1200-1250 Mandans settle in the upper Missouri

Painting by George Catlin

     The Village Indians migrated into modern day South Dakota, where they lived in semi-permanent villages for the next several hundred years. Click here for more

Mandan _Bull _Boats _and _Lodges -_George _Catlin

      Archeological digs have shown that during this time the Mandans lived in small villages of about 200 people each.  Their economy was based on hunting, gathering and agriculture.  They hunted deer and buffalo.  They fished, gathered wild berries (june berries, chokecherries, buffalo berries, prairie turnips), and grew corn, beans and squash in their gardens, and storied their dried crops in underground bottle shaped caches.