Publications in Salvage Archeology, 9: Big Bend Historic Sites

Historic sites within and near the Big Bend Reservoir area of South Dakota have been listed in a compilation of documentary evidence, prepared for the National Park Service by Ray H. Mattison (1962). The work is one of a series of special reports on historic sites and features of various reservoir areas of the Missouri Basin. Correlated archeological salvage operations conducted by the River Basin Surveys, Smithsonian Institution, yielded material evidence for some of these Big Bend historic sites. This evidence, reported herein, complements the documentary information previously assembled, particularly with respect to the physical plan and composition of some of these former settlements, certain construction methods that were employed in their establishment, and uses to which they were put. For the sites in question, little or no information of the kind has previously been available. No systematic archeological studies were made in the area until the establishment of the River Basin Surveys.