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Site name: Primeau's Trading Post


Nearest town: Washburn; State/country: North Dakota; Type of site: Historic Trading Post; Date of site: Late 1850s - 1861; Sponsor: State Historical Society of North Dakota; Collaborators: State Historical Society of North Dakota, PaleoCultural Research Group, University of Missouri, University of Kansas.

Type of survey: Magnetic gradiometry; Instrument: Geoscan Research FM-36 fluxgate gradiometer; Prospection depth: up to 1.5 m; Sampling interval: 0.5 x 0.25 m; Area surveyed: 2,100 m2; Dates of survey: 6/00.


Comments: Primeau's Trading Post (or Fort Primeau) was built by Charles Primeau, a disaffected employee of the American Fur Company (also known as the Upper Missouri Outfit) at Fort Clark. Formerly an interpreter at the U.S. Army post at Fort Yates, Primeau constructed his trading post between Fort Clark and the Mandan village of Mit-tutta-hang-kush, a few meters away. The trading post operated until 1861 when the Arikara (who replaced the occupants of the nearby village) moved away. The magnetic mapping clearly illustrates the outlines of this little-known trading post, with a number of walls and rooms clearly visible. The massive magnetic measurements are probably due to a combination of burned features, iron artifacts, and magnetic rock used in its construction.

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(updated: 7/00)