Evidence of first Americans lies along the James River Valley
BY JOY POWERS

As we leave the LaMoure County Memorial Park in the 9th story of the James River Valley Series, let’s wander around to the backside of the park and explore the very early history of the James River Valley.

Located here is one of two known ditch fortifications in North Dakota, the Seefeldt Village Site. The other known ditch fortification is located north of Bismarck, called Double Ditch.

Double Ditch contains the ruins of a large Mandan Indian earthlodge village dating back to 1675-1780. The two fortification ditches that surrounded the earthlodges are clearly visible to a careful observer. These ditches are believed to have been dug for defensive reasons for the Indians.

Glenn Dill recorded the Seefeldt Village Site in 1964. His recordings state that this site consists of what appears to be a fortification ditch. However, no testing or digging has ever been done here, therefore its cultural affiliation and history is yet unknown.

The ditch behind LaMoure County Memorial Park is located on private land. Over the years, it has filled in to become a shallow ditch today. It is not easily spotted at first glance and the history behind this ditch remains a mystery.

As we continue up County Highway 63 past the Memorial Park Country Club and Golf Course, you may begin to notice large mounds along the countryside. From Grand Rapids to Highway 46, there are 24 known Indian Burial Mound sites. Some of these sites may contain up to 21 different burial mounds in a given site.

As the railroad came through in 1885, railroad employees, thinking they might find gold or valuables buried in the mounds, looted approximately 90% of the mounds. What they found, however, were things valuable to the Indians such as a shell, beads, a clay ceramic pot, a woman’s sewing tools, or possibly a man’s favorite axe.

People of honor were generally buried in the larger mounds and the common people were buried in the smaller mounds. The bodies were stacked on top of the mound and covered in dirt. Then later, another body could be stacked on top and covered in dirt. This process continued on for years, therefore, creating the burial mounds located along this road. Digging is not permitted by anyone in the burial mounds. They are kept sacred as any place of burial is.

Approximately two miles north of Grand Rapids along County Highway 46 is the Quast Site. In 1976, Native American ceramic sherds (the edges or rims of clay pots), modified (bones used for tools) and unmodified bones, fire-cracked rock charred botanical remains (corn) and a fire hearth were discovered at this location.

The fire hearth contained charred corn. Through the findings here associated wood charcoal was able to be radiocarbon dated to approximately AD 1245.

It’s believed that the Indians would break bones with large stones and place them into large ceramic clay pots. As they were cooked, the bone marrow and grease would rise to the top. They were able to store this for use during the long winters to use in cooking. Bone grease processing debris was also identified during the testing.

There are indications of an Indian battle against the military taking place in LaMoure County just before or possibly just after the Whitestone Battle by General Sully’s men. However, no documentation can tell us just where it took place or any details.

In 1864, the year after the battle at Whitestone Hill, a U.S. military force began searching for possible fort sites on the James River between the mouth of the Elm River and the Bone Hill Creek. This fort on the James River would be a part of the string of forts planned to be built along the frontier to protect the settled areas to the east and pacify the Dakota Indians to the west. The James River, however, was described as having an insufficient supply of timber to maintain a military fort and Ft. Wadsworth (Fort Sisseton) was built in the northeast corner of South Dakota instead.

In the next story in this series, we’ll explore the history around one of the oldest and first homesteads in LaMoure County, the Roscoe Homestead.