Riv. Bas. Sur. __ IT 
Pap. No. 27] STAR VILLAGE—METCALF 65 
Federal Government of over 150,000 acres of Indian land, and the 
filling of the reservoir will split the reservation into five residual 
segments (Anon., 1953). 
In 1804 Lewis and Clark found the three tribes occupying this 
reservation already greatly reduced in numbers by smallpox. At 
that time the Arikara, who were then just south of the present North 
Dakota boundary, were reported to be living in three villages with 
a total population of 2,600, of whom more than 600 were warriors. 
The Hidatsa, with about the same population, were in three villages 
at the mouth of the Knife River, and the Mandan, numbering about 
1,250 were in two villages a short distance below. By 1900 the popu- 
lation of the three tribes had been reduced to 1,095, made up of 395 
Arikara, 450 Hidatsa, and 250 Mandan. In 1905 they numbered 
1,100. Since that time they have increased steadily, and according 
to the Official Agency Census of 1950 they showed a total of 1,616, 
divided as follows: Arikara, 550; Hidatsa, 720; Mandan, 346. How- 
ever, intertribal and interracial marriage has progressed to a point 
where tribal membership counts are of little significance today. 
ABORIGINAL OCCUPANCY OF THE AREA 
When Verendrye reached the Mandan in 1788 they seem to have 
been living in the neighborhood of the present Bismarck, N. Dak. 
Sites which appear at present to be attributable to them are present 
for many miles along the Missouri River below that point, suggesting 
a slow migration upstream at an earlier period. Although the date 
at which the Mandan-Hidatsa occupancy of the region began is not 
known, it has been of sufficient duration to allow their myths and 
legends to become localized. For example, Dog Den Buttes, the 
mouth of a small stream known variously as Short Missouri and Mal- 
nouri Creek, and Red Butte are given as localities where legendary 
events took place or where supernaturals lived. In 1804 Lewis and 
Clark were shown a site near the present city of Mandan, N. Dak., 
and were informed by an Arikara chief that it had been occupied 
by the Mandan who had abandoned it 40 years before. These ex- 
plorers found the Mandan and Hidatsa in several villages at and 
below the mouth of Knife River, in the present Mercer and McLean 
Counties, the greater number of them living on the west side of the 
Missouri. In 1796 John Evans spent the winter at the Mandan vil- 
lages, a short distance below the mouth of the Knife River, and 
British traders seem to have reached them there at a somewhat earlier 
date. 
In 1829 a trading post, Fort Clark, was built by the American Fur 
Company near the Mandan village, and that tribe continued to in- 
habit the site until they were almost exterminated by the smallpox 
epidemic of 1837. The survivors scattered, some taking up residence 
