The Fort Buford State Historic Site is located near the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers, about 20 miles southwest of Williston, North Dakota.  Adobe was used to construct the early buildings at the fort, in the 1860's.  It became quickly apparent that adobe was not a suitable construction material for the area and these buildings were eventually replaced by those of more appropriate construction. 

A magnetometer survey was conducted by the Midwest Archaeological Center in an attempt to locate the foundations and corners of an enlisted men's barracks.  This survey was undertaken in anticipation of an archaeological program and reconstruction of the barracks for public interpretation.  Magnetometer methods are a frequently used at archaeological sites to map subsurface features and can be very effective in mapping foundations and other features at historic sites.  Unfortunately, a significant amount of metal (in the form of nails, parts of metal straps, and miscellaneous scraps) was present scattered across the area investigated.  The response of this surface metal was significant enough to mask the weak magnetic anomalies of the foundations targeted by the survey.  Consequently a resistance survey was conducted.