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Christmas at Fort Mandan, 1804, Jeff Turning Heart Jr., Interpretive Specialist
12/23/2009
To many, Christmas day is a day of rejoicing and being with those you care about, friends, family and embracing the joy within. But to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Christmas of 1804 was a day they likely never forget.
On December 24th of 1804, the men of the expedition were putting the final touches on Fort Mandan, their winter home of 1804 to 1805 and despite the winter chill that occurred a week prior to Christmas, they still carried on normal activities to make sure their winter stay wouldn’t be frightful.
How the men celebrated Christmas isn’t like how we celebrate today, there was no tree decorated, no turkey that needed to be carved and served, no homemade stuffing but during their stay, flour, dried apples and pepper were used to celebrate Christmas in a proper and social manner. At daybreak, the men woke up on Christmas when it was 15 degrees above zero and woke both their captains with many salutes of gunfire from their weapons.
After being awoken by the salutes of the men’s gunfire, the captains permitted the men to fire their swivel cannon and their two blunderbusses, the captains then gave them a little bit of taffia which was rum mixed with some water. As those who went hunting there were some that stayed behind and danced to the sound of the fiddle.
When we celebrate Christmas in our own tradition and ways, we make it our own custom, just like how Lewis and Clark and their men made their own at Fort Mandan. Although we may not have built our own Fort nor fire weapons on Christmas morning, we do have the same sense to acknowledge the season for finding joy wherever you are.
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