Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-14
ctlal Missouri Channel Starts i'm Montana Volcanic Basin,
Winds 1921 Miles to Gulf as Worlds Longest tream-bed

complished one of those great object
on which my mind had been unaltera
bly, fixed for many years, judge of thu
pleasure / felt in allaying my thirs
with this pure and ice-cold water which
issues from the base Of q low noun
tam or hill of a gentle ascent for ~
mile: the mountains are high on either
hand (but) leave this gap at the heat
OF this rivulet through which the roat
passes. here l halted a few minute.
n rested myself. two miles below
McNeal had exhultingly stood with ont
foot on each side of this little rivulet
n thanked God that he had lived tc
bestride the mighty & heretofore
deemed endless Missouri
Prehistoric Villages p
Brewer brings out thei fact the
source of the Missouri was the home
or prehistoric man and tells of his dis
coveries and conclusions in his arch
geological addendum which follows:
The mountainous region surround
ing the utmost waters of the Missouri
was the home and hunting ground of
prehistoric man. Concerning his iden-
tIty and the date of his appearance at
that locality. practically nothing is Ger
talnly known. HIS village sites were
located at Elk Springs, Picnic Springs,
Blake.s Springs and at other points in
the Centennial valley and at Henry's
Lake, Idaho, and from thence east.
west, north and south indications are
extant that he penetrated to and oc-
cupled numerous localities in Montana
and Idaho, subsisting principally upon
game and fish, then, probably, very
abundant. The implements used were
OF chlpped stone, principally of OBJ
sidlan. Detrital masses, moulds and
debris now the village sites to
an extent sufficient tt make it diff
cult to discover and secure the clipped
implements, all of which are below the
present natural surface on the plain,
when is covered with a considerable
growth of artemisia. The spade or
the plow is quite necessary in the dis
covery OF the implements, although
some OF the finest secured were
thrown up by the excavation of badg-
ers. Nothing remains to indicate the
character of the habitations occupied.
leading to the superstition that skin
covered lodges were probably in COM
mon use. Only slight indications of
pottery fragments were found.
James Blair ~excavated several
fN I'm hpIiusS, WHICH 10 not
show any of the well known ornamental
abric or markings characteristic of
the pottery found on the lower course
OF the Missouri. In fact. the limited
number of specimens found are un
and are made of pounded
stone, sand and pulverized shell. The
great Yellowstone obsidian quarry was
Drawn upon for a supply Of material
for Clipped implements, and the frac-
tured spalls and blocks are scattered
about the surrounding country in pro-
indicating that the locality had
no doubt been the home of man for
many centuries.
Stone Knives and Lance Heads
"a stone knife and broken obsidian
head were found at the crest of
the main range near Shangle Peak. |
At Henry Lake, Richard w. Rock ex- |
a grooyed stone hammer while
a cellar. The hammer was
found about four feet below the sur
No burial mounds were noticed
1t the Centennial valley or at Alaska
Wolves and coyotes are nu- !
nerous and the habits of the Bannack
in historic times respecting the
burial of the dead show that the re-
mains We're usually deposited in stone
Arms far up in the mountains to pre-
,ent despoilation.
1t is probable that the ancestry Of
me or more of the North American
RIDES were the people who occupied
he locality in early times. The mate
'ial at hand for an intelligent consid-