Explore S.D. State Parks with Lewis & Clark

Almost everyone knows the story of Lewis and Clark’s journey up the Missouri River. What most people don’t know is that as the group traveled, they made many historic stops at areas that are now part of the South Dakota state park system. Explore these state parks on your next outing and discover your own South Dakota.

Photo by SD Tourism

Back to Lewis and Clark in South Dakota

May 1804 marked the start of the adventure upriver, beginning near St. Louis, Missouri. The Corps of Discovery entered into what is now South Dakota in mid-August 1804.

On August 21, they passed the mouth of the Big Sioux River and what is now Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve. It was in this area that one of the men, Joseph Fields, shot the expedition’s first buffalo. The men ate it along with venison, elk, plums and grapes. Clark found buffaloberries and determined that they were good to eat. It was also in this area that the first scientific documentation of a pronghorn (antelope) was made.

Having heard legends of little spirits living at Paha Wakan, now known as Spirit Mound Historic Prairie, nine men and Lewis’ dog Seaman left the river on August 25, to hike to the summit. It was a hard trip, and Seaman, suffering from the heat, had to be sent back to the Vermillion River. Despite rumors of danger, the men approached the hill and climbed to the summit, which they determined to be about 70 feet above the surrounding plain. The men were deeply impressed by the view. Clark wrote, “from the top of this Mound we beheld a most butifull landscape; Numerous herds of buffalo were Seen feeding in various directions.” Suffering from the heat, they returned to their boats without ever seeing the legendary “little people."

Chief White Crane Recreation Area near Yankton is named after one of the six chiefs who met with the Lewis and Clark expedition on their way up the river. This was the expedition’s first meeting with the Yankton Sioux and their first view of the Plains Indian tipis. The tribe and the expedition held a festive Grand Council on August 30, where they exchanged tobacco, flags and medals, followed by a “magic show” using magnifying glasses, a compass and air guns.

The 39-mile section of the Missouri River that has the designation of being a Wild and Scenic River begins at Randall Creek Recreation Area. This portion of the river is one of
the best in terms of seeing the river as the Lewis and Clark expedition actually saw it.

Near Snake Creek Recreation Area, visitors can learn about Private George Shannon, who was lost in the area for nearly two weeks. An interpretive sign near the park’s entrance tells Shannon’s story. Shannon, the youngest member of the expedition at 19 years old, became lost when he was sent to fetch strayed horses. Thinking the crew had moved up river, Shannon raced to meet the boats. When he was found exhausted and starving on Sept. 11, he quickly learned that the expedition had been downstream from him the entire time.

North of Lower Brule, the Missouri River makes a huge loop called
the Big Bend, or the Big Detour. West Bend Recreation Area is located on the northwest side of the approximately 30-mile Big Bend. At their campsite in the area on Sept. 20, the expedition nearly lost camp to a disappearing sandbar. They had barely loaded their keelboats before the entire campsite disappeared into the river.

At Farm Island Recreation Area, an interpretive sign tells of the three Teton Sioux boys who swam to the expedition campsite and told the group about a large Teton band camped a short distance upstream. The captains gave them gifts and asked them to arrange a meeting with their chiefs the next day. Now, the newly-developed Lewis and Clark Family Center helps families learn about the expedition through interactive displays.

The expedition’s first council with the Teton Sioux began on September 25, near the mouth of the Teton River, now called the Bad River. An interpretive sign detailing the events of the tense meeting is located on LaFramboise Island Nature Area. The sign tells how one of the three chiefs, Chief Black Buffalo, calmed the potentially violent meeting. Soon after the encounter, the expedition tied up at an island they called “Bad Humor Island” (some believe this was LaFramboise Island), named because of their mood after the confrontation.

On September 26, the expedition anchored its keelboat and pirogues at or near the present-day Oahe Downstream Recreation Area, below the present-day Oahe Dam. From here some of the expedition went to the village of Black Buffalo, one of the Teton Sioux chiefs.

Near present-day Swan Creek Recreation Area, the expedition passed an abandoned Arikara village with about 80 empty lodges. From examining the items left in the village, Clark surmised that the village had been occupied the previous spring.

A replica Arikara lodge at West Whitlock Recreation Area is a reminder of the many lodges the Lewis and Clark expedition saw in this area. Each lodge, made of cottonwood logs, willow branches and grass, could house up to 20 people. The Arikara people were farmers of such crops as corn, beans, squash, sunflowers and tobacco.

Not far from Indian Creek Recreation Area near Mobridge, Clark saw his first grizzly bear tracks in the mud.

On October 13, near present-day West Pollock Recreation Area, Private John Newman was punished with lashes and disbanded from the expedition for “mutinous expression.” The journals also tell of stone idols supposedly found in this area. Some people believe a trio of rocks found here are those stone idols.

After nearly two months in present-day South Dakota, the expedition continued to the Pacific Coast. On the return trip in 1806, the group spent approximately two more weeks traveling through present-day South Dakota in late August and early September. The expedition arrived in St. Louis, Missouri on September 23, 1806, completing their two-year journey.

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