South Tour: Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota, Winter 1804-05

Trip Summary

Number of stops: 5

Total distance:

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After leaving their first winter encampment at Camp Dubois across from St. Louis, Missouri on May 14, 1804, the Corps of Discovery under the direction of US Army Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made their way slowly but surely up the Missouri River. Day after day they fought the relentless current to make progress upstream averaging ten miles per day. As the weather began to get colder, they looked for a sensible place to establish their winter quarters.

The Corps first encountered the Arikara (uh-RICK-uh-ruh) tribe living in three villages close by the mouth of the Grand River near the northern border of today’s South Dakota. The Corps spent about a week in the first part of October in the vicinity of the Arikara and the two sides held councils, exchanged expressions of goodwill, and traded goods. Clark’s slave York was a special object of fascination to the tribe since they had never seen a black man before.

The Corps decided to proceed on. Two other tribes had clustered into five villages along a sixty mile stretch of river in today’s North Dakota: two Mandan villages on the south near the confluence with the Heart River and three of the Hidatsa (hih-DAHT-suh) tribe above close to the mouth of the Knife River. With the temperature dropping further and ice forming on the river, it was time to hunker down among them for the winter. Lewis and Clark directed their men to construct Fort Mandan, which would house them on the east bank of the river for the next four months.

Follow this guide to visit several locations associated with Lewis & Clark’s stay in North Dakota. Spending two days should allow you to experience all these sites thoroughly. See the North Tour itinerary for other tour ideas.