Archeology for Beginners (2024)

Archeology for Beginners is a mission in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Mission Overview[]

Arthur visits Rains Fall in Wapiti and they travel to a sacred Native American site in the Grizzlies East.

Story[]

After agreeing with Charles Smith to help Rains Fall, Arthur travels to the Wapiti Indian Reservation to see him. Once there, he is invited into Rains Fall's tent. At first, Rains Fall laments the fact that Arthur went on a raid with Eagle Flies, calling the latter "the impetuous prince". Arthur apologizes and begins coughing soon afterwards, which Rains Fall quickly picks up on, and asks Arthur if he is sufficiently well. Afterwards, Rains Fall asks Arthur to accompany him to a site that is sacred to the tribe, which Arthur accepts.

The pair mount their horses and set out for their destination. Soon after departing the reservation, Captain Monroe intercepts them and informs Rains Fall that the meeting he went to in order to help secure the tribe's homeland went badly. Rains Fall thanks him for his help nonetheless, and Monroe asks Arthur if he could help with something at some point soon; the player can either agree to help him or refuse. After Captain Monroe leaves, Arthur and Rains Fall continue riding. On the way, they can talk about various things - Arthur can discuss Eagle Flies, or Dutch van der Linde, who Rains Fall is keen to know about. Additionally, the conversation can move on to Arthur discussing his sickness and how he is terminally ill, or even his own son, who died some time ago. Along the way, Rains Fall collects a number of herbs, which are supposed to make Arthur's cough less severe.

The two eventually arrive at the site, where Rains Fall is horrified to discover that it has been destroyed in an arson attack and the Chanupa, a very sacred artefact for the Wapiti Indians, has been stolen. They begin looking for clues as to who had committed the act and find a number of discarded whiskey bottles on the ground. Rains Fall then says that it was likely to have been US Army soldiers and proceeds to survey the area around him with Arthur, using binoculars. Arthur spots an Army camp at the bottom of the valley and decides they must have been responsible for the attack and the theft of the Chanupa. Arthur offers to infiltrate the camp and steal it back from the soldiers. Rains Fall is initially hesitant but allows Arthur to do so. However, he tells him not to harm any of the soldiers.

Arthur then makes his way into the camp to steal back the Chanupa. Undetected or otherwise, he finds it on the floor and assembles it, before returning it to Rains Fall. When he does, Rains Fall asks if anyone was hurt; if so, he bemoans that the Army will surely seek revenge for the attack. If it was done without killing any guards, Rains Fall thanks Arthur and gives him a sacred Owl Feather Trinket as a gift.

Gold Medal Objectives[]

• Recover the relics without being detected.
• Recover the relics within 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Mission Failure[]

The mission will fail if the player:

• Assaults, kills, or abandons Rains Fall or Captain Monroe;
• Kills or abandons their horse;
• Dies.

Deaths[]

• American Army soldiers (optional) - Killed by Arthur Morgan in order to retrieve the chanupa that was stolen from the Indians.

Trivia[]

• The Owl Feather Trinket slows down core degradation by 15% - this means that Arthur's cores will drain by 5% instead of the previous 20%, which was also the case when Arthur returned from Guarma but before his diagnosis of TB.
• Despite the whiskey bottles at the site supposedly being empty, most of them can be picked up by the player as a full bottle of Kentucky Bourbon.
• During the ride with Rains Fall, Arthur vocally scares away a pair of wolves eating a dead horse, which Rains Fall thanks him for - this is the only time in the game where wolves will not be hostile to the player.
  • Also, the horse that the wolves are feasting on is a Mahogany bay Tennessee Walker, the same horse coat found by Arthur at Adler Ranch. This is the only other time a Mahogany bay Tennessee Walker is seen in the game.
• The guards at the camp can be alerted, and even broken free from should the player become grappled, without preventing the player from receiving the Owl Feather Trinket.
• When visited in free roam, the sacred site was previously already destroyed, even if visited as early as Chapter 2. This has been changed in a update, and if visited before the mission becomes active, the site will be intact.
• If Arthur has already destroyed Bacchus Bridge with John Marston in "The Bridge to Nowhere", Rains Fall will point out the bridge to Arthur which can be seen during their ride. Rains Fall asks Arthur if his son did it which Arthur will deny. Rains Fall will lament on the fact that Wapitis will likely be blamed for it anyway.

Video Walkthroughs[]

Trophies/Achievements[]

Completing this Honor story mission strand is associated with these trophies/achievements:

Navigation[]