N3824

Lewis & Clark Expedition - Bicentennial

Fred's Anecdotal Note

Chiefs Black Cat and Sheheke

Mandan Winter at Fort Mandan

By October 1804, the Corps of Discovery was approaching the two Mandan villages headed by Chiel's Black Cat and Sheheke who was also known as Big White. On the 24th they made contact with a 25-man hunting party led by Sheheke. The two groups smoked and then went to the chief's village where the tribe was delighted that the expedition would be wintering there. Directly across the river from the village, the men started buiiding Fort Mandan on Novemtrer 3rd when Private Joseph Whitehouse wrote, "All the men at camp ocepied their time

dlilligenently in building their huts and got them made comfertable to live in. " The finished fort consisted of two

rows of huts set at an angle with a palisade on the river side. It had a gate, a sentry post, and a mount for the swivel gun from the keelboat. The outer walls were 18-feet high.

The cold was constant and bone chilling. Lewis kept daily weather readings, and the temperature for December, January, and February averaged 12" above zero. Sgt. Ordway described their huts as "warm and comfortable. " The men were kept busy with chores, drills, and weapon inspections. When the temperature went below zero, guards were changed every 1/2 hour. Relations with the Mandan were excellent. Tht soldiers and warriors traded, went hunting together, and talked as best they could. On New Year's Day l805, half the men under Clark went to one of the villages, and everyone danced to Cruzatte's fiddle. York danced "which amused the crowd verry much" wrote Clark. The next day, Lewis took the remainder of the men to the second village for what Sgt. Ordway called' "frolicking. " Throughout the harsh winter, the men dealt with the cold and kept busy. The captains kept the morale of the Corps high and carefully planned for their coming springtime push to the Pacific.