Missouri Basin Project, River Basin Surveys, Smithsonian Institution, Summary of Progress from the Beginning, In 1946 Through April 1952

This document summarizes the history and development of the Missouri Basin Project and Inter-Agency Archeological and Paleontological Salvage Program; created to meet the problem posed by the threat to scientific and historical data by the dam construction program in the Missouri Basin and elsewhere. The Missouri Basin water development program of the Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers has and will continue to inundate numerous sites on which the aboriginal inhabitants of the region lived and buried their dead. Since the Indians lived almost exclusively along the streams, where timber, water, and arable land were available, creation of reservoirs is a serious threat to this kind of scientific data. This is especially true where considerable portions of stream valleys are drowned, as will be the case along the main stem of the Missouri River from the head of Fort Pick Reservoir to the Gavinas Point Dam. The Oahe Reservoir alone will destroy at least 250 sites and will wipe out most of the traces of the former homes of the village tribes which dominated the area when white man first visited it. Reservoirs on the tributaries will also result in the loss of valuable archeological data, often relating to the very early occupation of the Plains. Valuable fossil deposits will be lost likewise.

本文件总结并梳理了密苏里河流域项目（Missouri Basin Project）与跨部门考古与古生物拯救计划（Inter-Agency Archeological and Paleontological Salvage Program）的历史沿革与发展历程。该计划旨在应对密苏里河流域及其他地区大坝建设工程对科学与历史数据构成的威胁。
美国垦务局（Bureau of Reclamation）与美国陆军工程兵团（Corps of Engineers）主导的密苏里河流域水利开发项目，迄今已并将持续淹没大量该区域原住民曾经居住与安葬逝者的考古遗址。由于原住民几乎仅在拥有林木、水源与可耕地的溪流沿岸定居，水库的修建对这类科学数据构成了严重威胁。当河谷大片区域被淹没时，这一威胁尤为突出——从皮克堡水库（Fort Pick Reservoir）上游至加维纳斯角大坝（Gavinas Point Dam）的密苏里河干流沿岸，就将出现此种情形。仅奥希水库（Oahe Reservoir）一处就将摧毁至少250处遗址，并彻底抹除首批白人到访该区域时统治此地的村落部落原有定居点的绝大多数遗迹。支流库区的修建同样会造成珍贵考古数据的流失，这类数据往往与北美大平原地区的早期人类定居活动息息相关。珍贵的古生物化石沉积层也将随之遭受同等损失。