Approximately two miles south of this point, on low ground on the east bank of the Missouri River, the Lewis and Clark Expedition built Fort Mandan. The fort, the first military post in the state, was a substantial log structure that served as the expedition's winter quarters during the winter of 1804-05. Lewis and Clark and their men spent a pleasant winter there beside the friendly Mandan and Hidatsa Indians. After the fort was abandoned, the shifting channel of the Missouri River totally destroyed its site. The journals of Lewis and Clark contain the best accounts of this territory before the days of the fur trade, and the expedition stands as the highlight of early North Dakota history, with its successful conclusion a lasting tribute to the courage and resourcefulness of Lewis and Clark and their men.