By Lotte Govaerts

(This post was originally published on the Rogers Archaeology Lab blog on November 21, 2017. You can see the original post archived here.)

This is the third installment in a blog series on my recent trip to North Dakota. In previous entries I wrote about my visits to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. This entry is about a visit to Fort Clark Historic Site, on a particularly cold day.

Fort Clark State Historic Site encompasses 231.5 acres, approximately 15 miles southwest of Washburn, ND and 7.5 miles southeast of Stanton, ND. It includes the archaeological remains of Mih-tutta-hang-kush, a Mandan earth lodge village occupied between ca. 1822 and 1838, as well as an overlying Arikara village, occupied 1838 through 1861. The remains of a trade post called Fort Clark (1831–1860) and a competing post called Fort Primeau (1846–1861) are also included. A trail lined with interpretive signs loops around the site.

A wintery plains landscape under a grey sky. In the far distance, interpretive signs at a semi-regular distance from each other. — A chilly view of Fort Clark State Historic Site. Some of the interpretive signs lining the path can be seen in the distance. (Photo Lotte Govaerts)

Because we visited during a full-on blizzard, we did not walk the whole trail. Snow cover also obscured the depressions in the ground where earth lodges once stood. However, because there are so many signs along the way, we still got to read a lot about the site’s history. It would have been fun to spend a little more time and walk the whole trail, but it really was VERY cold and windy. I’m not sure what the exact temperature was, but the next morning when we were getting ready to drive to our next destination, my friend Mat cheerfully informed me that the “real feel” temperature was -22°F (-30°C). Brrrrrr!

Interpretive sign in a snowy landscape. The sign has a Karl Bodmer painting of the village. It's very yellow.

Text reads:
"Mih-Tutta-Hang-Kush (meaning East Village or First Village) Fort Clark State Historic Site.
You are approaching the site of a former Mandan Indian village called Mih-tutta-hang-kush. The name means "east village" or "first village." Mih-tutta-hang-kush was established in 1822 and was occupied by the Mandan until 1837 when a smallpox epidemic decimated about 90 percent of the village's population. In 1838 neighboring Arikara moved into the village and lived there until 1861.
The Mandans lived at Mih-tutta-hang-kush in the spring, summer, and fall. In the winter, they moved into a village in the forested river valley. Mandan villages, such as Mih-tutta-hang-kush, were part of a vast trade networks among tribes on the Great Plains. Before the establishment of fur trade posts such as Fort Clark, the Mandans had been trading with neighboring tribes for centuries.
Today, you are approaching the village the same was as a person would have in the 1820s. Numerous trails radiate out from the village like spokes on a wheel. You are closely following one of the former trails as it nears the village." — One of the many interpretive signs providing information to visitors at Fort Clark State Historic Site.(Photo Lotte Govaerts)

The Mandan village Mih-tutta-hang-kusch was established here around 1822. A trade post named Tilton’s Fort was constructed nearby in 1823 by the Columbia Fur Company (Wood et al. 2011, p. 48–49). In 1825 James Kipp built the predecessor to Fort Clark (referred to as “Fort Clark I” by researchers [ibid., p.55–58]), closer to the village. Fort Clark proper was established in 1830 by the Upper Missouri Outfit of the American Fur Company, and operated until 1860 (the Columbia Fur Company was bought out by the American Fur Company in 1827, becoming its Upper Missouri Outfit. In 1834, it was sold to Pratte, Chouteau & Company, later Pierre Chouteau, Jr. & Company). A competing trade post called Fort Primeau was established by Harvey, Primeau, and Company (also called the Union Fur Company) in 1846. It operated until 1861 (ibid., p. 192–193).

George Catlin oil painting of the village. It's a very green scene. The village is in the background, with the river and the closer riverbank in the foreground. People are fishing from the bluff in the foreground. — George Catlin: “Distant View of the Mandan Village,” oil on canvas, 1832. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr., 1985.66.379. Fort Clark can be seen to the left of Mih-tutta-hang-kusch.

Mih-tutta-hang-kusch was hit by a smallpox epidemic in 1837, when a fur trade steamship carrying the virus docked at the fort. Approximately 90% of the inhabitants of the village were killed. Earlier epidemics had already reduced the Mandan in number (particularly the 1782 smallpox epidemic). Some estimates on the total number of Mandan survivors in 1837 are as low as 125 individuals (ibid., p. 165). These survivors moved north not long after. At this time, a group of Arikara moved to the site and built their lodges over top of the remains of the Mandan village. They remained there until 1861, when they also moved north.

Scan of color image on book page. Karl Bodmer painting of the village on its bluff, in the background. In the foreground are people with bullboats getting out of the river. — Karl Bodmer, “Mih-tutta-Hankusch – a Mandan Village,” aquatint from the book “Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834” by Prince Maximilian of Wied , Publisher: Ackermann & Co., 1839. (via Wikimedia Commons)

Well-known visitors to Fort Clark include George Catlin and Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied, accompanied by Karl Bodmer. Their paintings, drawings, and writings provide some details about life in the villages and trade posts. Additional information can be found in the journal written by Francis A. Chardon while he was in charge of Fort Clark between 1834 and 1839. Archaeological testing took place at the site intermittently between 1973 and 2001, adding archaeological data to researchers’ knowledge about the site.

Scan of book page with color image. Karl Bodmer painting of winter scene. Fort Clark in the background. People on horses and on foot on a bluff in the foreground. Very dramatic clouds and birds overhead. — Karl Bodmer, “Fort Clark – on the Missouri (February 1834),” aquatint from the book “Maximilian, Prince of Wied’s Travels in the Interior of North America, during the years 1832–1834” by Prince Maximilian of Wied , Publisher: Ackermann & Co., 1839. (via Wikiart)

In the next installment of this blog series, I will discuss our visit to Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. Stay tuned!

Bibliography/further reading

http://www.history.nd.gov/historicsites/clark/

Abel, Annie H., ed. 1932. Chardon’s Journal at Fort Clark, 1834-1839. Pierre: South Dakota State Department of History.

Thwaites, Reuben Gold, ed. 1906. “Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834 by Alexander Philip Maximilian, Prince of Wied-Neuwied.” In Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, Vol. 22, 23, 24. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clark.

Wood, W. Raymond, W. F. Hunt, and Randy H. Williams. 2011. Fort Clark and Its Indian Neighbors: A Trading Post on the Upper Missouri. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.