Mandan Indians
Mandan Indians a tribe of the Siouan language group. The Mandan were one of the earliest Plains tribes, coming to the region from the southeast in the 13th century. They lived along the Missouri River (near what is now Bismarck, North Dakota), where they fished, hunted, and raised crops. The first known contact between the Mandan and Europeans was made by the Sieur de La Vérendrye in 1738. At the time, the tribe numbered about 3,500. The Mandan later became involved in the fur trade with Europeans who were passing along the Missouri River. George Catlin and Charles Bodmer drew many sketches of Mandan life in the early 1830's.
A smallpox epidemic almost wiped out the tribe in 1837. Surviving members later settled on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, western North Dakota, with the Arikara and Hidatsa Indians. At present, approximately 5,900 people, many of mixed tribal ancestry, live on the reservation.