Lewis and Clark, when they came up the Missouri River on their history-making expedition in 1804-5, sent outriders along this side of the river. Along much the same route the freighter trail was established in 1873 when the Northern Pacific brought to Bismarck goods destined for Forts Stevenson, Berthold, and Buford, and this soon became the main-traveled highway for soldiers, traders, and later for ranchers and settlers. Today ruts cut into the prairie by heavily laden wagons, plodding ox teams, and flying hoofs of couriers' horses are still visible in many places along the road. The route is one of the most attractive in the State as it follows the winding, wooded course of the Missouri where the high hills and buttes along the river's edge contrast with the green meadows and wooded lowlands of the river bottom. This region was once the home of three Missouri Valley Indian tribes--Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara--and the route passes three Mandan village sites. The route branches W. from US 83 (_see Tour 3_) 10 m. N. of Wilton on a county dirt road. At =2 m.= is the junction with a dirt road. Right on this road to WILDWOOD LAKE, =1 m.=, in an old channel of the Missouri. The permanent summer camp of the Missouri Valley Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, is on the eastern shore of the lake. At =13 m.= a large farmhouse and a decrepit log hut with a sod roof (L) mark the site of Painted Woods Post Office, one of the early Missouri River settlements. Between the old post office and the river are the PAINTED WOODS, so named by the Indians. According to legend, the woods were a neutral ground between hostile tribes until a Mandan girl fell in love with a Yanktonai Sioux warrior. She planned to leave her people and go with him, but her kinsmen slew him in her embrace; as she knelt by his bier, avenging Yanktonai arrows pierced her. The two tribes began a bitter warfare. The bodies of the lovers were placed in the branches of a tree in the woods, and the tree soon withered and became white and bleached, like the bones in its branches. Yanktonai warriors, coming to the woods to paint their faces and prepare for battle, boastfully portrayed their victories on the tree, and in retaliation the Mandans painted the surrounding trees with war paint to mock their enemy. At =19 m.= is the junction with a dirt road. Right on this road to HALF MOON MANDAN INDIAN VILLAGE SITE (also known as the Larson site), =1 m.=, unusual in that a ditch, still visible, apparently divided the site in two parts and yet offered no means of defense. A sunken area in the site may have been the village square, and the circular hollows of the earth lodges are still visible in some places despite cultivation of the vicinity.