2002
Research
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The Garden Coulee site was initially
recorded in 1976 when a charcoal lens, ash,
butchered bone, and historic artifacts were
noted eroding from a roadcut through the
terrace edge east of Fort Union. The following
year, three pit features and numerous 19th
century artifacts were documented during
a waterline excavation project east of Fort
Union. The relative stratigraphic position
of the pit features, the classic “bell
shape” of two of the pits, and numerous
items of 19th military origin provided sufficient
archeological evidence to suggest that this
was a site used during the post-Fort Union
period (1864 or later) by a group of Plains
villagers.
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Aerial photo of Fort Union and surrounding
area. Shaded area showing 43 acre
survey location.
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In
1982, Archeologist Gregory L. Fox
convincingly identified the
Garden Coulee site (32WI18) as the
location of the Crow-Flies-High band’s
late 19th century camp near Fort
Buford. Using historic map references
and a proton magnetometer survey,
archeologists were able to identify
the location of the site as well as
numerous subsurface features that
could potentially yield significant
information about the village inhabitants.
Analysis of diagnostic artifacts,
documentary records, and ethnographic
evidence suggests that the Garden
Coulee site (32WI18) predates the
Crow-Flies-High site (32MZ1) in McKenzie
county and was abandoned in 1884.
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| In 2002, the Midwest Archeological
Center (MWAC) was requested by the Superintendent
of Fort
Union Trading Post National Historic
Site to conduct an investigation
of the Garden Coulee Site (32WI18),
Williams County, North Dakota to determine
the spatial limits of the historic village.
A two-phased investigation was proposed.
The first phase consisted of the establishment
of a grid over the area of the site
and the mapping of artifacts on the
surface of the site. |
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This work
was conducted between September
9 and 21, 2002. The 2002
survey covered a total of 48.25
acres within which, a 240 meter
x 280 meter area was established
as the grid for the geophysical
survey. The second phase of this
study, undertaken by geophysical
contractor Archaeo-Physics, LLC
consisted of subsurface geophysical
investigations of 15 acres within
the grid area. Previous geophysical
survey and archeological excavations
at the Garden Coulee site have
established evidence that significant
archeological features still exist. |
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15 acre geophysical survey grid
location.
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Magnetic gradiometer surveys
have identified the three pit
features recorded in 1977 as well
as fifty-three other subsurface
anomalies. Recent magnetic gradiometer
surveys combined with older geophysical
survey data should have established
a baseline for identifying some
of the feature anomalies recorded
during the 2002 geophysical survey
of the site and surrounding area.
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