We moved yesterday to the Bismarck KOA. Nice place where we are going to stay for two nights before heading to a Corps of Engineers park at Lake Sakakwea (yes, it is really spelled like that). What a surprise! Shady sites which means no satellite, but we get decent OTA channels.
Today we went to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. Great place with lovely views and interesting history. First the scenery along the Missouri River.
The park is set on a small hill overlooking the Missouri. The first settlements known were Mandan. They lived here in a town of up to 1500 people known as Slant. Sadly their numbers were decimated by small pox brought by Comanches in the mid 1700s and the site was abandoned by the time Lewis and Clark arrived in 1805. A few of their earthen lodges have been recreated.
I think the thick earth walls would make this a much more comfortable place to live in the hot summers and the cold winters.
The next people to settle were American infantry soldiers who were to protect settlers and rail readers. Not a very intelligent move to send infantry to protect against some of the finest horsemen ever known! Fort McKeen was built in 1872 on a tall site overlooking the river.
When the US decided to send cavalry, the fort was moved closer to the river and renamed to Fort Abraham Lincoln. The first commander of the expanded fort was George Custer (until he went to the Little Bighorn). A number of buildings have been reconstructed.
The fort was abandoned in the 1891. As usual it was the CCC who built the park visitor center (a lovely stone building), shelters, and roads. They also built the Ft. McKeen blockhouses and the Mandan village. The other buildings were built by a combination of park employees, volunteers, and the ND National Guard.
Oh, and we went by Scheel’s to buy me a new pair of walking shoes. Woah! Those things are expensive, but hopefully they help me walk more.