Wednesday, May 26, 2021
*On 10/22/1804, the Corps of Discovery noted another abandoned village at the confluence of the Heart and Missouri Rivers.*
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Missouri River passing Double Ditch State Historic Site,
site of a Mandan village occupied from 1490-1785,
near the confluence of the Heart and Missouri Rivers;
a smallpox epidemic of 1781-1782 led to the
abandonment of the village |
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Rivers protected two sides of the village and deep
ditches (a remnant of one seen here) protected
the land side of the village |
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| Circular depressions indicate the locations of earth lodges |
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Stone shelter (1930s, by the Civilian Conservation Corps/CCC)
at the Double Ditch Historic Site near Bismarck, ND |
*From 11/2/1804 to 4/4/1805, Fort Mandan was the winter headquarters of the Corps of Discovery. Members of the expedition built the fort and named it after their hosts, the Mandan Nation, whose chief Sheheke met with Lewis & Clark on 11/1/1804 to smoke the peace pipe and promise "if we eat you shall eat, if we starve you must starve also."*
~On 5/25/1999, Ada & Bert S visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, ND.~ |
| 1999: Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center |
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12-foot statues (2004, by Tom Leary) of Chief Sheheke,
Meriwether Lewis, and William Clark |
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In 2017, Kent was dwarfed by Chief Sheheke,
Lewis and Clark |
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| Lewis and Clark with Chief Sheheke |
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A miniature copy of a statue at Fort Benton, MT
that is historically wrong, showing Lewis and
Clark in so-called Daniel Boone frontier outfits,
and Lewis wearing a colonial tri-corner hat
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Much more research is done in designing statues these days!
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A replica air rifle, that conversation starter,
took 30 minutes to pump up fully! (KSS) |
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Even Ada S noted Dr Rush's Pills aka Thunderclappers
used for constipation due to a diet of mostly dried meat |
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The center also highlighted the expedition
of Prince Maximilian of Wied, a German explorer,
ethnobiologist, and naturalist, who traveled
through the Great Plains in 1832, to document
the cultures of American native tribes before
they were lost to westward expansion |
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Karl Bodmer, an artist and landscape painter
from Switzerland, accompanied Maximilian
to sketch and paint everything they saw |
The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, ND has a complete collection of prints of the paintings by Bodmer during the expedition with Maximilian, displayed in rotation.
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David Dredoppel, was Maximilian's man-
servant who was also on the expedition;
he was a taxidermist who captured and
preserved animal specimens to take to Europe |
*On 11/4/1804, Lewis & Clark hire French-Canadian fur trader Touissant Charbonneau and one of his Shoshone wives, Sakagawea, as interpreters.*
*On 1/1/1805, two cannons are fired to celebrate the New Year.*
*On 2/11/1805, Jean Baptiste is born to Sakagawea and Touissant Charbonneau.* |
Reconstructed Fort Mandan is located about 10 miles
downstream from the original location that is now underwater |
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| Fort Mandan (original built winter of 1804) (KSS) |
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| The swivel gun from the keelboat sits on a post in the fort |
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There were three rooms for the army members of the
Corps of Discovery; most slept in the loft above (TMS+KSS) |
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Steps to the loft (although it looks like
they still had to haul themselves up
through the opening in the ceiling!) |
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| In 2017 we were allowed to peek into the sleeping loft |
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| One storeroom was for provisions |
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The other storeroom was for all the hostess
gifts they brought along on the keelboat |
At this point, the keelboat was frozen in on the Missouri River.
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The officers' room: Lewis and Clark were both Captains
in the US Army, and I probably should be addressing them
as such, but their names are long enough! |
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The officers had a desk for keeping their
journals, writing letters, drawing maps, etc.;
actually the three sergeants also had to
keep journals, or logs during the trip (KSS) |
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The interpreters' room; during the winter, Lewis & Clark hired
two interpreters, René Jessaume with his Mandan wife and
children, and Touissant Charbonneau with his Shoshone wife
Sakagawea/Bird Woman (both of whom could speak Hidatsa)
who was pregnant at the time; they all lived in this room (KSS) |
Charbonneau's second wife, Otter Woman, was also Shoshone, and she lived with them at Fort Mandan. However, she did not accompany them on the expedition.
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| The guard room |
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In 2017, Kent was allowed
to hold the blunderbuss |
*On 8/14-17/1806. on the return trip, the Corps of Discovery found that Fort Mandan was largely destroyed by fire.*
We had already visited Fort Mandan and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, ND, (as well as Bismarck, ND) on
6/16/2017.
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| A selfie with Seaman, the Newfoundland dog |
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| Kent with Seaman on 6/16/2017 |
Next: ND II.
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