Lewis and Clark Expedition, Part 5: The Corps of Discovery Winters with the Mandans

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

The Corps of Discovery arrived at the Mandan villages near present day Bismarck, North Dakota, in late October 1804 and immediately began work on Fort Mandan on the north bank Missouri River. While at Fort Mandan, Lewis and Clark met a French fur trader named Toussaint Charbonneau and his two teenage Shoshone wives who Charbonneau had won in a bet. They hired Charbonneau and his fifteen-year-old wife, Sacagawea, who was six months pregnant, as interpreters. On April 7, 1805, Lewis sent the keelboat back down river to St. Louis with detailed maps of lands west of the Mississippi and extensive reports written by the captains, as well as a treasure trove for President Jefferson, including almost two hundred specimens.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the Corps of Discovery’s winter with the Mandans, and why it still matters today. 

Images courtesy of the Library of Congress, World History Encyclopedia, Yale University Art Gallery, National Park Service, National Gallery of Art, CARLI Digital Collections, WikiArt, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, New York Public Library, Wikimedia.

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Lewis and Clark Expedition, Part 4: Lewis and Clark Leave Civilization Behind