Winter descends on the Corps

Our first stop this morning was the replica of Fort Mandan. We were anxious to visit this spot as the Corps spent a great deal of time here.

A very fine statue of Seaman adorns the riverside at Fort Mandan

A peek inside the fort as we enter.

 The parade ground

The bunks

Captin Clarks desk
and Captain Lewis's desk

Sacajawea's quarters with her papoose board

And her boots

The oven and bellows of the blacksmith. The Indians were amazed at the abilities of the blacksmith when he repaired a number of their iron implements.

The Mandans particularly appreciated this battle axe the blacksmith made for them at their request.

One last view as we leave, showing the flag

At the interpretive center Doc hung our with his pal, Seaman

We particulaly liked the bronze of Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea

On the way to Williston, we stopped at Fort Stevenson State Park because we had read they have a prarie dog town on the property.

They do, and we got some good pictures. John is very glad he brought along a long lens

"John, look at those beautiful flowers!"

"Yeah, pretty"

"They are really gorgeous"

"Stop and take some pictures"

"What!!"

"You have got to stop and take some pictures."

"OK"

   
For the past few days we have been wondering about  the bright yellow crop  that appears everywhere. It is Canola. Canadian scientists learned how to breed the undesirable characteristics out of rapeseed plants to make use of the oil rich seeds. Now we have "Canadian Oil" or Canola. The attractive flowers are a bright yellow.



We are inWilliston ND tonight and plan to visit the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers on our way to an overnight in Malta Montana. When the Northern Pacific railroad put a road across northern Montana, they built several towns along the way, naming them after European cities to make them sound more attractive to folks moving west.

Good Archaeology

As the Corps proceeded north they found further evidence of the Mandan migration. Just north of Bismark is the Double Ditch Indian village. This refers to a village that had several concentric circular ditches around it serving as defensive "moats." Archaeologists started working these ruins in 1905.

They have recently used aerial photography and magnetic and resistive sensing to study the extent of the fortifications.

And the rings and depressions where the lodges were are evident visually.

Gail and Doc waited patiently for John to catch up.

This is a good view of one of the sand bars like the one that nearly sank the boats in the middle of the night.








As the winter was hard upon them, the Corps was searching for a place to spend the winter. They decided upon a place at the mouth of the Knife River where there were five Indian villages. Since they had been welcomed with open arms by the Aricara, Hidatsa and Mandan tribes, this place with three Hidatsa and two Mandan villages was perfect.

These three pictures show the depressions made by huts at one of the Hidatsa villages on the Knife River.

These are some wildflowers Gail just had to pick.

Tomorrow we are off to see a replica of Fort Mandan, a very important site, as it is where the Corps spent the winter of 2004-2005.

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."

One day in Pierre

Pierre, South Dakota is named for Pierre Chouteau, who built Fort Pierre, but the city pronounces its name "Peer." Just sayin...

Lewis and Clark are not, by far, the first white men to visit the area of Pierre and Bismarck. In 1743, two bothers, Chevalier and Louis Verendrye travelled from French Canada, trying to find an easy route to the Pacific Ocean. They only got as far as the Black Hills. They did, however plant a lead plate with an inscription claiming the area for France. In 1913 some high school students from Fort Pierre found the plate and decided to try to sell it to a local printer, since it was lead. Fortunately someone noticed the inscription, and the plate now resides in the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. It seemed to us that this was an immensely important artifact, since it is the only evidence of of the first European to reach this far west of the Mississippi. So this was our first stop in Pierre yesterday morning.

The Verendrye plate

Although the Verendrye brothers did not reach the Pacific, they did a great deal to promote trade between Europeans and the Indian







The other stop has to do with the confrontation with the Teton Sioux. At Council Bluffs on 3 August the corps had its first meeting with important Indian chiefs. These meetings were with Oto and Missoria Indians. The success of these meetings bode well for the prospect of meeting President Jefferson's wish to establish peaceful relations with the Indians.

We next visited a place, now called Farm Island, where the Indian situation began to deteriorate.

This is where John Colter (whose memorial we visited back in Missouri) reported that several Sioux Indians had stolen his horse.

On 25 September the Captains met with the leaders of the Teton Sioux. After they were given gifts, the Indians complained that they were inadequate, and the expedition must stop going up river, or give up one of the pirogues filled with gifts. The Captains invited three chiefs to visit the keelboat, where Lewis demonstrated his air gun, and offered the Indians some whisky. One of the chiefs, pretending to be drunk, staggered into Clark. Clark drew his sword and ordered the others to prepare for action. Some of the young warriors grabbed the bow of the pirogue. Suddenly soldiers and Indians faced off against one another, weapons at the ready. After several days of visits to several villages and more gifts the situation deteriorated again until, on 28 September, Partisan, the second chief announced that the expedition would not be allowed to go up river. Lewis forcefully announced that he would not give in to the Indians demands, tossed Black Buffalo some tobacco, and the chief grabbed the bow line from the brave holding it, tossed it aboard, and the confrontation ended.

Since several of the sites we wished to visit that day had closed, we headed off for Bismarck.

Troubles in Pierre (for the corps, not us)

Our first stop here in Chamberlain is the St Joseph's Indian School and Lakota Museum and Cultural Center. There is a great study of a teepee and Indian pony near the entry. Inside there is a remarkable collection of Sioux clothing, cooking implements,and weapons that goes on and on. We spent a good deal of time here. Then an exhibit on school and its history was very educational.

The chapel is a charming building in which, of course, Gail took some time for prayer.

She especially appreciated the stained glass windows, one of which bears the name Kitiri, the name her grand daughter, Kate, took as her confirmation name.






Our next goal was to visit the Buffalo Intrpretive Center run by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe. We found the spot, but there was nothing there. Oh well.

On our way to Pierre we passed a place near West Bend Recreation Area where on September 20-21  the Corps averted a near disaster.

CLARK; "At half past one o'clock this morning the sand bar on which we were camped began to undermine and give way which alarmed the sergeant on guard. The motion of the boat awakened me; I got up and by the light the moon observed that the sand had given away both above and below our camp and was falling in fast. I ordered all hands on as quick a possible and pushed off, we had pushed off but a few minutes before the bank under which the boat and pirogues lay gave way, which would certainly have sunk both pirogues."

We are currently in Pierre where we will spend two nights. It was here that events even more hazardous to the success of the whole endeavor occurred.

Prarie Dogs

We left Yankton SD to cross the Missouri atop the Gavins Point damn, but the damn.. road was closed, so we returned to Yankton to cross there. We passed a huge cathedral run by Benedictine nuns, and Gail just had to see it. We sat a few quiet minutes in the chapel and proceeded on.

The lewis and Clark visitor center at the Gavin's Point damn had exhibits that Gail thinks were very well done, especially for the education of children. There was a simple tug boat pilothouse with a steam whistle, and of course she had to pull the cord. It worked. Their  video on Lewis & Clark was one of the best wwe have seen.

This is the damn, with no locks, so no traveling up river by boat any more.






Our next stop was at Lynch, Nebraska. This is where the Corps noticed some small animals sitting on the top of small mounds making whistling sounds and barking when alarmed. They called them "barking squirrels." One of the men shot one, and they ate it and decided it was a new species and they must send one back alive to President Jefferson. First they tried digging them out, but after going down six feet and not reaching the living quarters, they decided to drown them out. They spent the better part of a day hauling water from the river and pouring it down the holes. They were successful in capturing one, sputtering and weakened, President Jefferson received it when the keel boat returned in the spring of 1905.

Fort Randall was one of the largest of the western forts. These forts usually did not have a stockade fence around them because they had a sufficient garrison to protect the fort without one. So these "open forts" had buildings built in a circle around the parade ground. The sites of all these buildings have been marked at old Fort Randall making a half mile in circumference. They are here marked by white stakes with discriptions on them.

You archaeologists will recognize the dig here, which was the fort's Commanding Officer's quarters.

They also built a church and lodge hall meeting place out of "chalk stone" they sawed from formations in the area. A lightning strike and high winds left the ruins you see here.




We are spending the night in Chamberlain where we expect to visit the St Joseph's Indian School and the Lakota Museum and Cultural center in the morning, After visiting a Buffalo Interpretive Center run by the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, we will proceed on to spend two nights in Pierre.

Buffalo!

Our first stop today was the Lewis & Clark State Park near Onawa IA.

John has to admit the air gun was his second most favorite L&C object. This is the first. He and Doc got to go aboard this exact replica of the keel boat, and this one is in the water ready to go.

Doc was ready to take his first bow lookout watch.

On the way to the Sergent Floyd monument we spotted our first buffalo on the Winnebago Indian reservation. This tribe was removed from Wisconsin to barren land in the Dakotas. They moved  themselves down the Missouri River and bought land from the Omaha Indians for their final residence.

Sergeant Charles Floyd, one of only three sergeants in the Corps, was the only member to die on the expedition. He became very ill in the vicinity of present day Council Bluffs. Clark wrote; "We attempt to relieve him without success as yet."  Modern doctors believe Floyd had an infected appendix, which no doctor of the time could have cured. On the morning of August 20, 1804, the party prepared a warm bed for him, but Floyd said to Clark "I'm going away I want you to write a letter." and then expired.

 They took his body to the top of a high hill, with a grand view and buried him with full military honors. His grave marker washed into the river at one time, and several markers have been used, but the present 100 foot high obelisk is a fitting monument to the only man the Corps lost in the entire voyage.

 Lewis and Clark made a foray inland to see Spirit Mound which the indians claimed was inhabited with by little spirit beings. they were said to be in human form about 18" high and they kill anyone attempteing to climb the hill with their arrows. The Captains saw no such creatures, but were presented with a magnificant view plains around them.

We are presently in Yankton South Dakota, and expect to overnight tomorrow in Chamberlain SD. Gail is very excited about this stop because we will visit the St Josephs Indian School, which she has supported for many years.