Bicentennial Story #100-Christmas at Fort Mandan

Bicentennial Story #100-Christmas at Fort Mandan

Account of Christmas Day at Fort Mandan in 1804.

9/17/1975

Father Louis Pfaller

This recording cannot be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center. This recording may be freely used for education uses, so long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this recording file is permitted without written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center.

mp3

audio reel, analog, 1/4 inch polyester tape

English

BS-100

Fort Mandan, ND

Copyright Stark County Historical Society and Dickinson Museum Center

Christmas Day at Fort Mandan in 1804 found the men of the Lewis and Clark expedition in high spirits. Warning the Indians to stay away because it was a great medicine day for the white men, the party passed the day drinking toasts, firing volleys, and singing. A special dinner was prepared, and as a final celebration these rough, lively frontiersmen engaged in a wild "breakdown" that shook the walls of their crude log ballroom. The fact that they were obliged to dance with each other did not hamper their rollicking festivity. One wonders, though, how really "Christian" was this Christmas observance.

This is Bicentennial Story No.100, prepared by Father Louis Pfaller for the Stark County Historical Society.

Reid, 112
Nelson, 33

Sound recordings

1:17

128kbps

1970 1979

Bicentennial tape #6, Bicentennial stories 87-107