hunters, adding not a little to the good cheer that enlivened the evening camp.
Arrival at the Mandan villages; Fort Mandan; the winter's work; British traders. About the end of October they reached the villages of the Mandan Indians, within the present boundaries of North Dakota. The sharp night frosts warning them of approaching winter, it was decided to establish quarters here. A site was chosen, cottonwood and elm logs were brought from the river bottom, and a " fort "built. This consisted simply of two rows of rude block-houses, placed in the form of a letter "V," with shed roofs rising from the inner sides. A row of strong posts, or palisades, completed the triangle. Such was Fort Mandan, where Lewis and Clark spent the long, severe, yet busy and not unpleasant winter of 18041805. Many things required to be done. There were notes to copy, reports to write, maps to draw; articles of interest found on the trip up the Missouri must be prepared for submission to the President; new boats were needed for the upward journey. These preparations occupied the leaders during a large part of the winter; but they took occasion, also, to visit all of the surrounding Indian tribes, and to make the best arrangements possible concerning future trade with them. British traders from the far north visited them at Mandan during the winter, and carried back to the posts of the Northwest Company and to Montreal re - opening
