Fort Mandan (North Dakota)

FORT MANDAN

The expedition spent 5 months here with a friendly tribe of Indians who helped them survive. The Mandans grew corn, squash and beans and they had plenty of meat from hunting.  This part of the journey was the best diet that they had.

In other parts they were near starvation.

This building is a reconstruction -it would have housed about 45 people.

The typical Teepee has 18 poles, covered with buffalo skins 

and

 all the work is done by the women.

Those buffalo skins are HEAVY.

In the Sacagawea story she said that her teepee was put much faster than Captain Clarks and that he wasn't interested in her method

 (until he got tired of fumbling so much and finally asked for her help.)

The typical room in the fort was small, had fireplace, bunk beds, 

small desk and a loft.

Some of the necessities of winter living (harsh winters) 

include games and music.

The lofts could sleep up to 6 people.

Trading Goods 

Beads, Clothing, Buttons, Wampum (Hairpipes - ceremonial importance to tribes), Tobacco, fishhooks, sewing and cooking implements, cloth, knives, scrap metal.

Fishhooks, combs, sewing supplies, cooking utensils, tools, cloth, knives, and scrap metal were also used. 

One of the Expedition's major intent was to win favor with the Indians in order to establish working relations and further the commercial interests of the US. The negotiations with the Indians used the trading  goods for information of the road ahead and peaceable passage.

We were told that the Trading Goods comprised 30% of the cargo allotment and that it would be worth $2 million in today's dollars.

The Interpretative Center had some great displays.

It's fun to try on a buffalo robe (for a minute)

It is really heavy but surviving a winter in -45 degrees 

takes all the warmth you can find.

The Cradleboard 

is surprisingly heavy.

The women of the day had to be very strong.

Men had to eat 9 pounds of meat a day just to do the work they had to do.

We were told that when the expedition did not find enough meat, they were near starvation and when they were given food from a tribe, they would binge eat 

(up to 30 pounds at a time)

Lewis' dog Seaman 

is just bigger than life😀

Silly Me!

A pretty place with lots of trees on the banks of the Missouri