The Huff Indian Village State Park was dedicated on this day in 1936. George Will was the principal speaker at the ceremony. Will was responsible for fieldwork done on the site in 1919. State Historical Society Superintendent Russell Reid also spoke at the site’s dedication. The State Historical Society had acquired the majority of the Huff village site in 1910. When it acquired the remainder of the site in 1932, the society decided to transform the prehistoric site into a North Dakota state park.

The prehistoric village dates to the mid-fifteenth century and was home to a population of over 1,000 at its height. The site is located along the west bank of the Missouri river, about twenty miles south of Mandan and a mile from the town of Huff, North Dakota. The fortified site is enclosed by a fifteen-foot wide ditch, and contains depressions of over 100 rectangular houses. The ditch itself is worthy of note, being over 2,000 feet long, enclosing an area of eight and a half acres, and containing both a palisade and bastions. Remains of a large ceremonial lodge are located in the center of the site, which is thought to be the prehistoric home of the Mandan. Heavily fortified sites like the Huff Village were relatively common along the Missouri during this time period.

Emil Steinbrueck was the first scholar to work at the site; he sketched the visible remains of the house depressions and fortifications in 1905. A. B. Stout undertook the earliest archaeological excavations at the site in 1908. Since that time, several researchers have worked at the site, including both archaeologists and geophysicists. The most extensive excavations were completed in 1959 and 1967 by James Howard and W. Raymond Wood, respectively. Today, the site is open to the public, but under the protection of North Dakota and national antiquities laws. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic landmark.

-Jayme L. Job

Sources:
Fargo Forum (Evening ed.). October 12, 1936; p. 2.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/samples/nd/HUFF
http://www.cast.uark.edu/~kkvamme/geop/huff
https://www.state.nd.us/hist/LewisClark/attractions_HuffVillage

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