Free Summer Programming

Enjoy weekly summer events highlighting the area’s cultures, rivers, and history through Aug. 29 at the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center near Williston. Registration is not required for these free, family-friendly programs. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

From Atlatls to Arrows: Early Peoples Hunting Strategies  
Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Learn how the region’s earliest hunters crafted and used tools made from stone, wood, and sinew at this interactive drop-in session. Test your aim with ancient weapons including the atlatl (a spear-throwing tool) and the traditional bow and arrow.

Throwback Thursdays: Frontier & Indigenous Games at the Confluence
Thursdays, 2-3 p.m.
Discover the joy of historical play in this weekly drop-in program featuring a rotating lineup of games once played by Indigenous communities and frontier families. From hoop and dart and double ball to croquet, marbles, and classic parlor card games, this is hands-on fun for all ages.

Where Rivers Meet: A Walk Through History & Nature
Saturdays, 10-11 a.m.
Departing from the Interpretive Center, this 60-minute guided walk explores the post-glacial landscape of the confluence, highlighting native plants, wildlife, and river ecology while connecting these natural features to human stories, especially Indigenous use of the land, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the development of nearby Fort Buford.

This event is part of the ND250 commemoration celebrating our country’s 250th birthday.

The Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center and Fort Buford State Historic Site are managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Both sites are open daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m. through Sept. 30. For more information, contact Outreach Coordinator Nicholas Kusnierek, [email protected] or 701.572.9034. All times listed are Central time. Find information about upcoming programs of the State Historical Society at history.nd.gov/events.