North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
North American Database of Archaeological Geophysics
Abstract/Summary:
Project Name: Primeau's Trading Post (Fort Clark State Historic Site, 32ME2), ND;
Reference: Kvamme, K.L. (2001). Interim Report of Geophysical Investigations at the Fort Clark and Primeau's Trading Posts, Fort Clark State Historic Site (32ME2): 2000 Investigations. ArcheoImaging Lab, Department of Anthropology and Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Submitted to PaleoCultural Research Group, Flagstaff, Arizona, and State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota.
Ahler, S.A., Kvamme, K.L, and J.C. Kvamme (2000) Summary Report on 2000 Field Investigations at Fort Clark State Historic Site, 32ME2, Mercer County, North Dakota. ArcheoImaging Lab, Department of Anthropology and Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. Submitted to the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Bismarck, North Dakota.
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 nearby Fort Clark. Formerly an interpreter at the U.S. Army post at Fort Yates, Primeau constructed his trading post in the late 1850s between Fort Clark and an Arikara village (formerly the Mandan village of Mit-tutta-hang-kush), both only meters away. The trading post operated until 1861 when the Arikara moved away. The magnetic mapping clearly illustrates the outlines of this little-known trading post, with a number of interior walls, rooms, the outer wall, and the inner compound clearly visible. A large number of massive magnetic measurements are probably due to a combination of burned features, iron artifacts, and a magnetic sandstone used in foundation construction.
The electrical resistance survey employed four twin probe arrays with 50 cm spacing on a single frame with near-simultaneous measurement using Geoscan Research's RM15/MPX-15 multiplexer combination. The resistance data were relatively indistinct, however, probably owing to the intense rodent disturbance of this site and dry soil conditions. Computer shadowing methods applied to the data yielded somewhat clearer imagery, however.