The Corps of Discovery Expedition, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Second Lieutenant William Clark, began on May 14, 1804, and ended September 23, 1806. As the expedition traveled up the Missouri River through South Dakota, they encountered the Brulé Sioux, one of the seven bands of the Teton Lakota. The meeting took place at the confluence of the Missouri and Bad Rivers, near present day Fischers Lilly Park in Fort Pierre.
The meeting nearly ended in disaster when one of the Sioux chiefs took offense to the quantity of gifts offered. However, chief Black Buffalo intervened and over the next two days hosted the men of the expedition as guests.
Black Buffalo remained a powerful force in Brulé politics and for Missouri River trade until his death in July 1813.