Where Theodore Roosevelt Roamed...

My first stop in North Dakota was the little town of Medora.  Here I found the entrance to the south unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

I knew that Roosevelt ranched in the North Dakota Badlands, but I soon found out that his focus on conservation efforts later in life, when he was our 26th president, originated with his experiences here.

                                               North Dakota Badlands near Medora, ND

I drove about 10 miles into the park, towing my trailer on a primitive gravel road, but soon turned around and resolved to make a later trip where this would be a destination rather than a casual stop.

There was much more here to explore than I would have time for on this trip. The park, and the 
vacation destination town of Medora are on my list for a more relaxed, but also more thorough, week of activities sometime in the future.

Meanwhile, if you're interested in learning more about Theodore Roosevelt's early life, or the history and current activities available in Medora, you can explore more here.

Theodore Roosevelt and Conservation

Medora, ND - A Family Vacation Destination

My ultimate destination in North Dakota was the site of Lewis and Clark's winter encampment of 1804-05. My plans called for two nights at the KOA campground in Bismarck, with a day trip, sans trailer, to the reconstructed Corps of Discovery campsite and interpretive center in Washburn, about 40 miles to the north.

How it all began...

Washington D.C., June 20, 1803

    To Meriwether Lewis Esquire, Captain of the first regiment of Infantry of the United States of America.The Object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river & such principal stream of it as by it's course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce.

Thomas Jefferson

 A year and a half later, the Corps of Discovery was encamped near a Mandan Indian village more than 1,000 miles on the Missouri River above St. Louis. They set about building a fort in which they would endure the harsh winter. I photographed this map at the interpretive center at nearby Washburn. It shows the path of the roughly 1,500 miles they would yet have to travel to reach the Pacific.

The blue dotted line showing Clark's return route on the Yellowstone River in this map approximates the path I followed on I-90 and I-94 to reach the fort on the bank of the Missouri River where I now stood. The artist George Catlin captured a scene at a Mandan village in 1837 that is how I imagine Lewis and Clark found it 33 years earlier. Bird's-eye View of the Mandan Village

And here is a bird's eye view of the Ft. Mandan replica.

Here are a few detailed pictures I took in the reconstructed replica of the fort built by the Corps.

View from the entry gate looking to the interior.

Store room for provisions that were packed in canoes and on horses for the trip

Officer accommodations for Lewis and Clark. 

Each room in living quarters had its own fireplace,

on the right in this view.

 Enlisted mens' accommodations

I reluctantly left Fort Mandan and took this shot of the nearby Missouri River. I imagine it looks much like it might have to the members of the Corps. nearly 200 years ago.

Across the wide Missouri

The next day's drive took me from North Dakota into Minnesota - destination - Minneapolis.

After a brief stop in Fergus Falls, MN, my next segment will begin to follow Jerome Mann, my great grandfather, on his five year adventure as an infantryman in the U.S. Army in the 1850s.