View Full List of National Register: Wyoming Listings

The Basin Oil Field Tipi Rings (48CA1667) were recorded by personnel from the Office of the Wyoming State Archaeologist in 1982. This was done as part of a cultural resource inventory of a proposed Energy Transportation Systems, Inc. coal slurry pipeline route. The site is located on the top of a ridge overlooking the confluence of the floodplains of Caballo Creek, the Belle Fourche River and several smaller drainages. It is composed of a dispersed lithic scatter, a concentration of ceramic fragments, and eleven stone features including seven stone circles, one stone cairn, a fire hearth, and two amorphous scatters of cobbles which may be disturbed stone circles.

The site represents a Middle Missouri tradition occupation during the Late Prehistoric or Protohistoric Periods. A possible Late Archaic component was also noted. The site contains significant data relevant to two current research issues: 1) the movement into the Powder River Basin of pottery bearing groups of the Middle Missouri tradition, which may have included groups closely related to the Mandan, Hidatsa or Crow; and 2) the functions and cultural associations of stone circles.

National Register form available upon request.