*On 4/7/1805, the Corps of Discovery begins their journey up the Missouri River in six dugout canoes, the red pirogue and the white pirogue. The entire crew is comprised of 31 men (including York), one woman, Sakagawea, and one two-month old infant.
*Also on 4/7/1805, the keelboat, commanded by Corporal Richard Warfington, heads back to St Louis with specimens and written information for Thomas Jefferson.*
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| Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center (2003) near Williston, ND, had everything except a view of the Missouri and Yellowstone confluence! |
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| Urocitellus richardsonii/Richardson's Ground Squirrel; he and his mates have overrun or rather under-dug the property of the Interpretive Center |
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| Typical outfit of the Métis (those of French and First Peoples heritage) or the Engagés (those who were hired, such as the boatmen, who were usually French) |
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| Replica skull of an Ice Age Bison latifrons that were 50% larger than the bison of today, with a horn span of six feet (KSS) |
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| Example of a dugout canoe carved from a single trunk of a cottonwood tree, as used by the Corps of Discovery when they left Fort Mandan |
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| In more recent history, bottles of crude oil samples from North Dakota |
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| Burrowing Richardson's Ground Squirrel (KSS) |
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| Missouri and Yellowstone Confluence: Lewis & Clark Historical Marker |
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| An aerial photo of the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence |
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| At first we thought this was the confluence, but it is a side channel of the Missouri River, not even an oxbow! |
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| Okay, just one more Richardson's Ground Squirrel! (KSS) |
*On 4/26/1805, Meriwether Lewis with a small party explore the north shore of the Missouri River facing the Yellowstone confluence, to determine a suitable location for a trading post.*
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| The prairie from Fort Union Trading Post near Williston, ND; can we pretend those black dots are bison? |
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| Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site (a 1986-1993 reconstruction of the fort as it was in 1851), depicts the busiest trading post on the Upper Missouri River where Assiniboine, Crow, Cree, Ojibwe, Blackfoot, Hidatsa, Lakota, and other tribes traded buffalo robes and furs for trade goods including beads, clay pipes, guns blankets, knives, cookware, cloth, and alcohol |
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| Inside Fort Union |
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| Inside the trade store |
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| Hospitality room where customers were "wined and dined" in order to encourage the tribes to come back to this post |
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| The entrance is on the south side facing the Missouri River, which has moved farther away over time |
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| Buffalo Robe Press, which actually compressed the bales of buffalo hides |
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| Aww, just one last Richardson Ground Squirrel! (KSS) |
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