Washburn, North Dakota, Fort Mandan Country

Washburn, the seat of McLean County, sits on the Missouri River at a spot Lewis and Clark knew well. The expedition arrived at the Mandan and Hidatsa villages just upstream in October of eighteen oh four and spent the winter here, building Fort Mandan and meeting the young Shoshone woman they would call Sacagawea. The modern town was founded in eighteen eighty-two and named for Cadwallader Washburn, a Union general and Wisconsin governor. A full-scale replica of Fort Mandan stands west of town today, drawing travelers retracing the Corps of Discovery's route.