Appraisal of the Archeological Resources of the Oahe Reservoir, North and South Dakota

The present report is intended as a brief, non-technical statement of the archeological resources known to exist in the Oahe Reservoir area (for information relative to the results of archeological research in the area to date, reference should be made to the list of literature cited at the end of this report). It is based primarily upon information collected by Missouri Basin Project reconnaissance parties 1948-1952, but use has been made of various other resources. During the late summer of 1948 a party surveyed the area on the West side of the river between the dam site and the Cheyenne River and excavated small test trenches in nine sites in the upper portion of this area. In 1949, 1950 and 1951 short periods were spent in extending the survey to include the east bank of the river. A party spent most of the summer of 1952 bringing the reconnaissance near completion.

The first Europeans to reach the project area found sedentary agricultural peoples living in large fortified villages situated on the immediate banks of the Missouri River.