The Little Bald Mountain Site

Summary

In 1945, while surface-hunting for artifacts in the high country of the Big Horn Mountains, I discovered what appeared to be an ancient village site and buffalo-killing area situated in a saddle on the main divide immediately south of Little Bald Mountain at an elevation of 9,000 feet. Two small drainage ditches for the then little-used Wyoming Highway #14 had exposed arrowheads and bison bones, and an itinerant sheepherder informed me that in past years his daughter had gathered many buffalo skulls from that immediate area, stacked them up by the road and sold them to the occasional tourists who ventured that way. The apparent area of occupation covered about ten acres, all of which except the road and ditches was heavily sodded. In 1955 five acres in the middle of the area was destroyed by the building of a new highway across the site and brought in dozens of artifact collectors who literally followed the earth-moving machinery to pick up the exposed artifacts. Our expedition on this site was scheduled to start on August 3rd, and a week earlier a contract was let by the U.S. Forest Service for the construction of a new Hunt Mountain road which would cut right through the proposed site of our excavation. The forest supervisor very kindly informed the road-builders to keep off our site until we were finished. So, by split-timing, we have been able to contribute to the science of archaeology a site which would otherwise have been lost forever.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Wyoming Archaeologist 2008

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Contact(s): Marcia Peterson

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