Settling into Fort Mandan

Illustration by Ralph Waldo Smith. 

By early December 1804, the men of the Corps were nicely settled into Fort Mandan. The majority of the men moved into their “huts” on November 19, even though most of the roofs weren’t finished. The two Captains moved into their rooms on November 20. The fort wouldn’t be considered fully complete until the evening of November 27.

During the construction period, the men worked hard in freezing weather to fell and finish over 800 logs of cottonwood, elm, and ash, hauling them into position and securing them with mud and manure. They then constructed the stone fireplaces and erected the tower, gate, and palisade. They were in a hurry; they knew only colder temperatures and the worst of the winter weather would arrive soon.

The site of Fort Mandan was across the river, but in the vicinity of a confederation of villages with more than 4,000 Mandans and Hidatsas – a community much larger than St. Louis.

Here at Fort Mandan the Corps would hunker down through the winter. They would depart the fort and return to the Missouri River and their journey in early April 1805.