Thursday, August 18, 2016

Fort Mandan recreated

Yesterday we visited a site created by the North Dakota state parks with a full scale reconstruction of the fort the corps built in the winter of 1804.  The corps with their tools of the 1800s completed their fort in six weeks while this replica took a modern day contractor two years to finish.  It was built in the shape of a triangle.  The front face was a wall with gates, to the left of the gate inside were four cabins for crew, at the back of the triangle were two rooms for smoke house and storage, to the right were the captain,s quarters, one room for Sacagawea with her husband and new son, one cabin for the carpenters shop and one for the blacksmith shop.  In the center they had a flag pole and a mount for the swivel cannon from the keel boat.
typical crew bunk, the originals were probably wider as there were two men to a bunk
weapons at the ready
games and music to pass the time
the loft where many slept
corn, beans,squash, and sunflower seed traded from the Indians
flour and salt pork
blacksmith shop
the swivel cannon from the keel boat
 Then we visited the Lewis and Clark interpretive center also managed by the ND Parks.  They had a lot of displays of Indian culture and the expedition plus they did have an air rifle like the one Capt. Lewis had with him.
 
 
 
 
 
 The air rifle


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