 In anticipation of the creation of the Norris Reservoir in the mid-1930s, William Webb of the Smithsonian Institution conducted an extensive archaeological survey of the lower Clinch Valley.Webb located 23 prehistoric sites (which included 12 burial mounds and 34 townhouses) along the Clinch and its immediate watershed between what is now Oak Ridge and Claiborne County.At Saltpeter Cave, located approximately above the mouth of the Powell River, Webb uncovered 13 Native American burials as well as numerous tools and pottery fragments dating to various prehistoric periods.