Lewis and Clark: Winter with the Mandans

Summary
Suggested activities include matching vocabulary words with correct definitions, writing a letter to a friend in the manner of a Mandan Indian youth, and choosing the main idea of each paragraph.

Objectives
• Obtain basic information about the Lewis and Clark Expedition by reading the material that is included, and participating in a group discussion.

• Match vocabulary words with their best definitions.

• Pose as a Mandan youth to write a friendly letter.

• Choose the main idea of each paragraph from a list of possibilities.

Suggested Grades
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade

Excerpt
After beginning the world?s most famous camping trip in May of 1804, Lewis and Clark and their men reached present day North Dakota in late October. The Missouri River was beginning to freeze, and they knew that they needed a place to stay warm and fed throughout the cold weather to come. The Expedition chose to stop for the winter at a spot near two Mandan Indian villages. The natives were friendly and were willing to trade food for items that the explorers had with them. The men of the Corps of Discovery spent about a month cutting trees from a grove of cottonwoods that grew along the river. They used the logs to build a fort and several individual huts. Captain Lewis named the settlement Fort Mandan in honor of their peaceful neighbors.

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