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Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is operated by the National Park Service. It's located on the banks of the Missouri River in western North Dakota, about 60 miles northwest of Bismarck. It's not far from the town of Stanton (on State Road 200), where you can load up on ice and gas if needed.
Lewis & Clark's Good LuckOne of the things I've always marvelled at is just how lucky the Corps of Discovery really was. When you read the accounts of its 2+ years on the trail and learn that the group only lost one member despite all the hardships, you come away shaking your head. I mean, this really was wild and unknown terrain they were heading into. They had to deal with all sorts of problems unknown to the genteel Americans back east, things like rattlesnakes, grizzly bears, an uncertain food supply and residents who may not have been too happy to see them. Despite all this, the Corps' luck held at almost every step of the way. And I do mean luck — I've always maintained that had they started a day earlier or a day later an entirely different chain of events leading to disaster probably would have transpired. Which brings us to this place, the Knife River Indian Villages. For it was here at the settlement of Mandan and Hidatsa Indians that Lewis & Clark met Sakakawea who was to provide some much needed help along the way. A member of the Shoshone tribe, she was able to act as a translator further out west, providing some orienteering guidance (based upon her childhood memories out that-away), and I have no doubt assisted in the business of living off the land. I always felt the mission might have turned out very differently had Lewis & Clark not met her. By the way, she was accompanied by her French-Canadian trapper husband Charbonneau. I suspect that James Michener based just a little bit of his characters Clay Basket and Pasquinel on this couple, in his epic Centennial. (And I just learned that later on Sakakawea and Charbonneau had a daughter named Lisette...hmmm...this is starting to seem like more than coincidence now.) While en route, Sakakawea gave birth to a boy, whom Clark nicknamed Pomp. We'll meet up with this toddler again when we get to Pompeys Pillar. The Lewis & Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1804-1805 here and encountered some brutal weather. We know this, for Lewis was a truly observant scientist and kept accurate metrological records during his stay. An Ancient Community |
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The Mandan and Hidatsa Indians (and their progenitors) had lived in this area for ages, at least 700 years before Lewis & Clark arrived, by some accounts. Unlike the nomadic Plains Indians further south, these people stayed put. They built communities of large earthen lodges, each of which could house a dozen or more people. And they farmed, planting such crops as squash, beans and even corn. The picture to the right shows the reconstructed earthen lodge you'll find at this National Historic Site. All around it, elsewhere on the grounds, you can see remarkably well preserved remains of other dwellings, cache pits and even travois paths. During the summer months, you might notice some garden plots, planted in traditional crops. |
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As I mentioned above, the villages here lie on the western bank of the Missouri River, with the Knife River (naturally) flowing through the midst. Back in the 1800s, there actually was an attempt at steamboat travel on the Missouri and this was destined to have a major impact on the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians. For one of the unwelcome passengers on these boats was disease, and smallpox took a hefty toll on the tribes. And speaking of virulence, the original Mandans lived in similar earthen lodges at the confluence of the Missouri and Heart Rivers, near Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. This is the "On-a-Slant" Indian village which you can visit in that park today. When a smallpox plague hit in the late 1700s, the Mandans migrated northward linking up with the Hidatsas at Knife River. See the links below to learn more about Fort Abraham Lincoln and the "On-a-Slant" Indian Village Our Trip HereWe came to the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in the autumn of 1997. This was part of our expedition to nearby Little Missouri National Grassland and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We arranged it so we could look in while working our way back home to Mankato, Minnesota. |
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The Visitor Center here is very nice, with lots of great interpretive displays, a mini-theater and the usual book shop. I picked up several leaflets, three of which are shown in the photo to the left. After getting our bearings and learning a bit about the place, we headed out to the History Trail, which begins at the Visitor Center. This took us down to the Knife River, passing by two large village sites. The depressions which formed the "foundations" of the earthen lodges were plainly visible. By the way, this is a 1,700 acre area featuring several self-guiding history and nature trails. And the literature indicates that the rangers also lead interpretive walks during the summer months. And just so you know, this is an Historic Site, not a Park as such. There are no camping or picnicking facilities. |
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| Contact Information | Links to Related Resources | |
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Knife River Indian Villages NHS PO Box 9 Stanton, ND 58571-0009 Phone: (701) 745-3300 Email: KNRI_Information@nps.gov |
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All photography by Thomas Henry unless otherwise noted.
Entire contents © 2001-2005 Thomas Henry
When you visit a site, you can get a dated cancellation at the front desk. Not only is this a fun memento in itself, but it serves as a bit of a diary in case you're wondering later on when you stopped by a particular place. During the winter months I often pull out my Passport and think back to the wonderful places I've been. The picture to the right shows a couple pages from my first one; I've been to enough National Parks in the West now that I just started a new one.