Points of Interest:Minot State Teachers College, Roosevelt Park and Zoo.
Points of Interest:Minot State Teachers College, Roosevelt Park and Zoo.
At Valley St. and 4th Ave. SE. is the junction with US 52 (see Tour 7), which unites with US 2 at236.5 m.At 4th Ave. and 2nd St. SW. is the junction with US 83 (see Tour 3).
Just W. of Minot is the (L) HIGH STEEL TRESTLE (120 ft.) of the G. N. Ry., spanning Gassman Coulee. Early one morning in the 1880's a high wind blew down the wooden bridge which then stood here, and only the quick work of an engineer prevented an entire train from plunging into the deep coulee.
At236.5 m.is the junction with US 52 (see Tour 7). A large tourist camp is L. The highway here makes an abrupt ascent to the level Missouri Plateau.
All towns along the route W. of Minot are populated principally by Scandinavians.
DES LACS,245.5 m.(1,932 alt., 205 pop.), is named for Des Lacs River and Lake (see Tour 7). The little town received publicity in 1922 when it elected a complete ticket of women officials. One eastern newspaper wrote a glowing description of a campaign torchlight parade around the city hall and told of the enthusiasm which the men of the town felt over the winning ticket; but a writer for a women's magazine, sent out to look over the situation, was forced to report that there was no city hall, and that "the men were not so enthusiastic now, perhaps because they did not like to have their own backyards cleaned up."
LONETREE,249.5 m.(2,002 alt., 36 pop.), was named by the railroad company for the one tree that was there when the rails were laid. This little town figured prominently in the Burlington-Minot battle for the seat of "Imperial Ward" County in 1888, turning the election for Minot (seeMinot).
BERTHOLD,253.5 m.(2,089 alt., 511 pop.), is the center of a certified seed potato raising area. In the late 1880's it was the nearest railhead to Fort Berthold on the Indian reservation to the S., hence its name.
At262 m.the terrain becomes more rolling and from here to the Missouri River the route traverses the ALTAMONT MORAINE, a range of hills lying on the eastern portion of the Missouri Plateau, and marking the farthest advance of the western lobe of the last or Dakota Glacier.
TAGUS,265 m.(2,189 alt., 136 pop.), was named for a rancher named Taguson.
Left from Tagus on an unimproved dirt road to CARPENTER LAKE (swimming),6 m.
BLAISDELL (L),273 m.(2,264 alt., 100 pop.), was named for Alfred Blaisdell, a settler who later became secretary of state of North Dakota.
PALERMO (L),280.5 m.(2,201 alt., 205 pop.), is the namesake of a city in Sicily.
Right from Palermo in the rolling hills of the glacial moraine N. and E. of the town are several small lakes containing heavy deposits of sodium sulphate (see Side Tour 4A).
STANLEY,288 m.(2,253 alt., 936 pop.), is named for one of the first homesteaders in the area. TheMountrail County Courthouse(R), topped by a cupola, is at the northern end of town. Stanley is on a nearly level plateau, while both to the N. and to the S. the terrain is more rolling. There is a junction here with ND 8, a graveled highway (see Side Tour 3A). In 1906 the StanleySun, a usually conservative newspaper, joined other papers in the State in telling of the wonderful fertility of North Dakota soil: "... the most productive soil on earth, insomuch that if you stick a nail in the ground at night, it will grow into a crowbar before morning."
ROSS,296.5 m.(2,292 alt., 108 pop.), was named by the railway company. In 1902 a group of 20 Moslem families from Damascus, Syria, filed on homesteads SE. of Ross, and since 1909, when the Federal Government withdrew its objection to their naturalization, many of them have become citizens. They are Americanized in dress, although the women have a penchant for highly colored clothes. Many Old Country foods are still used; one Syrian dish especially well-liked consists of durum wheat boiled, sun-dried, ground, and screened, and stewed with meats and vegetables or sweet oils. The dried grain is ground in a large horse-powered machine resembling a coffee mill.
In 1929 this colony built a basement mosque, and each Friday a member of the congregation conducts services. Each person carefully washes his hands and feet before entering the temple; the sexes are segregated during prayer. During Ramadan—the ninth month according to the Mohammedan calendar, which is lunar—the people fast for 30 days, taking food only after dark; themonth ends with a feast. The wedding ceremony of the group is unusual, for the bride is not present. Before the wedding she selects two witnesses to act in her behalf, who state the amount of money to be exchanged between the bridegroom and her parents—the bridegroom gives the parents this amount and they return the same amount to him. During the wedding ceremony the bride retires to another room; the father places his hand in that of the bridegroom, a large kerchief is placed over the clasped hands, and a member of the congregation reads the service. It is a custom of these people to shake hands at any chance meeting, no matter how recently they have met.
At298.5 m.is the junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road is SANISH (Arikaran,real people),23 m.(1,820 alt., 463 pop.), lying in a valley between bluffs bordering the eastern bank of the Missouri River. Spanning the Missouri here is theVerendrye Bridge, completed in 1927, the third highway bridge built across the river in the State. The site was known to the Indians from the earliest times as the Old Crossing because it was used as a ford by the large buffalo herds in their annual migrations. Adjoining Sanish on the S. is VERENDRYE NATIONAL MONUMENT, in which isCrow Flies High Butte, named for an Hidatsa Indian chieftain. On this butte is a monument dedicated to the Verendryes, who are believed to have visited one of the agricultural Indian tribes here on their exploratory trip into present North Dakota in 1738. The site discovered near Menoken in 1936, however, may be more definitely established as the village they visited (see Tour 8).
MANITOU (Chippewa,the Great Spirit),302.5 m.(2,282 alt., 24 pop.), founded when the G. N. Ry. built through the territory in 1887, today consists of only a consolidated school, a store, and an elevator.
WHITE EARTH,310.5 m.(2,099 alt., 240 pop.), founded in 1891, probably was named for the fine, white, clayey sand which has washed down into the White Earth River valley. It overlies the Laramie formation, which is exposed in many places on the sides of the valley, 150 ft. deep here. While diversified farming predominates in the vicinity, traces of the old West are still found on a few small ranches along the White Earth River between the route and the Missouri River to the S.
TIOGA (Iroquois,beautiful valley),321.5 m.(2,241 alt., 435 pop.), was founded in 1902.
RAY,335 m.(2,271 alt., 621 pop.), named for Al G. Ray, chief special agent for the G. N. Ry. when the town was established in 1902, is scattered on level land along the railroad right-of-way. It was one of the first towns in the United States to adopt a commission form of city government (1910).
1. Right from Ray on a graveled county road to the WILLIAM SIMPSON FARM HOME,8 m., where there is an unusualCollection(open) of South African oddities, collected by Simpson, a Scotchman, who during several years there obtained animal skins, beads, heads, and horns from the natives.
2. Left from Ray on a dirt graded county highway to the junction with another road,10 m.; L. here to the firstWell and Derrickof the Big Viking Oil Company, on the Nesson Flats,17 m., a level bench just above the Missouri River opposite the mouth of TOBACCO GARDEN CREEK (see Tour 10). Interest in a prospective oil field here led to a 40-day $25,000 survey and the expenditure of $195,000 in test well drilling by the Standard Oil Company of California in 1937. More than 200,000 acres in oil leases were taken up in the vicinity, and the company plans (1938) to expend another $200,000 before completing the test drilling.
Opposite Nesson Flats near the mouth of Tobacco Garden Creek an attack upon a river steamer was made by a Sioux war party July 7, 1863. The Sioux, goaded to hostility by repeated violations of treaties and corrupt handling of annuity goods by governmental agencies, had met theRobert Campbellat Fort Pierre, S. Dak., to ask for the goods due them. When Samuel M. Latta, Indian agent in charge of distribution of the boat's cargo—a newcomer in the Indian service, arrogant and none too scrupulous—withheld one-third of the goods, the Indians vowed to follow the boat up the river to Fort Benton, its destination. For 600 miles they harassed the steamer, pouring shots into it at every vantage point, attacking the crew at each woodyard, and making life miserable for all on board.
At that time the river at the mouth of Tobacco Garden Creek was quite narrow, and the Indians chose this spot for a massed attack. Joseph LaBarge, captain of theRobert Campbell, realizing the hazards of steaming through this point, made his boat fast to the opposite bank to prepare for a parley. The Sioux sent word that they wanted no trouble, only the annuity goods due them. Latta, however, refused to give up the goods, and suggested sending a yawl ashore to negotiate with the Indians. The Sioux consented, provided Latta came ashore. He, in turn, agreed to go, but when the yawl was ready he became conveniently ill in his cabin.
The yawl went ashore and had hardly landed when the Indians, angered by Latta's perfidy, attacked the crew. Three were killed and another wounded before the crew of the steamer opened fire, killing 18 Indians and 20 horses. The slain white men were buried next day on a bluff opposite the mouth of the Little Muddy Creek, where the city of Williston now stands (see below).
WHEELOCK,342 m.(2,387 alt., 115 pop.), named for Ralph W. Wheelock, an editorial writer on the Minneapolis (Minn.)Tribunein the early 1900's, is the highest point of elevation on the G. N. Ry. in North Dakota.
Left from Wheelock on an improved dirt road to the junction with an unimproved dirt road,5 m.; L. here3 m.to HUNGRY GULCH, a pleasant ravine on Tobacco Garden Creek. From the base of one hill bubbles a spring of clear water, and level areas under clumps of trees invite picnic spreads on the banks of the creek. Along the stream is a deposit of "fool's gold", or pyrite,which in 1902 had gold prospectors agog in anticipation of wealth. The story is told that, in the rush to stake claims here, James Moorman, on whose land the "strike" was made, was the only person to benefit. He made a substantial profit selling the hungry prospectors his small stock of flour, in the form of pancakes, at exorbitant prices. When the supply was exhausted and appetites still were not satisfied, Moorman told them he would peel bark from the trees for them to eat. The ravine has since been known as Hungry Gulch.
South of the junction with unimproved road to SEVEN MILE HILL,7 m., a large, fairly level elevation over which passed the old trail used by fur traders, soldiers, and travelers between Bismarck and Williston. Blue Buttes, prominent peaks in the Badlands across the Missouri, are visible in the SE. on a clear day; N. and E. is an expanse of prairie; and to the S. and W. the Missouri, with its wooded banks and lowlands, winds to the horizon. Near the foot of the hill isCusac Springs Farm(R), where a skirmish apparently unrecorded in military annals—possibly between Indians and soldiers—took place near a spring. Rifle pits are still visible, and rifle shells and human bones have been found in them.
EPPING,348.5 m.(2,224 alt., 183 pop.), named for Epping, in England, lies on the southern slope of one of the many rolling hills of the prairie.
Left from Epping on a graveled county road, formerly US 2, to the EPPING-SPRINGBROOK DAM,5 m., largest earthfill dam in the State. Constructed as an FERA and WPA project, it was completed in 1936. This bulwark onStony Creekhas created a lake covering 180 acres, which, including a strip of land around the water, will be made into a State park devoted entirely to recreation. A six-inch pipe will make a flow of water available for a limited amount of irrigation below the dam.
At358 m.the tableland of the Missouri Plateau comes to an abrupt end, and the highway descends into the valley of LITTLE MUDDY CREEK. From the top of the hill leading into this valley there is a panorama of level land dotted with farmhouses, and in the distance to the L. are the Missouri River and Williston.
At359 m.is the junction with an unimproved private road.
Right on this road to the OASIS GARDENS,0.5 m., a private truck farm where irrigation has been successfully employed.
At361 m.is the junction with US 85 (see Tour 4), a graveled highway. US 2 and 85 are one route to375.5 m.
At367.5 m.is the junction with a graveled driveway.
Left on this driveway to the twin artificial lakes known as LAKE MINNEKOSH (Sioux,twin waters),0.3 m.These lakes, built under a Federal project, are formed by dammed springs (sand beaches,diving towers,bathing houses).
WILLISTON,370.5 m.(1,861 alt., 5,106 pop.), was named by James J. Hill, builder and first president of the G. N. Ry., for his friend S. Willis James of New York City, who was one of the stockholders in the company. TheJames Memorial Library, cor. 1st Ave. W. and 7th St., is a gift of the James family.
A large residential district and an active business section form the city, which is Williams County seat and the trade center for a large agricultural area in northwestern North Dakota and northeastern Montana. It lies on a gravelly terrace between the lowlands of the Missouri River and the hills and prairies. The river, which at one time flowed at the foot of Main St. and now has cut its channel nearly a mile to the S., has played a prominent part in the history of the locality. Up it came Lewis and Clark in 1805 on their historic expedition to the Pacific coast. In 1832 theYellowstone, first steamboat to navigate the upper Missouri, passed the site, and by 1860 several boats were plying the stream. For 20 years after the gold strike in Montana in 1863 and 1864 the river was the major channel of communication to the Northwest.
The first white settler in the vicinity was Robert Matthews, employed by the post traders at Fort Buford to cut hay for the cavalry horses. In the 1870's he established himself some distance below the present town, near where Stony Creek flows into the Little Muddy. Here he kept a stock of goods for sale, and often hired crews of woodcutters to supply the demand for fuel for the steamboats. A post office known as Little Muddy was established on his ranch.
Although Matthews was the first permanent settler in the immediate Williston area, the first white man to settle in Williams County outside a trading or military post was George Grinnell. Born in Maryland, he served as a spy for Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Army of the Potomac, was honorably discharged, and in 1865 accompanied a military wagon train from Fort Snelling, Minn., to Fort Berthold. The next year found him established as a "woodhawk", furnishing fuel to the steamboats, near the mouth of Dry Fork Creek, where he operated a sawmill until advised that he was on Government property. Part of each year he hunted along the Missouri, and for a time in 1875 was with a party of gold seekers in the Musselshell country of Montana.
It was common practice of the period for hunters, traders, or trappers to select a "woman of convenience" from among the Indians. In many instances these women were mistreated and even held in contempt by the very men who took them from their tribes. Grinnell was one of these men. In his earlier days along the Missouri he lived with a pure-blooded Indian woman, later discarding her for an educated and talented half-breed, Josephine Manuri. One bitter cold winter day Josephine's small son had wandered from the house and been lost. Several men were ready to search for the youngster but Grinnell, wishing to show his contempt for his wife, threatened to kill the first man to go afterhim. In the group was George Newton, buffalo hunter and pioneer Williston businessman, who replied, "Then you've got me to kill," and went out and brought the child back to his mother.
One day in 1888, coming from his saloon where he had been drinking heavily, Grinnell began to abuse his wife, who ran from him to a nearby field where several men were plowing. Too drunk to pursue her on foot, he mounted his horse and followed her to the field where, in an attempt to strike her with the butt of his pistol, he fell from his horse, carrying his wife down with him. The two struggled for several minutes, none of the bystanders daring to interfere for fear of his gun. Suddenly Grinnell relaxed and lay quiet. He was in the habit of wearing around his neck a long leather watch thong with a sliding knot, and in the struggle his wife had clung to this thong and strangled him. After ascertaining that Grinnell was dead one of the onlookers remarked, "Let's go get a drink," and they all retired to his saloon, leaving the body as it was. Later a coroner's jury at Williston absolved the woman of all blame in the death of her husband with the unique verdict that Grinnell "... came to his death through an act of Almighty God, by the hand of His agent, Josephine Grinnell."
With the coming of the railroad Williston was moved to higher ground farther W. It was only a tent colony and a few log cabins when the rails were laid into it in 1887, and it was said to have had a saloon on each corner of its one business block, with seven or eight others between. The late Joseph Stroud, pioneer Williston merchant, related that on the occasion of his first visit to the new town he was attracted by a large crowd of men on the street, engaged in rolling a man over a barrel. Inquiring of a bystander as to the cause of the man's accident, he was informed that the victim had taken a drink of water by mistake.
By 1900 a steady influx of homesteaders into the Williston area had begun, and by 1910 the most desirable lands in the surrounding territory had been settled. Williston's population of 5,000, which has fluctuated little in the last 20 years, was attained by 1915.
An important factor in the rapid growth of the city was the location here of the division headquarters of the G. N. Ry. The roundhouse, car repair shop, and huge ice house require the services of a large force of men. The railroad stockyards E. of the city accommodate 93 carloads of livestock, and have loading equipment for 23 cars; many trainloads, of western sheep and cattle are fed in transit annually. On several occasions a million bushels of grain have been handled at Williston in a year. The city is an important primary turkey market, and thousands of birds are shipped to holiday markets each year.
The Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union of America has entitled Williston theCooperative City of North Dakota. TheFarmers Union Cooperative Creamery, rated as the largest enterprise of its kind in the State, has its modern plant on W. Broadway. On W. 2nd St. (US 2 and 85) is theFarmers Union Oil Co. Plant, which maintains a wholesale department for oils, tires, and binder twine, and has a tractor and farm machinery repair division. On W. 1st St. is theFarmers National Warehouse Corp. Building, a concrete elevator with 217,000 bu. capacity, said to be the largest cooperatively owned primary grain warehouse in the United States. Newest of the cooperatives is thePoultry Planton W. 2nd St. at the outskirts of the city.
InRecreation Park, between 2nd and 3rd Aves. W. and 4th and 5th Sts. W., are playground facilities, a bandstand, and a number of cages of wild animals and birds; the larger animals are kept inWestlawn Park, in the northwestern part of the city.Harmon Field(baseball diamond,football gridiron,cinder track,swimming pool), at the northern end of Main St., was built under the Civil Works Administration. Two annual events in Williston are the Old Fiddlers Contest (Jan.), and the Upper Missouri Band Tournament (1st wk. in June).
Left from Williston on E. Broadway on a graveled Scenic Highway, following the route of the old overland trail between Bismarck and Fort Buford (see Side Tour 3B), to the junction with a graded dirt highway at2.5 m.; R. here across CRAZY MAN'S COULEE,3 m.One day in the early 1880's Robert Matthews (see above), the first settler in the region, was seated on the steps of his ranch house just W. of the ravine when he saw a man, dressed in skins and with hair falling to his shoulders, come out of the thickets in the coulee. Matthews knew that no one lived in the country for miles around, and was interested in learning his identity. When the man saw the ranch buildings, however, he started away, broke into a run, and disappeared into the brush along the creek running through the ravine. About a year later a man similarly dressed, perhaps the same person, came out of the brush and repeated the performance of the previous year. Matthews remarked to his wife, "That is surely Crazy Man's Coulee over there. That's the second wild man who has come out of it."
Left from Crazy Man's Coulee1.5 m.on an unimproved dirt road to MEDICINE LODGE SPRING (R), in the coulee farther to the E. An early homesteader bottled and sold the mineral water of the spring. However, the Indians had discovered its health-giving qualities many years before, and used to come long distances to camp here. One of their favorite camping places was MEDICINE LODGE HILL, visible about 1 m. N. of the spring, from whose height signal fires could be seen in all directions, and from which game or enemies could easily be sighted. Atop the hill are traces of Indian rings.
Southeast from Crazy Man's Coulee on the Scenic Highway to a junction at5.5 m.; L. to11.5 m.; R. to13.5 m.; L. to15.5 m.; R. to the Babcock Farm,19 m.Right here on an unimproved trail to the Harm Arends place on SPANISH POINT,22 m.
A short distance from the Arends farm is LAKE JESSIE (boating,fishing,swimming), an oxbow lake formed by the changing channel of the Missouri. The woods offer many natural camping places; the Upper Missouri District of the Great Plains Area, Boy Scouts of America, maintains a summer camp for boys here. Spanish Point was first known as the Spanish Woodyard, from the fact that two Mexicans in 1868 started selling fuel here to the steamers plying between St. Louis and the Montana gold fields. The Mexicans were joined by other woodcutters, and for a time the group prospered. A murder, two deaths at the hands of Indians, and other disasters, however, took their toll, and by 1870 the log cabin and stockade were deteriorating, and in a short time the river had washed away all traces of the woodyard.
West of Williston the MISSOURI RIVER (L) is bordered on the near side by timbered bottomlands, and on the far side by high, steep buttes.
At375.5 m.is the junction (L) with US 85 (see Tour 4), and at387.5 m.is the junction with a county graveled road (see Side Tour 6B). The route crosses the Montana Line at390.5 m., 132 m. E. of Glasgow, Mont. (see Mont. Tour 2).
Devils Lake (city)—Camp Grafton—Devils Lake—Fort Totten Indian Agency—Sully's Hill National Game Preserve—Devils Lake (city). ND 20, ND 57, and Indian Service roads.Devils Lake to Devils Lake, 33 m.Graveled roadbed.No accommodations along route.
Devils Lake (city)—Camp Grafton—Devils Lake—Fort Totten Indian Agency—Sully's Hill National Game Preserve—Devils Lake (city). ND 20, ND 57, and Indian Service roads.
Devils Lake to Devils Lake, 33 m.
Graveled roadbed.
No accommodations along route.
This circular route from the city of Devils Lake along the beautifully wooded southern shore of the lake passes the homes of the Sioux and Chippewa Indians near the Fort Totten Agency, and many points connected with Indian life and legend.
ND 20 branches S. from US 2 in DEVILS LAKE,0.0 m.(see Tour 6).
South of the city is level farming land, once the bed of a shallow glacial sea of which DEVILS LAKE,5 m., is a remnant. The name is the white man's misinterpretation of the Sioux name Minnewaukan,mystery, orspirit water. Approximately 30 m. by 10 m.,the lake is narrow and extremely irregular, with many little bays and peninsulas, and is surrounded by high morainic hills which, particularly along the southern shore, are heavily wooded. The clear water is strongly impregnated with sulphite, sodium carbonate, lime, magnesium, and iron—much like the water of oceans. It has been calculated that at the time of origin several thousand years ago the lake had a depth of 56 ft. A fall of 21 ft. is shown between that time and the Government land survey of 1883, and a further fall of more than 26 ft. in the half century since. At the time of the survey fish were plentiful in the lake, and each spring in the early 1880's the settlers caught them with pitchforks and took them away by the wagonload. In 1888, for some reason never clearly explained, the fish disappeared from the lake, and by 1909 the water level had fallen so far that commercial shipping on the lake was discontinued (see Tour 6). The sudden recession of the lake is attributed to the lack of ground and surface water in North Dakota, and has constituted a strong argument for the proposed Missouri River diversion project which would store water from the Missouri and divert it for use in the eastern part of this State and South Dakota, and in western Minnesota.
Many legends concerning Devils Lake have been handed down by the Indians. One tells of two Indian braves who were talking and smoking on the shore, when one of them idly thrust his knife into a large log lying on the water's edge. The log slid into the lake, and the men saw that it was a huge sea monster. Some say this serpent still lives in a hole in the bottom of the lake, and can be seen at times; that the water rises and boils when he comes out of his lair; that he leaves the lake at night to sleep on the shore.
Another story relates how a victorious party of Sioux warriors, who had attacked the Chippewa against the advice of Owanda the Seer, were swallowed up by the lake as they returned across its surface from the battle.
Phantom ships are the subject of a number of stories told by both white people and Indians. Under proper atmospheric conditions the waters of the lake throw off a vapor through which birds swimming on the surface can be seen from a distance highly magnified and resembling ships moving on the lake.
At5 m.is a junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road is LAKEWOOD PARK (cottages can be rented;due to low water level, lake unsuitable for bathing here(1938);band concerts,dancing,baseball,and boating),1 m., (1,460 alt., 200 pop.), on an attractive arm of the lake known as Creel's Bay. The settlement grew up about a Chautauqua movement which was inaugurated in 1892, continued for more than 35 years, and became the third largest in the country (1911). During Chautauqua season in the early days steamboats, including theMinnie H. (see Tour 6), made daily excursions to points of interest on the lake. The Chautauqua association had its own railway from the park to Devils Lake, and on some occasions special trains were run on all lines leading into the city. The point is still a popular summer resort.
At6 m., at the "Narrows" of the lake, which is now only about 400 ft. wide, is a junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road to CAMP GRAFTON,2.5 m., where field training of the North Dakota National Guard has been conducted annually since 1904. Named for Lt. Col. Gilbert C. Grafton, who died in the World War, the camp covers about 6 of the 180 sq. m. that once composed the Fort Totten military reserve. Two-week maneuvers are held in June, usually early in the month, with 21 units, totaling approximately 1,100 troops, participating. The high light of the training events is Governor's Day, the second Sunday of the period, when the camp is put on dress parade for inspection by the chief executive of the State, who is commander in chief of its armed forces.
At6.5 m.on ND 20 is a junction with ND 57, now the tour route.
Left on ND 20 to the junction with a graveled county road,10 m.; R. here is TOKIO,10.8 m.(1,501 alt., 112 pop.), near the center of the original Fort Totten Indian Reservation.
Right from Tokio1.5 m.on a county dirt road to the DEVIL'S HEART, highest point in the Devils Lake area. For the Sioux it was a traditional meeting place to discuss war, hunting, or other ventures, and their name for it, in translation, meanscenter of the region. Any promise made by an Indian on this hill is said to be sacred, and must be conscientiously fulfilled. Father J. B. Genin, one of the earliest missionaries to the Indians of this region, erected a cross on the crest of the hill March 4, 1868, and at the same time announced that Devils Lake was to be known as St. Michael's Lake, but the change was never popularly adopted, and lake and town still bear the ancient mystic Indian name. From the top of Devil's Heart there is an excellent panorama of the entire lake region.
South from Tokio on the county graveled road to a junction at11 m.; R. to12.3 m.; L. to WOOD LAKE (tourist and camping facilities;boating,fishing supplies),13.3 m., a small wooded body of water. Fishing is good during open season (May 15-Nov. 1 for perch,June 5-Nov. 1 for crappie). In June and July a boys' camp is operated here by the Devils Lake Boy Scouts. On the northwestern shore is theBenson County Park(picnicking and camping), a 40-acre tract improved under the Works Progress Administration in 1937.
Between its junction with ND 20 and Fort Totten, ND 57 winds along the lake shore at the foot of the high, tree-clad range, and is known as the Burtness Scenic Highway, in honor of O. B. Burtness of Grand Forks (1884-), who as a Congressman from North Dakota (1921-27) was influential in obtaining funds for construction of the road.
At11.3 m.on ND 57 is a junction with a trail.
Left on this trail to the SKI SLIDE,0.5 m., of the Lake Region Ski Club. Each year (Feb.) riders from all parts of the United States participate in the tournament held here.
At13.3 m.is a MONUMENT TO FATHER JEROME HUNT, who served St. Michael's Mission (see below) almost 40 years. With the help of a young Indian, Ignatius Court, whom he sent to the office of the Devils LakeNewsto learn the art of printing, he published a small newspaper, two prayer books, and Bible stories, all in the Siouan language.
FORT TOTTEN,14 m.(1,470 alt., 1,250 pop., including town and reservation), with its uniform white agency buildings primly facing a central square, was originally a military post established in 1867 as a step in the plan to place the Indians of the region on a reservation. The reservation, named for Gen. Gilbert Totten, then Chief, Engineer Corps, U. S. Army, was established through a treaty in 1867 with the Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Cut-Head Sioux. On July 17, 1867, Gen. A. H. Terry, commander of the Department of Dakota, arrived on the southern shore of Devils Lake with three companies of the Thirty-First U. S. Infantry, to establish the post. The original fort was of logs, and still stands half a mile S. of the brick buildings that replaced it in 1868. The bricks for the fort were made on the reservation, and, with the exception of present Fort Lincoln (see Tour 8), built much later, this is considered the best-built fort in the history of North Dakota.
Principally used as troops' winter quarters, the post sometimes had as many as five companies and at other times only one. Fort Totten troops acted as escorts for surveyors of the N. P. Ry. and for the International Boundary Line Commission, and participated in various campaigns in Dakota and Montana, returning to the fort for the winter.
Although the Indians of the region were usually quite peaceable, there was occasional trouble with them, particularly on the route to Fort Stevenson along the Missouri (see Tour 10). This trail constituted the main channel of transportation and communication for Fort Totten in its early days. An anonymous poem describes what is said to have been an actual occurrence (although the date given is not correct) in which Josh Murphy and Charlie Reynolds—General Custer's scout on the Black Hills expedition, who died with Custer at the Little Big Horn (seeHistory)—are carrying the mail into Fort Totten.
"It was in the spring of sixty-four,Just a little while ere the war was o'er,That 'twas mine the mail bags to transportFrom Stevenson Pass to Totten fort;Through the rugged passes the route to takeO'er the mountains that frown on Devils Lake;Those canyons alive with skulking crewsOf the Chippewas and the savage Sioux;But my heart felt light and my arm felt strongFor brave Josh Murphy rode along."
"It was in the spring of sixty-four,Just a little while ere the war was o'er,That 'twas mine the mail bags to transportFrom Stevenson Pass to Totten fort;Through the rugged passes the route to takeO'er the mountains that frown on Devils Lake;Those canyons alive with skulking crewsOf the Chippewas and the savage Sioux;But my heart felt light and my arm felt strongFor brave Josh Murphy rode along."
Josh is shot by Indians and begs his companion to prevent them from taking his scalp. Charlie lifts the dying man to his saddle and Josh's pony dashes into the night.
"We sought for Josh and we struck his trailIn the dew damp notes of the scattered mail;And we found him at last, scarce a pistol shotFrom the picket wall of the fort he sought.There he proudly lay with his unscalped headOn the throbless breast of his pony—dead!And the route from the pass to the cedared hillIs known as the 'Deadman's Journey' still."
"We sought for Josh and we struck his trailIn the dew damp notes of the scattered mail;And we found him at last, scarce a pistol shotFrom the picket wall of the fort he sought.There he proudly lay with his unscalped headOn the throbless breast of his pony—dead!And the route from the pass to the cedared hillIs known as the 'Deadman's Journey' still."
The garrison was withdrawn from Fort Totten in 1890, and the mission school, which had been conducted by the Grey Nuns of Montreal since 1874, was consolidated with the Indian Industrial School and housed with the agency offices in the fort buildings. Approximately 1,000 Sioux and a small number of Chippewa—many of both tribes are now of mixed blood—are under jurisdiction of the agency. At the school here the boys are taught dairying, gardening, carpentry, shoe repairing, steam and electrical engineering, baking, and tailoring; and the girls, sewing, laundering, cooking, and housekeeping.
At the auditorium (last wk. Feb.) is held the annual Midwinter Fair. Another annual fair is held (1st wk. Sept.) on the fairgrounds adjoining the agency on the NW. To both of these a few Indians bring handicraft work for sale; elsewhere such work is scarce, though beadwork and certain primitive musical instruments—flutes of red cedar, whistles of bone, large drums, tom-toms, rattles, and string bells—can be obtained at some of the homes.
The reservation, with its wooded hills and ravines, and its numerous lakes, is a beautiful region. Originally covering 360 sq. m., it has been reduced to 137,000 acres. The land is allotted in 60-acre tracts to a family, and some farming is done. The economic status of the Indians here is poor, however.
At Fort Totten is the junction (L) with a graveled Indian Service road, from this point the tour route.
Right from Fort Totten on ND 57 to the INDIAN RESETTLEMENT TRACT (R),0.5 m., where the Government has constructed 13 new homes for the Indians.
At2 m.on ND 57 are the DEVIL'S EARS, two long hills through which the highway runs. A man passing between these hills loses his mind, according to Indian legend, but regains it as soon as he comes out of the valley. The Indians are reluctant to discuss these hills with strangers; for while their pre-Christian philosophy included no devils, the hills were believed to have some connection with the Great Mystery or Great Spirit.
On the graveled Indian Service road is the 800-acre SULLY'S HILL NATIONAL GAME PRESERVE,15.5 m.(no admission charge;picnic shelters,playgrounds,pure water,camping facilities;vehicles not allowed within fenced area). Trees and shrubs cover the hills of the park almost to their peaks, and tiny lakes dot the valleys, making this a beautiful spot. The park and its highest point, Sully's Hill, are named for Gen. Alfred H. Sully, to commemorate his Indian expeditions into North Dakota. A high woven-wire fence encloses small herds of buffalo, elk, and deer, also wild fowl. Some of the animals are quite tame, and amuse visitors with their antics. More than 14,000 people visited the park in 1935.
The DEVIL'S TOOTH (L),17 m., a boulder about 6 ft. high and 5 ft. square at the base, resembles a tooth with its roots extending upward. This rock is greatly revered by the Indians, who tell that an Indian mother wandered over the hill one day carrying her child, and disappeared. Searchers, looking for her in vain, found this large stone, which had not been here before, and concluded it was the spirit of the woman and child. The stone has since had a reputation of connection with evil spirits. Gifts are often left here by Indians when a relative has died, but it is said that other Indians sometimes appropriate these offerings. It is an old custom for an Indian to give away part or even all of his possessions after the death of a loved one.
At19 m.L. on a graveled Indian Service road.
At21 m.(R) is small, attractive COURT LAKE (charge of 10c per day or 25c per wk. for use of bathing beach), named for Ignatius Court, the Indian who helped Father Hunt print a Siouan newspaper in the early days of St. Michael's Mission, and who served for many years as official interpreter at the Fort Totten Agency.
At21.8 m.is a junction with a graveled Indian Service road (L), now the route.
Right on this road is ST. MICHAEL,2 m.(1,470 alt., 180 pop.), at the foot of Mission Hill, which affords a good view of the surrounding country. Here isSt. Michael's Mission, established in 1874 by the Grey Nuns order of the Roman Catholic Church, through the efforts of Maj. William H. Forbes, first Indian agent on the reservation. At the mission lived and worked Father Jerome Hunt (see above). The old mission church is still standing.
Left from the St. Michael junction to ND 57 at22.5 m.; R. here to Devils Lake,33 m.
RABBIT'S EARS NEAR AMIDONPhoto by Russell Reid
RABBIT'S EARS NEAR AMIDONPhoto by Russell Reid
RABBIT'S EARS NEAR AMIDON
Photo by Russell Reid
GRAND CANYON OF THE LITTLE MISSOURIPhoto by Hugh W. Hempel
GRAND CANYON OF THE LITTLE MISSOURIPhoto by Hugh W. Hempel
GRAND CANYON OF THE LITTLE MISSOURI
Photo by Hugh W. Hempel
Junction US 2—Buford—Fort Buford State Park.Junction with US 2 to Fort Buford State Park, 9.5 m.Unmarked graveled road 8.5 m., unimproved road 1 m.No accommodations.
Junction US 2—Buford—Fort Buford State Park.
Junction with US 2 to Fort Buford State Park, 9.5 m.
Unmarked graveled road 8.5 m., unimproved road 1 m.
No accommodations.
The remains of Fort Buford, at the end of this route, evoke memories of the once feared Indian chieftains Sitting Bull, Gall, and Joseph, and of the notable military leaders Gen. Hugh E. Scott and Gen. William H. Hazen.
The route, an unmarked gravel road, branches S. from US 2 (see Tour 6) 17 m. W. of Williston. At8 m.is BUFORD (1,950 alt., 52 pop.), a little village named for the old fort. At8.5 m.is the junction with an unimproved road; L. here.
On the SITE OF FORT BUFORD,9 m., a stone powder house and the regimental headquarters buildings still stand; the military cemetery is to the S.
In 1828 John Jacob Astor's American Fur Co. built its principal post on the upper Missouri, Fort Union, 3 m. up the Missouri from the mouth of the Yellowstone, a few hundred yards E. of the present Montana Line. For almost 40 years Fort Union was the most important trading post in the Dakotas. Unfortunately, the traders at the post were more interested in getting furs cheaply than in preserving the morale of the Indians of the region. Whiskey, although prohibited, flowed freely. Quarrels between the Indians and the white men were frequent. Conditions were so bad in 1864 when Gen. Alfred Sully made a visit to the post following his campaign against the Sioux (see Tour 8 and Side Tour 8D), that he recommended Government control of the trading posts if peace were ever to be made with the Indians. Upon his recommendation, therefore, Fort Buford was established in June 1866 opposite the mouth of the Yellowstone. Fort Union was dismantled and its materials were brought here for use in building the new post.
Because of its strategic position, the new fort, named for Gen. John Buford, who distinguished himself at Gettysburg, commanded the water routes to the Northwest, and for more than 25 years was one of the country's vital Army posts. The fort was garrisoned partly by ex-Confederate soldiers, prisoners of war who had been paroled on oath that they would not again bear arms against the Union and on agreement to enlist for service in the outposts of the West. It played an active part in the settlement of the Indian troubles, and in establishing the Indians upon the reservations.
When Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce followers from Oregon finally surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana in 1877 after leading their pursuers a merry 2,000-mile chase through the Rockies for more than a year, he was brought to Fort Buford before being placed on a reservation in Washington. Sitting Bull and his band of Sioux, after their flight into Canada in a vain attempt to avoid confinement on the reservation, also came to Fort Buford in 1881, and it was before the regimental headquarters building, the southernmost of the group now standing, that the chief surrendered. Gall had preceded him by a few months, also coming to Fort Buford to give himself up.
Telegraphic connections with Fort Lincoln were established in 1873, and a wagon road, used until 1881, connected Fort Buford with the Custer post and with the railroad, which at that time ended in Bismarck. It followed the eastern side of the Missouri, and is still in use in some places (see Side Tour 3B). Except for goods sent by steamboat, all supplies and mail were freighted over this road.
Fort Buford was sold at public auction in 1895. The 20-room residence of the commanding officers was purchased by John Mercer, who maintained it as a museum until its destruction by fire in 1937.
South of the old buildings is FORT BUFORD STATE PARK,9.5 m., including the militaryCemetery of the Fort. The unkept graves, some marked with marble slabs, some with wooden markers on which the inscriptions have lost all legibility, are sunken and overgrown with grass.
About a quarter of a mile SE. of the buildings by the river, in the 1830's and 1840's, stood a trading post known first as Fort William and later as Fort Mortimer. When William Sublette and Robert Campbell built Fort William in 1833, they found themselves treated as intruders by the monopolistic American Fur Co. post at Fort Union. The policy of the American Fur Co., in its fight against competition, was to try every kind of tactics, fromrate wars to the instigation of killings by the Indians. On a typical occasion a band of Blackfeet Indians, coming to trade, was met by a procession from Fort Union headed by a band in full uniform, with the traders following, bearing articles of barter. That day the impressionable aborigines traded at Fort Union. Another time a Fort William expedition to the Crow Indians was robbed of everything including horses by marauders believed to have been sent by the neighboring post.
The power of liquor as an article of trade was unbelievably great. Charles Larpenteur, who was at Fort William, tells in his memoirs of going into an Indian camp in weather so cold that his mules froze to death in the shelter provided for them, and obtaining 180 buffalo robes for 5 gal. of alcohol, which sufficed to make everyone in the camp drunk twice. The use of liquor was a sore point between Fort Union and Fort William, for although it was illegal in Indian country Sublette had been able to get a supply into Fort William, while every similar effort at Fort Union had been defeated. Larpenteur describes the opening of trade at Fort William thus: "The liquor trade started at dark, and soon the singing and yelling commenced. The Indians were all locked up in the fort, for fear that some might go to Fort Union, which was about two and one-half miles distant. Imagine the noise. Five hundred Indians with their squaws, all drunk as they could be, locked up in that small space." (The stockade was 150 ft. by 130 ft.) "The debauch continued during that entire night and well into the next day ... Indians in stupor from drink lay in every direction."
Competition grew keen. Beaver skins, which ordinarily were worth $3, brought as much as $12. It was the policy of the American Fur Co., however, to buy out its competitors if it could not frighten them out. Accordingly, after a year of bitter rivalry, an agreement was reached whereby Sublette and Campbell sold Fort William to the Astor concern and moved W., leaving the profitable upper Missouri valley trade to Fort Union.
In 1842 a new post, called Fort Mortimer, was built by Fox, Livingston & Co. a short distance back from the bank at the Fort William site. The new traders did not long survive the competition of Fort Union, and in 1846 found it expedient to sell out to the American Fur Co. Some 12 years later an adobe trading post was erected here, but little is known of it other than that it was abandoned in 1858 and was finally torn down in 1866, its materials being used in the building of Fort Buford.