Lewis and Clark Trail History

The Fate of the Arikaras

In October 1804, the expedition made its way to territory belonging to the once-mighty Arikaras. This is a stretch of the Missouri River in what is now the northern part of South Dakota. About thirty thousand strong at the time that the United States became independent, small pox epidemics in the 1780s had reduced the tribe to about one-fifth of that size. Another epidemic swept through in 1803-1804. Before the epidemics the Arikaras dwelt in eighteen villages, but by the time the Corps of Discovery arrived in 1804 only three villages remained populated.

After the construction of the Oahe Dam this part of the Missouri River became Lake Oahe, the fourth largest man-made reservoir in the United States. Following the Lewis and Clark Trail through old Arikara territory northward along Lake Oahe, we arrive at West Whitlock Recreation Area, where there is a replica of an Arikara earth lodge. Their lodges were constructed using cottonwood logs, willow branches and grass, and could house up to 20 people. The Arikaras were farmers, and grew crops such as corn, beans, squash and sunflowers. West Whitlock Recreation Area is now a popular spot for fishing and boating.

Next we come to Swan Creek Recreation Area, where the expedition passed an abandoned village containing about 80 empty lodges. After examining items left in that village, Captain William Clark surmised that the village had been occupied as recently as the previous spring.

A little farther north is Indian Creek Recreation Area, where Clark for the first time detected grizzly bear tracks in the mud. Indian Creek offers over 2.5 miles of hiking and biking trails, along which a person can spot deer, raccoons, beavers, bull snakes, turkeys, pheasants, gyrfalcons, and orchard orioles.

West Pollock Recreation Area is just a couple of miles south of the border with North Dakota. This location is where Private John Newman was punished with seventy-five lashes on the bare back and discharged from the expedition for “mutinous expression”.

Today, remanants of the Arikara people are confederated with the Mandans and Hidatsas, a union known formally as the Three Affiliated Tribes.