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HISTORY · HISTORIC SITE
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
History
In central North Dakota near present-day Stanton, this site preserves the remains of three Hidatsa villages at the confluence of the Knife and Missouri rivers, once a major center of trade and agriculture. Visible traces include circular earth-lodge depressions, cache pits, and travois trails, reflecting village life shaped by the river landscape. For centuries, the Hidatsa and Mandan linked far-reaching trade networks while village gardens in fertile bottomlands sustained the communities. The site is also associated with Sakakawea, who lived here before aiding the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Smallpox in 1837–1838 devastated these villages, and survivors later moved north to Like-a-Fishhook.
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Stanton, North Dakota
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