Fort Clark Historic Site

Fort Clark Historic Site. . On this site are the remains of a large earthlodge village originally settled by the Mandan Indians (ca.1822) and the 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 1831 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 Maximilian 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 Like-a-Fishhook village.