568 - Fort Mandan Overlook

While the exact location of Fort Mandan has never been found, the overlook provides a good view of the landscape similar to how the Corps of Discovery would have experienced it in 1804-1805. The site of Fort Mandan is most likely under the Missouri River now, and the course of the river has changed in the last 200 plus years. But the overall feel of the area remains much the same.

“This morning early we fixed on the site for our fortification which we immediately set about. This place we have named Fort Mandan in honour of our neighbours.” Meriwether Lewis, November 2, 1804.

If you are standing here at the Fort Mandan Overlook site, you will also notice the masonic plaque and memorial. Lewis and Clark were both masons. Lewis was a mason prior to the expedition, while Clark was made a mason at the St. Louis Lodge upon returning.

The memorial was created to commemorate the expedition, as Lewis was likely the first mason to tread upon what is now North Dakota soil. It is a tribute to the courage, heroism, fidelity to trust, and the enduring service to country of these distinguished masons. The efforts of masons continue to this day, to promote a way of life that binds like-minded men in a worldwide brotherhood that transcends all religious, ethnic, cultural, social and educational differences, in an effort to make good men, better men.