By 1882 the western leg of the Northern Pacific was finished with the completion of a railroad bridge across the river, and Mandan became a center of shipping and trade for the surrounding farms and ranches. Skiing, snowmobiling and snowboarding are all popular recreational pursuits, thanks to the area's vigorously snowy winters.
At 601 Sixth Ave. S.E. stands a 25-foot-high sculpture of a Native American carved from a cottonwood tree; the figure is a composite of North Dakota tribes.