L&C Searching For a Winter Home

7 Miles Today;  My early morning walk consisted of snow cover roads pack to near solid ice by the auto traffic.  I tried to stay on the side roads which did have some snow for traction.  A big warm-up is on the way.  Until tomorrow, God Bless Walk Forrest Walk

Lewis & Clark Update

Winter With The Mandan Tribe

The Mandan were a passive tribe of the plains area and were culturally connected with their neighbors on the Missouri River, the Arikara and the Hidatsa. The Mandan had interesting cultural traits, including a myth of origin describing that their ancestors climbed from beneath the earth on the roots of a grapevine. It is believed that at one time the Mandan lived further east, but they historically migrated westward up the Missouri River. By the mid-18th century, they occupied nine villages near the mouth of the Heart River in south central North Dakota. After withstanding a severe smallpox outbreak and attacks of the Assiniboin and the Sioux, the Mandan moved farther up the Missouri River, opposite the Arikara villages. It was here that the Mandan survivors merged into two villages on opposite sides of the Knife River.  It was here that Lewis and Clark Expedition spent the winter of 1804-05 , who reported in their journals that the tribe numbered some 1,250. It was during this visit that Sacagawea became part of their team. In 1837, after an epidemic of smallpox and cholera, the Mandan were reduced to some 150, all dwelling in a single village.  to be continued