Indian Village, North Dakota

Custer's House 1873-1876
Indian Earthlodge Village 1650-1750

What an interesting history lesson we had yesterday. The RV was booked in at 8am to have some new gas springs fitted under the bed (allows us to easily lift the bed base and get to the underbed storage area). The service centre was an hour away, so we had to be gone from the campground by 7am. We were going to hire a rental car so that we could go and do some sightseeing while they had the RV in the workshop, but the service centre gave us a courtesy vehicle instead which was wonderful.

We drove about 7 miles to Mandan, just West of Bismarck, where Fort Lincoln is a preserved historic site right on the Missouri River. First of all we visited General Custer's garrison including the barracks where his men (650 troops) lived, the stables, and the lovely two-storey home he lived in with his wife and 3 African American house workers. They had two rooms set up just for visiting guests, who because of the long distances travelled, usually stayed a minimum of one month. This was in the time before Dakota was part of the United States - it was still considered a western territory at the time. The Fort was set up to protect the locals from the Sioux Indians. Custer moved there in 1873. His troops were responsible for ensuring the expansion of the Northern Pacific Railway went ahead with minimal disruption from Indian attacks. As we know from history, Custer died in 1876 at the battle of Little Big Horn while fighting the Sioux. (We visited that area with Benn back in 2003) and saw the black marker that indicated where Custer fell & died.

About half a mile up the road is a reconstructed Slant Indian Village and you guessed it, the village is built on a slant. The Mandan Indians (an agricultural tribe) lived here from 1650 - 1750, and instead of living in tepees, they lived in earth lodges. The remnants of the villages remain, and a historical group has reconstructed the village to how it would have been during the time of the Indians. They survived by hunting buffalo (bison) and growing crops. The main crops grown by women included corn, beans, sunflowers & squash and the men grew tobacco. They had rakes made from deer antlers, and hoes made from the shoulder blades of bison. When an Indian died, they were laid outside the village on a raised platform and mourning began. When the body fell through the platform (the willow matting rotted) the mourning period ended.

We bought tickets that entitled us to separate interpretive tours of both Custer's House and the Slant Indian Village. On the tour at Custers House, you are met by a young guard, dressed in period uniform and once you enter through the door, visitors are spoken to as though they are back in 1875 to give you a sense of how customs etc were back then. Interestingly, the table was set with cutlery, plates and glasses, but they were all turned over as was the custom to reduce the amount of dust and flies getting on plates etc until the food was served.

Right at the start of our tour we had a phone call from the service centre to say our RV was ready to be picked up, so as soon as we had completed both tours, we thought we should return the courtesy vehicle in case someone else needed it. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our glimpse of history right where it all happened.