thought that this site might possibly be the "Truteau Cave," histori- 

 cally known to have been used as winter quarters by the trader Tru- 

 teau in 1794. Excavation demonstrated the shelter to be sterile of 

 any cultural material. Site 39LM6, a deeply buried, multicomponent 

 village site at the mouth of Counselor Creek, 3 miles upstream from 

 site 39LM238, was visited, and an eroding cache pit excavated. Some 

 additional collecting was done, but no further excavation was at- 

 tempted. The Neuman party terminated fieldwork on August 22, 

 after 14 weeks in the field. The l^euman, Irving, and Deez parties 

 shared camp facilities near the Brule Landing, 5 miles upstream from 

 Old Fort Thompson. 



A fourth Kiver Basin Surveys field party in the Big Bend Reser- 

 voir area consisted of nine men, directed by Bernard Golden. This 

 party conducted excavations at the Hickey Brothers site (39LM4), 

 located on the right (west) side of the Missouri Eiver, about 7 miles 

 north of the Lower Brule Agency. The site is situated on the first 

 terrace above the river, just north of the constricted neck of the Little 

 Bend. The occupation area is delineated by a well-preserved fortifica- 

 tion ditch. The latter is "coffin shaped" in plan, with bastions at 

 the corners and in the intervening runs of wall. A single corner 

 bastion was excavated, exposing a shallow moat backed by a pendulum 

 loop of stockade posts. The stockade line was further verified along 

 one of the long walls, and a series of 25 test pits was excavated to 

 sample the body of the site. Four of the shallow "house" depressions 

 within the fortification were tested by area excavation and trenching. 



