What Is Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site?
This park of mounds marks the site of a Mandan village, occupied roughly from 1490 until 1785 CE!
What Makes It Historical?
As you might guess from this site’s name, its history is told in its ditches, but as you might not have guessed from its name, there are four ditches surrounding this old village! These are the remains of fortifictions, which tell a story of a shrinking community! At its height from 1490 until 1550, there were 160 earthlodge homes and potentially 2,000 residents here, but as the centuries wore on, the ditches got smaller and smaller! Ditch 4 marked out a 22-acre village. Ditch 3 was 15 acres. Ditch 2 shrank to 12 acres in the 1600s, leaving Ditch 1 with 400 residents to face the smallpox epidemic of 1781!
During this three-hundred year occupation, though, this village was part of a major trade network spanning the whole country! That made them centers of wealth, which was why they needed the fortifications! After the epidemic, the residents of this village moved north to stay among the Hidatsas along the Knife River, home to valuable flint.
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Volunteer with the State Historical Society of North Dakota!
- Donate to the State Historical Society of North Dakota!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
W side of ND-1804
0.7 miles north of 117th Ave NW
Bismarck, ND 58503
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
Whenever the mood strikes you!
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