Fort Mandan and Knife River Indians

Yesterday we traveled 30 miles east and stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center to get information on the area, what to see, etc. Very disappointed from the standpoint that this center was a showcase for George Catlin's North American Indian artwork he did between 1833 to 1844. He was a famous painter of Indians and his portfolio was sold when he hit hard times in his later years but fortunately the works ended up in the Smithsonian in Washington. Fort Mandan which was 2 miles down the road from the center is located on the Missouri River and the Fort was closed due to the spring/summer flooding. We drove there anyhow and the cleanup is horrendous. Mud piled half way up the building. Knowing that they lived with the Mandans, Hidatsa and Arikara Indians there and traded with them and helped each other through the hard winter, I am glad that I at least stepped on the same ground that Lewis and Clark had walked, for many years I had pictured Fort Mandan a certain way but was surprised at what the area looked like. Too bad we didn't get to see the fort. By August 17, 1806 Lewis and Clark had returned to this Fort Mandan and within a month they were back in St. Louis and the completion of their journey.

Since the morning was a bust we drove back towards Hazen and stopped in a small town called Stanton where the Knife River Indian Village is, a National Park Service Historical Sight. The Mandans, Hidatsa, and Arikara Indians were living in this area when Lewis and Clark stopped for the winter in 1804. This location is across the Missouri River where the Knife River joins up, actually on the Knife River, a distance of about 2 miles from Fort Mandan. The Park Service had a an earth lodge set up to depict how the Indians lived in the winter. Displays showed how they farmed, how the lodges and teepees were set up, their life in general. Outside temperature yesterday was 90 but inside the earth lodge it was about 65. This lodge is about 40 feet in diameter and about 80 feet high. The center was well laid out, we even hiked to the Knife River, passing the archeological digs where the Indians had set up their village. Since there had been flooding and the banks were unstable, we could not actually go to the river - just at the overlook.

We have new neighbors here at the campground. A WOW factor. A converted school bus and a huge 5th wheel, very old, came in last evening and set up near us. We had terrible headaches while this was going on because the 5th wheel was pulled by a truck cab and they kept it idling during the setup - about an hour. Noisy, smelly. The farmers contract help in harvesting their fields and every year help comes to them from all over. This group is from Kansas and they will be here for 3 weeks. The crops need to be harvested by the second week in September because by October 1 everything is beginning to freeze. Temps usually are 20s and it just goes downhill from then on.