As a seasonal interpreter at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn, I get to share the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s stay among the Mandan and Hidatsa peoples during winter 1804-5. Most visitors, however, do not know that an expedition eight years prior also came up the Missouri River and wintered among the Mandans. That expedition was led by John Evans, who was exploring for Spain.

In 1795, Spanish officials heard about a British fort among the Mandans, technically in Spanish territory at the time, with an “English flag” flying, according to fur traders who were there, though they probably meant a British flag given the colonial context. Spain hoped to get rid of the British by sending Spanish subjects up the Missouri River to deport the intruders. Spain also dreamed of building a line of forts from the upper Missouri all the way to the West Coast as a barrier against British or American invasions from the north or east. The governor of Spanish Louisiana offered a reward of 3,000 pesos to whoever could first reach the West Coast via the Missouri River.

Answering the call were James Mackay and John Evans. Mackay and Evans, who were Scottish and Welsh, respectively, but had become naturalized Spanish subjects, departed from St. Louis with 30 other men around September 1795. After wintering among the Omaha people in today’s Nebraska and setting up a trading post named Fort Charles, Mackay sent Evans ahead to the Mandan villages. Evans was charged with deporting the British fur traders, and if he had enough supplies and men, proceeding all the way to the Pacific Ocean and back. Evans also hoped to find out whether the Mandans, as some said, were descendants of pre-Columbian Welsh settlers. (He determined they were not.)

Routes to the Mandan villages in North Dakota taken by the Mackay-Evans expedition and the British. Wikimedia Commons, with trails added by author

Evans set out on June 8, 1796. He reached the Mandan villages on September 23 of that year and found some temporarily unoccupied British trading posts. The Mandans and Hidatsas in the area warmly greeted Evans and accepted the Spanish flags and medals he gave them. He soon took down the British flag from one of the trading posts and hoisted a Spanish flag instead.

John Evans likely hoisted this design of the Spanish flag over the trading posts at the Mandan villages. A portrait of King Charles IV of Spain was likely on the front of the peace medals with the phrase “al merito” (“to merit”) on the back. Wikimedia Commons

When fur traders came back from the north in early October, relations between them and Evans were cordial at first. Tensions flared in March when British trader René Jusseaume, who would later become an interpreter for Lewis and Clark, tried to kill Evans twice before returning north. (Jusseaume thought he could maintain British trade with the Mandans by getting rid of the man trying to halt it.) The British fur trade among the Mandans stopped while Evans remained with the Mandans. With the British fur traders out (for now) but lacking enough men and supplies to proceed west, Evans returned to St. Louis in July 1797. Thus ended the only Spanish-sponsored expedition to the Mandan villages.

The 1990s are back in this edition of recent acquisitions. Settle in on your faux-leather beanbag chair, put your hair up in a scrunchie, and get ready to learn about some fly ’90s objects recently donated to the State Historical Society of North Dakota’s museum collection. Cue the Pearl Jam!

1. Virgil Hill Fan Club buttons, 1985-1995

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Virgil Hill, famous boxing champion, was recently named the 48th recipient of the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award. During his career, thousands of North Dakotans attended his home state fights in Bismarck, Minot, Grand Forks, and Fargo. Hill’s recent accolade inspired donor Rita Nodland to reach out to us with her memories of watching Hill in the ring.

Recalling the Virgil Hill Fan Club buttons she acquired between 1985 and 1995, Nodland notes, “We were avid fans of Virgil Hill during his boxing career. We were also members of the VH Fan Club. We started following Virgil with a fight in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. It was an outdoor ring along the beach. After that, we went to every fight we could, mostly in Bismarck, and sometimes with adult family members and friends. … I never had an interest in boxing prior to [Hill’s] fights, but there was a rush every time we went. His promoters did a very good job exciting the crowd.”

2. Lisa Frank unicorn pencil box, 1992-1993

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If you want a visual representation of elementary school in the 1990s, look no further than the colorful fantasy stylings of Lisa Frank. During the decade of grunge, her distinctive animals with big, wet eyes rendered in highly saturated colors seemed to be slapped on every available school supply surface and were beloved by middle school girls.

This unicorn-bedazzled Lisa Frank pencil supply box was used by donor Erica Houn, who also happens to be the agency’s business manager, when she was in first grade at Pioneer Elementary School in Bismarck. She pointed out to us that her name is written on it in two spots—once by her and once by her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Schubert. It’s well-loved, judging by the crayon marks and daubs of dried glue inside.

The delightfully crayon-scribbled inside of the pencil box.

3. Trolls pencil box, 1992-1993

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Erica Houn also donated another pencil box, which highlights beloved franchise Trolls. This one she used at home rather than school.

Troll dolls and all of their associated merchandise were first popular in the 1960s and have made several resurgences in the following decades, including the 1990s. Houn personalized this pencil box by assigning the name “JTT” (moniker of ’90s tween dreamboat Johnathan Taylor Thomas of “Home Improvement” and “The Lion King” fame) to the troll on the far left. This note is faintly visible near the bottom of the label.

4. Walkman and headphones, 1988

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The Sony Walkman is synonymous with the 1990s. We recently received this cool kid device from Susan Nissen, who bought hers in summer 1988 either at Best Buy in Moorhead, Minnesota, or Radio Shack in Fargo when she was a second-year medical student at the University of North Dakota. She used it through the bulk of the ’90s.

According to the donor, “I felt very ‘swank’ to have such a ‘vogue’ device. It would easily all fit into my backpack once I arrived to class. I mean, this was the first I could walk around outside and listen to music from cassette tapes! This was so beyond an old transistor radio or large boombox.”

Have something rad, excellent, bodacious, etc., (yes, I know, my knowledge of ’90s slang is really getting stretched thin here) that you’d like to donate to the State Historical Society museum collection? Give us a shout via our online donation questionnaire!