The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1915-10-28

discovery which makes it necessary
to re.write large portion of the his
tory of the Indian tribes Of North and
South Dakota was recently made by
Prof. O. G. Libby, professor Of his
tory of the University of North Dako.
ia, and well known expert and scholar
in Indian lore and history. Prof. Lib
by recently made a find such as de-
lights the heart of the true archeolo-
gist and makes it hardly possible for
him to keep his enthusiasm within
reasonable bounds. He discovered the
remains of a hitherto unknown Indian
village, unknown so far as the white
man is concerned, and also unknown
to many Of the Indians themselves.
This village is located near Beulah
three miles from the Knife river, and
hence considerable distance from the
Missouri, and in place where the
Airkara or Rec, as the tribe is more
commonly known, have not hitherto
been supposed to have made settle
ments.
Some hundred villages belonging to
one or other of the three tribes of the
Arikara or Rec, as they are more com.
monty called, the Mandan and Hidotsa
or Grasventre tribes have been locat.
ed up and down the Missouri river.
1t is interesting to know how the
traces of these almost obliterated vii.
lagos are recognized by the scholar
versed in such matters, and how he
knows whether a village is of COM
paratively recent times or of a more
remote period. The Indians of these
three tribes built their homes of cir
cular form, first making stout skele-
ton of cottonwood poles. Over that
framework they placed clay mixed
with straw and any other binding ma.
terial they could find.
The fireplace was invariably located
in the exact center of the house. There
was also one door but no windows
AS time passed on, the clay gradually
sagged away from the center of the
roof and collected in thick rolls on
the outer edges. Daily the Indian
woman swept the dirt floor of the
house. This constnat sweeping caus'
ed the floor to be rounded out like the
bottom of some huge mixing bowl
When houses ceased to be inhabited
either through the devastation of trib.
al wars, or their abandonment for new
er hunting fields or because of the
nomadic instinct of their inhabitants,
in time the cottonwood poles subjected
to moisture and neglect would rot and
the whole structure would fall to the
ground. When this happened, the
debris would naturally take circular
shape, and there would be round rim
Of clay forming the circumference
caused from the heavy accumulation
around the lower edge of the roof and
the sides, referred to above, while in
the center, corresponding to this Gov
ering of clay over the center of the
roof, there would be only thin layer
of debris. Because of the rounded out
floor, when one attempts to walk over
such a ruined house, he finds his feet
sinking into gentle declivity which
slopes down gradually to the lowest
spot in the center. He also discovers
gap in the outer rim which marks
the place where the door of the house
was located. Digging down little in
the exact geometric center, he always
find ashes, clearly indicating the spot
occupied by the fireplace.
People IMMERSED in Indian history
and customs, when they come upo1
such formation as those made by these
villages, call them rifle pits, as they
have that appearance. The people
living in the vicinity of DR.. Libby's
newly discovered village informed hin
that they had found a rifle pit in theil
neighborhood. Knowing what such 9
report invariably leads to, he visited
Beaulah and was taken in an auto tt
the spot and there discovered the vii
lage. He estimates that it contained
about $50 lodges, as the. houses are de
signated. Unfortunately he was not
able to explore the whole village and
ascertain its exact extent because 8
cornfeld had been planted over
a part of it, and another portion wa.
newly plowed. But he foud enough tt
assure him that there had once beer
on Indian village of considerable ex
tent, and that it was very old, one thai
had not been occupied for a great
many years. He was sure Of this be
cause Of the absence of pottery and
bones. Whenever the remains Of al