Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Big Muddy, as the river is sometimes called, is a free-flowing segment that has
changedlittlesinceexplorersMeriwetherLewisandWilliamClarkpassedthiswayin1804
ontheirwaytothePacific.VisitDoubleDitchStateHistoricSiteandexplorethelandscape
seen by expedition members, virtually unchanged today, as you camp, kayak, canoe, fish,
andskialongtheMissouriRiver.Alsoviewsoaringbaldeaglesandwhite-taileddeer.State
Rte. 1804 joins Rte. 83 just a few miles outside the city of Washburn.
3.
Cross Ranch State Park
The undeveloped stretches of the Missouri River and North Dakota's Cross Ranch State
Park have an extensive trail system to explore on foot in summer or on cross-country skis
during the winter. The ranch offers 5,000 acres dedicated to the nature preserve, with river
bottom and cottonwood forests, mixed-prairie grasslands and woody draws. Visitors often
see the buffalo herd roaming the park's neighboring nature preserve.
The park preserves the natural beauty ofthe land and creates a wildlife habitat forbird-
ing. Annual events include the High Plains Rendezvous and the Missouri River Bluegrass
and Old-Time Music Festival.
4.
Knife River Indian Villages
Continue on Rte. 83 to Washburn, site of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Focused
on the complete expedition, it is filled with rare artifacts and interactive displays. It also
houses the rare, complete collection of Karl Bodmer's historic artwork, which dates from
the 1830s. Authentically reconstructed Fort Mandan, just west of the interpretive center,
brings history to life with demonstrations and reenactments during Lewis and Clark Days
in June.
From Washburn, follow Rte. 200 to the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic
Site at Stanton. This historically important settlement was established by the ancestors of
the modern Hidatsa people. The women of this tribe once gardened in the rich soil, grow-
ingsquash,pumpkins,beans,sunflowersandavarietyofcorn.Theytradedabundantcrops
to nomadic tribes and fur traders, gaining staples, foodstuffs and buffalo hides.
By the early 1800s, the village was a burgeoning marketplace. Here Lewis and Clark
met and hired a French fur trader and his wife, Toussaint Charbonneau and Sakakawea,
as interpreters for their Corps of Discovery. They wintered together at Fort Mandan in
1804-1805.
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