Mato-tope (also known as Ma-to-toh-pe or Four Bears , from mato "bear" and tope "four") (c. 1784 - July 30, 1837) was the second chief of the Mandan tribe to be known as "Four Bears," a name he earned after charging the Assiniboine tribe during battle with the strength of four bears. Four Bears lived in the first half of the 19th century on the upper Missouri River in what is now North Dakota . Four Bears was a favorite subject of artists, painted by George Catlin and Karl Bodmer .
29-536: Four Bears grew up in an earth lodge in the Mandan village On-a-Slant Village . His father, Good Boy (or Handsome Child), was the village chief. Later the family lived in Mitutanka further north, founded about 1822, possibly by Good Boy. Around 1830 the trading post Fort Clark was built less than 600 ft. (150 m) south of Mitutanka. At that time, Four Bears was a brave warrior among his people, famous for killing
58-752: A Cheyenne chief in hand-to-hand combat. Besides the Cheyenne, Four Bears fought the Sioux , the Arikara , and the Assiniboine and once he killed two Ojibway women. The daring revenge upon the actual killer of his younger brother was still a topic among the Mandans in the early 1930s. Four Bears had learned the identity of the Arikara warrior, Bear Necklace, through fast and "self-torture" under an oak tree with
87-501: A brother, for deliberately bringing the disease to his people. He lamented that in death his scarred face would be so ugly even the wolves would turn away from him. His exhortation to wage war on the whites was found with the journal of Chardon. If the speech accurately "... represents his [Four Bears'] words is hard to say. Chardon ... could not have been present to hear it ...". Many believed that he died of smallpox, but George Catlin claimed that he starved himself to death out of grief from
116-436: A frame of cottonwood logs and covered with layers of willow branches, grass, and earth. These thick walls insulated the lodge effectively in both summer and winter. The top center of the earth lodge contained a hole to let out smoke from the fire pit and to let in sunlight. The earth lodges were placed close together with all entrances facing towards the village plaza in the center. Each lodge housed about ten to fifteen members of
145-417: A military post named Fort McKeen was built by two companies of the 6th US Infantry under Lt. Col. Daniel Huston, Jr. (1824-1884) opposite Bismarck, Dakota Territory . The three-company infantry post's name was changed to Fort Abraham Lincoln on November 19, 1872, and expanded to the south to include a cavalry post accommodating six companies. Among the 78 permanent wooden structures at Fort Lincoln were
174-410: A post office, telegraph office, barracks for nine companies, seven officer's quarters, six cavalry stables, a guardhouse, granary, quartermaster storehouse, bakery, hospital, laundress quarters, and log scouts' quarters. Water was supplied to the fort by being hauled from Missouri River in wagons, while wood was supplied by contract. By 1873, the 7th Cavalry moved into the fort to ensure the expansion of
203-497: A pretty little boy", The Male Bear. This could be an early name for a boy born in 1829, later in life known as Bad Gun, or it may be a brother of his. Bad Gun (or Rushing After The Eagle) lived on after the 1837 scourge. Eventually he became a chief in the common Mandan, Hidatsa , and Arikara settlement Like a Fishhook Village , largely because of his outstanding father. Four Bears became friends with artist Karl Bodmer in 1833. He spent time teaching Maximilian his own language and
232-748: A raven nest. Catlin secured a robe recounting Four Bears' deeds in 1832, now preserved in the United States National Museum. Another robe of Four Bears collected by Catlin is on display at the Upper Musselshell Museum in Harlowton, Montana. The next to bring home a robe of Four Bears showing warrior exploits was Prince Maximilian zu Wied . This robe is in Linden Museum , Stuttgart, Germany. While other leading men were sturdy and tall, Maximilian described
261-471: A village at the confluence of the Missouri and Heart Rivers in about 1575. They built earth lodges and thrived in their community by hunting bison and growing a number of crops. Two hundred years later, an outbreak of smallpox significantly decreased the Mandan population and the survivors resettled to the north. In June 1872, at the same location where the Mandan tribe had established their village,
290-682: Is also available along with locally produced soaps made from buffalo tallow and natural local herbs, such as cedar, rose, sage, and sweet grass . Five Nations Arts is established in the former Northern Pacific Railway station, on Main Street in Mandan . "Five Nations" refers to the five federally recognized tribes in North Dakota: the Anishinaabe (a.k.a. Chippewa and Métis of Turtle Mountain) Mandan , Hidatsa , and Arikara Nation (a.k.a.
319-499: Is named after the chief, though spelled differently as Mahtotopa Mountain . Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is a North Dakota state park located 7 miles (11 km) south of Mandan, North Dakota , United States. The park is home to the replica Mandan On-A-Slant Indian Village and reconstructed military buildings including the Custer House. The Mandan Indian tribe established
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#1732782432511348-783: Is part of the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation , which is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to maintaining and promoting the heritage and historic perspectives of Fort Lincoln and other historic sites in North Dakota. Five Nations Arts is a local art store specializing in regional Native American art, showcasing the five Indian nations of the Northern Plains. They offer paintings, jewelry, sculptures, dream catchers and beadwork created by 200 local artists. Painted buffalo skins and local sewn quilts are offered. Music from national and local musicians
377-486: The Civilian Conservation Corps built a visitor center , shelters, and roads. They also reconstructed military blockhouses and placed cornerstones to mark where fort buildings once stood, as well as replicating Mandan earthen lodges. Additional reproductions have since been built on the site, creating a replica Mandan village, called "On-a-Slant Village." A reproduction of Custer's house was built in
406-782: The Northern Pacific Railway . The first post commander of the expanded fort was Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer , who held the position until his death in 1876. In 1876, the Army departed from here as part of the Great Sioux War of 1876 , resulting in Custer's defeat at the Little Bighorn , where they were to push the non-treaty Indians back to their particular reservations. Custer along with about half of his troops did not return to Fort Lincoln. The Fort
435-628: The Pick-Sloan Legislation . From 1994 to 1998 he served as the tribal program's manager for the Three Affiliated Tribes. He retired as Superintendent of Mandaree School, Mandaree, North Dakota , in 2000. Lone Fight is a fluent speaker of the Hidatsa language and a traditionalist. He graduated from Dickinson State University with a major in biology; one of the earliest Native Americans to do so. He also holds
464-582: The Battle of the Little Bighorn in the summer of 1876. Approximately 500 troops were also stationed there. Custer's first home at the fort was built in the summer of 1873, but it burned down in February 1874. Today, the house and seven other major fort buildings, including a barracks , the fort's makeshift theater, a stable building, and several blockhouses, have been rebuilt. Five Nations Art Gallery
493-441: The Custer House every half-hour. The tour is roughly thirty minutes long and takes you back to the year 1875 when Custer and his wife were living at Fort Abraham Lincoln. The guides are dressed either as laundresses or soldiers from 1875. Interpretive tours of On-A-Slant Village and the earth lodges, in which the guides give a basic introduction to Mandan culture, are offered every half-hour and are about thirty minutes long. Along with
522-631: The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation ( Three Affiliated Tribes ) from 1986 to 1990. In 1988 Lone Fight met with President Ronald Reagan , a meeting which was the catalyst for the Just Compensation Bill, introduced based on the findings of the Joint Tribal Advisory Committee, which provided the tribes partial compensation for the flooding of reservation due to the construction of the Garrison Dam under
551-771: The Three Affiliated Tribes), and the Lakota (Spirit Lake, Standing Rock and Lake Traverse Indian Reservations), or the five reservations in North Dakota: Fort Berthold Indian Reservation (Three Affiliated Tribes), Spirit Lake Indian Reservation (Lakota), Standing Rock Indian Reservation (Lakota), Lake Traverse Indian Reservation (Lakota), and Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation (Anishinaabe and Métis). Fort Lincoln Park offers living history tours of
580-560: The ceremonial lodge, with its doorway out to the plaza. Four Bears was often painted by artist George Catlin; Catlin held Four Bears in very high regard, saying that he was a man of liberty, generosity and elegance. Catlin stated that he was one of the most extraordinary Indians he had ever known. Four Bears' wife was Brown Woman. The couple had an unclear number of children. A daughter is known as Earth Woman. When Maximilian, accompanied by Karl Bodmer, arrived at Fort Clark on November 13, 1833, Four Bears greeted them together "with his wife and
609-546: The death of his family. Smallpox wiped out more than 80 percent of the Mandan population in only a few months, and they were not the only tribe to suffer from the disease. A descendant is Edward Lone Fight Chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (Three Affiliated Tribes) from 1986 to 1990 Along with a Hidatsa chief of the same name, Four Bears is honored with Four Bears Bridge and Four Bears' Casino and Lodge. A mountain in Glacier National Park
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#1732782432511638-479: The ever-successful warrior Four Bears as a bit slim and only of average height. Four Bears' good fortune on the warpath came in part from a sacred bundle containing a rainbow-decorated robe. Four Bears had an important "People Above bundle", one of five among the Mandans. Twice he sponsored the most fundamental ceremony of his tribe, the Okipa. Belonging to the elite of Mitutanka, he lived in an earth lodge across from
667-590: The immediate and extended family. The Mandan tribe lived on farming and hunting. The village became a center of trading because the Mandan were known for their ability to make pottery and prepare animal skins. In 1781, a smallpox epidemic ravaged the Mandan tribe, killing off a majority of the villagers. The remaining tribe members moved north to join the Hidatsa tribe along the Knife River. Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his wife, Libbie , lived at Fort Abraham Lincoln from 1873 until Custer died at
696-617: The manager of Fort Clark, Francis A. Chardon. Before his own death, he lost his wife and maybe some children to the disease. (However, during his study of the Hidatsa in the 1930s, Alfred W. Bowers learned that the Hidatsa Guts married the widow of Four Bears and looked after his son.) As recorded in Four Bears' last speech to the Arikara and Hidatsa (two neighboring tribes) he denounced the white man, whom he had previously treated as
725-565: The park in 1989, in time for the state of North Dakota 's centennial celebration. On-A-Slant Mandan Village (Mandan: Miti-ba-wa-esh) was established in the late 16th century and was inhabited until c. 1781. During those years the Mandan tribe had between seven and nine villages (all located along the Missouri River ), with an estimated total population of 10,000 to 15,000. On-a-Slant was the furthest south of all these villages and consisted of approximately 86 earth lodges. Its population
754-611: The tours, there is a historical museum comprising On-A-Slant Village, Fort Abraham Lincoln, and Fort Lincoln State Park culture and history. A gift shop and coffee shop have been built in the re-constructed commissary storehouse. During the summers, melodramas, including ones originally performed at Fort Lincoln in the 1870s, are performed by the guides in the re-built granary. The park has 95 campsites, two sleeping cabins, and picnic shelters. Horseback tours, hiking, fishing, and playgrounds are also available. Edward Lone Fight Edward Lone Fight (born May 28, 1939) served as Chairman of
783-523: The very different Arikara tongue, which he spoke fluently. He became chief in the year 1836. The 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic wiped out most of Four Bears' tribe, leaving 27 (or by some accounts 100 to 150) survivors out of a former population of around 2,000. He died on July 30, 1837, after suffering from smallpox, brought to his tribe by whites. "One of our best friend of the Village (The Four Bears) died to day, regretted by all who Knew him", wrote
812-401: Was abandoned in 1891 after the completion of the railroad to Montana in 1883. A year after the fort was abandoned, local residents disassembled the fort for its nails and wood. In 1895, a new Fort Lincoln was built across the river near Bismarck. In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the deed to the original fort's land over to the state as Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. In 1934,
841-463: Was about 1,000–1,500. It was located near the point where the Missouri and Heart Rivers come together and was named so by the Mandan because the village was built on ground that slopes towards the river valley. It was fortified with a ditch and palisade , to protect its wealth of food and trade goods. The women of the Mandan tribe were responsible for building the earth lodges, which were held up by
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