This report describes an intensive Phase I archaeological survey of a 1,350-acre (546.3-ha.) portion of Fort Benning Military Reservation, in Compartments Z-2 and Z-3, Russell County, Alabama. The study area is located along the west bank of the Chattahoochee River below the mouth of Uchee Creek in an area historically known as Oswichee Bend. The study area consists of terrace and floodplain landforms bordering the active river channel as well as cut-off meander channels of former river courses. Most of the acreage in these compartments is currently planted in pines and was under intensive cultivation during the century prior to government acquisition in 1941.One hundred and two (102) cultural resource loci were identified and delineated during this study. Six archeological sites that had previously been recorded, two (1RU63, IRU97) in Compartment Z-2 and four (IRU51, IRU56, 1RU109, 1RU110) in Compartment Z-3, were reexamined. Fifty (50) previously unreported archaeological sites were recorded, including 21 sites in Compartment Z-2 (1RU287-1RU307) and 29 sites in Compartment Z-3 (1RU308-1RU336). Seventeen isolated finds (loci with five or fewer artifacts) were recorded in Z-2 and 29 others in Z-3.The project area includes large portions of two antebellum plantations (Oswichee/Wright's Bend and Bon Acre); several historic Lower Creek Towns, including Yuchi Town, Chiaha, Osochi, Okmulgee, Apalachicola, and Hitchiti; and portions of several important historic Indian trails.
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