Lewis and Clark
Expedition for kids: Facts about Fort Mandan
The following fact sheet provides short, interesting facts
about Fort Mandan. |
Lewis and Clark
Expedition: Facts about Fort Mandan
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Fort Mandan
Fact 1: |
As can be seen by the
above picture Fort Mandan was built in a triangular shape
surrounded by an 18 feet high fence. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 2: |
The gates faced the Missouri
River for easy access to the river and sight of the location
of the nearest Mandan village. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 3: |
The construction was
made of cottonwood logs from the riverbank of the Missouri.
William Clark marked the occasion in his journal on November
3, 1804 stating "We commence building our cabins." |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 4: |
Captain William Clark
reported in his journal that the "works consisted of two
rows of huts or sheds, forming an angle where they joined
each other; each row containing four rooms, of 14 feet square
and 7 feet high, with plank ceiling, and the roof slanting
so as to form a loft above the rooms, the highest point
of which is 18 feet from the ground". |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 5: |
The highest part of the
structure was eighteen feet from the ground and the backs
of the huts formed a wall of that height, and opposite the
angle the place of the wall was supplied by picketing. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 6: |
The men of the Corps
of Discovery were billeted in the rooms. Meriwether Lewis
and William Clark shared a room. Two rooms were used as
storage facilities for stores and provisions |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 7: |
There were five Native
American Indian villages near Fort Mandan which were the
residence of three distinct nations: the Mandans, the Ahnahaways,
and the Minnetarees. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 8: |
Fort Mandan was built
with several goals in mind:
- The fort had
to be big enough to provide shelter for the Corps of
Discovery and also to hold the stores and provisions
- The construction
had to be weather-proof against the rain and the snow
- It had to be
quick and easy to build
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Fort Mandan
Fact 9: |
The roofs of this type
of building consisted of a simple ridgepole with split logs
running down to the top of the wall, with the gables filled
in with planks or timbers. The roofs would have been covered
with anything that would prevent them from leaking. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 10: |
The doors would have
been made of planks and nails and probably had a wooden
latch. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 11: |
Fireplaces would have
been made from either stone or mud brick, depending on what
was available. chimneys were often placed between two rooms
so that each room might share in the chimney. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 12: |
The buildings in Fort
Mandan were surrounded by a stockade, as with all military
constructions of the period. to build the stockade a trench
would first be dug and poles were then planted and the trench
was then filled again. The poles would be held together
by fixing them to cross pieces with wooden pegs. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 13: |
The men of the Corps
of Discovery had many other skills, besides soldiering and
included carpenters and blacksmiths whose abilities were
invaluable when building Fort Mandan. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 14: |
The winter spent at Fort
Mandan was bitterly cold and some of the men even suffered
from frostbite. The Keelboat was frozen solid in the Missouri
River and Captain Clark wrote that the Native Indians had
to "...to bare more Cold than I thought it possible for
man to endure." |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 15: |
The construction provided
some shelter from the elements and the men spent much of
their time indoors making and repairing their uniforms and
repairing their equipment. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 16: |
Whilst the expedition
wintered at Fort Mandan they met Sacajawea who was
just 16 years old and pregnant. Sacajawea was not supposed
to be part of the expedition but her husband, Touissant
Charbonneau, insisted that she came with them. The expedition
also thought that they could use Sacajawea to help with
navigating and in interpreting. Her child, named Pomp, was
believed to have been born at the fort in February 1805.
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Fort Mandan
Fact 17: |
Lewis and Clark prepared
reports and specimens to be sent back home on the keelboat.
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Fort Mandan
Fact 18: |
Despite the harsh weather
conditions the men appeared to enjoy their time spent at
Fort Mandan where they spent many nights with the Native
Indians celebrating with dancing and singing and witnessing
customs such as the famous Buffalo Dance. |
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Fort Mandan
Fact 19: |
In the spring of 1804,
after wintering at Fort Mandan, a few members of the
Lewis and Clark expedition returned home on the keelboat,
loaded with plant and animal specimens and reports that
were presented to President Thomas Jefferson. |
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Lewis and Clark
Expedition: Facts about Fort Mandan
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