Fort Clark Trading Post State Historic Site#History

{{Short description|State historic site of North Dakota, United States}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name =Fort Clark Archeological District

| nrhp_type = hd | nocat = yes

| image = Catlin mandan village.jpg

| caption = A typical Mandan village — possibly what the early settlement may have looked like

| coordinates = {{coord|47|15|07|N|101|16|31|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = North Dakota#USA

| location = Mercer County, North Dakota, USA

| nearest_city = Stanton, North Dakota

| area =

| built =

| architect =

| architecture =

| designated =

| added = October 19, 1986

| established =

| visitation_num =

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| refnum = 86002800

| mpsub =

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}}

Fort Clark Trading Post State Historic Site was once the home to a Mandan and later an Arikara settlement. Over the course of its history it also had two factories (trading posts). Today only archeological remains survive at the site located eight miles west of Washburn, North Dakota, United States.

History

In 1822, the Mandan tribe built a settlement with earth-covered lodges on the bluffs of the Missouri River. In 1830, a representative of the American Fur Company built Fort Clark Trading Post south of the village. The first steamboat to journey up the upper-Missouri River was the Yellowstone which arrived in 1832 carrying 1,500 gallons of goods and liquor. George Catlin visited in 1832, and Karl Bodmer and Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied stayed the winter of 1833-1834. In 1837, the steamboat St. Peters docked at the village carrying passengers infected with smallpox, and sparking the 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic.Rationalizing Epidemics: Meanings and Uses of American Indian Mortality Since 1600; David S. Jones; Harvard University Press; 2004; Pg. 76 As the disease swept through the village, it wiped out approximately ninety percent of the inhabitants. In 1838, the nearby Arikara tribe moved into the abandoned village. In 1850, another trading post was built by Charles Primeau. In 1851, a cholera outbreak occurred and then a smallpox outbreak in 1856. When an attack by the Dakota happened in 1861, the fort was permanently abandoned.

Historic site

Most of the site has been owned by the state since 1889. A total of {{convert|125|acre}} in two sections of the state historic site were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as Fort Clark Archeological District.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=86002800}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: Fort Clark Archeological District |author=C.L. Dill |date=February 25, 1986}} and {{NRHP url|id=86002800|title=accompanying photos|photos=y}}

More than 2,200 features on the surface from the ruins of houses and graves still exist. Lodge depressions are also visible along with an unmarked cemetery with more than 800 graves. The site is operated by the North Dakota State Historical Society.