All of these pictures were taken at the Fort Mandan site, which is on the banks of the Missouri River. Jeff told us that they don't know the exact location of the fort that Lewis and Clark built, but this replica is probably pretty close. Jeff, anything you want to say to help me with this.....thank you! :)
That's right, Mrs. Roberts, no one knows for sure where the original Fort Mandan was located. A couple of things make finding the place difficult:
ReplyDelete1. The fort the Corps of Discovery built burned down after they left it, but before they got back. It probably only stood for about a year. It's possible a prairie fire burned it down, but no one knows for sure.
2. The river likes to eat things. :) Not the way you and I do, but water is a powerful thing...especially when you get lots of it together in one place. The Missouri River definitely holds a LOT of water! By about 1830 (about 30 years after Lewis and Clark were in North Dakota), the fort site was already under water.
The replica fort in these pictures was built 41 years ago. It looks much like the original. How do you think the people who rebuilt it knew what to do?
Maybe the people who rebuilt the fort found a drawing or a painting that was of the fort.- Lucy
ReplyDeleteI TOTALLY agree.
DeleteJuliana
Maybe got some ideas because of what the tools they found that helped the people build their houses and then the tools got past on and on and when we got them, Fort Mandan got an idea that if they tried to build the houses with the tools the Mandans used they would egt a close copy.
ReplyDelete- Victoria C.
The cabins were so cool! I think it is very cold, up in North Dakota! -Julia:)
ReplyDeleteDid Lewis and Clark plan to spend the winter here, or is this just where they happen to be when winter set in?
ReplyDeleteAlso, what (if any) contact had the Mandans had with "whitemen" before Lewis and Clark arrived?
It seems like there was some thought of making the Mandan villages' area a goal for the first winter. However, like at other times on the Expedition, the group would have had to be flexible enough to stay wherever they found themselves when the winter set in.
DeleteSince the Mandans were so important in trade, they did have contact with "whites" before Lewis and Clark arrived. Most of these men would have been traders - probably most often those connected with trading companies like Hudson's Bay and Northwest. When Lewis and Clark arrived, they found Toussaint Charbonneau and Rene Jusseaume(both French-Canadian) living among the Mandan and Hidatsa.
Maybe they found part of another fort and copyed off of that or they found the very base of Fort Mandan.
ReplyDelete-Sophie
looks cold! wasit very cold?
ReplyDeleteIt looks cold!
ReplyDelete-Campbell :)
I noticed that every picture that you posted has had snow in it.Emily
ReplyDeleteWhen they were building it Clark and Lewis wrote about it in their Journals and said there were three sides and stuff like that.
ReplyDelete-Sophie