North Dakota Trip - Days 5: Bismarck & Lewis & Clark Sites

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

From our Hampton Inn we take a short drive to the North Dakota Heritage Center located on the grounds of the North Dakota State Capital Building, the tallest state capital in the U.S. Outside the heritage center are statues of Sacajawea (or Sacakawea, the spelling varies between Indian tribes; Meriweather Lewis spelled it 31 different ways in his journals) and a bison. Note especially the use of rebar around the eye of the bison.


The North Dakota Heritage Center traces the history of North Dakota from when prehistoric creatures roamed there, through today. North Dakota was home to great American Indian nations, 19th-centruy fur traders, cowboys, soldiers, sodbusters, and eventually modern farms and towns. North Dakota turned Theodore Roosevelt from a city slicker into the Roughrider known for conqueriing San Juan Hill and then eventually, the White House.

After a good two hours at the heritage center we drove north of Bismarck following roads along the west bank of the Missouri River, following the Lewis and Clark Trail route. We drove to Cross Ranch state Park (on dirt roads) to see a section of the river that remaines as it did during their expedition i.e. not dammed up and widened.


Observations noted so far are that North Dakota is full of wide open spaces with lots of wheat fields. What we didn't expect but enjoyed were all the lakes and ponds we saw along with totally unexpected flocks of gulls and white pelicans. Another beautiful sight was all the fields of sun flowers in full bloom at this time of year. Wild flowers were also prevelent.


Continuing north our next stop is at the site of the Knife River Indian Villages, a National Historic Site. It was here that Lewis and Clark arrived during the winter of 1804. With cold weater approaching they built a fort and spent the winter among the Mandan and Hidasta Indians. An earth hut has been reconstructed on this site, and Lewis and Clark's fort, Ft. Mandan, was reconstructed down river which we will tour later today.


Our next stop is at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan. Our Fort Mandan guide is a full blooded descendent of the tribes in this area. Hard to tell but the Fort is triangular in shape. The fort was built in 60 days and completed on December 24, 1804. The corps wintered there and continued their trek west on April 7, 1805. Sacagawea gave birth to her sone here on February 11, 1805.


Finishing our sightseeing for the day, we drove back to Bismarck and had dinner at Meriweather's Landing Restaurant on the banks of the Missouri River.