ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATES

MY HUSBAND AND I STARTED OUR ARCHAEOLOGY BUSINESS IN HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA. WE MET WITH THE FOREST SERVICE AND THEY FORWARDED OUR NAMES TO MINERS AND COMPANIES WHO HAD INTEREST IN MINING FOR GOLD AS WELL AS FOR DRILLING FOR OIL. WE KEPT BUSY IN THE FOUR STATES OF NORTH AND SOUTH DAKOTA, NEBRASKA AND WYOMING. MOST OF OUR BUSINESS WAS WITH A FIRM WHO HAD BEEN DRILLING FOR OIL AND UNDERGROUND GAS IN SOUTH DAKOTA GRASSLANDS. WE EXPLORED THE PETROGLYPHS BY THE SOUTHERN TIP OF THE BLACK HILLS WHICH I HAD FOUND THE YEAR BEFORE.

WE HAD MANY COMPANIES CONTACT US IN THE BLACK HILLS. THEY WERE EXPLORING FOR GOLD, OIL AND GAS. THEY USUALLY WERE SMALL PROJECTS; MANY WERE LINEAR LINES WHERE A BIG OIL COMPANY WAS TESTING FOR UNDERGROUND GAS BY SETTING OFF SMALL UNDERGROUND CHARGES. SOME OF THEIR PROJECTS INCORPORATED MILES AND MILES OF SURVEYING. ANOTHER LARGE COMPANY HIRED US TO SURVEY LARGE AREAS WHERE THEY PLANNED TO PUT IN OIL WELLS. THE TOPOGRPHY OF THE GRASSLANDS WAS EASY TO READ. THE TOPOGRAPHY OF NORTH DAKOTA WAS DIFFICULT TO WALK IN AND TO READ AS THERE WERE MANY LARGE BLUFFS AND ERODED SANDSTONE CUTS.

THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF SMALL PREHISTORIC CAMPS THAT WE HAD TO RECORD, AND SOME OF THEM WERE OVER 5 ACRES IN SIZE - CHIPPING STATIONS WHERE THE INDIANS TESYED THE QUALITY OF THE CHERT. THERE WERE ALSO MANY PALEONTOLOGICAL SITES, INCLUDING LARGE TURTLES WHICH WE RECORDED BUT DID NOT PRESERVE SINCE THEY HAD HUNDREDS OF THEM IN THIS AREA.

THE ANIMAL LIFE WAS ABUNDANT IN THE PLAINS AND INCLUDED PRAIRIE DOGS, ELK, WILD HORSES, ANTELOPE, BUFFALO, AND DEER, RABBITS, SNAKES, AND BIGHORN SHEEP.
THEY ATE MANY GRASS SEEDS, PINE NUTS, AND JUNIPER BERRIES. THEY ALSO GREW AGRICULTURE OF CORN, BEANS, SQUASH, AND TURNIPS AND PRAYED FOR THE RAIN.