Junction US 10—Cooperstown—Junction US 2. ND 1 & 7.Junction with US 10 to junction with US 2, 93 m.N. P. Ry. branch line roughly parallels route between US 10 and Binford.Graveled roadbed throughout.Usual tourist accommodations in principal towns.
Junction US 10—Cooperstown—Junction US 2. ND 1 & 7.
Junction with US 10 to junction with US 2, 93 m.
N. P. Ry. branch line roughly parallels route between US 10 and Binford.
Graveled roadbed throughout.
Usual tourist accommodations in principal towns.
This route proceeds north over the smooth plain of the fertile black-earth belt, through the hills of the upper Sheyenne River basin. First the Indians and later the metis or half-breeds hunted the large herds of buffalo that once roamed this lake-dotted region. Among the earliest white comers here were the Nicollet-Fremont exploratory expedition in the 1830's, the Stevens survey party in 1853, the Sibley expedition in 1863, and in the 1870's, the soldiers, scouts, and wagon trains following the Fort Totten-Fort Abercrombie trail.
Bonanza farms flourished in this region during the last two decades of the nineteenth century, but were subdivided eventually into smaller farms taken up by Scandinavian immigrants who began to come here in the 1880's. The first Norwegian community in North Dakota was established near this route, and the fine farms of the present-day Norse residents are visible from the highway.
ND 1 branches N. from its junction with US 10, 5 m. W. of Valley City (see Tour 8).
DAZEY,22.5 m.(1,428 alt., 251 pop.), was named for the father of Charles T. Dazey, author of the playIn Old Kentucky. The elder Dazey owned the town site.
Right from Dazey on ND 26, a graveled highway, to CAMP CORNING HISTORIC SITE,8 m., where Sibley's expedition spent the night of July 16, 1863. The camp was named for an officer on the Sibley staff.
WALUM,27.5 m.(1,429 alt., 60 pop.), was named in 1900 for a prosperous landowner of this vicinity.
HANNAFORD,31 m.(1,416 alt., 351 pop.), named for J. M. Hannaford, one-time vice president of the N. P. Ry., lies W. of Bald Hill Creek, tributary of the Sheyenne River.
At33 m.is the junction with a dirt road.
Right here2 m.to the junction with another dirt road; R. here to CAMP POPE,2.3 m., made by members of the Sibley expedition in August 1863 on their return to Minnesota after driving the Sioux W. of the Missouri River.
At36 m.the route crosses both the Sibley and the Fort Totten-Fort Abercrombie trails, although no traces of these routes are visible from the highway. The Sibley expedition, in pursuit of the Sioux believed to be responsible for the Minnesota Massacre (seeHistory), had learned that the Indians were encamped near Devils Lake (see Side Tour 6A), so the long column of 4,000 men, 1,350 mules, 800 horses, and 225 wagons set out in a northwesterly course toward the lake from Lisbon (see Side Tour 8A). Before they arrived, however, they learned that their quarry had gone to the Missouri, so they changed their course to the W. The Sibley route toward Devils Lake was followed by the heavy traffic between Fort Totten and Fort Abercrombie in the next decade.
At41.5 m.is the junction with ND 7, a graveled highway.
Right here is COOPERSTOWN,1 m.(1,425 alt., 1,053 pop.). It was founded in 1882 by T. J. and Rollin C. Cooper, brothers who, flush with the profits of successful mining ventures in Colorado, arrived in this vicinity in 1880, and became bonanza farmers. They were instrumental in building the Sanborn, Cooperstown & Turtle Mountain R. R. (later an N. P. Ry. branch) into the town in 1883, and as terminal of this road Cooperstown grew rapidly.
Although old-fashioned, rambling houses set in spacious lawns and numerous old buildings fronting the business streets create an unhurried atmosphere, Cooperstown has contributed several progressives to the national picture. Gerald P. Nye (1892-), U. S. Senator from North Dakota, chairman (1936) of the committee for investigation of the munitions industry, was a weekly newspaper editor here when he was appointed to a vacancy in the Senate in 1925. Former Congressman James H. Sinclair (1871-), member of the Agricultural Committee (1925-1935), and coauthor of the Norris-Sinclair farm relief bill, was superintendent of the Cooperstown schools (1896-1898), and register of deeds (1899-1905). Thomas R. Amlie (1897-), Wisconsin Congressman, and Edward D. Stair (1859-), publisher of the Detroit (Mich.)Free Press, are also former residents.
Stair established Cooperstown's first paper, theCourier, the year the town was founded, and even before coming here had a hand in its history. He was feature writer for the FargoArgusand was also working as a mail clerk on a railroad terminating in Hope at the time that Cooperstown, then only a small settlement, decided to contest Hope's right to the county seat. Stair learned that Hope was colonizing voters with an eye to the coming county seat election, and exposed the plan in a series of stories in theArgus. Hope residents were enraged, and warned him, if he wished to keep his skin unpunctured, to stay out of town, which was extremely difficult in view of the fact that his train made a lay-over of several hours there. His fellow mail clerk, a six-foot newspaper man, came to his support, and the two, with six-shooters dangling from their hips, sauntered about Hope unmolested but hungry, for the only hotel in town refused to sell food to the enemy. Cooperstown won the election, but Hope refused to concede victory, and it required two raids by Cooperstown residents to obtain the county records for the new county seat.
On the Griggs County Courthouse grounds stands theOpheim Log Cabin, the first permanent white home in the county. Built in 1879 by Omund Nels Opheim on his claim NE. of Cooperstown, it was moved to its present site to become a pioneer memorial, and contains the hand-made furniture used by its former occupants.
East from Cooperstown on ND 7 to the junction with a dirt road,3 m.; R. here to another junction,7 m.; R. on a prairie trail to a circular group of five conical MOUNDS,7.5 m.From excavations made in similar mounds along the lower Sheyenne River (see Side Tour 8A) archeologists believe that most of these tumuli were built for burial purposes.
ND 1 and 7 are identical between41.5 m.and49.5 m., where ND 1 proceeds R. to enter the rounded, lake-dotted hills of the DOVRE MORAINE, seventh ridge formed by debris deposited during the halts of the retreating glaciers. The Nicollet-Fremont and Stevens expeditions, the Sibley column, and both a gold seekers' caravan and an immigrant train guided by Capt. James Fisk crossed this moraine at various times, camping on some of the lakes.
At55 m.is the junction with a prairie trail. At this junction is (R) CAMP ATCHESON HISTORIC SITE, commemorating establishment of Sibley's base camp July 18, 1863.
Left on the prairie trail to LAKE SIBLEY,0.5 m., a small morainic lake on the northeastern shore of which is the actualSite of Camp Atcheson. The camp was named for Capt. Charles Atcheson of Sibley's staff. When General Sibley heard from friendly Chippewa Indians that the Sioux he was pursuing were fleeing from the Devils Lake region toward the Missouri River, he hastily ordered trenches dug and breastworks thrown up, and inside this fortification placed all his sick men, weak horses, the baggage train, the cattle, and the surplus of supply wagons. Leaving two companies of infantry to maintain the camp he started after the Sioux. The main column, traveling light, succeeded in driving them across the Missouri near Bismarck, and returned to the base camp a month later. On a hill overlooking the lake from the NE. a marble marker denotes the grave of a private who died here.
At 57m.is the junction with an unimproved dirt road.
Right here to LAKE JESSIE,2.3 m., where the bed of a once mirror-like body of water now blows with alkali dust. In the early 1900's 12 ft. of water covered the lake bed, but in 1933 motorcycle races were run here. A heavy growth of timber, which has survived the lake, and a fine spring at its west end made it a landmark for explorers of the region. Nicollet and Fremont camped here in 1839, and Fremont named the lake for his fiancee, Jessie Benton. In 1853 Gov. I. I. Stevens, guided by Pierre Bottineau (seeHistory), camped on the lake on his way to become Governor of Washington Territory. In 1862 Capt. James Fisk, guiding a party of gold seekers to the fields in Montana and Utah, camped on Lake Jessie, and again in 1863 stopped at the lake several days with an immigrant train he led through the State. The second Fisk expedition and the Sibley column, on Lake Sibley, were but a few miles apart, and the two camps exchanged visits.
BINFORD,57.5 m.(1,518 alt., 317 pop.), was named for Ray Binford, attorney for the D. B. S. Johnston Land Co., which purchased and platted the town site. The company bought the homestead of Gilbert Gilbertson, an early settler. The many names used by Gilbertson illustrate the common Norwegian practice of changing the surname on arrival in this country, sometimes using the name of the father with "son" affixed, and sometimes adopting the title of the home district as surname. To add to this, Americans thought these names too long or foreign to be practical, and changed them for the newcomers. Gilbertson filed on his homestead as Gilbert Gilbertson, but was equally well known in his community as Gabriel Gabrielson, Gilbert Gabrielson, and Gabriel Gilbertson.
Left (NW) from Binford on a graveled road is MOSE,6 m.(1,539 alt., 30 pop.). Here are theAnsonia Kennels, which raise white German shepherds. This is a remnant of an industry that reached its peak in Griggs County in 1924 when the Nation-wide fad for German police dogs was at its height. In that year as many as 400 farmers were breeding dogs in the county, and animals totaling a value of more than $100,000 were shipped to all parts of the United States, to South America, and to the Philippine Islands. The industry had its beginning in 1914 near Cooperstown when farmer Torkel Njaa imported a German shepherd for a watchdog. Njaa was so pleased with the animal that he imported two females. His success in raising and marketing dogs caught the fancy of other farmers, and led to the establishment of the industry.
At63.5 m.is the junction with a graveled spur.
Left here to RED WILLOW LAKE,2 m.On the southern shore is aTourist Park(cabins,boats,swimming,camping,fishing), part of a 1,300-acre State game refuge. A pavilion (seating capacity 1,500) serves for recreational purposes and is the scene of many conventions, including an annual Lutheran Bible Camp (June).
ND 1 crosses the wooded SHEYENNE RIVER at69.5 m.and at82.5 m.skirts the eastern end of STUMP LAKE, a body of water that once covered approximately 10,000 acres, but is now reduced to slightly more than 2,000. The Sioux called the lake Wamduska (serpent), and believed it was once a great forest which the Great Spirit, in anger, allowed to be swallowed by water. On clear days logs can be seen below the surface, and where the water has receded many large stumps protrude from the ground, giving the lake bed the appearance of a timbered area logged off by beavers. Geologists believe that Stump Lake was once connected with Devils Lake, 10 m. W., and had an outlet into the Sheyenne River. The wooded area along the eastern shore has been transformed into a recreational park, andBird Island, a 350-acre peninsula in the southwestern bay of the lake, has been set aside as a U. S. Biological Survey game reserve.
At87 m.is the junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road to the junction with an unimproved road at2 m.; R. here to WAMDUSKA HOTEL,2.5 m., a lonely 75-room building that is a silent reminder of the village of Wamduska, platted, peopled, and abandoned because of a railroad survey. The town was founded in the 1880's when it was believed that the G. N. Ry. would be constructed along Lake Wamduska, as it was then called, but the survey was made 10 m. to the N., and Wamduska died. Today the old hotel is used as a farm storehouse.
At93 m.is the junction with US 2 (see Tour 6) 1 m. E. of Lakota (see Tour 6).
Mandan—Cannonball—Fort Yates—South Dakota Line. ND 6, 21, & 24.Mandan to South Dakota Line, 85 m.Graveled roadbed except 15 m. unimproved dry-weather roadbed on ND 21.Accommodations at Fort Yates only.
Mandan—Cannonball—Fort Yates—South Dakota Line. ND 6, 21, & 24.
Mandan to South Dakota Line, 85 m.
Graveled roadbed except 15 m. unimproved dry-weather roadbed on ND 21.
Accommodations at Fort Yates only.
This route traverses the North Dakota section of the Standing Rock Indian Agency (for history of the agency seeIndians and Their Predecessors) where Sitting Bull, Rain-in-the-Face, and Chief Gall, Father Pierre De Smet, and Maj. James McLaughlin made early history in the Dakotas. When organized in 1868 the reservation contained four million acres. The treaty with the Sioux in 1887, however, provided for white settlement, and when the area was opened for homesteading in 1910 the reservation was reduced to 1,343,000 acres. Today all of Sioux County constitutes the North Dakota portion of the agency. Here 1,600 members of the upper and lower bands of the Yanktonai Sioux make their homes in an area of rugged brown hills, smooth grasslands, and rugged, distorted, gray-blue buttes. On the South Dakota side of the agency live 1,100 Hunkpapa and Blackfoot Sioux.
ND 6 branches S. from its junction with US 10 at MANDAN (see Tour 8), crosses the Heart River, and passes the U. S. NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS FIELD STATION (guides available at office). At4 m.is the U. S. NORTHERN GREAT PLAINS DAIRY STATION (R). Various crops, plants, trees, shrubs, methods of farming, breeds of cattle, and even buildings are tried, tested, and adapted to the dry farming of the Missouri Slope country at these two Government experimental stations.
As the highway gradually ascends from the river valley to the flowing prairies, high hills and buttes are outlined in a blue haze against the southwestern horizon. At9 m.(R) is the CESKY ZAKOPNIK (pronouncedChesky za kop' neek) or retreat of the Western Czechoslovakian Fraternal Organization, a social, benevolent, and protective society. The Cesky Zakopnik is a lodge hall and social center for the Czechs of Mandan and the vicinity. These people are thoroughly Americanized. Their dances (public), quite American in all other respects, have one unusual feature, the dancing of Sala Naninka De Zeli (Annie Went to the Cabbage Patch), a folk dance with intricate steps. It is usually performed once or twice during the evening, and the older people particularly enjoy it.
The sharp, high-pointed peak (L) of LITTLE HEART BUTTE (Sioux name, Ta canta wakpa cikala paha), an early-day landmark, is visible from a distance before the road passes it at11 m.The Bismarck Weather Bureau uses the peak several times daily for observations of visibility.
At15 m.is the junction with a graveled road.
Right here is ST. ANTHONY,0.5 m.(1,790 alt., 116 pop.), a small community settled in 1887 by Roman Catholic German-Hungarians from Ohio. In 1906 a parochial school was opened, and despite the small size of the community this institution is still in operation, with an enrollment of more than 120.
The highway enters range country with few fences or farms. At26 m.is a junction with ND 21 (see Side Tour 4B), which unites with ND 6 to33 m.Here, as the highway begins to descend into the valley of the Cannonball River, there is a far-reaching view of country severe and imposing. Steep grass-covered hills and mesas give way to sharp, abrupt, gray clay cones and buttes that rise in confusion from the plain. The work of erosion in the creation of these formations is visible in many sidehills, where the top layers of earth have worn away to expose the bedrock strata beneath.
At32 m.is the junction with a graveled roadbed.
Right here is BREIEN,1 m.(1,694 alt., 53 pop.). Between the highway and the town is a natural park with camping facilities.
The CANNONBALL RIVER is crossed at32.5 m.The river, its thin fringe of trees contrasting with the gray-brown of the valley, is so named because of the odd spheroidal formations found in its waters and in the steep banks of its valley. These concretions, believed to have been formed by the action of moisture within the Fox Hills sandstone, have been carried away in such large numbers by collectors that today only the small "cannonballs" are found along the stream. The Cannonball was the northern boundary of the Standing Rock Reservation before the area was opened to white settlement in 1910, and now is the northern limit of jurisdiction of the agency.
Left at33 m.on ND 21, an unimproved dry-weather roadbed; the route passes through rugged hills S. of the Cannonball, reaching SOLEN,40 m.(1,671 alt., 103 pop.), on the riverbank.
The route continues through country occasionally dotted with the small frame buildings of white farmers and the log huts of Indian families.
At49 m.is the junction with ND 24, a graveled highway; R. on this route.
Left from the junction with ND 24 on ND 21 to the junction with an unimproved road,1 m.; straight ahead (N)0.3 m.to the steep western slope of the HOLY HILL OF THE MANDANS (R). Almost every tribe of American Indians has a tradition of a great flood which covered all the earth. The Mandan legend tells that an ark came to rest on this hill near the Cannonball River, and after the waters subsided the First Man and First Woman stepped out on the hill. Mandan, Arikara, and Sioux all revere the place, and the older natives are reticent about approaching the hilltop.
While the hill is steep on its western slope, it rolls gently into the surrounding terrain to the E. Clustered at its top are four granite boulders. Carved into the face of the largest, a red stone, are many symbols: buffalo tracks, bear paws, thunderbird tracks, serpents, and turtles. The three smaller gray rocks also carry one or two symbols each. Through legend and story the existence of these writing rocks had been indicated for many years, but, because of Indian reticence regarding sacred objects, their exact location was not definitely established until early in 1937. For clearness and number of carvings they compare with the Grenora Writing Rock (see Side Tour 4A).
On ND 21 at4 m.is CANNONBALL (1,607 alt., 110 pop.), on the slope above the first bench of the MISSOURI RIVER. This is a good place to observe the Sioux in his native surroundings. During the winter months he lives in a tiny log hut, clay-chinked and sod-roofed, heated with a crude open hearth or a modern heating stove, depending on his affluence. In the summer he takes to the cooler tents or brush wikiups. Sioux beadwork and other articles of handicraft can be purchased in the stores at reasonable prices. Many of the Sioux here are well educated and will talk freely with strangers on current issues, but they are decidedly reserved concerning information and legends of their people. This is, of course, typical of the entire agency; the Indian will pretend ignorance of the identity or whereabouts of any Indian about whom a white man may inquire, unless the white man is known to him.
The first Sioux sun dance in North Dakota in more than 50 years was held near Cannonball in July 1937.
Nearly opposite the mouth of the Cannonball on the eastern bank of the Missouri, according to legend, once stood a Sioux village where in early days a holy man prophesied the coming of the white people. This holy man saw a vision which made him very sad, but try as he would, he could not banish it or changeit. Urged by his people to reveal what he saw, he told that a strange race of people was relentlessly moving westward toward them, and would eventually claim their lands. He said these people had pale, hideous, ghastly skins, and their men had hairy faces like wolves. They had powerful weapons also, and the red men would not be able to withstand them when they came.
Right from Cannonball13 m.on a graded dry-weather dirt road to an abandoned railroad bed, built when the N. P. Ry. planned a line to Pierre, S. Dak. Atop the old bed runs a trail through country teeming with upland game (during open season excellent pheasant, chicken, and grouse hunting). The trail turns R. at20 m.and reaches ND 24 at22 m.
South of Cannonball Corner the route proceeds on ND 24 to the junction with a graveled road at69 m.
Right on this road at0.5 m.are the SIOUX COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS where an annual Indian fair is held (1st wk. Sept.). Handiwork and produce are displayed, and bead, quill, and feather work can be purchased reasonably. A rodeo is usually a feature of the fair, with both white and Indian riders participating. Each evening there is dancing in costume, beginning with the true Indian dances and ending with thekahomni, or half-breed dances. There are also contests for the most skillful dancers.
At0.7 m.is the unkept GRAVE OF SITTING BULL, covered with a concrete slab. This great Sioux chief was killed by Indian police on the Grand River in South Dakota during the Messiah trouble in 1890. Sitting Bull had long championed his people against the invasions of the white men, and was one of the leaders in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. After the battle Sitting Bull, Chief Gall, and 300 followers, pursued by Gen. Nelson A. Miles, took refuge in Canada where they remained until 1881. Gall returned first, resigned himself to the ways of the white man, and lived out his life on the reservation. He is buried at Wakpala, S. Dak. A few months after Gall's surrender Sitting Bull appeared at Fort Buford (see Side Tour 6B) followed by the tattered and hungry remnants of his faithful band, and gave himself up to the authorities. Although he never completely capitulated to the desires of his conquerors, he returned to the reservation and lived quietly there, except for a year he spent in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In 1890, however, the Messiah craze arose. The Indians had been told a new Messiah was coming to restore their lands to them. They held ghost dances and planned for the repossession of their lands as soon as the Messiah appeared. To forestall the possibility of an uprising the Indian police were sent to arrest Sitting Bull, who was believed to be a leader of the movement. In the half-light of a December early morning they entered his home and took him into custody. His followers were aroused and a battle ensued. At the first move from Sitting Bull's men the police shot him, and he fell, mortally wounded. Several of the police were also slain.
The bodies of the dead were taken to Fort Yates for burial, the Indian police being buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery where today a monument marks their resting places. In contrast with the elaborate rites which attended the burial of the slain policemen, Sitting Bull's body was interred without ceremony inthe military cemetery. Fort Yates was abandoned in 1895 and all military graves removed. Only the burial place of the famous Sioux leader was left.
FORT YATES,1 m.(1,670 alt., 700 pop.), isIndian Agency Headquarters, and seat of Sioux County. A few soldiers were stationed at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 1873, but with the abandonment of Fort Rice in 1877 Fort Yates was established to protect the western frontier. It was named for Capt. George Yates of the Seventh Cavalry who was killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The superiority of railway transportation to that of the river boat led to the abandonment of Fort Yates in 1895 and the establishment of the new Fort Lincoln at Bismarck (see Tour 8).
It was at the Standing Rock Reservation that Rain-in-the-Face, a young Hunkpapa Sioux, was arrested by Tom Custer, brother of Gen. George A. Custer, for the alleged slaying of two white men. Rain-in-the-Face was imprisoned at Fort Abraham Lincoln but made his escape and joined the band of Sitting Bull, who lived without benefit of agency. He gained his revenge by participating in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The town today retains much of the appearance and spirit of its frontier days when it played an important part in the early Indian history of the State. On a flat plain overlooking the Missouri, its log huts and contrasting white frame buildings are scattered in a lazy fashion over a wide area, with the agency offices, schools, and the hospital as the core of the town.
Across the street from the agency office, overlooking the Missouri, is the famedStanding Rock(Sioux, Inyan Woslata), for which the agency was named. Originally sacred to the Arikara, it came into the possession of the Sioux. When the reservation was established the rock was on Proposal Hill, but it was later brought into town and mounted on a brick pedestal. It is of gray metamorphic composition entirely foreign to this area. If viewed from the correct angle, and with a discreet degree of imagination, the stone resembles the seated figure of a small, shawled woman. According to Dakota legend, a young Indian woman became jealous of her husband's second wife and refused to leave camp when the village moved. Thinking she would soon follow, the people of the village left her sitting before the fire with her child on her back. When she did not appear her husband sent his brothers-in-law to look for her. They returned to the deserted camp and found her and the child still seated before the fire—both transformed into stone. From that time the rock was carried with the tribe and occupied a position in the center of each village in which they lived. This rock is one of two revered by the Sioux. The other, Inyan Bosdata (erect rock), is on the Sheyenne River (see Side Tour 8A).
The population of Fort Yates is both white and Indian. The two great events of the year are the annual fair (see above), and the Fourth of July, when Indians from miles around come in to celebrate. On these occasions the fairgrounds present an unusual sight. Tall, graceful tipis rise above the squat, modern wall tents of the numerous camps that dot the level area around the race track, and back and forth is a bustling flow of dilapidated autos, sleek saddle ponies, running children, hobbling old warriors, andwomen dressed in bright colors. Except for their braided hair and their moccasins, the older men wear modern attire. The younger men, in keeping with the occasion, adopt western costume, high-heeled riding boots, blue denim trousers topped with wide, flashy belts, brightly colored shirts, and the ever present "ten gallon" hat. Cotton dresses and large bright shawls form the costume of the women, and moccasins are also worn by the older women. The highly colored Sioux costumes are seen only during the native dances.
Memorial Day and Armistice Day are also holidays. On Memorial Day graves are decorated with crepe paper flowers which have been made by the women during the winter. The Indians are intensely patriotic, and it would be hard to find a fair, tribal council, or any other meeting over which the flag of the United States does not fly.
A trail runs NW. of the town past the Roman Catholic church to aGolf Course, all nine holes laid out on the mesa-like top of Proposal Hill, where Standing Rock once stood. The hill in bygone days was a popular rendezvous for Indian sweethearts, hence its name.
Across the river from Fort Yates, in the heyday of the military post, there sprang up a little town called WINONA, a natural corollary of the restrictions of military life on an Indian reservation. By ferryboat in summer and over the ice by bobsled in winter went the soldier, trader, bullwhacker, Indian, and cowboy, to taste the "night life" offered in the gaming houses with their expansive bars and amiable hostesses. In Territorial days no less than nine saloons were operating, and an excellent race track was the scene of many financial exchanges.
Like other western towns, Winona attracted a wide variety of inhabitants. One of the most colorful was "Mustache Maude" Black. She came to the vicinity as a young school teacher, but, finding a more lucrative scope for her talents, entered the entertainment field. Tall, large, and angular, she was masculine in appearance, but wore women's clothing with the exception of her boots, which she had made to order, reputedly at $20 a pair. Because of her occupation the women of Winona ostracized her, but the men found her well educated, an astute business woman, a good poker player, and an excellent cook. By one of those quirks which make human beings as interesting as they are, Mustache Maude, the proprietor of many of Winona's most scarlet institutions, owned a good library and was an expert needlewoman. She married Ott Black, a rancher, and after the decline of her own business interests managed his ranch. She lived near Winona until her death.
There was another side of life in Winona, too. It was an enterprising business town, in the center of a growing ranching country. A Literary Society and Dramatic Club functioned for years. The Sunday school was organized by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Spicer, who in 1897, together with four other members of their family, were killed by five drunken Indians, three of whom were subsequently lynched for the crime at nearby Williamsport.
Winona was so close to Fort Yates that at the time of the death of Sitting Bull and the Indian policemen the wailing of the squaws was clearly heard across the river. After the abandonment of Fort Yates, Winona began to decline. Today nothing is left of it but a few cellars and a solitary group of trees.
The route proceeds S. on ND 24, continuing through agency land. At79 m.is the junction with ND 6; left here to South Dakota Line at85 m., 8 m. N. of McLaughlin, S. Dak. (see S. Dak. Tour 2).
Junction US 10—Center—Beulah—Halliday—Killdeer—Junction US 85. ND 25.Junction with US 10 to junction with US 85, 141.5 m.N. P. Ry. branch roughly parallels route between Stanton and Killdeer.Graveled roadbed except 4 m. graded dirt.Accommodations limited.
Junction US 10—Center—Beulah—Halliday—Killdeer—Junction US 85. ND 25.
Junction with US 10 to junction with US 85, 141.5 m.
N. P. Ry. branch roughly parallels route between Stanton and Killdeer.
Graveled roadbed except 4 m. graded dirt.
Accommodations limited.
This route winds over the upper Missouri Slope, through grain-farming and grazing country, where infrequent farmhouses hide in the valleys. When ranching was the chief industry here, not long ago, the rough country provided shelter not only for the herds but also for rustlers. In the region adjacent to the route are some of the largest lignite mines in the State. Along the Missouri are numerous ancient Indian village sites. The Killdeer Mountains at the northern end of the route present some of the most charming scenery in North Dakota.
ND 25 branches N. from US 10 (see Tour 8) 5 m. W. of Mandan.
At12.5 m.the highway crosses SQUARE BUTTE CREEK, named for the square-topped buttes to the E. (see Side Tour 3B). The stream parallels the route for several miles.
CENTER,30.5 m.(1,760 alt., 293 pop.), was named for its geographic position in Oliver County. Its buildings, almost all of them white, are huddled in the narrow valley of Square Butte Creek. In the Oliver County Courthouse park is aLog Cabin Museum(open) erected in 1937 under the Works Progress Administration to house Indian and pioneer relics. Nearby is theMiner Memorial, a granite marker of Gothic style, erected by former Gov. L. B. Hanna, in commemoration of 16-year-old Hazel Miner. In 1920 Hazel and a younger brother and sister were lost in a raging March blizzard while driving home from school. When they were found the next morning, the two younger children were still alive, for Hazel had used her body to shield them and to holddown the blankets which kept them from freezing. The story of her life and death has been made part of the official records of the county.
North of Center the route encounters rougher country and turns NW. to follow the MISSOURI RIVER for a few miles.
At40.5 m.is the junction with an unimproved county dirt road.
Right on this road to the junction with another unimproved road,1 m.; L. here to FORT CLARK STATE PARK,2 m., site of a trading post established by the American Fur Co. in 1829. The post was only a few feet S. of a village built by the Mandans about 1822, and later occupied by the Arikara. West of the depressions left by the earth lodges are the remains of a burial ground.
At46 m.is the junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road is STANTON,1.5 m.(1,722 alt., 358 pop.), on the first bench overlooking the Missouri, which it once served as a river port. The town was founded in 1883 and given the name of a pioneer mother of the vicinity. Partly within the Mercer County Courthouse yard is the site of anIndian Villagewhere excavations have revealed many artifacts.
Straight ahead from Stanton on a county road to the SITE OF SCATTERED VILLAGE,2.5 m., one of the three Hidatsa and two Mandan villages known to white traders and trappers as the Five Villages. Charbonneau, the French frontiersman, and his Shoshone wife, Sakakawea, were living here when Charbonneau was engaged by the exploring party of Lewis and Clark, in 1805, to accompany them on their hazardous journey to the Pacific coast. Sakakawea went with her husband, and proved herself invaluable to the success of the expedition (seeBismarck). Scattered Village lies on the southern bank of the KNIFE RIVER, which was named by various Indian tribes who procured flint for their knives from pits along the river. The area about the mouth of the Knife is rich in Indian history.
West of Stanton the route moves roughly parallel to the combined courses of the Knife River and Spring Creek.
HAZEN,58.5 m.(1,760 alt., 689 pop.), was named for A. D. Hazen, Third Assistant Postmaster General in 1884 when postal service was established here. AnOld Settlers Monument, at the E. end of Main St. in a triangular plot known as Washington Memorial Park, consists of a concrete pyramid with a buffalo skull embedded in the top. Business men of Hazen have provided aTourist Park(camping facilities) in a heavily wooded area along the Knife on the southern edge of the town.
At66 m.(L) is the large underground LIGNITE MINE of the Knife River Coal Mining Co. (Morning preferred for visiting; guides at mine office inBeulah,see below.) This mine is one of the largest in the State. The entrance is at the head of a little valley a few rods L. of the highway. It opens into a long tunnel, with a narrow-gage trolley line extending down its center. Six electric locomotives are employed to draw a fleet of 450 mine carsover almost 30 m. of track which carry coal out of the mine to the processing plant. The entry has passages branching from it, leading to the veins from which the coal is taken. As the coal is taken out, tunnels or rooms are created, extending for miles through the underground darkness, in some places as much as 140 ft. below the surface.
The coal is loosened by electric cutting machines and blasting powder, after which loading machines carry it upward to the mine cars; these are formed into trains to haul the lignite to the processing plant.
During an 8-hour shift 2,500 tons of coal are mined, enough to fill more than 60 40-ton cars. It is estimated that this particular field contains about 50,000,000 tons of lignite, enough to enable operations to continue for 50 years. Visitors to the mine are given electric lights fastened to stout fiber helmets, and get a novel ride on the underground train.
BEULAH,68.5 m.(1,797 alt., 913 pop.), named for the niece of an official of the town site land company, forms one main street along the Knife River just E. of its confluence with Spring Creek. TheProcessing Plantof the Knife River mine, and anElectric Plantof the North Dakota Power and Light Co. are in the eastern part of town. The electric plant uses lignite to generate the power with which it serves surrounding towns.
At69 m.is the junction with ND 49, a graveled highway. What is believed to be the SITE OF CHARLES LE RAYE'S CAMP (L), used by the French explorer in 1803, has been marked by the Mercer County Old Settlers' Association. Le Raye, who was held captive three years (1801-4) by a band of Brulé Sioux, is said to have been the first white traveler to mention the Knife River. During his captivity he was taken through much of the area between the Mississippi and the Rockies, and was one of the first white men to become familiar with that region.
At75 m.(L) is the large lignite strip mine of the Zap Colliery, one of the heaviest-producing mines in the State, with an annual production of 140,000 tons.
At76.5 m.is the junction with a county graded dirt road.
Left on this road, a winding country trail unsuited to trailer travel, to MEDICINE HILL,11.5 m., from which flowed spring waters attributed with healing powers by the Indians. Chert, a mineral rock closely allied to flint, is found in the Slope area, and near the hill is a quarry from which natives took material for arrow-points and knives.
GOLDEN VALLEY,83.5 m.(1,946 alt., 294 pop.), was named for the fertility of the surrounding region.
DODGE,91 m.(1,979 alt., 204 pop.), is in the valley of Spring Creek.
At97 m.is a junction with ND 8 which unites with ND 25 to99 m., where ND 25 branches L.
Right on ND 8 at the confluence of Alkaline and Spring Creek is HALLIDAY,0.5 m.(2,048 alt., 305 pop.), named for one of its first settlers.
At19 m.is FOUR BEARS BRIDGE (see Side Tour 3A)
DUNN CENTER,113 m.(2,191 alt., 276 pop.), is so named because it is near the geographic center of Dunn County.
At120 m.is the junction with ND 22, a graded dirt highway.
Right on this highway is KILLDEER,1 m.(2,233 alt., 495 pop.), named for the nearby KILLDEER MOUNTAINS, which rise clearly into view as ND 22 proceeds NW. from the town. The Killdeers are not mountains, but rather two lofty hills, extending NE. to SW. more than 10 m., and at their highest points rising 600 ft. above the surrounding prairie. The Sioux called them Tah-kah-o-kuty (the place where they kill the deer). The upper 300 to 400 ft. of the hills belong to the geologic stratum known as the White River formation. This is the youngest of the various layers of bedrock underlying North Dakota, having been deposited by the last of the prehistoric seas which inundated this area. It is also the rarest stratum in the State, since, being at the surface, it has eroded until it is now found in only a few places. The White River formation is particularly rich in fossil remains ranging from fish and turtles to huge prehistoric mammals, although no specimens have been taken from the Killdeer Mountains.
At4 m.to the junction with an unimproved county road; L. here to the junction with another dirt road,7 m.
Directly ahead2 m.on the dirt road to the junction with a prairie trail leading through a pasture gate. Right on this trail are the buildings ofDiamond C RANCH,4 m., the little white ranch house, the red cattle barns, and the gray weathered wooden poles of the corrals all situated along the timbered ravine formed byFalling Spring, near which took place the Battle of Killdeer Mountains. The spring drops from a sandstone formation in a hillside to the rear of the ranch house, providing a steady flow of cool, clear water as it did one July day in 1864 when 5,000 Sioux were encamped along it, hunting and preparing hides for clothing and food for the coming winter. Gen. Alfred H. Sully, sent out to punish the Sioux for the Minnesota Massacre of 1862, learned that they were in the mountains. Rapidly moving his force of 2,200 men he attacked the Indians on sight the morning of July 28. The Indians offered stubborn resistance despite the surprise of the attack and the confusion caused by the shelling of their camp, but were finally forced to make a hasty retreat over the mountain throughDead Man's Gulch, a steep-sided ravine leading through the mountains back of Falling Spring, into the Badlands along the Little Missouri River. In their retreat the Sioux were forced to leave almost all of their belongings, and when 5 companies of troops set about demolishing the camp it is said they worked 5 hours destroying tipis, travois poles, cooking utensils, robes, and foods. Dried and drying meat estimated at 200 tons was destroyed. The Sioux loss was reported as 27 dead on the field in addition to many carried off by their comrades. Sully's loss in the encounter was 5 killed and 10 wounded, 2 of whom were pickets slain the second night. Two white marble slabs enclosed in a steel wire fence, a short distance S. of the Diamond C ranch house, mark their graves.
On the county road N. of junction with ranch road to a junction with a dirt road,9 m.; L. here toOakdale,9.8 m., part way up the eastern slope of the southern mountain. Formerly a good-sized frontier town, it now has only a residence and a store and post office. It is a very pleasant spot, however, for its trees and many springs of clear, cold water flowing down from the mountain keep it several degrees cooler in summer than the dry, shadeless prairie. Oakdale is a good point from which to make hiking trips into the mountains, but the tourist accommodations are limited.
From the store is a two-hour hike over a precipitous trail up the mountain. Past oak, box elder, poplar, and scrub cedar trees, the path leads to the base of the limestone formation. Here the trail ascends the face of a steep cliff. In the upward climb it passes through a narrow cleft in the rock ironically calledElephant's Pass, and comes at last to the level mountaintop, where there is a magnificent view of the surrounding country taking in 40 or 50 m. in three directions. To the N. and NE. lies the rough country along the Missouri and Little Missouri Rivers, while E. and S. stretches the vast pattern of cultivated fields and virgin grasslands. The table-like top of the mountain is 3,140 ft. above sea level, highest elevation in the range. From here the trail skirts the southern rim of the cliff toMedicine Hole, from which, according to Indian tradition, the first buffalo emerged upon the earth. Today the hole is little more than an elongated three-foot-deep depression in the flat limestone surface of the mountain top. It has been closed by the lodging, on the first ledge, of a number of large rocks thrown into the aperture by curious visitors trying to sound the bottom. It had been explored to a depth of 80 ft. before it was closed, but the extreme cold encountered below that depth made further exploration difficult. In summer a cold draught of air formerly rose from the hole, and in winter a column of steam.
Just W. of Medicine Hole toSignal Rock, said to have been used as an Indian signal station. From the cliff top here the buildings of the Diamond C Ranch and the site of the Battle of Killdeer Mountains (see above) are visible to the S. Part way down the southern slope of the mountain, from E. to W. in the order named, rise the odd rock formations known as theThree Sisters, theColiseum, andSolomon's Temple. The Three Sisters are slender spires pointing upward from a common base; the Coliseum, which belies its name, is a tall pillar of sandstone shaped like an hourglass; and the Temple is a long, narrow, gray formation. Continuing W. along the rim of the cliff, the hike trail leads toEagle Rock, so named because of the eagle nests once numerous here, and after touching the timbered edge of Dead Man's Gulch, retraces its route to Oakdale.
Few large wild animals remain in the Killdeer Mountains, but in 1848-49 John Palliser, an English sportsman, and his party killed five grizzly bears here. Deer were once plentiful also. Pioneer cattlemen still tell of the Wolf Leader, a savage animal, half wolf and half collie, that led a pack of wolves in depredationsupon the herds of the region. Conspicuous because of the white ring around his neck, the Wolf Leader was the bane of ranchers for many years before he was trapped.
West of Killdeer the route proceeds along the valley of Spring Creek through the foothills of the Killdeer Mountains to the junction with US 85 at141.5 m.,24 m.S. of Watford City (see Tour 4).