page_title: History of Bismarck, North Dakota
section_title: Mandan Nation
hierarchical_section_title: History of Bismarck, North Dakota / Mandan Nation
caption_attribution_description: English: Reconstruction of a Mandan earthlodge interior at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park south of Mandan, North Dakota
context_page_description: Bismarck is the capital of the state of North Dakota, the county seat of Burleigh County, and the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city was formed in 1872 as "Edwinton" after Edwin Ferry Johnson, a chief engineer for the Northern Pacific Railway company, when the railroad reached the eastern banks of the Missouri River. The name was changed less than one year later, honoring German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, in an effort to attract German immigrants. The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills in 1874 was the first real impetus for growth. In 1883, Bismarck became the capital of the Dakota Territory and, in 1889, of the state of North Dakota.
context_section_description: The first well-documented inhabitants of what is now Bismarck were the Mandan Nation. The remains of Chief Looking's Village, one of the Mandan towns, is now a park within the city limits, while another six to eight town sites, including On-a-Slant Village, Large-and-Scattered Village, and Double Ditch Village, made up the homeland of the Mandan Nation from about the mid-1500s to the late 1700s and surround present-day Bismarck for a few miles to the north and south. Their population is estimated to have ranged from about 10,000 to 20,000 during those years. The Mandans had a farming-based culture and lived in earth lodges.
caption: Interior of a reconstructed Mandan home at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
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