The Mandan Trail Brandon Fort to

BEFORE – AND SHORTLY AFTER – EUROPEANS regularly from the River southwest made contact with aboriginal peoples in the Turtle across the plains to the Missouri River and the Mountain area, a First Nation group called the Mandan villages. The 400 mile journey to the Mandan traded in the region. Artifacts such as Mandans and back took around 20 days of travel. grinders and pestles that The traders remained with have been found in the the Mandans anywhere area were used exclusively from a few days to several by the agricultural weeks or even months to Mandans and prove their negotiate the terms of trading presence in this trade. area at one point. Several trails were used to Unique among North reach the Mandan villages. American , One of the main routes the Mandan lived for skirted the slopes centuries along the of Turtle Mountain and Missouri River in The impression of the Mandan Trail was created by has come to be known as horse-drawn travois. permanent, fortified the Mandan Trail. The villages out of which they practiced agriculture. land in and around the trail was likely a migration route for bison, and the path would have been In 1785 Pine Fort was built by the North West heavily used by First Nations in their pursuit of the Company (NWCo) on the bank of the Assiniboine animals on which they subsisted. It was also used by River. It was in that year that trading expeditions the Mandan and other First Nations as a travel and from the Assiniboine began seeking out the Mandans trade route prior to the European presence in North to engage them in trade. The Hudson’s Bay America. The impression of the trail was in fact Company (HBC) was slower to begin trading created by the varying widths of the First Nations' relations with the Mandan. Their activities didn’t travois: the mode of transportation used to carry furs move into the Assiniboine Valley until 1793 when and personal belongings using first dogs and then they built Brandon House to horses (after 1600 AD when horses compete with Pine Fort, only a few were introduced to North America). miles away. The HBC sent The explorer Pierre de LaVérendrye expeditions to the Mandan until also used this trail on his expedition 1817. to visit the Mandan villages in 1738. During this time – from 1785 to Today the remnants of this trail have 1818 – the Mandan villages along been mostly obliterated. the Missouri saw over 70 trading parties arrive from the Assiniboine References:

River forts. The Mandan had a few Clarke, Lawrence B. Souris Valley Plains-A History. Souris: Souris Plaindealer Ltd., 1976. commodities that were of interest to “Moncur Gallery of Prehistory Example Tour.” 2003-098. Moncur Gallery Tours MG10 / F4 Series III. Boissevain Community the traders. For one they had furs Archives. and bison robes. For another they “Turtle Mtn sites & people.” Historic Resources Branch Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport. Misc. Materials had horticultural products such as Relating to the Heritage Resources of the Turtle Mountain/Souris Plains Region of Manitoba. CD-ROM. beans, squash, and corn. Lastly, the Winnipeg: 2008. Wood, Raymond W, Thomas D. Theissen, eds. Early Fur Trade on Mandan were ideally situated on the the Northern Plains: Canadian Traders Among the Mandan and Indians, 1738 – 1818. Normon: University of northern plains to become a center Oklahoma Press, 1985. Photo: “425 native travois,1882c, Millford area.” Misc. Materials for horse trading. The Mandan Relating to the Heritage Resources of the Turtle The Mandan Trail provided a link Mountain/Souris Plains Region of Manitoba. CD-ROM. villages became an important source Winnipeg: Historic Resources Branch Manitoba Culture, between the Assiniboine River forts Heritage, Tourism and Sport. 2008. of horses for Canadian traders. Map: Adapted from: Department of Tourism, Recreation & Cultural and the Mandan villages along the Affairs Historic Resources Branch. Manitoba Historic Trails. Trading expeditions travelled Missouri River. Winnipeg: 1974.

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