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Fort Mandan

By: Falcon Guides

Fort Mandan

As the expedition moved north through the Dakotas, the need to find a place to spend the winter became acute. Beginning in late October 1804, the journal entries mention bitter winds and snow. On October 26, roughly 1,600 miles from Camp Wood, the Corps of Discovery reached the new villages established by the Mandans, Minitaris (later known as Hidatsa), and Amahamis.

About 4,400 people lived in five separate villages. They greeted the white men warmly, and the captains quickly decided this would be a good place to spend the winter months. After several days of searching, a suitable spot was found for a fort. It was there, on the Missouri’s east bank about 6 miles below the mouth of Knife River, that Fort Mandan was built.

Construction started November 2, using cottonwood logs cut nearby. Two sides of the V-shaped fort held four rooms each to house the men and their belongings. Each room was 14 feet square, 7 feet high, and equipped with a fireplace. The third side was blockaded by “amazing long pickets.” The men occupied the still-unfinished buildings November 16, and the two captains moved into their quarters four days later. The party at that point numbered about 45.

The expedition spent a long winter in a variety of pursuits, chief among them finding enough food. Trade with the Indians brought corn, squash, and berries. Meat was obtained by daily hunting parties. Game was abundant, but many of the animals were in such poor shape during the colder months that only the choicest parts—such as buffalo tongue, heart, and liver—could be used. There were many wolves in the area, and harvested animals left overnight without protection were often found completely devoured by the time the men returned to retrieve the game.

They also found themselves expending much energy to stay warm: in his journal entry of December 8, Clark reported several cases of frostbitten feet and, in the case of York, a frostbitten male organ. On December 12, he wrote, “We do not think it prudent to turn out to hunt in such cold weather,” and on December 13, more of the same: “The thermometer stands this morning at 20 below zero, a fine day.” In all, the temperature dipped below zero, once as low as minus 48 degrees F, on 40 days during the corps’ stay.

Despite the bitter cold, a steady stream of visitors came to the fort all winter long. The captains spent many hours talking with the Mandans, mostly seeking to learn as much as they could about the tribes and the country still to come, but also eager to cement relations for future trading. Lewis, Clark, and company were far from the first white men to arrive in this area. Traders, mostly French, had been operating in the area for perhaps a half-century or more, and the captains conferred with some of them during their stay. It was also here the men met Charbonneau and Sacagawea, who were to become among the most famous members of the party.

Lewis and Clark had just hired an interpreter, Rene Jessaume, who had moved into Fort Mandan with his wife and child. When Charbonneau offered his services, the captains said they had no need for him. But Charbonneau wouldn’t take no for an answer. He finally sold the captains on the idea by promising that Sacagawea could help the expedition communicate with—and perhaps obtain horses from—her people, the Shoshone, once the party reached the Rocky Mountains.

No one knows whether Sacagawea had much say in the matter. Just a few years before, at about age 12, she had been kidnapped near present-day Three Forks, Montana. She later was either sold to or won by Charbonneau and now, just 16 or 17 years old, was about to give birth to her first child. But despite her youth, Sacagawea more than earned her place in history over the next two years as an indispensable member of the expedition, and one of its most controversial.

Much of the controversy surrounds just how to spell and say her name: there are three predominant versions. Scholars generally agree on the spelling—Sacagawea—used throughout this book, pronouncing it “Sah-CAH-ga-we-a.” But the spelling Sacajawea, pronounced “Sah-cah-ja-WE-a,” is probably more popular and widespread, especially in the Pacific Northwest. The third version is the one used most often in the Dakotas: Sakakawea, pronounced “Sa-KAH-ka-we-a.”

In addition, Sacagawea is frequently—but erroneously—viewed as the expedition’s guide, a myth perpetuated by several books written in the early twentieth century. Although she didn’t exactly guide the expedition, Sacagawea’s assistance proved invaluable when the party reached the Great Divide of western Montana and Idaho. Here, Sacagawea was able to identify landmarks and serve as an intermediary when—in an unbelievable coincidence—the corps came upon the Shoshone village led by Chief Cameahwait, Sacagawea’s long-lost brother. Sacagawea helped the expedition in other ways, too: since a war party would not travel with a woman and a baby, she and her baby, Jean Baptiste—or Pomp, as Captain Clark nicknamed him—served as signals of the Corps’ peaceful intentions. She also gathered plants and herbs for food and medicine.
Traveling the Lewis and Clark Trail

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New Town History
Winter of Record Cold