NO. 2 MISSOURI VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM — WEDEL 3

32

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill siteare a halfdozen rock^cairns, eachapproximately i foothighby 3 ^{feet in} diameter. Their significance is as yet

unknown

^{; similar} structures have been reported in other localities in association with tipi-ringsites.

Although noneof the locaUties

now known

for the Glendo Reser- voir area indicates any great length or

permanence

of particular occupations, the evidence strongly suggests repeated use of the area

by

various peoplesthroughouta long period of time. Apparently, this use began in prepottery days and continued into quite recent times. Glassbeadscollected onthe surfaceat one or

two

sites indi- catehabitation intothehistoricperiod,

when

suchtribesas theTeton Dakota, Cheyenne, andothersvisitedthedistrict.

Oregon

Basin Reservoir.

— ^Oregon

^{Basin is} a subcircular natural depression about 4^^{miles in} diameter, situated 8miles southeast of Cody,in

Park

County,

Wyo.

Sandstonecliffs

and

ridgesborderiton the west and north,.with sloping hills on the south and east.

The

surroundingterrain consists of rolling prairiescutby streamvalleys,

and

barrenhills.

The

flatcentralpart of the basin floor, formerly a lake, will be used for storage of water brought through a 20-mile conduit

from

ShoshoniReservoir.

The

basinfloorisatanelevationof 5,100 feet;normal pool elevation will be _5,175 feet, with a surface areaofabout 4,000acres.

Twenty-eight archeological sites are

now

on record for

Oregon

Basin, in and near the proposed reservoir area.

They

include open

camp

sites, rock shelters, workshops, and petroglyphs.

Some

are situated onthebeach line of the ancient lake, others on knolls

and

slopes nearby, still others

among

rocky outcrops

and

along creek channels outside thebasin.

There

isconsiderable variationin artifact types, and the aboriginal occupation of the

Oregon

Basin region undoubtedly goes farbackintothe past.

The camp

sites, 12innumber,consistof scatteredclustersofhearth stones, onor near the ground surface, about which is

commonly

a

litterofflintchips, spalls, cores,animalbone,

and

sometimesprojectile points, chipped knives, scrapers, mullers, etc.

The

quantity of such debris varies greatly

from

sitetosite. Potteryappearstobeuniformly absent. That thesesitesare notall

from

a single periodissuggested by variation in

form

of projectile points. Occasionally these

camp

sitesoccurasdarksoilzonesincutbanks,withburntrocks,charcoal, andother refuse intermingled.

One

issituated neara springonthe west side of thebasin, and is overlaid by 4 ^to 6 feet of alluvium

;

othersappeartobeweatheringout

from

under sanddunes.

In the sandstonecliffsand overhangs whichpartiallysurroundthe

NO. 2 MISSOURI

VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM — ^WEDEL

33 basin areat least sixshelters (pi. 6, fig. i) formerlyusedbyIndians.

In one, thefill containing traces of

human

activity is

more

than lo feetdeep; itconsists partly of occupational debris, partly of wind- blownsand, and partlyof material weathered

from

theoverhanging walls.

Though

notdirectlyimperiledbythe reservoirpool, proximity of these shelters to the future reservoir

makes

their destruction by relichunters almostinevitable.

Quarry

workshopsconsistofareaslitteredwithcores, spalls, flakes, andblanks;one

was

foundto the north,anothertothe south, of the proposedreservoirarea. Pictographsoccuroncliffsoutside thebasin.

Canyon

Ferry Reservoir.

— ^Canyon

Ferry Reservoir, a multiple- purposeproject, willbe locatedontheMissouri Riverinwest-central Montana.

The

proposed

dam

site is in Lewis and Clark County, approximately _{15 miles} east of Helena.

From

this point, the dam, a concrete structure 175 feethigh, will createa lake 24 miles long, extendingsouthwardintoBroadwater

County

andcoveringanareaof 35,000acresatnormalpool (elevation 3,800feet, m.s.l.).

The

reser- voirsite isa broad,fertilevalleylyingbetweentheBigBeltMountains to the east

and

the Elkhorn Mountains to the west.

There

are

numerous

sloughs

marking

former ^river channels.

A

wide sloping tablelandbetween riverand mountains has been cutatitsriverfront into high steep bluffs. Deciduous trees occur on the valley bottom, withconifersdominatingthe mountain slopes;otherwise, where not undercultivation,thelandis ingrass.

Thirty-threesiteshave beenlocatedbytheRiver BasinSurveysin and near the future reservoir area.

They

are generally situated on terraces nearthestreams, oronthebluffs. Seventeenare

camp

sites or occupational areas,

marked

by quantities of chips, flakes, fire-

blackenedrocks, stone hearths, and occasional stoneartifacts.

Some

lieonthepresentgroundsurface;othersoccuras detritus-ladenstrata buriedby a fewinchesto as

much

as 3 ^feetof alluvial or wind-de- posited soils.

None

suggest anything other than a short period of occupancy.

The

stone-hearth

camp

sitestendtooccurontheflats.

Tipi rings alsooccur,sometimes inassociationwith stone hearths.

The

ringshere are rather small, seldom

more

than 10 to 15 feet in diameter.

They may

becloselygroupedorwidelyscattered,butseem to be rather

more

plentiful onthehigherbluffs than onthe terraces or valleyfloors.

Many

ofthe ringshave beenpartlydestroyed or are almost buried by sod and wind-blown sand. Stone hearths occur sometimeswithin,sometimesoutside,therings. Artifactsandcultural detritusareveryscarceinthevicinityofthetipirings.

No

caves, quarries,orworkshops werelocatedinthe reservoirarea.

34

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill Poorly preserved paintings in red ocher were found on rock walls ovitside the future pool area, in localities thatwill doubtless lead to destructionbyvandalism.

The

^{limited sample} of artifact material recovered consists mainly of stonework. Quartzite predominates, but there are chips of chal- cedony, jasper, obsidian, etc. Projectile points,knives, scrapers, and otherimplements are found occasionallyonthe surface.

No

pottery

was

notedatanyof thelocations.

Outside the pool area are several sites of considerable promise.

At

least oneof theseis saidto have yielded points and blades sug- gestiveof certaintypes of early stone industry. Itisnot unlikely that theoccupation of the regionherehasbeenintermittent sincethedays of the paleo-Indian. Further investigation will be necessary before the variant types of pointsand otherartifacts collectedsparingly on the shallow

camp

sites and elsewhere can be arranged in a temporal sequence.

Tiber Reservoir.

— The

proposed Tiber Reservoir, for irrigation purposes,isontheMarias RiverinTooleandLiberty Counties,Mont.

The dam

site is in Liberty County, 12 miles south of Tiber,

and

approximately 45 ^miles abovethe confluence of the Marias withthe Missouri.

The dam

isplannedfor a height of 185 feet;itwillcreate a reservoir

some

26mileslong,witha surface area of 17,000 acresat normalpool (elevation 2,992feet,m.s.l.).

The

terrainisaflat,grassy plateau, cut

by

smallgulliesand droppingabruptlyinto the valley of theMarias. Steepbluffs linethestreamat

many

points.

Cottonwood

and willow are found onthebottoms alongthe stream banks^; sage- brush covers

some

of the flats and terraces_; grass is characteristic of most of thearea.

Fifty-three archeological siteshave been recordedinand aboutthe Tiber Reservoir area.

Most

of

them

fall in one oranother of three major categories:buried sites in the river terraces, surface sites on the riverterraces,andtipi rings generally located

on

theblufifsover- looking the rivervalley.

The

buried sitesobviously precedethoseon thesurface of the terraces;thelatter

may

precedethetipirings, but ofthisthereisstillnodefiniteproof.

The

buriedsitesareexposedincutbanks

where

lateral erosionby the Marias is removing old river terraces. Hearths,

some

of

them

apparently consisting of shallow pits filled with fire-cracked stones, ash, charcoal, and blackenedearth,

and

associatedwithrefuseanimal bone,flintchips, flakes,andscatteredbits of charcoal areto befound atdepthsofito23feetbelowthe terracesurfaces.

Some

oftheover- lyingfillsuggestsriverdeposition,presumably bythestreaminflood

;

NO. 2 MISSOURI

VALLEY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM — WEDEL

₃₅ elsewhere, alluvial deposits derived

from

coulees heading in the bordering bluffs seem indicated. Unfortunately, there is at present no

way

to judgetherateof thisdeposition. That no great length of timeisnecessarily involved is suggested by the finding of blue glass beads and trade iron associated with an ash-filled hearth at site

24TL17,

about 10 miles southeast of Shelby, on a habitation level buriedbeneath 12to18 inches ofriversiltson whichstands ascatter- inggroveof largecottonwoods. Despite the rather impressive depth ofoverburden,itispossiblethattherateof depositionin

many

cases

may

have beenhigh.

Few

artifactswererecovered inthesurveyop- erationsat these sites.

That

many, perhapsmost, are prehistoric, is probable; that any

now known

can be regarded as paleo-Indian is very doubtful.

Surface sites on the river terraces consist characteristically of clusters offire-crackedstones,generally not associatedwithtipirings, butwith small quantitiesof

worked

stoneand rejectage scattered in the general vicinity.

Many

of the hearths are partially buried, and one is temptedto

wonder

whether, given theproper combinationof topographic and climatic factors, these sites would not resemblethe buriedonesinmost particulars.

Here

theartifactinventory

from

the two kinds of sites

may

well be definitive; but such inventories can be

made

only after far

more

intensiveinvestigationsthanhaveso far beenpracticable.

Tipi-ringsitesoccuringreat

numbers

intheTiberarea.

They seem

tobemost

common

onthe plateau-likeblufftops overlooking the river valley (pi. 7, fig. 2),andarelessfrequently

met

withontheterraces.

Associatedwith

some

of these are smallpilesofstone,usuallycircular inoutlineand about 5 feet in diameter. Testsin two of these piles disclosed small unidentifiablefragmentsofbone beneath them,butno satisfactoryevidencethattheunderlyingsoilhadeverbeendisturbed.

Theirpurpose remains conjectural. It is possible that thetipi rings andassociatedremainsarerelatively late;verylittlestoneworkoccurs with

them

andthe stones composingthecirclesusuallylieonorvery near the ground surface.

No

metal or glass objects were noted on thesesites.

No

pottery-bearing sites were noted by the River Basin Surveys

field partyat Tiber;and such remains appear tobe absent generally

from

thearea.

A

site ofvery considerableinterestisa bisonkill,

24LT22,

located about ₅miles

from

theproposed

dam

site and

somewhat

above full pool level. Itis in a shallow forked draw,

where

the animals

were

apparentlyambushed, perhaps withthe aidof log orbrushbarricades

36

SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS

COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill or partial enclosures. Extensive pitting has been done by relic col- lectors. In these pits and in test excavations by the River Basin Surveys party, the soil contains partly burnt and

decomposed

bison hair, hooves, and bones, charcoal, ash, and fire-broken stones.

The

tests also shovi^edthatthismaterial occursintwo,three,or

more

levels separated and capped by ^{thin strata} of culturally barren soil.

The

observed thickness of deposit varies

from

i foot upward, with the deepest bone ^layernoted atapproximately 30inches;greaterdepths have been reported by local collectors.

Numerous

small projectile points, mostlytriangularin

form

with a singlepairof sidenotches, were recovered.

There

is

some

evidence that significant type differ- ences

may

existbetweenthe points

from

various parts of thekillarea and also between those

from

different levels. Local reports that

"post holes" have been noted from timeto time, if correct, suggest theuse of corrals or barricades.