The exact location of Lewis and Clark's Camp River Dubois winter campsite is unknown because all physical evidence is gone. Guided by journal entries, Clark's rough sketches, and maps, historians have deduced the look and general location of the camp. A reconstruction six miles from the mouth of River Dubois, today's Wood River, follows the same basic footprint shown in Clark's rough sketches found in his field notes, including two detailed sketches with measurements. Journal entries described a collection of log huts that made up the camp and its relative position to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The reconstruction was completed with careful consideration of the raw materials and tools available to the men, along with common military construction techniques, styles, other military forts of the era, time allocations, and the men's level of craftsmanship. Layouts of the expedition's other two winter encampments at Forts Mandan and Clatsop were also considered. The purpose of the five buildings was not noted in Clark's sketches, but the central building was probably used for the captains' quarters, the guard detail, and the storage of valuable goods, while the rest of the party probably slept in the four corner buildings.
