Some of “Our Neighbors”

People of the five Mandan and Hidatsa villages near where the Corps of Discovery built their Fort Mandan were friendly during the winter of 1804-1805, visiting the “fort” and welcoming officers and enlisted men to their own towns. Their leaders included:

Sheheke (“Coyote”), chief of the lower Mandan village, the one nearest to Fort Mandan. White traders called him “Big White” because he was fat and fair-skinned. He was also adventurous enough to return to Washington, D.C., with the captains in 1806, to visit the president and U.S. cities. Arikara and Sioux warfare blocked his 1807 return escort, led by Sgt. Nathaniel Pryor of the expedition. The chief finally reached home in 1809. After his people wouldn’t believe the tales Sheheke told about how Americans lived in their home country, traders heard that he wished to go live among whites. He never did, and died at the hands of Sioux enemies in 1832.

Black Cat (“Posecopsahe” in Mandan), thought by Lewis and Clark to be the sole chief of the upper Mandan village. Both captains remarked on his intelligence and friendliness. He was a good host to British fur traders in 1806, but made a point of displaying the American flag that the captains had given him.

Black Moccasin, chief of the second Hidatsa village, where Sacagawea lived. As an elder, he sat for a portrait by painter George Catlin in 1833, and asked Catlin to remember him to his old friend William Clark.