August 7, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie
We woke up from sleeping overnight in the Walmart parking lot and traveled about 155 miles to the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in Stanton, ND, knocking another place off the list in my National Parks Book.
This site was established in 1974, to preserve the historic and archeological remnants of the Northern Plains Indians called the Hidatsas, of North Dakota. This area was a major trading area for these peoples. There are three distinct villages known to have inhabited the area. They are the Big Hidatsa Village, the Lower Hidatsa Village, and the Awatixa Village.
Just behind the visitor center is a replica of one of the large earthmound dwellings. It was much larger than I expected it would be. It smelled as soon as you entered and pulled back the heavy buffalo hide hung across the opening. I’m not sure what the smell was…dirt or hot air. It would take some getting used to.
If you walk the trails to the village sites, you will see large circle indentations in the ground where the mound dwellings were. Established earthlodge settlements along the Knife River date to circa-1525 CE. They thrived until 1837, when smallpox greatly reduced the population of Indians living here.
The Awatixa Village was the village where Sakakawea (also known as Sakagawea) lived. This is where Lewis & Clark first met her. The Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail is also here and you can drive the trail and follow the signs.
We left here and headed to our home for the next week near the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Thanks for joining us on this traveling journey.