Trading Post Plan

Shortly after Fort Clark's construction around 1830, Prince Maximilian of Wied described it as an almost square trading post with front and back measuring forty-four paces, sides measuring forty-nine paces, one-story buildings, and blockhouses at the north and south corners, with a robe press just outside the rear gate. His sketch showed an open courtyard with ranges of buildings built against the palisade. Archaeological excavations indicate that Fort Clark was built and enlarged at least twice, probably in the mid-1840s and again in the 1850s, and that the blockhouses were moved from the north and south corners to the east and west corners. A small blockhouse at the west corner dates to the last decade of the post's occupation. Although some evidence of interior walls and foundations has been found, little is known about how the placement, dimensions, and use of structures changed as the fort grew. Surface features and geophysical surveys suggest Maximilian's plan was modified slightly: most buildings still stood against the palisade, but a few were set a short distance out from it. The front gate appears to have continued to face the river, and excavations suggest a large flagpole once stood in the center of the courtyard, perhaps during the 1830s, before disappearing by the late 1850s and being replaced by small flagpoles on the blockhouses.

North Dakota · United States