Northeast Montana

When The Corps of Discovery entered into what is now the state of Montana, they began to notice more new animals such as the bighorn sheep, mule deer, and a variety of birds.  The number of antelopes and wolves increased, and beavers were both plentiful and unafraid. The members of the Corps found that beavers were excellent for food, especially the tail. But they also began to encounter grizzly bears, which at first they called white, brown, yellow, or red bears. 

Expedition members soon discovered that whatever the color, the bears were as ferocious as they had been described to them. Even with the Corps' superior weapons, they found the bears difficult to kill and dangerous. Lewis recorded that compared to the black bear, “it is a much more furious and formidable animal, and will frequently pursue the hunter when wounded. It is astonishing to see the wounds they will bear before they can be put to death.” On May 5, 1805, Captain Clark and Droulliard killed a large grizzly that put up a tremendous struggle even with “five balls through his lungs and five others in various parts he swam more than half the distance acoss the river to a sandbar & it was at least twenty minutes before he died.”

Lewis described the country in northeast Montana as:

“much more pleasant and fertile than that we have passed for several days; the hills are lower, the bottoms wider, and better stocked with timber, which consists principally of cottonwood…the high country on either side of the river is one vast plain, intirely destitute of timber, but is apparently fertile, consisting of a dark rich mellow looking lome.”

Today, northeastern Montana along the Missouri River looks much different than in 1805 due to the construction of Fort Peck Dam. The places the expedition camped are now underwater. But the plains beyond remain fertile and very pleasant. 

The dam is just over 250 feet high and 3,500 feet wide at the base. The length of the dam is 21,026 feet. Lake Peck is 134 miles long and is 220 feet at its deepest. Not only does the dam produce about 1 billion kilo watt hours annually, but it provides significant recreational boating, fishing, camping, and wild life viewing opportunities. 

The Fort Peck Visitor Center houses an excellent museum that tells the story of the Hell Creek Geological Formation, the people who have lived in the area, and the dam. A tour of the dam and its five huge generators begins with a photo history of the construction of the dam.

Northeastern Montana remains mostly rural, and we enjoyed seeing so much undeveloped country and the natural state of the area.

Camping at Lake Sakakawea

After leaving the Bismarck area, we camped at two state parks on the shores of Lake Sakakawea, which was formed by Garrison Dam, the fifth largest earthen dam in the world. The lake is 178 miles long and 6 miles wide at the widest point. The lake is named after the young Shoshone wife of Lewis and Clark's interpreter Charboneau. Sakakawea is the preferred spelling of the Hidatsa Indians with whom she lived.

Fort Stevenson State Park

The Guard House at Fort Stevenson State Park

Fort Stevenson State Park is on the northeastern shore of Lake Sakakawea. The Corps of Discovery camped at two locations near where Fort Stevenson would later be built. They camped in one site on their way west (April 9, 1805) and at the other on their return trip (August 13, 1806). When Garrison Dam was completed, the camp areas were submerged. 

The guard house building presents exhibits related to Native American and military life.

Hiking View

The setting is stunningly beautiful with high bluffs along the lake shore, and the hiking trails have sweeping views of the lake.

Black Tailed Prairie Dog

Wild life is abundant and includes a black tailed prairie dog colony, which we visited. We also sighted a thirteen lined ground squirrel, described by Lewis while traveling through present day Montana. 

Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel

Lewis and Clark State Park

Lewis and Clark State Park is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Sakakawea. It was obviously named for the intrepid explorers who co-led the Corps of Discovery. The expedition camped at nearby Short Creek, but is now submerged beneath the lake. On the return trip, about 10 miles east of the park, Lewis was accidentally shot by Cruzatte, a skillful waterman who was very nearsighted. Cruzatte mistook Lewis for an elk. The injury was not life-threatening but very painful, and it caused Lewis to have to complete most of the remainder of the trip on his belly.

Sunset on Lake Sakakawea

As we enjoyed hiking and viewing the sunrises and sunsets, we could easily imagine Lewis and Clark enjoying the sights they wrote of so frequently in their journals.

A Hiking View

Washburn, North Dakota Area

When the Mandan nation relocated, they settled further north along the Knife River near the Missouri. It was then that the Mandans and Hidatsas became neighbors and allies. Lewis and Clark met the Mandans when they reached the Knife River in 1804. Lewis and Clark made the decision to spend the winter near the two nations, and they named their fort “Fort Mandan” in honor of their neighbors. Throughout the bitter cold winter they were visited by, traded with, and hunted with the Mandan and Hidatsa people. The Knife River Indian Villages Park, Fort Mandan, and a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center are located near present day Washburn, North Dakota.

Knife River Indian Village

The Knife River Indian Villages Park tells the story of the Mandan people, their history, their economy, and their contact with the French, British, and American people. 

In addition to exhibits in the Knife River Indian Villages Visitor Center, the park also presented an authentic replica of a Mandan lodge.

Lodge Storage

Lodge Games

Three Sisters Garden

The grounds include a three sisters garden in which squash, bean, and corn are grown as well as sunflowers and a drying rack used to preserve food.

Sunflower Seeds, Squash, Beans, and Corn
 are Preserved for Winter Food and Trading

Fourth Graders Learning

When we arrived, a class of fourth graders was also visiting, and the Visitor Center staff were engaging them in building a lodge.

Fort Mandan

Fort Mandan is a reproduction of the Fort built by the Corps of Discovery, which was largely destroyed by the time the members of the expedition returned in 1806.




The guided tour of the fort provides interesting facts about the time the members of the expedition stayed there including that the Corps of Discovery would make or repair metal weapons and tools in exchange for corn and that Lewis tended to medical needs during the winter including the delivery of Sakakawea’s baby. In looking at the fort, it is hard to comprehend over 35 men (and one woman and an infant) living in such a confined area. I’m sure there must have been an outbreak or two of cabin fever.

What Lewis' Work Area May Have
Looked Like

What Clark's Work Area
May Have Looked Like

Entertainment Center

Sleeping Quarters 

The Workroom/Blacksmith Shop

A Favorite Weapon Design
of the Mandans

Lewis' Dog Seaman

Seaman is Honored

A key feature of the Fort Mandan Site is a sculpture in honor of Lewis’ Newfoundland dog, Seaman.

Now there's the good boy!

 North Dakota Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center 

The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn is a comprehensive museum telling the story of the expedition with a focus on the time spent in North Dakota. Inside is an impressive collection of artwork and artifacts. Outside is a sculpture depicting Captain Lewis, a Mandan, and an interpreter in conversation.

Bismarck, North Dakota Area

As the Corps of Discovery moved into the area that is now the Dakotas, they encountered several Indian nations each with a unique reaction to the expedition. For example, in South Dakota, the Yankton Sioux were a friendly tribe while the Teton Sioux were very aggressive and wanted to maintain their control of the Missouri River. When Lewis and Clark encountered the Mandan and Hidatsa nations in North Dakota, they were impressed by their skill in trading and their hospitality. 

Compared to other nations, the Mandans and Hidatsas were very prosperous. The prosperity was most likely due to their lifestyle. Since they were able to maintain stable villages, they were able to maintain stable villages, to use the fertile river banks to grow nutritious foods (especially squash, corn, and beans), and to use the traffic on the Missouri to trade with other nations.

Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1804-1805 near the Mandans and Hidatsas in their fort, which they named Fort Mandan (see the next blog). 

While Lewis and Clark were with the Mandans, they decided to hire a French interpreter, Toussant Charboneau, and one of his young wives, Sakakawea, who the Hidatsas kidnapped from the Shoshone people as a child. She was probably about 16 or 17 years old when the expedition reached North Dakota. Lewis and Clark knew they would meet the Shoshone nation and that they would need to trade with them. Sakakawea would be very helpful in interpreting during negotiations. During the winter, Sakakawea gave birth to a son named John Baptiste Charboneau whom the members of the expedition nicknamed Pomp.

Entering the Indian Village Area

We visited Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, which is known for two excellent historical sites. The first site is the reconstruction of Fort Abraham Lincoln, including the house in which Lt. Col. George Custer and his wife lived while stationed there. The second site is the On-A-Slant Village where we took a guided tour of the Mandan Village that was reconstructed on a site that was previously occupied by the Mandans. 

The Confluence of the Heart
and Missouri Rivers

The village was named because it slanted toward the Heart River, and it was located at the confluence of the Heart River with the Missouri. The Mandans abandoned the village and moved further north along the Missouri River after a devastating small pox epidemic and attacks by hostile tribes.The Mandans had occupied the Heart River site from 1571 to 1780, over 200 years! 

An Indentation From the Original Village

Lewis and Clark recognized the site as an abandoned village by the dish-like indentations where lodges had collapsed. The indentations remain today.

The Village

Lodges were built by women out of logs for the frame and earth for the rest. They were round in shape with a hole in the top for the smoke from the fire to escape. The doorway was wood, and on the inside, a buffalo robe would cover the opening. 

Decorative Robe

Lodges had decorative features such as painted buffalo robes. The beds would also use buffalo robes to make them more comfortable, and backrests were commonly used.

A Bed

A Backrest

Keel Boat Exhibit

While in Bismarck, we also visited Keel Boat
 Park along the Bismarck Riverwalk and the North Dakota Heritage Center. We were hoping to take the Lewis and Clark Riverboat Cruise, but it only operated on the weekends by the time we were there. Drat!

Despite that, we had a wonderful time, and the weather was gorgeous while we were there.

Extra Large Sculpture of the Expedition at Keel Boat Park

South Dakota

Gene and I spent five days in eastern South Dakota, but it seems like more because I fell in love with the area. Not that the campground was so great. It was okay, but it was very noisy since it was right next to the Interstate. I think it was the calming scenery (very soothing color pallet) and the people we met who were so nice and very helpful. Also, the interpretations of the Lewis and Clark and native cultures were very well done.

Spirit Mound

The Spirit Mound was believed by the Omaha, Otoe, and Yankton tribes to be bewitched. They thought it was inhabited with tiny people who shot at anyone who came near. Even today there are those who think the area is haunted. 

Clark described the mound on August 24, 2004:

"in an imence Plain a high Hill is Situated, and appears of a Conic form and by the different nations of Indians in this quarter is Suppose to be the residence of Deavels. that they are in human form with remarkable large heads and about 18 Inches high, that they are Very watchfull, and are arm'd with Sharp arrows with which they Can Kill at a great distance; they are Said to Kill all persons who are So hardy as to attempt to approach the hill; they State that tradition informs them that many Indians have Suffered by those little people and among other three Mahar men fell a Sacrefise to their murceyless fury not many years Since-- So much do the Maha, Souis, Ottoes and other neighboring nations believe this fable that no Consideration is Suffecient to induce them to approach the hill."

But, like Lewis and Clark, who actually stood on the same mound we did; we did not feel the least bit uneasy, and nobody was shooting at us. That does not alter the fact, however, that the spot has an important history for the Native Americans and now to all Americans because of all the places along the Lewis and Clark Trail, there are very few that we know for certain it is the same place they stood. And this is one of those places.

On August 25, 1804, Clark recorded their experience at the mound:

"Capt Lewis & my Self Concluded to go and See the Mound which was viewed with Such turrow by all the different Nation in this quarter...this mound appears of a Conic form...The reagular form of this hill would in Some measure justify a belief that it owed its Orrigin to the hand of man; but as the earth and loos pebbles and other Substances of which it was Composed, bare an exact resemblance to the Steep Ground which border on the Creek in its neighbourhood we Concluded it was most probably the production of nature...The Surrounding Plains is open void of Timber and leavel to a great extent: hence the wind from whatever quarter it may blow, drives with unusial force over the naked Plains and against this hill; the insects of various kinds are thus involuntaryly driven to the mound by the force of the wind, or fly to its Leward Side for Shelter; the Small Birds whoes food they are, Consequently resort in great numbers to this place in Surch of them...

 "One evidence which the Inds Give for believing this place to be the residence of Some unusial Spirits is that they frequently discover a large assemblage of Birds about this mound-- is in my opinion a Suffient proof to produce in the Savage mind a Confident belief of all the properties which they ascribe it. from the top of this Mound we beheld a most butifull landscape; Numerous herds of buffalow were Seen feeding in various directions, the Plain to North N. W & N E extends without interuption as far as Can be Seen..."

A major difference for us, of course, we did not see the buffalo.

Chamberlain, South Dakota, Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center

Welcome Center Tipi

I was so excited to see the Interpretive Center at the Visitor Center that Gene and I drove over to it the evening we arrived in Chamberlain. We were so glad we did because the sun was setting just when we got there. The large Tipi is a trademark of the rest areas along I-90 in South Dakota. In the picture, you can also see the Missouri River below. It was a gorgeous site to see. The Visitor Center was closed already, but there were some trails that looked like they would give me a better view. I started to walk down a trail and heard an elk bellowing in the bushes to my left. It didn't sound like it was very far away. I thought, "Hmm, isn't that interesting." I walked a little further, and I heard another elk bellowing, still pretty close. I thought, "Hmm, maybe I should go back."

Corps of Discovery Disc

The next day we returned to go through the Interpretive Center, and we were pretty impressed with the exhibits they had. Plus, the way the building was constructed was quite interesting. The second floor was built like a keel boat, and the boat extended to the outside so that it was an excellent overview of the river. The site also had one of the medallions that were used to mark many of the official Lewis and Clark sites during the bicentennial. Chamberlain is one of the hundreds of places the Corps of Discovery made camps during the journey.

Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center

The Entrance to the Museum

Also located in Chamberlain is the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, which is located at the St. Joseph's Indian School. The museum has three parts: one part tells the story of the St. Joseph's Indian School and how the principles of educating and caring for the children have changed over the years, another part tells the story of the local history and culture from pre-history through the present, and the final part is an outdoor medicine garden. All three parts are exceptionally well done. We took at least two hours to go through the museum, and it was time well spent. Since it is located right next to the Missouri River, we also took a stroll to enjoy the weather and the view.  

Quilt Exhibit

One of my favorite exhibits at the St. Joseph's School section was this one that shows how the girls in the school were taught to use old clothes to make quilts. The younger girls would cut the fabric, and the older girls would sew the quilts.

The Medicine Garden

The medicine garden is surrounded by large panels shaped like buffalo skins with prayers written out on the other side of the skin. The center of the garden is the medicine circle used by the Lakota.




Fischers Lilly Park, Site of the Confluence of the Bad River, and Ill Humered Island

The Flag a Fischers Lilly Park

We visited two sites on September 11. At many of the Lewis and Clark sites, it is customary for the site to fly the 15-star flag used during the time of the expedition. It was a bit eerie to see that flag at half staff, but in a way it tied history together.

In Fort Pierre (pronounced Fort Peer) we visited Fischers Lilly Park, which is a beautiful park at the location where the Bad River flows into the Missouri River and across from Bad Humered Island (today called La Framboise Island).

The park is located where the Corps of Discovery camped and first met with the Teton Lakota nation. The interaction is one of the most important of the journey. For various reasons, the encounter led to an armed confrontation and very nearly endangered the success of the endeavor.

Mouth of the Bad River with Bad Humered Island Beyond

Lewis and Clark had high hopes for a successful meeting with the Lakota chiefs as indicated by Clark's journal entry of September 25, 1804, "a fair morning   the wind from the S. E.   all well, raised a Flag Staff & made a orning or Shade on a Sand bar in the mouth of the Teton River for the purpose of Speeking with the Indians under..."

The Mouth of the Bad River from Bad Humered Island

Despite the hopes of the party, things did not go well with the council, and before it was over, the keel boat's swivel guns were loaded but not used. Clark named the island that they camped on across from the Bad River Bad Humered Island, "as we were in a bad humer."





South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center

Flags at Half Staff at the
Cultural Heritage Center 

The South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center is located atop a high bluff and seems to fade into the landscape. It sits higher than Pierre (pronounced Peer), and boasts a superior view of the city.

The South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center

The building houses the state archives and research area as well as a beautifully-presented gallery of South Dakota's cultural heritage from pre-history through pre-statehood to the present. It took us about 1.5 hours to go through the exhibits in the gallery, and we found them quite engaging.

An Example of a Winter Counts History

I especially admired Cultural Center's exhibit of the story-telling winter-count calendar. A winter count is a history in which major events are recorded by pictures. One picture is used to record a signature event for each year. A single buffalo skin like this one could be used to document hundreds of years.