Then, in 1830, the American Fur Trading Co. built a fort adjacent to their village. The fort changed everything. Snyder learned about more than smallpox, carried to the Mandan in 1837 by a sick crew member on the steamboat St. Peters, which arrived with trade goods and to take away beaver furs and bison hides. I learned about how the fort was built on a high bank so no one could attack. The Fort Clark displays are colorful and touchable.
Visitors can turn a crank that rotates a miniature paddle wheel.
They can move plastic plates that show how the Missouri River has changed course. They can pick up trading cards and learn how many hides it took to trade for a metal cooking pot. They can open a barrel and smell tobacco twists. Then they can walk up to the fort store and see the American Fur Trading Co. trade goods on display. As they enter, enlargements of paintings by early visitor and artist Carl Bodmer show scenes of Mandan village life.