Southwest, North Dakota


In North Dakota, history is not found where it's musty, dusty or dark. History is found in the fresh, cool waters of the Missouri River, meandering by giant centuries-old cottonwoods near Lewis and Clark's Fort Mandan. It hangs on the pungent scent of sagegrass in a Mandan Indian earthlodge.
It pierces the crisp morning air as a bugler calls cavalry re-enactors and visitors to the parade grounds. It whispers from fossil bones where tourists and scientists work side-by-side to uncover its treasures (how cool is that?) And it clomps down the halls of "bonanza farm" bunkhouses and pioneer town boardwalks. North Dakota has made legends of many men and women. You know their names: Lewis, Clark, Sakakawea, Custer, Sitting Bull, Roosevelt. Now it's time for you to do what they did, and let North Dakota shape your legend.
Explore Southwest
Mandan Historical Society Museum
Take a walk in the Past Lane - Posters, artifacts, pottery and postcards on display from the history of our city.
Mandan, ND MuseumsNorth Dakota State Railroad Museum
The railroad museum represents the railroad industry for our region by displaying 11 pieces of rolling stock. Five acres filled with full-size railroad artifacts and equipment.
Mandan, ND MuseumsInitial Rock Interpretive Site
Site in the Badlands along Davis Creek showcases rocky outcropping with signatures carved by two of Custer'
Belfield, ND Historic SitesPfenning Wildlife Museum
The largest individual wildlife collection in North Dakota includes approximately 175
Beulah, ND MuseumsHuff Indian Village
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a National Historic Landmark, the site preserves a large prehistoric village occupied by the Mandan Indians around 1450
Huff, ND ArchaeologyTheodore Roosevelt National Park
Scenic splendor in the savagely beautiful North Dakota Badlands, named for the 26
Medora, ND National Parks