Located near Pine City, Minnesota, about twenty-five miles southwest of the Petaga Point Site, the Snake River Site afforded its occupants easy access to Mille Lacs Lake and the St. Croix and Mississippi rivers. The Snake River is part of the St. Croix drainage system, its source lying on the south slope of the Mille Lacs moraine. The Snake River Valley is on the northern fringe of the transitional zone between the middle Minnesota hardwood forest and the northern coniferous forests.
The majority of data for the Snake River sites come from two sources. The collections of Joseph E. Neubauer, consisting of surface finds, and the Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Vach collection, now housed in the University of Minnesota’s archaeological laboratory (Caine, 55).
During the summers of 1963 and 1964, Leland R. Cooper visited two Snake River sites and excavated several burial mounds located on the land of Mr. Paul Stumme, and on the land owned by Mr. and Mrs. Vach.
Sites in adjacent Canada and the Great Lakes states indicate the existence of a Late Paleo-Indian Tradition possibly between 7,000 B.C. and 4,500 B.C. in this area. Unfortunately in the Snake River Valley, as in the rest of Minnesota, we have no excavated sites from this period with clear stratigraphy or accurate dating. Evidence of the Paleo-Indian period comes from one of the Vach sites located on the high bluff south of Pokegama Lake, where a Scottsbluff point, a Browns Valley point, and a Plano parallel-flaked point were collected. (Caine, 57)
The earliest evidence of Archaic occupation in the Snake River Valley appears at one of the Vach sites on the bluff, where a Lamoka-Dustinlike point and a Radatz Sidenotched point were recovered. One of the most numerous points dating from the Archaic in the Snake River Valley is the Durst Stemmed point (generally) associated with The Late Archaic in Wisconsin. A large number of ovate-stemmed Gary points have also been collected in the area. (Caine, p. 57)
The most significant evidence of Late Archaic occupation in the Snake River region is provided by artifacts of what has been called the "Old Copper Culture." Over a hundred copper artifacts have been collected and excavated from sites in the Snake River Valley. Due to the proximity with the Petaga Point Site, many of the lithic artifacts found at Snake River, Durst Stemmed points, flake choppers and side-scrapers, are nearly identical. Within the copper assemblage, conical points and awls are the most common. In general, copper assemblages at the Snake River Site show close ties with those in Wisconsin. (Caine, p. 59)
Only two copper ornaments (common in Wisconsin sites) are known to be taken from the Snake River Site: a rectangular rolled bead and a spiral shaped bead.(Caine, p. 57)
Pottery found in the Snake River Valley indicate both Middle and Late Woodland occupations. As with the Petaga Point Site, it is uncertain whether there was an Early Woodland occupation. St. Croix Stamped pottery was found in a majority of sites in the region, and was dated through stratification as Middle Woodland from the Neubauer site. Some types of pottery found was dentate stamped, with crosshatching and chevrons, suggests Hopewellian or Havanoid influences. Other pottery types include "Pokegama Smooth" (thought to be a blend of Laurel and Malmo influences), Fox Lake Incised, Vach Trailed, and Snake River Incised.(Caine, p. 60-1)
Lithic materials parallel the sequence established by the pottery. Again, there is little evidence of Early Woodland occupation, but Middle Woodland occupation is represented by small, narrow, thin, side-notched points common also to Petaga Point. Several other small side-notched points similar to both Monona Stemmed and Madison Side-notched of Wisconsin were given the type name Snake River Side-notched. Also, a number of Prairie Side-notched points have been found in the Snake River Valley, along with Large Corner-notched point type found in the Middle Woodland Rainy River Aspect. Two dentate tools used to emboss pottery were discovered. One was made of bone, the other of white chert.
Late Woodland pottery is represented by cord-stamped of the Clam River Stamped type named by W.C. McKern after the Clam River site in Wisconsin. Three varieties, Plain-combed, twisted-cord, and cord stamped, have been defined for the Snake River area. Taken from the Neubauer site, they are thought to be the most recent pottery. (Caine, p. 61)
Late Woodland lithics found at Snake River include an Eastern triangular point, commonly found from Manitoba to the Eastern United States. (Caine, p. 61)
Coopers investigation of the Stumme Mounds uncovered some rather elaborate burial artifacts. Along with numerous skeletons, some of the artifacts included a single complete pottery vessel (St. Croix series from Middle Woodland), green schisted rocks, and a clay elbow pipe. In Mound Fifteen, canine teeth were found encased in an extensive mass of red ochre along with a pair of antler tines, with a beaver tooth inserted into perforations at each tip. Also, two large, rounded, shell beads were found associated with burials. (Cooper, p 2-7)
Caine, Christy A. H., "The archaeology of the Snake River Region in Minnesota"; Aspects of Upper Great Lakes Anthropology, Papers in honor of Lloyd A. Wilford; Edited by Elden Johnson, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, 1974.
Cooper, Leland R., Preliminary Report, Archaeological Survey and Excavation of the Stumme and Vach Sites, Pine County, Minnesota, 1966.