Fort Clark Historic Site
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 47° 15.176 W 101° 16.688
14T E 327626 N 5235789
Historical marker commemorating an early fur trading post along the Missouri River.
Waymark Code: WM2N1Q
Location: North Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 11/23/2007
Views: 81
Fort Clark Historic Site
On this site are the remains of a large earthlodge village originally
settled by the Mandan Indians (ca. 1822) and trading forts Clark and Primeau.
Previous to the establishment of Fort Clark, an unnamed post was built in the
area by James Kipp and a Mr. Tilton for the Columbia Fur Company (ca.
1822-1823), but this post was abandoned shortly thereafter as a result of
pressures by Arikara.
Tilton returned to St. Louis, but Kipp remained at the Mandan village and
built Fort Clark in 1931 for the American Fur Company. Fort Clark, named
for Captain William Clark, was one of the three major American Fur Company posts
on the upper Missouri River that were established to deal directly with the
various tribes.
The Mandan village was a center of activity and was visited frequently by
neighboring tribes, early white explorers and adventurers, including Catlin in
1832 and Maximillian and Bodmer in 1833-1834. In 1837, smallpox was
introduced by the steamboat, St. Peters. The catastrophic epidemic
which followed nearly annihilated the Mandan Tribe and forced the survivors to
flee the village to escape the disease. The abandoned village was occupied
by the Arikara in 1838. A second trading post, Fort Primeau, was
established (ca. 1848) about 300 yards from Fort Clark to compete for the Indian
trade. Both posts were abandoned prior to 1861 when the Arikara left to
join the Mandan and Hidatsa at Lie-a-Fishhook village. ~ text of marker