In the early 1930s, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began construction of this hatchery, more than 100 Caddo Indian graves were unearthed. Because the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was not yet in effect, many human remains and funerary items were crushed, stolen, looted, or destroyed. Some remains were transported to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, where they were kept at the National Museum of Natural History until 2007. Under the authority of the Museum of the American Indian Act, and with support from the Caddo Nation's Tribal Council and Repatriation Committee, the Caddo Nation Cultural Preservation Department began in 2000 a long effort to return these remains to the Caddo Nation, and that journey was completed by March 7, 2008.