Custer's Last House

In Bismarck we visited only one site. Between 8 and 12 October, 1804, the Corps visited several Arikara Villages and were delighted at the welcome reception they received, in stark contrast to that of the Teton Sioux.

October 20, 1804 CLARK "I walked out to view those remarkable  places pointed out by Evens.....Saw an old village of the Mandans below the Chess chi ter R. appear to have been fortified.the countrey thro which I passed this day is Delightful, Timber in the bottoms, Saw great nos. of Buffalow Elk Goats & Deer as we we in want of them I Killed 3 deer, our hunters 10 deer and wounded a white Bear. I Saw Several fresh tracks of that animal double the Sise of the largest track I ever Saw, great numbers of wolves, those animals follow the buffalow and devour those that die or are Killed, and those too fat or pore to Keep up with the gangue....."

The deserted village Clark describes was inhabited about 1650 to 1750, when it was abandoned due to smallpox and predation from the Lakota, or Teton Sioux. The inhabitants moved about 60  miles north and were welcomed by the Hidatsa tribe to share their territory.

Between 1872 and 1891 the site was occupied by Fort Abraham Lincoln. The Seventh Cavalry arrived in 1873 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. On June 26, 1876, General Custer told one of his Indian scouts that this day would be his last expedition, would make him famous, and would lead to his presidency of the United States. Two of those predictions came true.

The site is  now a North Dakota State Park, and a few of the 75 earth lodges have been replicated. Before taking the tour of  the On A Slant Village (so named because the village site is on a hill,)  we visited the small museum.

These images should be familiar to any archaeologists that may be out there.

Here are some external views of the lodges.

And here are some interior views.

Doc liked the buffalo skin rug.






And here is Chief Standing Bull and his trusty dog Medicine Man

Two of the lodges with the Missouri River in the distance

This is "Custer's Last House," where the General and his wife lived when he was commander of the Fort.






Tomorrow we will head north again to where the Mandans moved when the they abandoned their village we have just visited.

November 8, 1804 LEWIS  "This morning early we fixed on the site for our fortification which we immediately set about. This place we have named Fort Mandan in honour of our neighbors."