In 1992, Impact Services Incorporated conducted an archaeological survey of two prehistoric sites adjacent to Fritsche Creek, Nicollet County, Minnesota. The first site appeared to be a small habitation site which was somewhat disturbed by the construction of County Road 21. The second site was a bison kill/butchering site on a colluvial toe slope at the mouth of the Fritsche Creek ravine. As a result of this investigation, it was determined that any further construction within the site area would require an intensive data recovery because of the significance of this site.

Two years later, the Nicollet County Highway Department made plans to reconstruct Bridge 89432 over Fritsche Creek and widen CSAH 21 which necessitated the relocation of three transmission poles. Because of the impact on the bison kill site, it was recommended that the three pole locations be excavated prior to impact in order to recover any archaeological data that might be destroyed. The Woodland component of the site was again identified as well as the bison bone bed which varied in depth from pit to pit.

Location of the Bison Kill Site Looking Southward 1992, 1994

Kathleen Roetzel working the Excavation Unit at the Bison Kill Site at Fritsche Creek 1992, 1994

Kathleen Roetzel Measuring in Artifacts at the Bison Kill Site at Fritsche Creek 1992, 1994

Tisha Strachan and Kathleen Roetzel Screening at the Bison Kill Site at Fritsche Creek 1992, 1994

An Archaeological Survey of Two Prehistoric Sites Adjacent to Fritsche Creek, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Kathleen Roetzel, Richard Strachan and Michael Clark, 1992 An Archaeological Report of a Limited Phase III Mitigation of the Fritsche Creek Bison Kill Site in Nicollet County, Minnesota 1994, Kathleen Roetzel, Richard Strachan and Charles Broste, 1994