River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 18: Fort Pierre II (39ST217), a Historic Trading Post in the Oahe Dam Area South Dakota

Author(s): Hubert G. Smith

Year: 1960

Summary

From time to time since the establishment of the Missouri Basin Project of the River Basin Surveys, as funds and personnel were available, in addition to studies of native sites the Project has given attention to sites of White origin in areas to be flooded. Less numerous than native sites (both prehistoric and historic) in these areas, the White sites-fur-trade posts, military posts, and the like have also been carefully studied, with actual excavation in certain instances, inasmuch as they have independent importance in the history of the region, as well as direct bearing upon its native history. This work by the Missouri Basin Project supplements and expands systematic documentary investigations of historic sites made by the National Park Service in these areas of the basin, including that of the Oahe Reservoir area. The report that follows presents results of excavation at one such

site of White origin, that of Fort Pierre II, a successor of a more famous original, Fort Pierre Chouteau, both posts having been operated by the St. Louis firm of P. Chouteau, Jr., and Company; Fort Pierre II was constructed after 1855, when the previous post was sold for military purposes. It is probable that the use of the later establishment, the site of which has now been partially excavated, was of relatively short duration, and that the post itself was of relatively minor importance even during its own period-one of rapid decline in the trade as a whole. These inferences call for a brief statement explaining why the present work was undertaken, in view of the urgent demands of numerous other sites.

Cite this Record

River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 18: Fort Pierre II (39ST217), a Historic Trading Post in the Oahe Dam Area South Dakota. Hubert G. Smith. River Basin Surveys Papers ,18. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office. 1960 ( tDAR id: 18520) ; doi:10.6067/XCV8BK1D5H

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

Keywords

Culture
Historic

Material
Building Materials • Ceramic • Fauna • Glass • Hide • Human Remains • Metal • Mineral • Shell • Wood

Site Name
Fort Berthold II • Fort Pierre II (39ST217)

Site Type
Domestic Structure or Architectural Complex • Military Structure • Non-Domestic Structures

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Data Recovery / Excavation • Ground Disturbance Monitoring • Reconnaissance / Survey

General
Dam • Field Reconnaisance--Intensive • Fort • Fort Pierre II • Historic Overview / Synthesis-Project Specific • Site Settlement • Trade / Exchange • Trading Post

Geographic Keywords
46117 (Fips Code) • North America (Continent) • Oahe Reservoir • South Dakota (State / Territory) • Stanley (County) • United States of America (Country)

Temporal Keywords
Historic

Spatial Coverage

min long: -101.167; min lat: 44.168 ; max long: -99.892; max lat: 44.784 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Sponsor(s): Smithsonian Insitution

Record Identifiers

Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin(s): 176

NADB document id number(s): 821765

NADB citation id number(s): 000000100827

File Information

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