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TOURS
M A N I T
DAKOTA
AMERICAN G^'ID-E SERIES
NORTH DAKOTA
A GUIDE TO THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE STATE
Written by Workers of the Federal Writers 3 Project of the
Works Progress Administration for the State of North Dakota
SPONSOEED BY THE STATE HISTOHICAL SOCIETY or NORTH DAKOTA
Illustrated
KNIGHT PBINTING COMPANY
FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA
1938
. WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator
Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator
Henry G. Alsberg, Director, Federal Writers' Project
FOREWORD
As Governor of the State of North Dakota, I am
happy to write the foreword to the first comprehen-
sive guidebook that has ever been written for this
State. Compiled by North Dakota writers, the pub-
lication of this book has been made possible by means
of Federal and State funds. The importance of this
book lies, not only in calling the attention of tourists
and other outsiders to the picturesque scenery and
the places of historical significance in North Dakota;
but in awakening the consciousness of North Dakota
people to the historical, sociological, and cultural heri-
tage which is theirs.
(Signed) WILLIAM: LAKGER,
Governor of North Dakota.
PREFACE
North Dakota: a Guide to the Northern Prairie State is some-
thing new in this part of the country. For the first time North
Dakotans and their guests have a concise but comprehensive survey
of the State, which tells them what should be seen, and why, and
how. Our aim has been a book not only to be used in touring the
State, but to be enjoyed by fireside travellers and all who would
deepen their understanding of North Dakota.
As one of the volumes in the American Guide Series, written
by the members of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works
Progress Administration, the North Dakota guide has more than
State significance, wide as this is. The National project was de-
signed primarily to give useful employment to needy writers and
research workers; it has developed into a more ambitious under-
taking. The American Guide Series, covering the forty-eight States,
Puerto Rico, Alaska, and numerous cities and towns, is unrolling
a unique and inspiring panorama of these United States with their
lively background and their vibrant present. The North Dakota
guide adds its contribution to the whole, giving the reader a pic-
ture of the State, its land and resources, its history, people, the
cities and towns they have built, and the principal points of interest.
New chapters in North Dakota's story and other phases of its
life and works are still to be told. This volume a pioneer enter-
prise in a State where the records of the past and the varied life
of today had not heretofore been assembled may well serve as
an incentive and a foundation for further books.
Not ten or fifty or a hundred, but actually hundreds of North
Dakotans helped in the making of the guide, from the many who
contributed information about their own communities or fields of
work down to the handful of editors and writers who brought that
information within the covers of this book. In expressing the
Project's appreciation of this friendly and cooperative help, so
generously given, I wish particularly to thank Mr. Russell Reid,
superintendent of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and
his staff, especially Mrs. Florence H. Davis and Mr. Arnold Goplen;
Mr. George Will and Mr. Robert A. Ritterbush, of Bismarck; Dr.
Irvin Lavine, of the University of North Dakota; Mr. E. A. Milli-
gan, of Michigan City; Mr. J. A. Patterson, of Minot; Dr. E. C.
Stucke, of Garrison; and Mr. Henry Williams, of Appaxn.
ETHEL SCHLASINGER
State Director
CONTENTS
FOREWORD v
By William Langer, Governor of North Dakota
PREFACE vii
By Ethel Schlasinger, State Director, Federal Writers' Project
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS xiii
GENERAL INFORMATION xv
ANNUAL EVENTS xix
I. SURVEY OF THE STATE
CONTEMPORARY NORTH DAKOTA 3
NORTH DAKOTA: ITS NATURAL SETTING 5
INDIANS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS 16
HISTORY 35
AGRICULTURE AND FARM LIFE 59
INDUSTRY AND LABOR 72
RACIAL GROUPS AND FOLKWAYS 78
SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND SOCIAL CURRENTS 88
TRANSPORTATION 95
PRESS AND RADIO 99
ARCHITECTURE 102
RECREATION 106
Contents
II. CITY NEIGHBORS
(City Descriptions and Points of Interest)
Bismarck 111
Fargo 126
Grand Forks 145
Minot 158
III. PLAYGROUNDS
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park 169
Roosevelt Regional State Parks 173
IV. HIGHWAYS AND TRAILS
TOUR 1 Canadian Line (Winnipeg) to South Dakota Line
(Watertown). US 81 185
1A Mayville to Hatton. ND 7 & 18 200
2 Canadian Line (Brandon) to South Dakota Line
(Aberdeen). ND 4 & US 281 202
3 Canadian Line (Virden) to South Dakota Line
(Pierre). US 83 207
3A Garrison to Stanley. ND 37 & 8, unnumbered roads 211
3B Junction US 83 to Junction US 10. Unnumbered
roads 215
4 Canadian Line (Moosejaw) to South Dakota Line
(BeUe Fourche). US 85 218
4A Hanks to Writing Rock State Park. ND 50 and un-
numbered roads 225
4B New England to Flasher. ND 21 228
Contents xi
5 Hamilton to Montana Line (Scobey). ND 5 232
5A Junction ND 5 to Leroy. ND 32 & 55, unnumbered
road 243
6 Minnesota Line (Duluth) to Montana Line (Glas-
gow). US 2 247
6A Circular tour from Devils Lake. ND 20 & 27, Indian
Service Koads 263
6B Junction US 2 to Fort Buford State Park. Unnum-
bered road 269
7 Carrington to Canadian Line (Estevan). US 52 272
8 Minnesota Line (Minneapolis) to Montana Line
(Glendive). US 10 277
8A Valley City to South Dakota Line (Aberdeen) . ND 1 303
8B Dazey to Junction US 2. ND 1 & 7 308
8C Mandan to South Dakota Line (McLaughlin) . ND
6, 21, & 24 312
8D Junction US 10 to Junction US 85. ND 25 318
9 South Dakota Line (Mclntosh) to Montana Line
(Miles City). US 12 323
10 Medora to Bismarck. Little Missouri and Missouri
Rivers 328
CHRONOLOGY 339
BIBLIOGRAPHY 345
INDEX 361
ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
Ring-billed Gulls
Pasques
Flickertail
A Modern Indian
Scaffold Burial, Formerly Used by Some Indian Tribes
between pages 44 and 45
Ancient Indian Turtle Effigy
Sioux Sun Dance as Originally Performed
A Modern Sioux Sun Dance Ceremonial
North Dakota In 1879, From an Old Map of Dakota Territory
between pages 76 and 77
Gen. George A. Custer
Sitting Bull
Battle of the Badlands
A "Little Old Sod Shanty" of Early Days
State Capitol, Bismarck
Reviving a Norwegian Folkdance, Esmond, N. Dak.
between pages 108 and 109
An Early School (Oliver County, 1885)
Administration Building, Agricultural College, Fargo
Threshing
Sakakawea, Bismarck
between pages 140 and 141
A Red River Valley Wheatfield
Oats
between pages 172 and 173
Law Building, University, Grand Forks
Roosevelt Monument, Minot
between pages 204 and 205
xiv Illustrations and Maps
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Blockhouse of Fort McKeen
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Slant Indian Village Lodge
Marquis de Mores
Badlands
between pages 236 and 237
Rabbit's Ears Near Amidon
Grand Canyon of the Little Missouri
between pages 268 and 269
Lignite Strip Mining, Velva
Ankara Woman Pounding Cherries
Writing Rock Near Grenora
Lake Upsilon, Turtle Mountains
Buffalo, Sully's Hill National Game Preserve
between pages 332 and 333
Barnes County Courthouse, Valley City
Sioux Camp Gathering, Fort Yates Agency
Sioux Tipis
Sioux Hoop Dance
Magpie Rock, Killdeer Mountains
between pages 340 and 341
MAPS
North Dakota State Map Inside back cover
North Dakota Key Map to Tours Inside front cover
Bismarck 112
Fargo 127
Grand Forks 146
Minot 159
GENERAL INFORMATION
(See State map for routes of highways, railroads, and air lines.)
Railroads: Chicago & North Western Ry. (Northwestern); Chicago,
Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific E. R. (Milwaukee) ; Farmers' Grain
& Shipping Company (Farmers' Line) ; Great Northern Ry. (G. N.) ;
Midland Continental R. R. (Midland) ; Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault
Ste. Marie Ry. (Soo) ; Northern Pacific Ry. (N. P.) . Main line of
N. P. runs almost directly E. to W. across the State. Main line of
G. N. runs N., then W., while cut-off runs in northwesterly direc-
tion. Soo line runs SE. to NW.
Highways: Eight Federal highways, seven of them transcontinental
or with international connections. Inspection at international bor-
der. State highway patrol checks violations of State highway laws
and enforces regulations. Gasoline tax, 3c.
Motor Vehicle Laws (digest): Maximum speed, 50 m.; on curves
and at intersections, 20 m.; approaching within 50 ft. of grade cross-
ing where view obstructed, 20 m.; on any highway in business or
residence district, 25 m.; passing school during recess or while
children are going to or leaving school, 20 m. Time limit for
operation of car in State by nonresident, 90 days. Hand signals
must be used for a turn or stop. Spotlights permitted. Personal
injury or property damage ($50 or over) must be reported to civil
authorities.
Prohibited: Parking on highways; use of stickers, except those
required by law, on windshield or windows.
Bus Lines: Northland Greyhound Lines: Fargo via US 10 to Glen-
dive, Mont., Fargo via US 81 to Winnipeg. Minot-Crosby Bus
Line: Minot to Crosby via US 52 and ND 5. Checker Greyhound
Lines: Noonan via ND 40 to Regina, Saskatchewan. Studebaker
Bus Line: Devils Lake to Jamestown via US 281 and ND 19.
Swanson Bus Line: Jamestown via US 281 to Aberdeen, S. Dak.
Carpenter Bus Line: Williston to Bowman and Hettinger via US
85, ND 25, ND 22, and US 12. Checker Transportation Co.: Fargo
to Minot via US 10, ND 18, ND 7, and US 52; also Fargo to Minot
via US 10, ND 18, US 81, and US 2. Interstate Transportation Co.:
Bismarck to Minot via US 83, Minot to Williston via US 2, Minot
to Portal via US 52, Minot to Bismarck via US 52, ND 41, and US
83. Northern Transportation Co.: Minot to Rolla via US 83 and
ND 5, Minot to Watford City via US 83 and ND 23. N. T. Co.:
Couteau to Northgate via ND 8 and US 52. Jack Rabbit Lines:
Fargo to Watertown, S. Dak. Triangle Transportation Co.: Fargo
to Grand Forks via US 81. Interstate Transit Co.: Williston to
Culbertson, Mont, via US 2.
Air Lines; Northwest Airlines: Chicago to Seattle (stop at Fargo
and Bismarck); Fargo to Winnipeg (stop at Pembina). Hanford
Airlines: Bismarck to Tulsa (stop at Bismarck).
xvi General Information
Airfields: Forty-six landing fields. Lighted fields: A-l, Fargo and
Bismarck; intermediate, Valley City, Jamestown, Dawson, Glen
Ullin, Dickinson, Golva, Pembina.
Customs Regulations: Persons entering United States must report
to U. S. Immigration Office and U. S. Customs Office. Automobiles
may be brought into United States for 90 days without formal
customs entry, provided proper report is made at port of entry.
If cars arer to be kept here more than 90 days, bond or deposit
must be furnished, together with guarantee of exportation of car
within 6 months of importation.
Those entering Canada must report to Canadian immigration
and customs officers at point of entry. United States citizens should
be prepared to prove citizenship. Persons not citizens should be
able to establish that they are legally resident in the United States
and that they will be readmitted when returning to this country.
Cars may be admitted without charge to Canada for touring pur-
poses and may be operated 60 days under State licenses; on re-
quest, period can be extended to 90 days. For period of 90 days
to 6 months,, bond or cash deposit must be furnished. Cars re-
turning to United States should be checked out by Canadian cus-
toms officer at border.
Accommodations: Accommodations outside of cities and towns are
limited. Nearly every small town has a tourist camp. A few
ranches in the Badlands area accommodate tourists and have horses
available for riding trips. Accommodations at lake resorts offered
only during the summer months. Quarters at lake resorts crowded
Fourth of July week.
Sales and Cigarette Taxes: Two percent sales tax on all purchases,
payable in cash. Tax of 3c per package of 20 cigarettes.
Climate and Equipment: Summer travelers should be prepared for
extremely warm weather. It is advisable, however, to have top-
coats of medium weight as evenings are generally cool. In spring
and fall the days are intermittently cool and warm, and topcoats
are a necessity. Persons unfamiliar with the Northwest should
heed weather reports and bulletins of the State highway depart-
ment and dress as warmly as possible during winter travel. What
appears as a light flurry of snow may in a few moments become a
blizzard, blocking highways and making travel impossible. Towns
and farms are far apart; temperatures may suddenly drop far
below zero.
Recreational Areas: Turtle Mountain area (Tour 5): swimming,
fishing, boating, hiking, hunting. Roosevelt Regional State Parks:
riding, motoring, hiking. Sheyenne River Park (Tour 1): picnick-
ing, swimming, hiking; suitable in winter for skiing. Killdeer
Mountain area (Side Tour 8D): hiking, riding, picnicking. Turtle
River State Park (Tour 6): swimming, camping, picnicking. Large
towns have ski and toboggan slides, skating rinks.
Fish and Game Laws: Game fish are defined as black bass, wall-
eyed pike, northern pike, perch, sunfish, crappie, trout, and land-
locked salmon.
General Information xvii
Open Season for Fishing (dates inclusive): Bass, crappie, and sun-
fish, June 16-Oct. 31; trout and landlocked salmon, May 2-Sept 30;
pike, any species, and perch, May 16-Oct. 31. Governor has power
to shorten or close season.
Licenses: Resident, 50c, nonresident, $3. No license required of per-
sons under age of 12. Issued by game and fish commissioner, State
capitol, Bismarck, and county auditors at county courthouses.
Limits: Bass, trout, and landlocked salmon, 5, nor more than 5 of
all combined; wall-eyed pike and northern pike, 10, nor more than
10 of both combined; crappie and sunfish, 15, nor more than 15 of
both combined; perch, 25. No bass, landlocked salmon, trout, or
pike less than 10 in.; no crappie less than 6 in.; no sunfish less
than 5 in. These limits daily; no person to have in possession more
than 2-day limit.
Prohibited: No use of drugs, lime, fish berries, or explosives.
Unlawful to take fish in any manner except by angling with hook
and line held in hand or attached to rod. (Commercial fishing
allowed in certain sections, under commercial license.)
Open Season for Hunting: Dates of hunting season for deer and
game birds vary from year to year as well as the areas where
hunting is allowed. Copy of hunting laws furnished with hunting
license.
Licenses: Big game: resident, $5, nonresident, $50; hunting: resident,
$1.50, nonresident, $25. Aliens not permitted to hunt. Licenses
issued by game and fish commissioner, deputies, or county auditors.
Limits: Bass, trout, and landlocked salmon, 5, nor more than 5 of
breasted) grouse, ruffed grouse (partridge), Chinese pheasant,
Hungarian partridge; 5 in the aggregate in a day, but number of
each species composing aggregate varies in certain counties; 10
ducks, 4 geese including brant, 12 coots, and 10 jacksnipe a day.
Not more than a 1-day bag of migratory game birds may be pos-
sessed at one time. Deer may be possessed until 90 days after
close of season.
Nonresident licensee may carry with him from State under
license tag a 2-day limit of game, if carried openly and labeled
with his name, address, and number of license.
Camp Fires: Any person leaving a fire without thoroughly ex-
tinguishing it, so that it burns any wood or prairie, is guilty of a
misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.
Poisonous Snakes and Plants: Rattlesnakes are rare, but are some-
times found in the following areas: south of Bismarck in Missouri
River vicinity; western Emmons County, along Missouri; in valleys
of Heart, Little Missouri, and Cannonball Rivers; and in Badlands.
Anyone bitten by a rattlesnake should cut wound with a
sharp knife and suck the blood to remove poison. A tourniquet
should be placed above wound, and medical assistance sought at
once.
Poison-ivy common in wooded areas. In June it bears loose
clusters of dull green-white blossoms, later in season replaced by
glossy opaque berries of similar color. Poison-ivy vines often are
hidden in long grass and in foliage.
xviii General Information
To prevent irritation from contact with poison-ivy, before going
into woods bathe hands and face with a 5-percent solution of
ferric chloride in a half-and-half mixture of alcohol and water or
glycerine and water. If skin should come in contact with the plant,
washing with one of above solutions, or with laundry soap and
warm water, is an excellent treatment. Avoid spreading poison
through scratching or rubbing. Bathing affected areas in hot water
will relieye irritation. If there are open sores do not use sugar of
lead or zinc oxide.
Tourist Information Service: General information about the State
furnished on request by the secretary, Greater North Dakota Asso-
ciation, Fargo, N. Dak.
CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS
Listed here are events of general interest which occur annually
in North Dakota. Dates may vary from year to year, and should
be verified.
(n f d = no fixed date)
Jan. 1
Fargo
Ice Carnival
3rd wk
Fargo
Farmers and Homemakers Week,
Agricultural College
4th wk
Grand Forks
Ail-American Turkey Show
(visually)
n f d
Valley City
Ski Tournament
n f d
Williston
Old Fiddlers Contest
n f d
Varies
State Poultry Show
Feb. 21
Grand Forks
Carney Song Contest, University
2nd wk
Grand Forks
Winter Sports Carnival
2nd wk
Grand Forks
Hobby Show
4th wk
Fort Totten
Indian Agency
Midwinter Fair
n f d
Devils Lake
Lake Region Sports Carnival
n f d
Minot
Winter Sports Carnival
n f d
Varies
State Class B High School
Basketball Tournament
Mch. 17
Fessenden
Alfalfa Festival
n f d
Bismarck
State Class A High School
Basketball Tournament
n f d
Park River
Midwinter Fair
n f d
Park River
Ski Tournament
Apr. 4th Fri.
Grand Forks
Engineers' Day, University
May 17
State-wide
Norwegian Independence Day
17
Fargo
Northwest Norwegian Whist
Tournament
30
Nishu (Old Fort
Berthold)
Memorial Day Ceremony
1st wk
Fargo
May Festival, Agricultural
College
2nd wk
Zap
Lignite Festival
4th wk
Grand Forks
Interfraternity Sing, University
n f d
Fargo
Lilac Festival, Agricultural
College
n f d
Grand Forks
May Festival and High School
Week, University
mid month
Bismarck
State Art Exhibit, Capitol
Calendar of Annual Events
June 24
St. John
St. John's Day
29
Strasburg
SS. Peter and Paul's Day
1st wk
Williston
Upper Missouri Band Tournament
n f d
Devils Lake
Rhythm Pageant, Deaf School
n f d
Devils Lake
Governor's Day, Camp Graf ton
n f d
Fargo
North Dakota State Fair
n f d
Fargo
Valleyland Music Festival
n f d
Grand Forks
North Dakota State Fair
n f d
Grand Forks
State Peony Show
n f d
Hazelton
Emmons County Breeders Asso-
ciation Stock Show
n f d
Nishu
Fort Berthold Indian Keservation
Mother Corn Ceremonies
n f d
Nishu
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
Sage Dance
n f d
Turtle Mountain
Reservation
July last wk Belcourt
Aug. 15
1st wk
n f d
Sept. 1st wk
1st wk
1st wk
3rd wk
4th wk
Elbowoods
Peace Garden
Varies
Elbowoods
Fort Totten
Fort Yates
Grand Forks
Valley City
Chippewa Indian Sun Dance
St. Ann's Day
Indian Congress
Rededication and Highlander's
Frolic
Golden Grain Festival
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation
Fair
Indian Agency Fair
Standing Rock Indian Agency
Fair
Harvest Festival
Barnes County Corn and Lamb
Show
Oct. last wk
n f d
n f d
Dec. n f d
n f d
Bismarck
Fargo
Turtle Mountain
Reservation
Fargo
Valley City
State Corn Show
Harvest Festival, Agricultural
Extension Division
Indian Fair
4-H Boys and Girls Club
Achievement Institute,
Agricultural College
Ice Carnival
SURVEY OF THE STATE
CONTEMPORARY NORTH DAKOTA
Nothing, probably, arouses the indignation of a loyal North
Dakotan or South Dakotan more than hearing his State referred
to as "Dakota." Just as an earnest Californian would display in-
dignation at being disposed of as merely a "Westerner", so the man
from North Dakota resents having his identity fogged over by the
blanket term "Dakotan." And rightfully so; for, while he finds
no fault with his neighbors, he is quite different from them, and
quite within his rights in insisting on the distinct character of his
own State.
The person who asks, "What sort of place is North Dakota?"
may get a variety of answers, all of them true, and still be far
from a complete picture of the State. He may be told vaguely, "It's
out West somewhere," or more specifically, "North Dakota is a
wheat State," or "Isn't that where the farmers have this Nonpartisan
League?" These answers are only partly correct, for they barely
touch on the two major problems, economics and politics, in re-
gard to which North Dakota is now coming of age.
This is a young State. Ruts left by the wagon trains of early
explorers, military expeditions, and home seekers have not yet been
effaced from the prairies. Red men and white men, who hunted
buffalo and fought at the Little Big Horn, who saw the railroads
push their gleaming paths across the Plains, who recall a puny
young man named Theodore Roosevelt hunting in the Badlands
with his short-stocked rifle, still survive to tell their tales. In
those fledgling days, the land was rich with promise. Bonanza
farms unfolded their ample acres of wheat, thousands of cattle
roamed unchecked in the gullies and over the plains of the western
counties.
The word spread, and from Europe and the eastern States came
men and women to break the new soil. Sod houses and barns and
frame homes and windmills set their seal on the prairies. Tons of
wheat, thousands of cattle and sheep and horses attested to the
fertility of North Dakota.
For more than half a century the soil was exploited recklessly.
Then suddenly exhaustion and drought drove home the growing
realization that this exploitation could not go on. Water conserva-
tion, diversified farming, and dams quickly became part of the
agricultural scheme, and are repairing the damage of unthinking
abuse. Huge mineral resources have been recognized and are being
developed commercially, bringing a new aspect to North Dakota's
economy.
Survey of the State
Marketing of farm products has had reverberations in the econ-
omic life of the State, and has made its people alert to changing
social trends. Characteristically, in the eastern portion of the
State, where soil is richer; and rainfall more plentiful, the people
are more conservative; while to the west, where the climate is
more arid and the soil less productive, the "isms" flourish, provid-
ing a stronghold for the leftist elements of the State's tumultuous
political parties. Because of antagonism to control of early agra-
rian activities by out-of-State business interests, the Nonpartisan
League, with its socialistic platform, was formed, and many of its
enterprises have been established, some successfully, some other-
wise. Cooperative economy is prominent in the social conscious-
ness of agricultural North Dakota, and such groups as the Farmers'
Union emphasize the trend toward cooperatives, strengthening their
position by supplying members with purely social activities, as
well as with hard economic problems into which to get their teeth.
Freely admitted is the rural character of the State, and there
is seldom an attempt to cover native crudities with a veneer of
eastern culture. The few writers in the State recognize and honor
the possibilities of their native material; and each year finds a
scattered handful of books, usually verse, telling of the North
Dakota known to them and to seven hundred thousand other North
Dakotans.
What is the North Dakota they know? A State of unbounded
plains and hills and Badlands elbowroom. Superb sunsets. High
winds and tumbleweed. Farms and plows and sweeping fields.
Gophers flashing across the road. Little towns crowded on Satur-
day night, and busy cities shipping out the products of North Da-
kota and supplying the needs of the producers. Sudden blinding,
isolating blizzards, and soft, fragrant spring days with tiny sprouts
of grain peering greenly through the topsoil. Pasque flower and
cactus, flame lily, and fields of yellow mustard. The sad, slow
wail of a coyote on the still prairie. People Norwegians, Germans,
Russians, Poles, Czechs, Icelanders, but all Americans. Square
dances in barn lofts, and college "proms" with corsages and grand
marches. Teachers building fires with numbed hands in stoves of
icy one-room schools. Men in unaccustomed "best clothes" sitting
in majestic legislative halls of a skyscraper statehouse. Political
fires, sometimes smouldering, sometimes flaring, always burning.
Endless facets are apparent in the temper and . tenor of life,
thought, and action of the people of this State, still a new people,
pioneers
"Brave spirits stirred with strange unrest,
They found broad waters and new lands,
And carved the empires of the west."
NORTH DAKOTA: ITS NATURAL SETTING
North Dakota is a rectangular area of 70,837 square miles,
lying in what the United States Geological Survey has designated
the center of the North American Continent. It is approximately
1,500 miles from the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and
the Arctic Archipelago of North America. North to south it extends
210 miles, and east to west an average of 335 miles. On the north
are the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada; on the
east, the Red River of the North and the Bois de Sioux form the
boundary between this State and Minnesota; on the south is South
Dakota and on the west, Montana.
THE SURFACE OF THE LAND <
The land surface resembles three broad steps of prairie, rising
a half-mile in altitude from the eastern to the western boundary.
The first two steps lie in the Central Lowlands of the Interior
Plains, the third in the Great Plains area.
The lowest step is the fertile, floorlike Red River Valley, once
the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz. Near the Canadian boundary the
valley is about 40 miles wide, but it gradually narrows until near
the South Dakota line it is only 10 miles in width. "With its north-
ward slope of only about one foot to the mile, an even more grad-
ual eastward slope, and few prominent surface features, the land
offers no obstacles to a view across miles of level checkerboard
fields. Natural woods grow along the Red River and its winding
sluggish tributaries, and farmyard groves dot the landscape.
The Pembina Escarpment, a rise of 300 to 400 feet along the
western edge of the valley, defines the beginning of the central
surface-step, the Drift Prairie, or Drift Plain. At the northern end
of the escarpment, which is a continuation of the Manitoba Escarp-
ment in Canada, lie the wooded Pembina Mountains, jutting sharply
above the valley floor. South of these hills the rise is less pro-
nounced except at the southern end, where the hills again become
prominent to merge with^ the Coteau des Prairies, an escarpment
lying chiefly in South Dakota.
Glacial deposits, or drift, of finely ground rock, sand, and
gravel give the Drift Prairie its name. It is a rolling, fertile plain,
varying from 70 to 200 miles in width, and broken by low ridges
of hills, shallow coulees, and numerous small lakes. To the north-
west lies the Souris River Valley, a small glacial lake bed re-
Survey of the State
sembling the Red River Valley. Devils Lake, largest in the State,
lies in the northern part of the Drift Prairie, and together with
Stump Lake forms the basis of the interior drainage system; near
its southern end are the headwaters of the James and Sheyenne
Rivers, both flowing southward, the James into the Missouri and
the Sheyenne into the Red.
The Missouri Escarpment, rising 300 to 400 feet above the Drift
Prairie and cutting across the State diagonally in a northwest*
southeast direction, marks the rise of the third surface-step, the
Missouri Plateau, which extends west to the Rocky Mountains.
Lying .along the top of the plateau, in some places not far from
the escarpment and at other points 50 miles west of it, is the
Altamont Moraine, a belt of rough, stony hills, indicating the farth-
est advance of the Dakota lobe of the Wisconsin ice sheet. In the
north this moraine is a part of the Height of Land forming the
watershed between the north- and south-flowing streams of the
continent.
Between the escarpment and the Missouri River the plateau is
known as the Couteau du Missouri. West of the river it is known
locally as the Missouri Slope. The surface of the plateau, typical of
the Great Plains, is irregular and rolling, dotted with old lake beds
some of which contain large deposits of sodium sulphate and
underlain with vast lignite beds and valuable clay and bentonite
deposits.
In the Missouri Slope is the most unusual area in the State
the, Badlands of the Little Missouri. Here erosion has formed, and
continues to form, a fantastic array of buttes in which layers of
brick-red scoria and gray, blue, and yellow clays are vividly ex-
posed. Abrupt buttes and mesas characterize the landscape, in-
creasing in size and number toward the southwest corner of the
State. Among them is Black Butte, 3,468 feet above sea level, the
highest point in North Dakota.
CLIMATE
Absence of great variation in physiography gives all portions
of the State an almost uniform climate. North Dakota is situated
in a temperate region of moderate rainfall, and owing to its position
in the center of the North American Interior Plains it has a typi-
cally continental climate.
One of the characteristics of such a climate is a wide range of
temperature, and to this the State can make good claim. North
Dakota has a recorded range from 124 R, registered September 3,
1912 at Medora, to -60 F., recorded February 15, 1936 at Parshall.
These temperatures are, of course, unusual, but the mercury often
reaches 100 F. during the summer, whereas 30 to 40 F. below
zero is not uncommon in winter. The mean temperature for the
North Dakota: Its Natural Setting
months of June, July, and August is 65.7 F., and for December,
January, and February, 9.7 F. Relatively low humidity, averaging
68 percent, makes these extremes less uncomfortable, however, than
if the atmosphere contained more moisture.
The sections of the State vary more in the matter of precipi-
tation than in any other climatic phase. The average is about 18
inches annually, ranging from about 22 inches in the southeastern
corner to about 14 inches in the southwestern corner. Most of the
precipitation occurs in the late spring and summer. During the
period of 1925-34, three years had a rainfall in excess of normal,
and seven were deficient in precipitation.
Long and severe winters are typical of this region. Neverthe-
less the summers, though comparatively short, are favorable for
agriculture, owing to the long hours of sunshine. At the maximum,
about June 21, there are as many as 16 hours of sunlight a day;
and this, together with cloudless skies, contributes to the rapid
growth and early maturity of crops.
HOW THE LAND WAS FORMED
The surface of North Dakota, comparatively unvaried, is no
more simple than the geological pattern that lies beneath it. De-
posited by the seas of three geologic ages, horizontal layers of rock
top each other in methodical and unintricate succession.
In far-off Paleozoic times, when all creatures of the earth were
invertebrates, strange shellfish, unlike any existing today, lived
among the rich foliage at the bottom of the shallow sea that cov-
ered this region. Hundreds of varieties of fossil plants and shells
are embedded in the sandstone, limestone, and shale which the sea
deposited on the uneven surface of the then-existent crystalline
rocks. These Paleozoic rocks have been encountered in deep wells
in eastern North Dakota, although nowhere in the State are they
found at the surface.
Toward the close of the Paleozoic era, changing climatic con-
ditions caused the death of many forms of life upon the earth, and
the development of new and hardier types. With these, in the
Mesozoic era, came the new lords of the earth, the reptiles. Much
of the globe from the Arctic Ocean to New Mexico was covered
by a great sea on whose swampy shores huge dinosaurs, alligators,
and crocodiles made their homes. Largest of these grotesque crea-
tures was the brontosaurus, with his long snakelike neck and face
and huge body. Struggling with him for supremacy of the swamps
was the armored stegosaurus, whose row of vertical plates along
his backbone from head to tip of tail made him a formidable
enemy. Among the plant and animal life that throve on the sea
bottom were shellfish three feet or more in diameter.
8 Survey of the State
The earliest seas of the Mesozoic era deposited the Dakota
sandstone that underlies all of the State except the Red River Val-
ley. It is a soft white or gray stone, containing many marine fos-
sils. Although it does not appear at the surface anywhere in the
State, it has been studied from specimens obtained from deep wells
here or from outcroppings in other States,
Many rivers flowing into the prehistoric seas brought mud and
clay to mix with the soils of the sea bottom, forming the shales
that today underlie most of the Great Plains, including North
Dakota. The lowest of these, Benton shale, is dark gray, almost
jet black in places, and contains bits of pyrite (fool's gold) and
gypsum. Over it lies the bluish-gray Niobrara shale, in which
natural cement is found. In the Pembina Mountains and the Shey-
enne Valley, where these rocks appear at the surface, they have
yielded shells of lamellibranchs (ancestors of today's clams and
oysters) and bones of great sharklike fish. Over these two strata
lies the Pierre shale deposit, dark bluish-gray in color. It is fre-
quently seen in the valleys of streams east of the Missouri Plateau,
but outcrops in only two places west of the Missouri Escarpment
where the Missouri leaves the State, and in the valley of the Little
Beaver Creek in southwestern North Dakota. In it have been
found fossils of the chambered nautilus, the oyster, and other
marine animals, the crocodile, and the plesiosaur that ungainly
reptile which had "the body of a turtle strung on a snake."
Once again the sea covered the State and left the rust-colored
Fox HiUs sandstone, which is particularly conspicuous along the
Cannonball River where action of underground water has formed
it into the rusty-looking spheres which give the river its name.
Similarly formed cylinders of this sandstone in concretionary form
are also found along the stream, and large cylinders protrude from
the top of Cannon Butte in the Badlands like the barrels of cannon
from the turret of a huge battleship.
Near the close of the Mesozoic era, the climate of North Dakota
became warmer, almost like that of the South Atlantic States.
Through the swamps roamed horned carnivorous dinosaurs, espe-
cially triceratops, which had "the largest head with the smallest
brain of the reptile race."
Again and again the sea invaded this swampland, depositing the
Lance formation, comprising layers of massive sandstone and shale
in which the luxuriant plant life of the area created thin beds of
lignite coal. The Lance formation underlies most of the Missouri
Plateau, and comes to the surface in two places in the vicinity
of Bismarck, and near Marmarth. Reptilian fossils are found in
both the lignite and the intervening layers of rock.
North Dakota: Its Natural Setting
At the dawn of the Cenozoic age, as mammalian life began
to develop on the globe, another invasion of the sea left behind it
a great plateau interspersed with swamps, marshlands, rivers, and
lakes. On the plain grew giant sequoia, cypress, juniper, and other
semitropical trees. Over the thick mat of mosses, lichens, and liver-
wort in the swamps crept turtles, alligators, lizards, and other reptiles,
monstrous in size. King of this jungle was the titano there, with its
great body, short stocky neck, and columnar legs. Long- jawed
shaggy mastodons and gigantic rhinoceroses challenged its supre-
macy. As these titans of the forest lumbered through the under-
brush, herds of Merycoidodon culbertsoni or ruminating hogs, Lp-
tomeryx evansi, dainty deerlike creatures no larger than jack rab-
bits, and little three-toed horses scampered out of their way.
The Fort Union formation, created through successive fresh
water deposits of sediment in the swamps, contained vast quanti-
ties of rank swamp vegetation. In the intervening millions of
years this has been turned into lignite, a very soft coal which has
become North Dakota's most valuable mineral resource. The lig-
nite veins in the formation indicate that the sea covered this area
at least eleven times during the period when the formation was
being deposited. In addition to lignite, the Fort Union clay shales
and sandstones contain pure plastic clay beds and some bentonite,
a claylike mineral 'of commercial value.
The recession of the seas left a broad and gently rolling plain
cut by sluggish rivers whose wooded valleys were inhabited by
the descendants of the great swamp beasts. When the waters again
invaded the plain, the bones of these monsters were embedded in
the deposits which became the White River formation, youngest
bedrock underlying the State. So numerous are the fossil remains
in the lower White River beds that these strata are called the
titanothere beds. Fossils are found throughout the formation, how-
ever, ranging from mammal bones to the remains of fish and
turtles. Erosion has worn away much of the White River forma-
tion in North Dakota, but it is conspicuously revealed on the sum-
mits ot White or Chalky Butte, Sentinel Butte, Black Butte, and
the Killdeer Mountains, and also in a few other small isolated
areas in the Missouri Slope.
Gradually, during the time these formations were being laid
down, the winters of this region were becoming more and more
severe. Masses of ice moved slowly southward from the Arctic
Region, covering much of the land and transforming the nearby
forests, meadows, and swamps into a treeless plain of black mucky
soil with a permanently frozen subsoil overgrown with moss,
lichens, and dwarf shrubs. Fierce wintry storms took their toll of
the mammoths, rhinoceroses, and reindeer living upon the tundras.
10 Survey of the State
As the glaciers moved south, the animals were forced to flee
to warmer lands. Soon the ice mass had covered all of North
Dakota except a very small region in the southwest corner beyond
the Killdeer Mountains. When at length it receded, it left in its
wake boulders, gravel, and till a drift soil composed of clay,
sand, gravel, and boulders. Much of this now has been worn
away; on the west side of the Missouri only a few scattered areas
remain, and on the east side the till, though more continuous, is
often merely a veneer a few feet in thickness.
The early glacier was followed by the Wisconsin ice sheet,
the Dakota lobe of which covered a large part of this State, push-
ing back the Missouri River, which had previously flowed north
into Hudson Bay, into its present channel.
Eventually this glacier, too, melted and receded, leaving a great
lake about 650 feet deep, nearly 700 miles long, and 200 miles
wide, with an area of not less than 110,000 square miles, including
the region now known as the Red River Valley. This lake has
been named Lake Agassiz, in honor of Louis Agassiz, first promi-
nent advocate of the theory that drift was formed by land ice.
Lake Agassiz existed some 10,000 years ago, lasted for probably
1,000 years, and covered an area greater tha,n the present Great
Lakes. Its sole remnants today are Lakes Winnipeg, Winnipegosis,
and Manitoba, and Lake of the Woods.
Productive soil and ground water, closely allied resources, are
North Dakota's greatest assets. The Wisconsin glacier and Lake
Agassiz are largely responsible for the fertile soils that cover threer
fifths of the State's surface. Through the Red River Valley the
lake left a fine claylike silt 20 to 30 feet deep. The successive
shore lines of the lake, showing its gradual recession, can be plain-
ly seen in the ridges of sand and gravel that rise 10 to 25 feet
along the western edge of the valley. Also on the west border of
the valley are three extensive sand plains, the deltas of the Pem-
bina, Sheyenne, and Elk Rivers, formed by glacial debris mingled
with river silt. The Souris glacial lake bed, in the loop of the
present Souris River, resembles the Red River Valley in geological
history, but covers a much smaller area.
Immediately under the silt of the old lake beds and on the
surface of the Drift Prairie is glacial drift or till. In much of the
southwestern part of the State, particularly along the western trib-
utaries of the Missouri, there are no glacial deposits; the topsoil
is composed largely of shale and sandstone, and, though not so
fertile as the old lake beds and glacial plains to the east, provides
fine range country.
North Dakota: Its Natural Setting 11
NATURAL RESOURCES
Especially valuable to those who depend on the land for their
livelihood are the numerous artesian wells and natural springs
which furnish necessary water supplies. The artesian basin on the
southern border of the State and extending into South Dakota has
been designated by a Federal authority as the most important in
America and probably in the world.
People of the State have been awakened in recent years to a
consciousness of the need for water conservation. Long abuse of
seemingly unlimited artesian supplies resulted in lessening pressure
in the wells. Simultaneously, drought, high winds, and the broken
unwooded plains conspired to deplete the surface waters left by
rains and winter snows. Within 20 years one-third of the lakes
in North Dakota became extinct.
To counteract these disastrous effects, a program of Federal,
State, and private water and soil conservation has begun. Trees
are being planted to hold the soil and conserve the moisture of
rain and snow. A program of dam construction is under way in
every county in the State. Dry-land farming and supplemental
irrigation have been adopted to conserve the soil and return to it
the elements which it has lost through constant cultivation.
North Dakota is indebted to the ancient seas and glaciers not
only for the fertility of its soil but also for many of its most
important mineral resources. Almost inexhaustible is the vast
supply of lignite, estimated at 600 billion tons, which underlies the
western half of the State. The veins, once the luxuriant plant life
of a far distant age, vary from a fraction of an inch to 40 feet in
thickness.
The southwestern corner of the State contains excellent beds
of clay, deposited by the seas and now used for building mate-
rials and pottery. Two beds in the Dickinson vicinity, each con-
taining approximately 29 million cubic .yards, yield the finest clays
in the State. A layer of yellow sand clay overlies the whitish
plastic variety here; the two combine to form a number of colors,
and have the added advantage of being free from iron. Plastic
clay beds of importance, although not so valuable commercially
as the Dickinson deposits, are found throughout the southwestern
corner of the State. They yield one of the rarest and most valu-
able types of clay for pottery and other specialized purposes.
Shales found near the western clay- beds are used in the manu-
facture of cheaper building materials.
The discovery of two large bentonite fields in southwestern.
North Dakota in 1930 opened up a new mineral resource. This
12 Survey of the State
claylike mineral is used as a binding agent and filler in many
commercial processes, such as the manufacture of soaps, paints,
and cosmetics. The larger deposit in the Little Badlands covers
25 square miles and contains about 100 million tons of the mineral,
while the Chalky Butte deposit near Amidon contains about 60
million tons. The beds are easily accessible, being uncovered in
many places.
Extensive sodium sulphate deposits have been formed in old
lake beds in the northwestern corner of the State, where the
mineral-bearing waters have evaporated, leaving a deposit of so-
dium sulphate crystals. North of the town of Grenora, 1,150 acres
are covered with sodium sulphate beds ranging from a few inches
to more than 30 feet in depth. Miller, North, and McKone Lakes,
near Alkabo, contain more than 20 million tons. Sodium sulphate,
also known as Glauber's salt, is commercially valuable, especially
in the pulp and paper industries. Owing to lack of knowledge of
its existence in this country, it has been imported largely from
Canada.
Although geologists have doubted that oil exists in commer-
cial quantities in North Dakota, considerable interest has been
shown in the wells near Marmarth in the southwestern corner of
the State. Their proximity to the Montana oil fields increases the
possibility of the success of these wells. Much interest has also
been shown in the development of a potential oil field south of
Ray in northwestern North Dakota.
Hidden beneath the earth's surface are other minerals deposited
during the geologic formation of the various strata. These include
fuller's earth, sandstone, granite, gneiss, and gold; but because of
their limited quantity and inaccessibility, they are commercially
unimportant. The glacial deposits are important because they in-
clude the sand and gravel used extensively for road surfacing.
Some of the eastern lake beds contain marl, a clay from which
Portland cement is made. The extent and purity of the deposits
are not definitely known. (For discussion of industrial develop-
ment of mineral resources see INDUSTRY AND LABOR.)
PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE *
North Dakota falls into three distinct zones of plant and ani-
mal life: the Turtle Mountain region and a few scattered areas
in the Canadian, or cold, zone; the Missouri and Little Missouri
Valleys in the upper austral, or warmer, zone; and the remainder
of the State in the transition zone.
Because of its semiarid climate, the State has only 600 square
miles of wooded area. Native forests are found chiefly along
streams and lakes, and in the Turtle and Killdeer Mountains.
', , ;nr . North Dakota: Its Natural Setting 13
*,& -.!> .
Despite the limited forested area, a surprising variety of trees is
found. Throughout the Red River Valley, Turtle Mountains, and
Devils Lake region plant life is similar to the Minnesota type,
while such trees as the elm, green ash, box elder, poplar, and
cottonwood are also common.
Although the cottonwood's ability to withstand drought makes
it one of the most desirable species of trees in North Dakota,
efforts are being made in many towns to eradicate the tree be-
cause of the ubiquitous soft white "cotton" which floats from its
branches like summer flurries of snow.
During the fall and early winter, the thickets of the northern
Red River Valley are aflame with the highbush cranberry, which
lent its Indian name to Pembina, first permanent white settlement
in the? State. Other berries grow profusely along all the eastern
streams, and many families assure themselves of a winter supply
of jams and jellies by picking the June berries, chokecherries, wild
plums, and wild grapes. In the woods along the Missouri and
Little Missouri grow trees of the Missouri type the broadleaf cot-
tonwoods, willows, ash, elm, buffalo berry, and flowering currant.
A trace of the Rocky Mountain type of forest is found in the
.Badlands and on the buttes of the Little Missouri, where the yellow
pine and red cedar grow.
Not only trees but other forms of vegetation differ widely
from the eastern to the western sections of the State. The long
Indian-grass and blue grass typical of the east is replaced on the
western ranges by short buffalo grass and grama grass, the two
forming a dense mat over the ground. Due to differences in rain-
fall, the western grasses are much duller and more grayish in color
than those of the eastern section.
From early spring to the first frosts of autumn, thousands of
wild flowers brighten the prairies. Many species are general
throughout the State, while others are typical only of certain sec-
'tions. Before the last patches of snow are gone, the blue-gray
jpasque flower, so like the crocus that it is often called by that
name, appears on the rolling prairies and the northern slopes of
hills. It is soon followed by the wild parsley, NuttalFs or yellow
violet, and the vivid plumes of the purple avens. Most of the
spring flowers are of soft, delicate hues, such as the white meadow
rue, parsley, false-Solomonseal, silverberry, squaw-weeds, meadow
parsnip, blue-eyed-grass, and harebell.
With the coming of midsummer, the colors become more bril-
liant. The fragrant prairie rose, the State flower, blossoms pro-
fusely in fields and along roadsides. The showy oxeye or false-
14 Survey of the State
sunflower, the flaming prairie mallow, wild blue and yellow flax,
the vivid flame lily, the purple coneflower, and the black-eyed
Susan emblazon the summer fields. Along the Pembina and Shey-
enne Rivers, and in Sully's Hill National Game Preserve, grow the
wintergreen and ladyslipper. Water lilies float on pools and shal-
low streams in the western part of the State. In the Badlands
grow the rabbit brush, butte primrose, false-lupine, and prickly
pear, and the scoria lily which resembles a thistle during the day
and opens its fragile, waxy petals only after the sun has gone down.
Yellow is the color of the prairies in autumn, as amid the fad-
ing foliage the goldenrod, sunflower, aster, and blazing star domi-
nate the scene.
Some wild flowers, such as the wild morning-glory, are so
common that they are regarded as weeds. These are not so ob-
noxious to the farmer, however, as the Russian-thistle, pigeon
grass, quack grass, pigweed, mustard, burdock, and sow thistle
which often invade the grainfields. The seeds of most of these
plants were brought in with seed grain from European countries,
and their eradication is a difficult process. Another obnoxious
plant, against which a strong campaign has been conducted by far-
mers, is the common barberry, on which thrive the parasitic fungi
that cause wheat rust. Many weeds, however, are considered a
valuable asset to the fields and pasture lands where they grow.
These include the American vetch or wild sweet pea, which forms
an important addition to hay, and the white and violet prairie
clovers, which, although too tough to be used for fodder, serve to
enrich the soil.
When the first settlers came to this section of the country, they
described the land as being covered with innumerable varieties of
wild flowers. Since that time, cultivation and drought have changed
the picture. Efforts to preserve the native plant life in its natural
setting have met with cooperation from Federal and State agencies
alike. The reserves that have been established are also sanctuaries
for bird and animal life, upon which recent drought and severe
winters have had a disastrous effect.
Under the auspices of the State game and fish commission,
2,700 acres of land have been set aside as five game and fish farms,
while 240,000 acres of privately owned land have been designated
as game refuges. The Federal Government has established some
60 sanctuaries on 225,000 acres, of which about 90,000 acres are
privately owned.
Animal life zones in the State are more marked than are plant
life zones. The woods of the Turtle Mountains, at the meeting
point of the Canadian and transition zones, abound with wild life
North Dakota: Its Natural Setting 15
of both regions. More than 300 varieties of game and song birds
live here, including the Dakota song sparrow, the black-billed
cuckoo, the oriole, and the blue jay. In the deserted holes of bad-
gers, foxes, and gophers live those queer prairie birds, the bur-
rowing owls. Grebe, ducks, geese, heron, and occasionally swan
inhabit the lakes of the region. Deer, red fox, rabbits, red squir-
rels and northern chipmunks are common; and at night the bright-
eyed, mousy Richardson shrew and the silver-haired bat can be
seen. Lynx are occasionally reported.
In the Red River Valley and the central prairies of the State,
once the scene of buffalo hunts, very little large game is found to-
day. A few buffalo remain in Sully 's Hill National Game Preserve,
and in the Sheyenne Valley and the Pembina Mountains deer are
still found. Game birds abound in this region, however, and with
the restoration of their breeding places they are now being pro-
pagated in huge numbers on the many reserves.
Early travelers in the western part of the State were aston-
ished by the prairie-dog 'villages which dotted the country. Some
of these villages still exist, in the extreme western sections. Their
inhabitants are typical of the upper austral zone, as are! also the
coyotes whose long melancholy wail can be heard across the prairie
at twilight or daybreak. Chipmunks, squirrels, gophers and ferrets
also make their homes here. Along the Missouri and in the for-
ested areas of the Badlands are both white-tailed and mule deer.
The one bird peculiar to the austral zone is the sage-hen; and
the American magpie, commonly seen here, is rare in other parts
of the State.
Birds such as the robin, sparrow, blackbird, swallow, horned
lark, and meadow lark are common to the entire State. The lark
is one of the early spring comers, and its clear sweet whistle can
be heard when the prairies are just beginning to turn green.
One of the most common animals in the State is Richardson's
ground squirrel, otherwise known as the gopher or "flickertaiL"
It is from this tiny, agile, yellow creature that North Dakota gets
its name of "the Flickertail State." Another familiar prairie ani-
mal is the jack rabbit.
Fish life, like that of plants and animals, has been adversely
affected by recent droughts, but efforts are being made to pro-
pagate fish and to provide sufficient water for their existence.
In the larger lakes and rivers, perch, black and rock bass, pickerel,
pike, sunfish, and catfish are found. Some landlocked salmon have
been introduced, but they are not adapted to North Dakota lakes
and streams. Suckers and carp are common but they are not
considered desirable game fish.
INDIANS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS
PREHISTORIC MAN IN NORTH DAKOTA
Just when and where in the shadowy, endless past the Indians
of North Dakota, or even of the two Americas, began to break
away from the parent stem is not known. Weapons and tools
shaped from stone and found in strata that settled into place near
the end of the Pleistocene, or glacial, period indicate that as much
as 15,000 to 20,000 years ago men wandered along the rivers and
through the swamps of those areas that later became New Mexico,
Nebraska, and Minnesota. Very probably, in long hunts after game,
parties of these men penetrated what is now North Dakota. Stone
tools and weapons found in the vicinity of Bismarck suggest an
early ^occupation of the area, how long ago no one knows.
A great many years nearer the present day, but still possibly
a thousand or more years ago, men were digging busily in the
flint quarries 19 miles north of Hebron and 12 miles northwest of
Dodge and at other points on the Knife River. With the flint
obtained here they fashioned arrowheads and spear points to kill
buffalo or to protect their homes against enemy tribesmen. One
of these heavily sodded sites on the Knife River contains more
than 300 pits, most of which are from 8 to 10 feet across, and
from 3 to 5 feet deep.
The extensive mounds and earthworks found in the eastern
hali! of North Dakota have been only imperfectly investigated so
far, partly because archeologists have but recently recognized the
possibilities of the area. The skeletons and the bone and stone
manufactured articles lately discovered, however, as well as the
general finds of the region, suggest the probability of outlining
tribal movements of importance. There is an increasing sugges-
tion that before the time of the historic tribes the prairies of the
eastern half of the State supported large populations. It is thought
that, just as the Cheyenne are known to have done in the historic
period, in prehistoric time the Assiniboin and the Blackfeet, and
preceding them still other tribes, carried on a settled agricultural
life before they became nomadic. Of course the movements of
these tribes were not confined entirely to what is now North
Dakota.
Perhaps hundreds of years after the construction of the mounds
in the eastern half of the State possibly from one to four hun-
dred years agosome tribe or tribes, probably the Sioux or certain
Indians and Their Predecessors 17
of the village-building Indians, were putting together the turtle
effigies frequently encountered on the hills west of the Missouri,
and constructing the more widespread and better-known boulder-
ring effigies. The purpose of these crude outlines on the prairie
is not definitely known. Because the turtle plays a prominent part
in medicine ceremonies of the Mandan Indians, some think the
turtle effigies were made to win the favor of certain spirits. Others
claim they were made to point the weary Indian to good water
a theory which may also apply to a number of the cairns occa-
sionally seen piled on the tops of high hills. Other cairns are
ceremonial or commemorative.
Boulder rings, which sometimes appear in large numbers but
more often present only one or two specimens in a given location,
were once thought to be tipi rings. The fact that many of them
appear on the sides and tops of hills has discredited this assump-
tion, however.
Veneration of the so-called sacred stones of the State prob-
ably began in the effigy-building period, but the origin of the very
interesting writing rocks (see Side Tours 3B, 4A, 8A t and 8C) is
undoubtedly far more ancient. The significance of the markings
on these rocks has not yet been determined.
THE COMING OF THE NORTH DAKOTA INDIAN TRIBES
About the time the earlier turtle effigies were made perhaps
200 years ago in permanent villages of earth lodges In the valley
of the Missouri dwelt a most interesting group, of people, raising
many cultivated plants, building fortified towns, and in general
living a rather ordered existence. These were the Mandan, as far
as is definitely known the first of the historic tribes to enter the
State. Their exact origin is not clear. Certain of their traditions
claim that they long ago lived in the East near a great body of
water most authorities suggest the East Coast or Gulf of Mexico.
At any rate, many generations before the coming of the whites,
the Mandan probably crowded by other tribes began to wander
westward. Apparently their long trek finally brought them and
their wives and children to the junction of the White River with
the Missouri in what is now South Dakota. Grass-grown sites of
their old villages along the benchland of the river show how these
people, in quest of a new and more satisfactory home, moved
northward in successive migrations until in time they arrived at
the mouth of the Heart River in the neighborhood of present
Mandan and Bismarck. Here they probably remained for gener-
ations, carrying on a settled agricultural life. They were visited
18 Survey of the State
by the Verendryes in 1738 (see Tour 8), at which time they had
six large, well-fortified villages. Estimates of their number at this
time have ranged from 2,500 to 15,000.
They are one of those four North Dakota Indian groups
Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, and Arikara who because of their
farming activities are called the agricultural tribes. While the
Mandan were building on the Missouri, the Hidatsa were prob-
ably living somewhat farther north and east. They have a tradi-
tion that they originally came from a large lake to the east,
possibly Devils Lake. Later, probably forced on by some other
tribe, they moved their families over the prairies to the Missouri
in the region of the Heart River, and eventually allied themselves
with the Mandan. Their history thereafter follows very closely
that of the latter tribe.
While the Mandan and Hidatsa were dwelling on the Missouri,
the Cheyenne were migrating westward from the headwaters of
the Mississippi, by way of Lac Que Parle in present Minnesota,
Lake Traverse, and the big bend of the Sheyenne River, to the
Missouri, seeking a place where they could till the soil and rear
their children in peace, free from the harrying of the Sioux.
At the same time the Arikara, doubtless likewise trying to take
their families away from the ravaging Dakota, were ascending the
Missouri. The name of this tribe arose from then* custom of
wearing in their hair two pieces of bone which stood up on each
side of the head like horns. They came from the southwest and
their language differs only in dialect from the Pawnee. In 1770
French traders encountered them dwelling along the river bank
somewhat below the mouth of the Cheyenne River in what is now
South Dakota.
The migrations of the Hidatsa, Cheyenne, and Arikara, as
those of the Mandan, are traceable by the old village sites, of
which there are about 75 known locations on the prairies of the
State. Arikara sites predominate lower down the Missouri in South
Dakota; the older Mandan perhaps constructed as early as 1575-
1650 in the Heart River region; and the Hidatsa, farther north
near the Knife River. There are apparently two types, a newer
and an older. The newer, perhaps less carefully laid out than the
older, is found at and above the mouth of the Heart River. The
older type appears to have had better fortifications than the newer,
and the lodges do not seem to have been so crowded. Because of
its greater age it is more heavily sodded, and thus manufactured
articles left by the village dwellers, such as stone and bone tools
and ornaments, are less easily recovered. It seems to center below
the Heart River, with the Huff site, just below the village of Huff,
as perhaps the best example (see Tour 8).
Indians and Their Predecessors 19
Sometime perhaps a hundred years after the Mandan first
built about the mouth of the Heart River, the three nomadic North
Dakota tribes the Sioux, Assiniboin, and Chippewa were ranging
the forests near the headwaters of the Mississippi. The Chippewa,
however, were not strictly nomadic, as they had more or less per-
manent camping places, where they built their distinctive bark
shelters.
The Chippewa wandered from the Lake region across Minne-
sota to the Turtle Mountains. They cultivated maize and were
apparently more or less at peace with the Sioux until in the early
eighteenth century the coming of the whites brought them fire-
arms. With this advantage they overcame the Sioux and drove
them south and west.
The Assiniboin were a large tribe, whose language, with only
a very slight dialectal difference from that of the Yanktonai tribe
of the Sioux, suggests thay had not long been separated from the
latter when first encountered by the whites near the headwaters
of the Mississippi. At the beginning of the eighteenth century
they were in the neighborhood of Lake Winnipeg, whence they
drifted southward to the territory west of the Turtle Mountain
region in present North Dakota.
The Sioux apparently once lived in the Ohio Valley, but prior
to the historic period they moved out in several directions. At
the coming of the whites in the middle seventeenth century they
were found in the woods in northern Minnesota. Pressed by the
Chippewa, they extended their range westward over the prairies
to the Missouri, and west of that stream, from the Yellowstone
River on the north to the Platte on the south, to cover a huge
block of territory throughout which the name of this powerful
tribe was feared and dreaded by all other Indians.
Of these seven North Dakota peoples Mandan, Hidatsa, Chey-
enne, Arikara, Sioux, Assiniboin, Chippewa well-authenticated
records exist. It will be noted that nearly all except the Arikara
seem to have come from the east, particularly from the Lakes
region, with the added suggestion of an earlier residence farther
east or south. There is also in some cases a definite shift from a
settled agricultural life to a nomadic one. They apparently arrived
in the State in the following order:
Mandan
Hidatsa, also known as Gros Ventres, Minitari, and Absaroke
Cheyenne
Assiniboin, also called Stone
Sioux, also called Dakota
Arikara
Chippewa, also called Ojibway
20 Survey of the State
Linguistically all the North Dakota tribes are Siouan, except
the Arikara, who are Caddoan, and the Chippewa and Cheyenne,
who are Algonquian.
EARLY INDIAN LIFE IN NORTH DAKOTA
It is interesting to visualize the prairie scene centuries ago
when the Indian ruled the plains. The agricultural tribes usually
built their villages of earth lodges so that one or more sides lay
along a high cliff or next to a river. This afforded partial pro-
tection from the Sioux. In the more ancient types an earthen
wall, sometimes built with bastions, protected the exposed sides.
A log palisade topped the wall, and around the whole a ditch was
dug. The number of lodges in a village varied from 30 or 40 to
as high as perhaps 160. Catlin said the lodges had the appearance
of huge inverted kettles, above which rose spears, and scalp and
medicine poles.
The lodges in the older types of villages were arranged with
a certain degree of uniformity. In the Mandan villages the lodges
faced the center, where stood a large barrel or hogshead, called
the Big Canoe. Soon after the Mandan came upon the earth, it is
told, a great flood came and would have destroyed them utterly
had not a wise Mandan, the First Man, with superlative effort
and dexterity, built a great canoe or ark and hurried the surviv-
ing people into it. This staunch ark weathered the fury of the
waters and finally came to rest on a high hill near the Cannonball
River (see Side Tour 8C). The Big Canoe in the center of the
village was a symbol of this ark.
Uniformity was not so evident in the later types of villages.
Between the lodges only room enough was left for men and women
of the village to pass; consequently, the broad earth roofs served
the additional purpose of verandas. Out upon these roofs, espe-
cially in the summertime, was much activity children played, old
men watched for enemy tribesmen, sweethearts conversed, neigh-
bors gossiped. Although the tribes were often ruthless and cruel in
war, in their prairie homes and villages they were very friendly
and companionable people. Both men and women indulged in a
great number of games, and spent a good deal of time in visiting,
feasting, and dancing. Catlin upon his departure after living with
the Mandans for months was loaded with gifts and urged to con-
tinue his visit.
Heavy garments were worn in the winter, and at that season
the buffalo robe was very much in evidence both for bedcovering
and as an article of clothing; but in summer time clothing was rather
Indians and Their Predecessors 21
scanty. Both men and women went down to the grassy shore of
the Missouri in the morning to bathe, often with little regard for
dress a fact that greatly shocked some early travelers.
As the morning sun flooded the narrow dirt lanes of one of
these villages, braves, clad in breechcloths and moccasins, might
have been seen preparing for a hunt, while naked boys played with
scores of scampering dogs. If the village was Mandan, some of the
hunters were surprisingly Caucasian in appearance the skin some-
what lighter than that of the average Indian, the nose not so broad,
and the cheekbones less prominent. Early travelers noted cases of
extraordinarily light complexions, and also instances of brown
hair and blue eyes characteristics suggesting European blood. By
certain of the first white visitors the Hidatsa were regarded as
being rather superior intellectually, but this was not so apparent
in later days.
At their sides the hunters carried knives and bows and arrows
in leather sheaths. If they were going out to kill rabbit, ducks,
geese, beaver, deer, or elk along the river bottom, they might go
afoot. If they sought the wilder bighorn sheep or the buffalo, how-
ever, they brought their ponies from the lodges, where they had
been quartered overnight, as that was the safest place available.
Lariats, bridles, and saddles we.re of leather. To protect them-
selves from enemy attack the hunters had spears, tomahawks,
shields, and lances, in addition to the ever present bows and arrows.
As they threaded their way between the lodges, here and there
they saw some of their women baking pottery of a mixture of clay
and powdered granite or flint Catlin says they modeled it into a
thousand forms, and that some of their pottery held as much as
five gallons. Other women, using bone awls and needles, were
decorating girdles, fans, moccasins, and dresses with beadwork and
embroidery. Clothing, especially headdress, was elaborate and
spectacular on ceremonial occasions. Still other women were weav-
ing wickerwork, both flat and in the form of baskets; making bone
spoons, ladles, and other household utensils; fashioning implements
for the work in their gardens; and working over hides stretched on
crude frames, in the process of tanning. In the latter art all the
North Dakota tribes were unusually proficient. Hides prepared by
them retained their softness and resilience even after being sub-
jected to moisture many times.
Farther on, a group of boys hovered about a hoary old man
who sat near the door of a lodge in the soft summer sun and told
them the history and traditions of their tribe. They had just come
in from the prairie outside the village, where the older warriors
had been teaching them the art of war by leading them in a sham
battle. The victorious side had danced the scalp dance, just as
22 Survey of the State
their elders did after the actual taking of scalps, and now all were
gathered about this old man to hear the stories of their people.
If the village was Mandan, very possibly the old man was telling
them of the great tribal hero, Good Furred Robe, who is supposed
to have played so large a part in establishing the Mandan way of
living. The narrator would tell them, too, that the Mandan were
the first people created in the world, and that originally they lived
inside the earth, where they raised many vines. Of course, they
were constantly striving and struggling to find a way out of this
dark, underground world. Finally one of their vines pushed its
way through a hole in the earth overhead, and some of their people
climbed up and out into a rich, fine country. A large fat woman,
trying to climb out, broke the vine, however, and the remainder
of the Mandans live underground to this day.
The storyteller also had another version of the beginning of
things. At first the world was entirely water, inhabited by no
living creature but a swan, which in some unaccountable way pro-
duced a crow, a wolf, and a water hen. Through the unsparing
efforts of the crow to improve their situation the water hen was
finally sent to the bottom of the waters to fetch some earth. Tak-
ing a small quantity of this in her bill, the crow made the earth.
Later, persevering in her labor of irnproving their lot, she assumed
the form of an Indian, and made all the beasts, birds, fishes, and
insects, and became the first of all Indians.
If the aged narrator had been an Arikara, his story would have
been similar to that of the Mandan. The Arikara believed that
they together with all other living things existed first in an em-
bryo state deep within the earth. There they gradually developed,
and after many generations of patient struggle were at last suc-
cessful im their attempt to get to the surface. As they emerged,
they were directed by a Voice, which remained with them, com-
forting and guiding them until after many hardships and vicissi-
tudes they came to a fair land. Here there came to them a beau-
tiful woman the one whose voice had led them. She was Mother
Corn, the protective spirit of the agricultural tribes, and the one
who gave them their staple food grain.
As the hunters passed along they heard through the village
the sound of music crude flutes, whistles, and drums. All the
North Dakota tribes were musical, even though their product was
hampered by the limitations of their scale, which had only five
notes. Frances Densmore has placed hundreds of their songs in
notation, copies of which are published in the buUetins of the
Smithsonian Institution.
Now and then, above the sound of the music, voices raised in
wailing were heard. These came from the scaffold cemetery on
Indians and Their Predecessors 23
the prairie just outside the village, whither some had withdrawn
to lament the death of loved ones. Great mourning followed upon
a death the wailing could often be heard for miles. The Mandan
slashed themselves until their bodies were covered with blood, and
mourned for a year. In the tree or scaffold method of buriai the
one usually followed by the North Dakota tribes, the cemetery
was ordinarily situated only two or three hundred paces from the
village. The body was wrapped in blankets and placed upon the
scaffold very soon after death some say before the sun again
sank below the prairies. The Ankara and the Chippewa placed
their dead in the ground, the former resting the body in a sitting
posture, or on its side, with the knees drawn up, in a shallow
stone-lined grave. The latter people believed the spirit followed
a wide, beaten path to the west, at the end of which lay every-
thing an Indian could desire.
The Sioux thought the soul must journey after death toward
the land from which the west wind comes. They believed that
the soul did not leave the body until after nightfall. A horse was
killed beneath the tree or scaffold, in order that the spirit of the
animal might carry the spirit of the Indian to the Milky Way,
which was regarded as the pathway of ghosts. On this pathway
the spirit of the dead was met by the Old Woman with the Stick.
If he passed the proper tests, she directed him down the left fork
of the Milky Way to the Northern Lights, which were regarded
as the campfires of the departed heroes and good people of the
tribe. If he could not meet the tests, however, she pushed him
along the right fork over a precipice; and he and his horse were
there changed into beetle bugs forever.
The above-ground type of cemetery undoubtedly contributed
to the spread of disease. Of course, the tribes were subject to a
variety of maladies, smallpox being the most dreaded. From this
latter scourge the agricultural people suffered disastrously; the
Mandan were nearly wiped out by it in the early nineteenth cen-
tury. In the treatment of disease certain medicinal herbs were
used rather intelligently, and the vapor bath was of distinct value;
but when it came to the more severe forms of sickness, the primi-
tive sufferers called in the medicine men and trusted to their
incantations.
As the hunters, saddened by the wailing of the mourners, went
on their way, sounds of an altogether different type might have
come to them sounds of joy of a wedding in progress. The
bridegroom would have delivered) the horses with which he paid
for his bride, and the guests would be gathered at the lodge for
the feast, which usually consummated the relatively simple affairs
that courtship and marriage were among the prairie Indians. Per-
24 Survey of the State
haps the groom already had several wives the possession of 6
was a common situation, and the great men of the tribe sometimes
had as many as 14. Since the women did much of the work of
field and lodge, the acquisition of another wife was not an added
burden. Despite the existence of polygamy, however, Indian fami-
lies were not large.
The babies of the party would be seen strapped to board
cradles, where a good part of infancy was spent in those days
a life that must have had its pleasant features. In this point of
vantage a child could be set up by the side of the tipi or lodge
to enjoy the sunshine, be hung up in a tree to talk to the birds,
or be carried at the side of a horse or on the back of its mother
to look serenely over the far prairies.
At this point a courier might have detained the hunters and
delivered a message requesting the presence of some of them at a
council of the leading men of the tribe, called to consider pressing
affairs of government. Among the Plains Indians, government
varied greatly, being dependent upon a combination of custom and
tradition and the personal fitness and character of the chief. Per-
haps the latter element played a greater part in the swiftly chang-
ing life of the nomadic tribes, while among the more settled agri-
cultural peoples, tradition and the hereditary rights of chieftain-
ship had more authority. Nearly all the tribes were divided into
a number of clans or bands.
If the supply of meat was running low, and no buffalo had
been near the village for a long time, the big question before the
council might have been whether or not the tribe should conduct
the buffalo dance. The agricultural tribes did not like to go far
from the protection of their villages because of the enemy Sioux,
and often resorted to the buffalo dance, which never failed to bring
the buffalo, because it was danced until buffalo came. The dan-
cers donned buffalo skins, the head of the dancer being placed in
the head of the skin so that the eyes looked out as the buffalo's
had; the horns projected above the head, and the tail dragged on
the ground. Thus garbed, they danced in the center of the village,
going through all the antics of the buffalo. During the days of the
buffalo dance, the yelping of the people and the beating of drums
was continuous and deafening. Each dancer danced until exhaust-
ed, and then the others shot him with blunt arrows; whereupon
he was dragged to one side, and theoretically skinned and cut up.
Other dancers replaced those thus removed, and the dance was kept
up until buffalo came. Sometimes the Sioux out on the prairie put
on buffalo hides and decoyed the villagers forth to be ambushed.
The ceremony of the rain makers was another that was always
effective because it was continued until the desired results were
Indians and Their Predecessors 25
achieved. Evidently there were droughts in those days, too, and
the fields of Mandan corn withered in the hot summer suns. Cat-
lin tells the story of one rain maker, who, mounting his lodge and
vaunting his powers, called upon the clouds to bring rain. Just
as he was 7 about to retire in failure and disgrace, out of a clear
sky came apparent thunder. The sound, however, turned out to be
a salute fired by the steamer Yellowstone on her first trip up the
Missouri. At first nonplussed, the rain maker finally made capital
out of this coincidence when, later in the day, a large cloud jutted
up on the horizon, and a heavy rain began and continued far into
the night.
The council might have been considering also the conducting
of the yearly feast of Okeepa, the most important of all Mandan
ceremonies. This centered about the legend of the Ark and the
First Man, and was regarded as being an essential part of the
origin and existence of the tribe. It took place in the summer-
time, usually lasting about four days.
The feast of Okeepa contained many features common to the
sun dance of the other Plains tribes, particularly the element of
self-torture. Skewers were thrust through the loose flesh of the
dancer's chest, thongs attached, and the dancer thereby hauled up
toward the roof of the council lodge until his body was six. or
eight feet off the ground. Often other skewers were thrust through
the skin of the back, and weights attached by thongs and allowed
to drag over the floor of the lodge as the dancer swung about the
pole. Thus suspended, the warrior boasted of his prowess and
bravery until he was released by the breaking of the flesh. This
torture was thought necessary to secure the blessings of food, shel-
ter, protection from enemies, and long life.
While the hunters were away, some of the women, engaged in
the immemorial food-getting practice of fishing, went out on the
river in the tublike bullboat so-called because it was made from
the skin of a single buffalo bull, stretched over a willow frame.
Others went along the bluffs and through the valleys, digging tip-
sin roots, and gathering berries, cherries, and plums.
But probably by far their most important occupation economi-
cally was their work in the gardens. As far back as their tradi-
tions go, the tribes of the Missouri Valley seem to have been agri-
culturists. Along the river each family kept a field or garden,
variously estimated at from one to four or five acres in size. These
fields were held by the family with a sort of perpetual lease from
the community, the term of the lease being dependent only on the
condition that good use be made of the land. There was apparent-
ly no concept of the white man's practice of fertilizing the soil;
when an old field grew impoverished, a new one was selected. A
26 Survey of the State
fence of forked sticks protected the crops from horses, while here
and there on the outskirts of the fields a sentry brave was on duty
to guard the women from the ever dreaded Sioux. Aiding the
women were a few old men, too feeble for the chase. A variety of
tobacco, several varieties of sunflowers, squashes, pumpkins,
and beans, and a dozen varieties of corn grew in the gardens.
Early travelers say the ears of corn were extraordinarily small.
The keepers of the gardens were very faithful in caring for
the growing plants, and took great pride in keeping the soil free
from weeds. They worked among the corn with the willow rake,
the antler fork, and, probably most important of all, the shoulder-
blade hoe. In each garden stood a platform or watchtower upon
which in certain seasons sat one or two Indian women, whose duty
it was to frighten away marauding crows and blackbirds. These
women also sang watchtower songs to the growing corn, as a mother
sings to her babe.
When the hunters and the berry pickers and the gardeners re-
turned home, surplus corn, meat, squashes, and other foods were
placed on the drying racks which stood at the doors of the lodges.
Corn that was allowed to ripen was usually stored in underground
bottle-shaped caches or storage pits, the best ears being placed
around the edges of the cache, while in the center were thrown
loose corn and strings of dried squash.
As evening came on, within the dome-shaped lodges there was
much feasting, especially if it was the time of the new corn. The
doorway of a lodge was protected by a kind of porch and hung
with a buffalo hide. From behind the windshield' just inside the
doorway shone the light of the fire, which was built in a stone-
lined depression in the center of the lodge, with a hole in the roof
to carry off the smoke. This opening also served as a skylight.
To the right of the doorway, in a small corral or stall, were the
favorite ponies, safely confined for the night. Boxlike beds for
the master of the house, his wife or wives, and his children, were
arranged along the wall on the other side. These were made by
covering sturdy wooden frames with hides. In the rear stood an
altar a tall hide-covered structure somewhat resembling a cano-
pied chair in which were placed all the sacred objects and most
prized possessions of the head of the house. Over the fire about
which the family or families had gathered usually two or three
families and their relatives lived in one lodge were kettles of
food cooking for the evening meal. Catlin says the Indians ate
whenever hungry, or about twice a day. The pot was kept boil-
ing, and each one helped himself. Anyone in the village who was
hungry was free to go into any lodge and satisfy his hunger, al-
though the lazy and improvident were scorned.
Indians and Their Predecessors 27
Overhead, the light from the fire flickered on the huge- sup-
porting uprights of the lodge, where hung articles of clothing,
tools from the garden, and weapons for war and hunting. Months
before, with infinite labor and no little ingenuity, and hampered
by the imperfections of the crude tools and equipment at their
command, these early Dakota farmers had cut great cottonwood
logs from the Missouri bottomlands and dragged them to the top
of the bluffs, to form the framework for this earthen home. The
lodges varied from 30 to 90 feet in diameter. After a little sod
had been removed from a space of the desired size, to form a
smooth, firm floor, four heavy posts were fixed upright not far
from the center, to support the great roof, while at some distance
out from these a circle of smaller posts was set to hold up the
sides. Rafters of moderate-sized timbers were placed over these
supports, after which the whole was overlaid with willows, hay,
and earth a humble covering that guarded with all its passive,
effective impenetrability against both the sweltering heat of sum-
mer and the intense cold of winter.
Out on the prairies, sometimes along the shores of rivers or
lakes, sometimes on the open plain, stood the tipi villages of the
enemy the nomadic Assiniboin and Sioux. Against the evening
sky the tipis, which required about 15 buffalo hides each in their
construction, rose as much as 25 feet in height. A tipi approxi-
mately 15 feet in diameter usually accommodated two families.
Not far from the village, and very carefully guarded, grazed
the pony herd. The horse was of great importance in the no-
madic way of living. He carried the tipi and its contents across
the plains and sped the hunters in their pursuit of the buffalo.
Every warrior had two, some many more; and Sioux horsemen were
probably as daring and expert' as any the world has known.
The serviceability of the horse was increased by the use of the
travois, a simple implement of transportation consisting of two
long poles, often tipi poles, whose forward ends, joined by a short
strap, rested on the animal's neck, while the rear ends dragged
along the prairie. Camp duffle was strapped to the middle of the
poles. A similar but smaller, device was placed on dogs.
Gathered about the campfires were the warriors, men of strik-
ing physique and strong character, perhaps just in from the chase
or war or a pillaging expedition. The clothing of the nomadic
tribes was more extensive than that of the agricultural. Mocca-
sins, separate trouser legs, breechcloth, and leather shirt were sup-
plemented in cold weather by buffalo robes. The women wore
moccasins, short decorated leggings, and loose-fitting leather dress-
es falling to the knees. In winter both sexes wore a kind of hood
over the head. Clothing was commonly ornamented with bead and
quill work.
Here and there about the tipis hung bows with quivers of
arrows. As in the case of the agricultural tribes, the bow and
arrow was the chief weapon, and the Sioux were expert in its
use. Beady to hand, too, were shields, clubs, stone hammers, and
spears. It is interesting to note here that as a means of communi-
cation in peace and war the tribes made good use of the art of
signaling with fires and smoke. By this method messages were
transmitted long distances with almost incredible rapidity.
Not far from the fires some of the women were preparing for
drying the buffalo meat brought in from the chase. Others were
storing dried berries and fruits in caches, in the making and con-
cealing of which the Sioux were very skillful.
About the big fire near the center of the village the old men
and chiefs were meeting in council over some weighty matter, per-
haps the arrangements for the great annual sun dance. For this a
special lodge was prepared on the prairie, around which the whole
village pitched its camp in the form of a horseshoe facing the east.
The ceremony required several days and involved self-torture simi-
lar to that of the Mandan feast of Okeepa.
In one group about the fire an elderly man was relating the
history of the tribe to a circle of youthful faces. Some of the
tribes kept a chronicle of their history by means of the winter
count: the council met in winter and decided on the outstanding
event of the year; thereafter the year was designated by this event,
which was often pictured symbolically on a buffalo hide.
With the history, of course, as the evening stars came out,
were mingled fancy and legend. On this night the boys and girls
heard of the great monster who breaks up the ice in the Missouri
each spring, of how one of the goose nation was shown in a dream
that her people should go south each autumn in order to avoid
the harsh winter, and of the Iktomi, the little "spidermen," who
on moonlight nights, high on hilltops, can be heard with their
tiny hammers, shaping arrowheads which they place in piles where
Indians can find them.
One of the Iktomi, who was a very excellent singer and dan-
cer, was hungry, continued the storyteller, and went into the woods
to catch some birds. Being unsuccessful in his attempts to bag
them, he invited them into his house to hear him sing. After they
had accepted his invitation, he told them that if they were to hear
his sweet voice, they must keep their eyes closed tightly. He
warned them that their eyes would turn to a blood red if they
opened them. Then he sang and danced. In his dance, however,
Indians and Their Predecessors 29
as he passed each bird, he took it by the head and wrung its
neck. This continued until he came to Siyaka, the duck. Siyaka
opened his eyes just as the Iktomi seized him, and managed to break
away. But where the Iktomi had his hand about his neck there was
a red ring which is there to this day, and Siyaka is now the ring-
necked duck.
The thunderbirds, so ran another tale of the aged storyteller,
live suspended between heaven and earth, their wings supported
by lightning. Above are the dark clouds. Below is the earth. When
the thunderbirds shake their wings favorably, it rains. There was
a time when they tired of living between heaven and earth, and
asked the Great Mystery if they might become men and live on
earth. This the Great Mystery gave them permission to do, but
told them that they should become men such as no other men were.
Accordingly, they became giants so large that one living on the
Big Muddy could reach the Atlantic Ocean in a single step. One
of them playfully took up a handful of earth, and the waters
flowing into the depression formed Lake Superior, while the hand-
ful of earth which he tossed aside made a mountain. They dug
a ditch to the Gulf of Mexico, and it is now called the Mississippi
River. Such antics finally produced all the lakes and rivers. At
last the thunderbird men grew old and died, and went back to
the spaces between heaven and earth. Lightning is the fire from
their eyes, and thunder the reverberation from their eggs as they
hatch.
While the night settled darker and a breath of cool air stole in
from the prairie, the storyteller told of the great giant who lives
in the North and whose name is Wasiya. The feathers of his
bonnet are icicles, and his clothing is of ice. When he blows his
breath, it turns cold and winter comes.
Later, as strange lights began to play far away in the northern
sky, the narrator told the story, heard from the Chippewa, of the
Northern Lights. A woman in a dream once visited the land
where these lights shine, and discovered that they are ghosts
rising and falling in the steps of a dance. All the women wear
gay colors, and the warriors brandish their war clubs.
The boys and girls heard, too, of the beautiful Indian maiden
who came from the land of the setting sun and brought the Sioux
the pipe of strange red stone, which is the solidified blood of
Indians. She told them to use the pipe only when there is peace,
or peace to be made, and in times of sickness and distress; and
urged them to be kind to the women because they are weak. She
is now the morning star, the Indians' sister, and stands in the
heavens, wearing a white buffalo robe. The boys and girls were
told, too, as the darkness deepened out on the prairies, that the
30 Survey of the State
earth is the Indians' Mother, and the sun their Father. There-
fore, they should treat kindly and with reverence all things in
earth and sky, because they are manifestations of Wakantanka,
the Great Mystery, or the Great Spirit, to whom the Indians pray.
DECLINE OF THE INDIAN TRIBES
Shortly after the Verendrye visit the Mandan seem to have
declined. When Lewis and Clark came up the Missouri in 1804,
the villages about the Heart River were in ruins. Farther up the
river, near where it is joined by the Knife, the explorers found
the Mandan, diminished by smallpox and by wars with the Assini-
boin and the Dakota to two small villages. In 1837 smallpox again
broke out, reducing the tribe from 1,600 to 150 some travelers
give even a lower figure. At the beginning of the twentieth cen-
tury it numbered about 250.
The other agricultural tribes seem to have suffered fates al-
most as harsh. The Hidatsa, numbering 2,100 at the time of the
Lewis and Clark visit, had been reduced at the beginning of the
present century to less than 500. In 1804 the Arikara, crowded by
the Sioux, had moved up the river nearer to the other agricul-
tural tribes. Lewis and Clark found them in three villages between
the Grand and Cannonball Rivers in what is now North and South
Dakota. At that time they numbered 2,600, but this figure had
dropped to 380 by the beginning of the twentieth century. The
Cheyenne village on the Missouri, some distance below the site of
Bismarck, was in ruins at the time of the expedition. Successive
migrations finally brought the Cheyenne to the headwaters of the
Cheyenne River in the southwestern part of present South Dakota.
The agricultural tribes on the whole have been very friendly
to the whites. In 1870 a large reservation, which has since been
much reduced in size, was set apart at the junction of the Missouri
and the Little Missouri Rivers for the Mandan, Arikara, and
Hidatsa (see Side Tour 3 A). Since the beginning of the century
their numbers have increased by large percentages and at the pres-
ent time they number approximately 1,650. The remnant of those
Cheyenne who lived in North Dakota are now on reservations in
south central Montana and in? Oklahoma.
The nomadic tribes, especially the Sioux, did not take as kindly
to the white invasion as did the agricultural groups. However, the
principal disturbances involving this tribe the Minnesota Massacre
of 1862, which extended to Abercrombie within the limits of present
North Dakota; Sibley's campaign to the Missouri in 1863; Sully's
expeditions into Dakota in 1863-64; and the battle of the Little Big
Horn in 1876, when Gen. George A. Custer and five companies of
cavalry were wiped out none of these major conflicts involved the
Indians and Their Predecessors 31
Sioux as a whole, but rather one or more of the seven Council
Fires, as they call their tribal divisions. These seven groups are the
Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Sissseton, and Wahpeton, who inhabited
the region about Lake Traverse and the Big Sioux River and east to
the Mississippi; the Yankton and Yanktonai, who lived along the
course of the James River; and the Teton, who dwelt west of the
Missouri. The four Council Fires first named were responsible for
the uprising and massacre in Minnesota in 1862, in which about 400
settlers and 100 white soldiers lost their lives. Sibley and Sully
were sent into Dakota Territory in 1863-64 to punish the perpetra-
tors of this massacre, but although they punished Sioux, they prob-
ably did not punish the offending bands (see HISTORY).
While all the Sioux were bitter in their objection to the whites,
it was the Teton, or prairie Sioux, whose seven bands constituted
more than one-half the tribe, who were the most unremitting in
their hostility. These bands were the Ogallala, Brule, Hunkpapa,
Blackfeet, Minneconjou, Sans Arcs, and Two Kettle. Of these the
Hunkpapa and Ogallala were the most numerous. They were also
probably the most inflexible in their determination not to yield
to white sovereignty, and formed the backbone of the Indian op-
position in the disasters at Fort Phil Kearney in Wyoming and at
the Little Big Horn in Montana.
The other North Dakota nomadic tribes did not give the new-
comers as much trouble as did the Sioux. The Assiniboin were a
wandering people, less certain of fixed habitation than the Sioux
and Chippewa. In spite of the uncertainty of their lives and their
constant warfare with the Sioux, in the early part of the nine-
teenth century they numbered about 1,200 lodges. Not long after-
ward they were reduced by a plague of smallpox to less than 400
lodges.
The Chippewa made a treaty with the Government in 1815
after the border troubles incident to the War of 1812, and have
since remained peaceful, almost all residing on reservations or
allotted lands within their original territory in Michigan, Wiscon-
sin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. At the close of the eighteenth
century there were perhaps 25,000 Chippewa, while at the begin-
ning of the twentieth there were in the neighborhood of 30,000,
approximately 1,000 of whom were in North Dakota.
The nomadic tribes now living in North Dakota are on three
reservations. Nearly 1,000 Sioux are at Fort Totten (see Side Tour
6A), while Standing Rock (see Side Tour SC) has about 1,600 on
the North Dakota side. Six thousand three hundred thirty-four
Chippewas, most of whom are of mixed blood, live on the Turtle
Mountain Reservation (see Tour 5). The members of the Assini-
boin tribe now live on reservations in Montana and Canada.
32 Survey of the State
NORTH DAKOTA INDIAN TRIBES TODAY
Present-day North Dakota Indian life offers a vastly different
picture from that which the Verendryes saw in 1738, or that which
three-fourths of a century later presented itself to Lewis and
Clark. The lives of the groups on the various reservations bear
many points in common. They have all been brought very quickly
from the age of stone and thrust precipitately into the bright light
of the modern world. They are all survivors of Indian nations
whose ranges once extended from the forests of the Great Lakes
to the Rockies, and from the prairies of western Canada to the
Platte. Now on much restricted areas and amid a complex and
alien culture they are endeavoring to build homes and rear chil-
dren in a manner that will at once accord with the limitations set
by the dominant white race, and yet retain what they feel is
worthy in their own cultures and traditions.
In spite of these fundamental similarities the material life of
the Indians on the various reserves presents not only a mingling
of white and Indian cultures, but also somewhat wide differences
in economic status. With the exception of that done at Fort Ber-
thold little farming is carried on, a situation not generally due to
lack of land; while more than 6,000 Indians at Turtle Mountain
are crowded into 72 square miles, and while the present homes of
all of the tribes are rather infinitesimal in comparison with their
former wide ranges, most of them do not lack space for farming.
However, particularly at Standing Rock, a certain antipathy for
the white man's settled mode of life, coupled with semiarid con-
ditions unfavorable to agriculture, have discouraged efforts along
that line.
The land has been allotted in severalty for the most part, and
the concept of individual ownership has in general been adopted,
although there is a movement in the Standing Rock area to return
to the communal form. A small amount of grazing and timber
land is held tribally at Fort Berthold and Standing Rock, and the
latter reservation has a tribal herd of l,500i cattle. Much Indian
land is rented to whites for grazing or farming.
The relatively superior economic situation of the Fort Berthold
Indians is doubtless due to the ancient agrarian background of the
tribe. Long centuries of farming fitted them for ready adjustment
to the agricultural life of the reservation. A general view of the
farming section of their area presents an aspect not greatly unlike
that of any other farming section in a similar territory. While
many of them live in log houses of two to four rooms, others live
in better buildings than those of the average rural district. Homes
on the other reservations vary from primitive shacks and log
Indians and Their Predecessors 33
cabins to modern dwellings, and are usually clustered about agen-
cies or subagencies. In summertime many of the Indians, showing
a longing for the old tipi life, live in tents placed in their yards,
and cook over open fires. Wikiups, improvised shelters of willows,
are also used in fair weather.
Although the primitive food-gathering methods of hunting and
fishing have no great economic value at the present time, the In-
dians still make use of their traditional knowledge of certain native
foods and simple ways of preserving them. They dry much of
their food, especially meat and vegetables. Among the Fort Ber-
thold Indians one may still be offered pemmican, corn balls, butter
from marrow, sausage, and tripe. Mint and balm leaves for tea,
chokecherries, berries, red bean and tipsin roots, and wild onions,
artichokes, and plums are still added to the larder. Rattlesnake
oil, skunk oil, sweet grass, cedar tree needles, and wild sage are
used as medicines. In addition the Sioux at Standing Rock make
wakmiza wasna by pounding corn meal and raisins into beef tal-
low, and forming the whole into small cakes. Wojapi is made of
chokecherries, June berries, and flour, and some women add a little
sugar to make a kind of pudding. Wild beans are taken from
caches where they have been stored by mice, the supplies thus
removed always being replaced with corn. Kinnikinik or killiklik,
a mixture used for smoking, is made of dried and shredded red
willow bark, sprinkled with tobacco.
Some basketry is still made, and most of the Indian groups
do tanning and very good beadwork. Porcupine quills, horse hair,
and feathers are employed in the designs in embroidery, and elk
teeth, shells, colored clays, and weasel tails are used for adorn-
ments. Objects of Indian art are on display and for sale at the
annual fairs on the reservations, and usually can be purchased at
the agencies or subagencies.
Complicating the struggle for existence for most of the tribes
is the prevalence of tuberculosis, of which one-third of the people
at Standing Rock are said to be victims. Trachoma also is com-
mon. In spite of these facts, however, the tribes are gaining rapid-
ly in numbers, with an average birth rate more than twice as high
as the death rate.
The Government has sought to aid the Indian in his transition
to the new culture by giving him a part in the realm of political
relations. All the reservations have native police, employed by
the Government; and Standing Rock has two Indian police judges,
who hear all cases and pass sentence on all minor Indian violations
of law. At Turtle Mountain there are no Government restrictions
in the use of land and stock, and the tribe has complete charge
of property. All the Indian groups except that at Fort Totten
34 Survey of the State
have tribal councils, which, while their legal powers are not great,
have considerable weight in an advisory capacity.
The acceptance by the tribes of the white man's fundamental
educational principle of daily formal schooling has had a large
part in their assimilation. Mission schools established by the va-
rious churches frequently brought the first formal education to
the Indians, and most of the groups are still served by such schools.
Small and large Government schools have been provided to give
the Indian child the same educational opportunity as that afforded
the white. Fort Totten and Turtle Mountain both have consoli-
dated Indian schools, and a boarding school offering high school
work is maintained at Wahpeton.
In spite of their work in these schools and the fact that they
are fast becoming fluent speakers of English, in most instances
the Indians are retaining their native tongues. An exception to
this is at Turtle Mountain, where due to intermarriage of French
and Indian the Algonquian mother tongue of the Chippewa is dying
out.
While doubtless many ancient habits and customs are retained,
such as those pertaining to marriage, formal tribal ceremonies do
not appear to be conducted to any great extent at the present
time. Marriage assumes the Christian form, and the Christian re-
ligion has been generally adopted, with the Catholic, Episcopalian,
and Congregational faiths most commonly represented. The ancient
tribal religions still exert a powerful influence, however a fact
especially evident at such times as the performance of the annual
Arikara ceremonies on the Fort Berthold Reservation and the year-
ly sun dance of the Chippewa at Turtle Mountain. The large sun
dance held at Little Eagle in South Dakota in 1936 by the Sioux
of the Standing Rock Agency was the first conducted by that tribe
in more than 50 years.
The Indians often participate in the social dances, such as the
Omaha grass dance, the rabbit dance, and the hoop dance; and
dancing in native costume can be seen occasionally, particularly
during Fourth of July celebrations and at the annual fairs. The
latter are held on most of the reservations some time in September
and October. Music for the strictly Indian dancing consists of
singing accompanied by drums the small Indian hand drums or
tom-toms, and the white man's big bass drum. Formerly a large
drum of Indian manufacture was used; and rattles, string bells,
and flutelike whistles are still made.
A great many group activities center at the schools and
churches, where take place the usual athletic, social, and religious
events and gatherings found in white communities.
HISTORY
The Atlantic seaboard Colonies still constituted the American
frontier on the April day in 1682 when the intrepid Sieur de la
Salle, in the presence of a company of uncomprehending red men,
took possession of the lands drained by the Mississippi River "in
the name of the Most High, Mighty, Invincible, and Victorious
Prince, Louis the Great, by the Grace of God, King of France and
Navarre, Fourteenth of that name."
His words figuratively raised the flag of France over a vast
territory which included more than half of what is now North
Dakota. Two other European nations were to own parts of this
State, and it was to be identified with nine United States Terri-
tories before actually becoming a member of the Union in 1889.
La Salle's Proces Verbal claimed for France the vast lands in
the drainage basins of the Mississippi and its tributaries. All of
this territory was ceded to Spain in 1762, to repay her for losses
suffered as an ally of France. Adjustments of territorial posses-
sions having been made between Spain and England, however,
France "suggested" that Spain cede back the lands, which she
reluctantly did in 1800.
The Louisiana Purchase was negotiated in 1803, and the United
States came into possession of the Mississippi basin, including the
southwestern half of North Dakota. The northeastern part of the
State, drained by the Red and Souris Rivers, was acquired from
Great Britain in 1818, when a treaty fixed the Canadian-United
States boundary at the Forty-ninth Parallel
As the growth of the Nation extended westward, this State
successively became part of the Louisiana, Great Northwest, Mis-
souri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and finally
Dakota Territories. For the three years from the formation of
Minnesota to the creation of Dakota Territory, from 1858-61, almost
all of the present State lying east of the Missouri was unorganized
territory, without formal government of any kind.
Dakota Territory extended from the Canadian border to the
Forty-third Parallel, and from Minnesota and Iowa to the main
ridge of the Rockies. When Wyoming Territory was created in
1868 the present western boundary of the Dakotas was fixed, and
the southern boundary of the Territory was settled in 1882. In
the general election of 1887 residents voted that the Seventh Stand-
ard Parallel divide Dakota Territory into two States. President
Benjamin Harrison signed the bills admitting North and South
36 Survey of the State
Dakota to statehood November 2, 1889: while he signed them, both
documents were covered except for the signature space, so that it
can never be known which of the twin Dakotas is the elder.
The two States derive their names from the Santee Sioux word
dakota, which means "allies."
THE EARLY WHITE EXPLORERS
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verendrye, was the
first white man known to have entered what is now North Dakota.
Like so many others of his time, Verendrye, a French- Canadian,
was in search of the westward route to India. When the liberal
Louis XV came to the throne of France he granted Verendrye
permission to explore and claim new lands for France, in return
for which Verendrye was to receive exclusive fur trading privileges.
With a fur monopoly to back him Verendrye succeeded in obtain-
ing financial support for his venture, and in 1731 he and his party
left Montreal for the explorations which were to occupy the re-
mainder of his life.
It was in 1738 that, having established several forts in what
later became Manitoba and Saskatchewan, he decided to visit the
Indians called the Mantannes (Mandans), of whom he had heard.
Accordingly he journeyed south and west, past the Pembina and
Turtle Mountains, and eventually reached a Mandan village located
a day's journey from the Missouri. Until 1936 this village was be-
lieved by historians to have been near Sanish, but in the light of
recent discoveries at a site near Menoken, the latter is now thought
by many historians to have been the village visited by the Veren-
drye party. This theory is substantiated by the journal of Veren-
drye in which he states that he sent his sons to visit another
village on the Missouri, a day's march distant (see Tour 8).
Of this trip to the Mandans, Verendrye wrote that their vil-
lage consisted of 130 earth lodges, and added, "Their fortification
. . . has nothing savage about it." The people he described as "of
mixed blood, white and black. The women are rather handsome,
particularly the light colored ones; some have an abundance of
fair hair." But later he records that he reproved his Assiniboin
guides for telling him the Mandans were light-colored, and asserted
they had lied to him, whereupon they said the fair people of whom
they spoke wore metal (armor) and were a summer's journey
down the river.
The French party left the Mandan chief a lead tablet claiming
the land in the King's name. What became of the tablet is un-
known; a similar one, buried by a son of Verendrye on an expedi-
tion in 1743, was unearthed in 1913 at Fort Pierre, S. Dak.
History 37
This visit of Verendrye to North Dakota was his only trip into
the region. Two of his sons passed through North Dakota again
in 1742, on which expedition they reached either the Black Hills
or the Big Horn Mountains. Unable to make any satisfactory pro-
gress toward the ocean, they returned to their friends the Mandans
and thence to Fort la Reine in Manitoba.
Fifty years elapsed from the visits of the Verendryes to the
next important exploration of North Dakota. In November 1797
David Thompson, an English geographer in the employ of the Hud-
son's Bay Company, was sent out to survey the boundary and visit
the company posts. It was an unusually cold winter, and the party
suffered intensely during the 68-day journey. They explored along
the Assiniboine and Sour is Rivers and the west edge of the Turtle
Mountains, then turned southwest to the Missouri, where they
visited the Mandans and Hidatsa.
Thompson in his journal has given a thorough account of the
homes, manners, food, dress, and agricultural activities of these
Indians. He noted that, while their villages were much alike, the
Mandans were a more courteous and better behaved group. Called
"the greatest practical land geographer in history," Thompson later
helped survey the boundary line between Canada and the United
States in accordance with the Treaty of 1818. In commemoration
of his exploration of this State a monument has been erected to
him, in the shape of a large masonry sphere, at Verendrye (see
Tour 7).
The same year that Thompson explored central North Dakota,
Charles Chaboillez, a fur trader, came to Pembina to establish the
first North West Company post within the present boundaries of this
State. Both the Hudson's Bay and the XY Companies established
posts in the same vicinity in 1801, and with three great companies
in deadly competition, life at Pembina was colorful and dangerous.
Excusing their own lack of scruples on the grounds of competition,
the companies bought furs with liquor, giving rum to the Indians
until they agreed to sell or until they were too stupefied to know
when the pelts were taken from them.
Three years after the establishment of Chaboillez's post, Alex-
ander Henry, a partner in the North West Fur Company, built a
post on the Red River near the mouth of Park River, and shortly
afterward moved down to the mouth of the Pembina. He made
frequent trips to the Grandes Fourches (Grand Forks) and estab-
lished depots there and in the Hair Hills, or Pembina Mountains.
On one occasion he made a trip to the Missouri to visit the Man-
dans, and his journal says of their farming methods: "The whole
view was agreeable and had more the appearance of a country
inhabited by a civilized nation than by a set of savages."
38 Survey of the State
Liquor flowed freely at the Henry post. Traders found it
profitable to deal with Indians who were in a drunken stupor.
Henry's journal gives evidence that brawls were an everyday oc-
currence. One entry reads: "Feb. 9, 1806. Men and women have
been drinking a match for three days and nights, during which it
has been drink, fight drink, fight drink, and fight again guns,
axes, and knives their weapons very disagreeable." Henry left
Pembina in 1808 for the Saskatchewan River.
At his post were born North Dakota's first two children of
other than Indian parentage. The first, the daughter of Pierre
Bonza, Henry's Negro servant, who had formerly been a slave in
the West Indies, was born March 12, 1802.
The first white child was born December 29, 1807, to the "Ork-
ney Lad", a woman who had worked at the post for several years
in the guise of a man, until the birth of the child betrayed her sex.
Abandoned by the father of the child, John Scart, she remained at
the post until a collection was taken up and she and the baby sent
back to her home in the Orkney Islands.
President Jefferson for some time had been eager to have a
party explore the Missouri, cross the Rockies and reach the Pacific.
In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase facilitated completion of his plans,
and his secretary, Capt. Meriwether Lewis, with a friend, Capt.
William Clark, started out on the journey of exploration.
On October 13, 1804, the expedition came up the Missouri
River into what is now North Dakota. Near the present site of
Stanton, where the Knife River joins the Missouri, Lewis and Clark
discovered villages of the Mandans and Hidatsa. Having been well
received, they decided to establish winter quarters. Fort Mandan
was built and the flag of the United States of America raised for
the first time on North Dakota soil. It was here that the ex-
plorers secured the services of Charbonneau, the French interpreter,
and his wife Sakakawea, the Shoshone Indian girl who guided
them successfully through the Rockies to the Pacific (see BIS-
MARCK).
After spending the winter with the friendly Indians, the ex-
pedition in April 1805 set out along the river again, following its
course into Montana. Their journey through the mountains to the
Pacific, led by Sakakawea, is one of the most thrilling adventures
in American history.
The party returned in September 1806 to the Hidatsa village
on the Missouri where Lewis and Clark, taking leave of their
faithful guide, set out for St. Louis and home. The careful ob-
servations recorded in the journals of their party are a valuable
contribution to the history of this region.
History 39
Lewis and Clark were not the only explorers to visit the Mis-
souri region in the early nineteenth century. A decade before
they came traders were already ascending the river, and in the
succeeding year naturalists and military men added their presence
to the growing, if transient, white population. Among the many
who left interesting records of their explorations and travels were
Charles le Raye, who spent three years as a captive of the Brule
Sioux; Manuel Lisa, one of the most important fur traders on the
upper Missouri; Gen. William Ashley, Col. Henry Leavenworth,
and Gen. Henry Atkinson, who subdued the Arikara; and Wilson
P. Hunt of the Astorian Overland Expedition. Two royal adven-
turers visited here: Paul Wilhelm, Prince of Wurttemberg, who
is said to have taken Sakakawea's son back to Germany with him;
and Maximilian, Prince of Wied, who brought with him the Swiss
artist Carl Bodmer, whose paintings preserve much of the life and
customs of the Mandans. George Catlin, a native artist, was aboard
the first steamboat to reach the Yellowstone. He painted and wrote
about the Missouri Indians, and left hundreds of pictures of their
life. John James Audubon, noted naturalist, spent several months
in present North Dakota studying the larger types of North Ameri-
can mammals.
ON THE FRONTIER
The earliest attempt at colonization in this State was the
Selkirk settlement in 1812 at Pembina in the Red River Valley.
The Earl of Selkirk had arranged for the transportation of a group
of evicted Scotch and Irish peasants to the Hudson Bay region in
Canada, and some of the emigrants had followed the Red River
south and settled at Pembina. The fur traders in that vicinity,
however, were not eager to have the wild country inhabited. They
made life miserable for the Selkirk settlers, and finally succeeded in
driving most of the newcomers out.
Among the fur companies of that time were two famous com-
petitors, the Hudson's Bay and the North West Companies. Others
were the Missouri Fur Company, Chouteau and Berthold, North-
western, Columbia, and Sublette & Campbell, the latter company
establishing a post, Fort William, on the site later occupied by
Fort Buford military post. John Jacob Astor established the
American Fur Company, and for years Fort Union, on North Da-
kota's western border, was that company's principal post (See
Side Tour 6B.)
Some of northeastern North Dakota's most noted pioneers came
into this region as fur traders. Joseph Rolette was sent 'to Pern-
bina by the American Fur Company in l'842. A member of the
Minnesota Territorial Legislature, he was responsible for keeping
40 Survey of the State
the capital at St. Paul. Norman Kittson, who established a fur
trading post at Pembina in 1843, became the first postmaster, in
1851, in what is now North Dakota. He, too, was a member of
the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. Charles Cavileer, while not
a fur trader, was a contemporary of these men, and acted as col-
lector of customs at Pembina.
The coming of settlers marked the decline of the fur trade,
but at its height it had been colorful. Lewis Crawford, a North
Dakota historian, has written:
"In this early race for empire none except fur seekers
entered. Their rhythmic paddle blades swished up every
stream of the West to its rivulet head; every mountain-
height and forbidding gorge knew their intrepid feet . . .
Every nationality had a part . . . These were the true path-
finders, the true explorers, the heralds of empire. Their
fur-laden vessels floating down the familiar waters of the
Missouri and its tributaries represented the wealth, the
adventure, the romance of the Northwest."
In the time of the fur trader the Missouri River, the "Smoky
Water" of the Indians, was navigable, though as turbulent and
capricious as it; is today. It was the highway of the trader and
later of the gold seeker. The first steamboat to navigate the Mis-
souri through North Dakota was the Yellowstone, which in 1832
ascended the river to Fort Union. To operate a boat on this river
required great skill.
Famous pilots in the heyday of the steamboat who wrestled
with the wiles of the Missouri included Joseph LaBarge, Grant
Marsh, and C. J. Atkins. In 63 years as a pilot Grant Marsh wreck-
ed but one boat on the Mississippi and never had a wreck on the
Missouri or Yellowstone.
The yellow gleam of gold, discovered in Montana in 1863 and
1864, drew a rush of prospectors. The railroads had not yet pene-
trated this territory, and the Missouri was the pathway to the
gold fields. Precious cargoes of yellow dust floated down through
Dakota, bound for St. Louis. It is said that one boat, the Luella,
carried gold dust to the value of $1,250,000 down the river in 1866.
It was not the coming of the railroads to Bismarck in 1873
that marked the decline of the steamboat on the Missouri, but
rather the extension of the railroad westward to Montana in 1883.
The Red River of the North was the important channel of traffic
for northeastern North Dakota. Steamboats were not as numerous
as they were on the Missouri, nor were they operated at such an
early date. Fleets of barges and scows were used to transport
provisions. The steamer Selkirk commanded by Capt Alexander
History 41
Griggs, best known of Red River pilots, brought passengers down
the river to settle at Grand Forks the year after he and his crew
had unexpectedly spent the winter there (see GRAND FORKS).
In Territorial days United States military posts were numerous
but short-lived. Fort Abercrombie on the west bank of the Red
River, about 12 miles north of the site of Wahpeton, was established
in 1857. Supplies for this post were brought from St. Paul. When
the Sioux went on the warpath in 1862, Minnesota settlers sought
refuge here during a seven weeks' siege. The fort was abandoned
in 1877 (see Tour 1).
Fort Rice, on the west bank of the Missouri, came next. Gen.
Alfred H. Sully 's men cut cotton wood trees to build it in 1864.
The fort housed four infantry companies. It was to Fort Rice in
1870 that Linda Slaughter, young, talented, followed her husband,
Dr. Frank Slaughter. Her writings, depicting the frontier life,
found their way into many eastern papers, and today constitute
some of the best material on that era of State history. At Fort
Rice she buried her first-born child, her only son, in the bitter cold
of January. She heard the arrows of hostile Indians whizzing dan-
gerously near. Her luxuriant hair, which she always wore long
over her shoulders, was coveted as a scalp lock, and she came near
leaving it with the red men on one of her horseback jaunts from
the fort. A woman who could paint, write, or lecture at will, she
could also cook or nurse as the occasion demanded. In later days
she wrote the first telegram that was sent to the world from Ed-
winton, the village which became Bismarck.
Fort Rice was dismantled in 1878 when Fort Yates, to the south,
took its place. Fort Ransom on the Sheyenne was established in
1867. In 1872 Fort Seward, first called Fort Cross, was built at
Jamestown. The military reservations of Fort Abercrombie and
Fort Seward were opened to homestead entry in 1880.
Fort Totten, near Devils Lake, was constructed in 1867 and
served until 1890, when the buildings were turned over to the
Indian school. Fort Stevenson on the Missouri at the mouth of
Douglas Creek was maintained from 1867-83. Fort Buford was
built in 1866 opposite the mouth of the Yellowstone on the north
bank of the Missouri. After his surrender in 1877 Chief Joseph
was taken through Fort Buford en route to Fort Leavenworth,
Kans., and Chiefs Gall and Sitting Bull went there to surrender
after their escape into Canada (see Side Tour 6B). The fort ex-
isted officially until 1895, but sometime before its abandonment
the garrison had been transferred to Fort Assiniboine in Montana.
Established on the Red River near the site of Pembina, Fort
Pembina was maintained from 1870 to 1895. Fort McKeen, es-
tablished in 1872, became, the same year, part of Fort Abraham
42 Survey of the State
Lincoln, garrisoned until 1891. It was from Fort Abraham Lincoln
that Custer and his Seventh Cavalry marched to death and dis-
aster on the banks of the Little Big Horn in 1876 (see FORT ABRA-
HAM LINCOLN STATE PARKJ. After 25 years of occupation, Fort Yates
was abandoned in 1903, when the new Fort Lincoln was built near
Bismarck with facilities for four companies of infantry and sup-
porting detachments. (See Tour 8.)
These early forts were established to protect the settlers along
the frontier and to keep the Indians in order. It was after the
Sioux outbreak in Minnesota in 1862 that Gen. Henry H. Sibley
was sent to punish the Sioux. In June of 1863 he headed his army
west from Minnesota toward the Devils Lake region, where he
arrived to find the Indians had gone south. He pursued them and
en July 24 engaged them in battle at Big Mound about seven
miles north of the present town of Tappen. They retreated, and he
followed them to Dead Buffalo Lake, northwest of Dawson, where
July 26 another engagement was fought. Two days later he met
them again at Stony Lake northeast of Driscoll, but the Sioux
retreated rapidly and there was no fighting. Moving on toward
the Missouri, Sibley encamped on Apple Creek, seven miles east
of the present site of Bismarck, and again near its mouth. The
Sioux fled across the river.
Sibley, all along the route, had thrown up defensive earth-
works at each of his camps. All of these camp sites which were
not plowed under have been definitely located under direction of
the State historical society.
Gen. Alfred H. Sully was to have met Sibley on the Missouri,
but no contact could be made and Sibley set out for Minnesota on
August 1, 1863. Sully came up the river from Sioux City, and
was near Long Lake when he learned that Sibley had gone home
and the Sioux had recrossed the Missouri and departed for the
James River. Sully gave chase he had been sent out to fight
Indians, and fight them he would. The Battle of Whitestone Hill,
near EUendale, followed. Whether the Indians Sully fought had
taken part in the Minnesota uprising is today regarded as dubious,
but the battle is said to have been the fiercest ever fought on
North Dakota soil. The field is now marked by a monument of a
cavalry trooper (see Tour 2).
Sully returned to Sioux City but was sent back the following
year to deal out still more punishment to the Sioux. After Fort
Rice had been established a scouting detachment was sent after
the evasive red men, and soon reported Sioux near Killdeer Moun-
tain. Here an engagement was fought July 28, 1864, in which the
Indians were severely punished, although afterwards it developed
that few of them were Minnesota Sioux.
History 43
The troops proceeded up the Little Missouri, where Indians
were discovered near Medora. With difficulty Sully traversed 12
miles of Badlands buttes and gullies, continually harassed by the
sniping fire of Indians along the route. The fighting of this day
is known as the Battle of the Badlands. Following this encounter
Sully reached the Yellowstone and returned down the Missouri.
Before he arrived at Fort Rice, he was informed that Capt.
James L. Fisk, with a party of immigrants, was hi danger. Fisk, who
had made expeditions through North Dakota in 1862 and 1863, on
this trip followed Sully's trail, and in the Badlands was attacked
September 1 by Indians, with the loss of several men. During the
next few days several other attacks were made, although no one
was killed. Messengers were sent to Sully for aid, and meanwhile
the party threw up what fortifications they could in the form of
sod walls, and, awaited help. After several days the soldiers ar-
rived and brought the immigrants back to Fort Rice, whence most
of them returned to their homes. The remains of their impromptu
fortification, known as Fort Dilts, can still be seen (see Tour 9).
One of the most valuable expeditions made through this State
was the Stevens Survey of 1853, sent out to discover the most ad-
vantageous routes to the Pacific for future railroads. The party
was financed by a Federal appropriation, and the northern route,
through present North Dakota, was under the direction of Gen.
I. I. Stevens.
The guide on this expedition was Pierre Bottineau, one of the
outstanding personalities in the history of North Dakota and Min-
nesota during this period. Of him it has been written that
"It was the guide Bottineau who walked from Winni-
peg to St. Paul with James J. Hill, it was the scout Botti-
neau who headed Jay Cooke's first Northern Pacific survey
across the continent, it was the chief Bottineau who gave
his name to Bottineau County, and it was the gambler Bot-
tineau who had three queens in his hand, staked Nicollet
Island, and lost."
In 1871 the Whistler expedition went up the Little Missouri
and into Montana in search of the most practical route for a rail-
road to the Pacific. Two years later the Stanley expedition, ac-
companied by a large military escort, conducted another western
survey. Engagements with Indians cost this expedition a num-
ber of men. One Sioux, Rain-in-the-Face, claimed to have had a
part in killing two civilians on the Stanley Survey, and as a result
was imprisoned at Fort Lincoln until he escaped. He gained his
revenge at the Little Big Horn (see Side Tour 8C).
The Northern Pacific Railway received its charter from the
Government in 1864. Magnificent Federal land grants were made:
44 Survey of the State
still the road found it difficult to raise the necessary capital to
finance the venture, and Jay Cooke & Company undertook the
sale of Northern Pacific securities.
On the last day of the year 1871 the line was completed to the
Red River at Moorhead, and early in March of the next year it
was extended to Fargo. Cooke went into bankruptcy after the
financial panic of 1873, but was able to obtain private funds to
complete the road to the Missouri that year. Bismarck remained
the western terminus of the line until 1879. During the next two
years rails were laid to the Montana border, completing the line
across the entire State.
In 1870, just before the advent of the railways, the estimated
white population of present North Dakota was not more than five
hundred. Pembina County, extending the length of the Red River
Valley and to the western population limit, was the only organized
county in the State.
The Northern Pacific was completed to the Pacific Coast in
1883. Squatters preceded the railroad, settlers followed it, trying
to guess future town sites so they could force the company to buy
them out at the most profitable price.
The Great Northern was the second important railroad to come
into the State. By 1882 James J. Hill, the "Empire Builder," had
extended a line up the Dakota side of the Red River to Canada.
Hill had a vision of a great railroad connecting the Pacific Coast
with the Great Lakes, whence produce could be cheaply trans-
ported to New York. Construction began in 1880 and the Great
Northern was extended westward across northern North Dakota
and in 1893 reached the Coast.
The railroads linked Dakota with the East and civilization,
but to the west was the frontier. Here Sioux warriors were be-
ginning to resent the encroaching whites and the appropriation of
their hunting grounds. It was imperative, therefore, that soldiers
be kept at Fort Abraham Lincoln.
To understand the campaign of 1876 against the Sioux, in
which Gen. George A. Custer met his tragic end, it is necessary
to go back to the Indian treaty of 1868. The Government by this
pact promised to abandon and destroy Forts Reno and Phil Kearney
in Wyoming and Fort Smith in Montana. This having been done,
the Sioux were guaranteed their freedom in the territory between
the North Platte and the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. But,
when gold was discovered in the Black Hills by a Government
reconnaissance expedition under Custer in the summer of 1874,
white settlers and prospectors begged for admission to the coveted
territory. Military guards at first attempted to keep them out,
FLICKERTAIL
Photo by Russell Reid
A MODERN
INDIAN
P?ioto by Russell Reid
SCAFFOLD BURIAL, FORMERLY USED BY SOME INDIAN TRIBES
History 45
but when the Indians refused in a treaty council in 1875 to sell
or lease land to miners, the Government withdrew the guard and
settlers poured in by thousands.
Government officials were well aware, when the treaty of 1868
was violated, that an Indian war was inevitable; but although
the Government had clearly brought the war down on its own
head, it sought the appearance of righteousness.
It was the practice of many Indians to leave their reservations
because they wanted to hunt or visit, or because the practices of
dishonest agents made life on the reservation unbearable. The
Department of the Interior sent out orders for all Indians to be
back on their reservations at a certain date, but for many it was
impossible to return within the time limit set. The Department
designated these people as "hostiles" and turned them over to the
War Department, which now had a pretext for taking punitive
action.
The campaign of 1876 was planned to force the Indians onto
reservations, in order to obtain the relinquishment of the Black
Hills. Generals Crook and Gibbon, with their forces, were to meet
Generals Terry and Custer with their troops near the Rosebud
River in Montana. All were then to move southward against the
Indians who were in the hills along the Rosebud and the Little
Big Horn.
On the morning of May 17, 1876, the eastern division of the
expedition started out from Fort Abraham Lincoln. The cavalry
marched about the parade grounds to the tune of Garry Owen,
then set out to the strains of The Girl I Left Behind Me. Mrs.
Custer accompanied her husband on the first day's ride, returning
to the fort as the troopers continued west.
The tragic outcome of the Battle of the Little Big Horn is well
known. Not a man of Custer's immediate command survived. The
reasons for the annihilation have been debated far and wide. Gen.
E. S. Godfrey, who participated in the battle as a lieutenant, in
Ouster's Last Battle summarizes the affair as follows: "The causes
of Custer's defeat were first, the overpowering number of the
enemy and their unexpected cohesion; second, Reno's panic rout
from the valley; third, the defective extraction of empty cartridge
shells from the carbines ... A battle was unavoidable."
Grant Marsh had pushed his supply steamer, the Far West,
up the Big Horn to within 15 miles of the battlefield. Reno's
wounded were placed aboard and Marsh made the trip of 710 miles
down to Bismarck in record time. At midnight July 5 the Far
West docked. Colonel Lounsberry, editor of the Bismarck Tribune
and correspondent of the New York Herald, gave the story to the
world. Mark Kellogg, special correspondent of the Herald and the
46 Survey of the State
Tribune, who had accompanied the expedition, had been killed
with Custer. Twenty-six widows wept at Fort Lincoln. With
Ouster's death the frontier era in Dakota history had ended. Al-
though Sitting Bull's forces were undefeated, they took refuge in
Canada and remained there until 1881, when they voluntarily sur-
rendered.
They were returned to the reservations. Wishing to keep
them there, the authorities took horses, saddles, and arms from
both hostile and peaceable Sioux. This move, while it did not
pacify the Indians, put an end to the Indian wars.
TERRITORIAL SOLONS AND STRATEGY
At the time of the Little Big Horn campaign Dakota's Territor-
ial Government had functioned for 15 years and was destined to
continue 13 years longer. The Territory had been organized in 1861
and President Lincoln had appointed his family physician, Dr.
William Jayne, first Governor. As first laid out the new Terri-
tory included the present States of North Dakota, South Dakota,
Montana, and Wyoming, but after a series of changes it was re-
duced in 1882 to the area of the present Dakotas.
Yankton, in the southern part of the Territory, was the capital
city, and there the first legislature met in 1862. It was an assembly
representative of every type in the Territory all with great and
varying ideas of how the ship of state was to be kept afloat.
Thirteen members composed the house, while the senate or
council had but nine. In attendance at the session for various
reasons were Jim Somers, frontiersman, "armed like an arsenal";
Father Turner of New York; George Kingsbury, newspaperman;
Dr. Walter Burleigh, later connected with the Indian Service and
the Northern Pacific Railway; and Gen. T. C. Campbell.
Territorial Dakota displayed no small interest in politics. Cam-
paigns were periods of great excitement, with long parades of ar-
dent supporters following the candidates, with cheering and shout-
ing and bragging and fighting by office seekers and votaries alike.
It took a brave man to campaign in those days. When Moses Arm-
strong ran for Congress on the Democratic ticket his friend, Gen.
T. C. Campbell, invited him into his part of the Territory to speak.
During the general's speech his hat was shot off, but his oratory
did not falter. When it came Armstrong's turn to speak he hesi-
tated about addressing such a boisterous crowd, but the general
informed him that the time to do his praying was before he
crossed the county line, not after.
County seat removals were a prime source of political interest,
and the cities in the Territory fought tooth and nail for the privi-
leges of the county capital. Stuffing ballot boxes was not un-
History 47
common, and in many instances where removal was voted the de-
feated city would refuse to give up the county records, and guards
would be posted against nocturnal raids of the courthouse vaults
by citizens of the 1 victorious town. When the Emmons County
Record defeated a plan to move the county seat from Williamsport
in 1888, it took full advantage of its success. Beneath the deco-
ration of a crowing cock heading the column, these headlines,
typical of the county seat controversies, appeared in the Record
November 9 of that year:
ELI
And Billsport Hath The
Appellation Earned,
For Lo! She Doth Get There
With Both Feet.
And She Moppeth the Earth
With the Cohorts of the Wicked.
Yea, Verily, of the Wadites,
of the Bumstedites, and
the Vanbekites,
And They Shall Gnaw a File and
Flee Into the Mountains
of Hepsidam.
FE! FI! FO! FUM!
The entire edition, in celebration of the occasion, was printed
in red ink.
Territorial Governors and other high officials were not popular
with the people. They were usually from the East and had no
interest in the country, their salaries or political advancement being
their chief concern. Just after the first legislature had adjourned
an Indian uprising disturbed the settlers. It did not take the
Governor and other officials long to quit the Territory. Moses
Armstrong, later a Congressman, wrote, "With such rapidity do
they fly, pale and breathless, that a boy could play marbles on
their horizontal coat tails."
Dakota Territory covered about 150,000 square miles and had
36 representatives in the legislature during the 1880's for its popu-
lation of 300,000. Four judges and three prosecuting attorneys ad-
ministered matters of Territorial justice.
The second legislative session was no quieter than the first.
Because of disputed delegations there were two houses one met
on the levee by the Missouri and the other on the hill above the
river. After much time had been lost the differences were com-
promised and business proceeded.
In 1863 Newton Edmunds of Yankton was appointed Governor
of Dakota, the only resident of the Territory ever to hold that
48 Survey of the State
office. The next Governor was Faulk of Pennsylvania, then fol-
lowed Burbank of Indiana, Pennington of Alabama, Howard of
Michigan, Ordway of Vermont, Pierce of New York and Illinois,
Church of New York and Indiana, and Mellette of Indiana.
The northern and southern parts of the Territory had little
in common, and they kept growing farther apart as time went on.
In the session of 1883 removal of the capital from Yankton was the
big question. Yankton wanted to keep it, Bismarck, Huron, Mit-
chell, Pierre, and Chamberlain wanted to acquire it, and Fargo
or Jamestown would have taken it if offered. A bill was finally
passed providing that the Governor appoint nine commissioners to
choose a capital city; they were to accept an offer of not less than
$100,000 and 160 acres of land on which the capitol was to be
built. The land remaining after the capitol grounds were provided
for was to be sold for the benefit of the building fund.
The commissioners named were Milo Scott of Grand Forks
County, Burleigh Spalding of Cass, Alexander McKenzie of Bur-
leigh, Charles Myers of Spink, George Mathews of Brookings, Alex-
ander Hughes of Yankton, Henry de Long of Lincoln, John P.
Belding of Lawrence, and M. B. Thompson of Clay.
The commissioners must, according to law, meet and organize
at Yankton. Feeling ran high; the city did not intend to part
with the capital without a struggle. Yanktonians awaited the
commissioners.
But unknown to the citizens of Yankton, the commissioners had
chartered a special train, leaving Sioux City April 3, at 3 a.m.
The commissioners' coach was dimly lighted as the train pulled
into the city limits of Yankton. The meeting was quickly called
to order, officers were chosen, and the meeting adjourned until
that afternoon in Canton. The train had still a half mile to go
to the city limits when the meeting was over. The commissioners
had satisfied the law, having met, organized, and adjourned in
Yankton.
The commission thereafter made the rounds of several towns,
and was royally entertained by prospective capital cities. Bis-
marck's offer of $100,000 and 320 acres of land was the best bid
received. Thus Bismarck became the Territorial capital.
The cornerstone ceremonies took place September 5, 1883.
Many high officials and prominent citizens from the East were
guests of the Northern Pacific on the Villard "gold spike" excur-
sion, and were present as guests of honor at the laying of the cor-
nerstone. Among them were Henry Villard, president of the North-
ern Pacific Railway; General Grant; General Haupt; Henry M.
Teller, Secretary of the Interior; the Hon. Sackville West, British
Minister; members of the Austro -Hungarian, the Danish, and the
History 49
Norwegian-Swedish Legations; the Imperial German Minister; Ter-
ritorial Governor Ordway; and numerous United States Senators,
Governors, and mayors.
The next great task was to convince Congress that the Terri-
tory was ready for statehood. As early as 1871 the legislature had
requested Congress to divide the Territory, and in 1874 Moses Arm-
strong, while in Congress, had petitioned that the northern part be
made into a new Territory named Pembina. Nearly every year a
petition was sent to Congress praying for admission as two States.
In 1860 it was suggested that the northern part be called North
Dakota. The Territorial legislative assembly in 1889 provided that
a constitutional convention be held for North Dakota, and Febru-
ary 22, 1889, Congress passed an enabling act for North Dakota,
South Dakota, Washington, and Montana.
Delegates to the State convention were elected May 14, 1889,
and the convention met in Bismarck July 4 of that year. A
parade in which Sitting Bull and other famous Indians participated
was part of the entertainment afforded the delegates. Election to
approve or disapprove the proposed constitution was held October
1, 1889, and as it was a certainty that the constitution would be ac-
cepted, legislators, State officials, and Congressmen were elected
at the same time. President Harrison on November 2, 1889, de-
clared North Dakota a State, and John Miller at the same moment
became first Governor of North Dakota.
Hand in hand with the political development of the Territory
had gone social and economic progress. By the time statehood was
attained farmhouses and towns had broken up the barren loneliness
of the prairies. Sod shanties, the pioneers' first homes, were being
replaced by solid frame structures. Huge bonanza farms were em-
ploying hundreds of men and using advanced farming methods
that had not yet been introduced on farms in the East (see AGRI-
CULTURE & FARM LIFE). Schools were being built in every commu-
nity. Six years before statehood one private college had been
established, and the University of North Dakota had opened its
doors and was offering courses in the arts and sciences to am-
bitious pioneer youth.
POLICIES AND POLITICS SINCE STATEHOOD
When the constitutional convention for North Dakota com-
pleted its work on August 17, 1889, the product of its labors was
a document six times as long as the Federal Constitution. Based
upon a model constitution drawn up by Prof. James Bradley
Thayer of the Harvard Law School, it contained extremely advanced
and enlightened provisions, 217 sections included in 20 articles. To
these have since been added 49 amendments.
50 Survey of the State
The civic pattern adopted was very similar to that in force in
the older States. The legislative branch in North Dakota consists
of a bicameral legislature which meets in January each odd-num-
bered year. The executive branch is headed by the Governor, who
is elected for a term of two years. He has the general veto
power and authority to reject any item in an appropriation bill.
The judicial department consists of a supreme court of five mem-
bers, elected for 10-year terms; district courts, county courts, and
justices of the peace. The State is divided into six judicial dis-
tricts, each one under an elective district judge. County courts
are courts of record concerned with such matters as probate and
guardianship, but in counties having county courts of increased
jurisdiction such courts have concurrent jurisdiction with district
courts in certain cases.
The State is divided into counties whose administrative func-
tions are carried out by boards of commissioners elected every
two years. Any city or village of 500 population or more may
choose either the commission form of government or the mayor
and council type.
The framework of government is perhaps not very different
from that .in many other States. It is the legislation in North
Dakota that has been anything but a copy of that in any sister
State, and the outcome of some of her political experiments has
often been of Nation-wide interest. The economy of the State is
preponderantly rural, and the tendency has therefore been to try
anything that seemed likely to help in the solution of the farmer's
problems.
The legislature of the State of North Dakota met for the first
time November 19, 1889. This session lasted 120 days, but the
length of all subsequent sessions was fixed by the constitution at
60 days. The first men this State sent to the United States Senate
were Gilbert Pierce of Fargo and Lyman Casey of Jamestown.
H. C. Hansbrough of Devils Lake was the first Congressman. The
supreme court had for its chief justice Guy C. H. Corliss, and
Joseph M. Bartholomew and Alfred Wallin were associate justices.
In this first session the legislature instituted a department of
agriculture for "the promotion of stock-breeding, agriculture, hor-
ticulture, manufactures and domestic arts." A school law enacted
at this session was an enlightened and detailed piece of legislation.
North Dakota had at the beginning of statehood a well- organized
school system of 1,362 public schools with 1,741 teachers; a State
university at Grand Forks; Catholic schools at Fargo, Grand Forks,
and Bismarck; a Congregational college at Fargo; a Presbyterian
college at Jamestown; and at Tower City a Baptist college, whicli,
however, failed to survive.
History 51
One of the most exciting battles of the first legislative session
was the bill to licejnse the Louisiana Lottery. Rumors circulated
to the effect that bribery was being practiced, that the lobbyists
for the lottery were making liberal offers for votes. The Gover-
nor and his friends had hired detectives from the Pinkerton Agency
to mingle with the legislators and lobbyists. When the detectives
had all the information they needed, they revealed their identity
to the lottery supporters. Fearing exposure, the lottery enthusi-
asts gave up the fight and the bill was killed.
North Dakota was faced with the drought problem during the
administration of Gov. Andrew Burke (1891-92), and the people
looked to the legislature for some solution to then- problems.
Their petitions were not at all times considered seriously. One
member offered a resolution praying Congress to pass a law estab-
lishing a scientific rain bureau and a law offering a reward to
anyone discovering a practical system of producing rainfall. The
house referred his resolution to the temperance committee.
At the beginning of statehood North Dakota had been subject
to a rather autocratic form of government in spite of decidedly
democratic constitutional provisions. The State had been econo-
mically dependent on the East. The directing powers in the early
State government were centered in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Eastern wealth had furnished capital for the railroads, and the rail-
roads had been responsible for the settlement of the State. Like-
wise, the farmer's crops had also to be sold in the East, and his
machinery and supplies must necessarily be purchased there.
At the time North Dakota was admitted to the Union the Re-
publican Party was in control. Democrats at that time in State
history and for long afterward were few and far between. These
two old-line parties were the only two worthy of note in this early
period, although the Populists polled a large vote in the first Presi-
dential election and North Dakota divided its first electoral vote,
one vote going to the Democratic, one to the Republican, and one
to the Populist candidate.
The railroads and financial interests of St. Paul and Minne-
apolis had very early begun interfering in North Dakota politics.
Judson LaMoure and Alexander McKenzie were the lords of this
era, both representing railroad interests in State politics, and the
favors they were able to bestow were a safeguard against legisla-
tion hostile to the companies. In time they came to be the pro-
tectors of other interests, including banks, insurance companies,
line elevators, and lumber companies.
The first revolt against this system came in 1892. Gov. Andrew
Burke had vetoed a bill favored by the Farmers' Alliance which
would force railroads to lease sites or rights-of-way for grain ele-
52 Survey of the State
vators and warehouses. The Farmers' Alliance, Democrats, and
Populists fused, and Eli C. D. Shortridge was elected Governor.
In Governor Shortridge's administration the legislature passed a
bill for highway improvement. Money was appropriated to en-
large the State capitol building.
The tendency of legislation during the session of 1893 was defi-
nitely toward the principles of the Populist platform. During
Shortridge's administration North Dakota attempted its first State
ownership venture. One hundred thousand dollars was appro-
priated to build a State elevator at Duluth, Superior, or West
Superior. The panic of 1893 came on and the plan was not carried
out. In 1894 Roger Allin, regular Republican, was elected Gover-
nor, and with that election the first brief rebellion against Eastern
capitalism was ended.
Governor Allin felt it necessary to veto several appropriations
hi order to keep within the probable revenue, and State institu-
tions had practically no funds for operation. In the case of the
university, salary was provided for the janitor but not for the
faculty. President Merrifield and the faculty preferred to serve
without any pay rather than close the institution, and necessary
expenditures were met by private subscription. Other institutions
were kept open in the same way.
During the administration of Gov. Frank Briggs (1897-98) the
Spanish-American War broke out. The entire National Guard vol-
unteered its services, but many members could not be accepted
because of the quota set for North Dakota. North Dakota volun-
teers took part in 30 engagements and skirmishes during the
Philippine insurrection.
Governor Briggs died in July 1898 and his term was completed
by the Lieutenant Governor, Joseph M. Devine, who later served
several years as commissioner of immigration. Both Briggs and
Devine were Republicans, and they were succeeded in 1898 by
another member of their party, Frederick B. Fancher, a leader in
the Farmers' Alliance. Fancher declined a second term, and was
succeeded by Maj. Frank White, who had served in the Philip-
pines. White found the State debt the chief problem of his ad-
ministration. He served two terms and yielded his office to E. Y.
Sarles.
Legislation during Sarles 7 term tended toward control and regu-
lation of corporations. A board was created to supervise State
banks, and the manner of organizing insurance companies in the
State was prescribed.
Sarles was defeated for reelection by "Honest John" Burke, a
Democrat, and the only Governor of this State to serve three terms.
From the governorship he left North Dakota to become United
History 53
States Treasurer under President Wilson, later served as chief jus-
tice of the North Dakota Supreme Court, remaining a member of
the court until his death in 1937. Crawford, in his history of North
Dakota, has said, "The legislative history of the Burke adminis-
trations is an instructive illustration of the ideals and motives which
were so characteristic of the [Theodore] Roosevelt era." State in-
stitutions were liberally provided for, a primary election law was
enacted, prohibition laws were enforced, schools were improved, and
various regulatory offices and boards were created.
A second revolution hi North Dakota political history was
ushered in with the election of Burke. The Progressive Republicans,
enthusiastic supporters of the so-called "LaFollette reforms," had
formed a coalition with the Democrats to elect this first Democrat
Governor of North Dakota. "It was,' 7 according to Judge Andrew
Bruce in his book The Non-Partisan League, "the revolution which
laid the foundations for the present Non-Partisan League, for in it
the farmers found a new war cry and new objects of anathema. The
war cry was 'North Dakota for North Dakotans' and the objects of
their anathema were 'Big Business, McKenzie, and McKenzieism.' "
Gov. Louis B. Hanna succeeded Burke in 1913. In 1912, a Presi-
dential election year, North Dakota's electoral votes went to Wood-
row Wilson. New apportionment gave this State three representa-
tives in Congress instead of two. Governor Hanna asserted his
belief in businesslike administration of government offices, and re-
vised the accounting methods in State departments. Throughout
this period tendencies in the State were progressive: social legis-
lation was favored; the State grew rapidly in population; new
towns were springing up; the automobile age had arrived.
Through all this ran the thread of the second political revolu-
tion which Burke's election had begun, and which was continued
through the Hanna administration. It was directed principally
against injustices in the grain trade. Farmers were incapable of
developing their own marketing facilities. Millions had been in-
vested in the mills and elevators of St. Paul, Minneapolis, and
Duluth, and in the "line" (corporation) elevator companies through-
out North Dakota. The farmers complained of unfair methods of
grading and docking their grain; they claimed that the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce was a closed corporation, and that its mem-
bers were identified with the big milling and elevator interests.
Even conservative Senator McCumber of North Dakota protested in
1916 before the United States Senate against abuses in the grain
trade.
The Equity Exchange had been organized in 1909 to act as a
farmers' general selling agency in St. Paul, but had been denied
membership in the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. The Society
54 Survey of the State
of Equity and the Equity Exchange tried to get a bill through the
1915 legislature for the establishment of a State-owned elevator,
but the attempt failed. Indignation at the defeat of the bill re-
sulted in the birth, in February 1915, of a new political party, the
Nonpartisan* League.
A. C. Townley, a genius in the art of organization, spread the
league gospel through the State. Townley had begun life in pover-
ty, had failed in a large-scale flax-growing enterprise, and had for
a time been identified with the Socialist Party. A. C. Bowen sug-
gested the formation of, the league. Charles Edward Russell was
the first editor of the newspaper, the Non-Partisan Leader, and
Walter Thomas Mills drafted many of its laws. All three of these
men were Socialists.
After winning the support of a prominent farmer, Fred Wood,
and his two sons, the movement spread rapidly. Before the end
of the first year the league had 30,000 members. Its platform
embodied five planks:
1. State ownership of terminal elevators, flour mills,
packing houses, and cold storage plants.
2. State inspection of grain and grain dockage.
3. Exemption of farm improvements from taxation.
4. State hail insurance on the acreage tax basis.
5. Bural credit banks operated at cost.
"Practical salesmanship, a program of immediate and forceful
action and the use of the Ford automobile are the factors princi-
pally explaining the rise of the Non-Partisan League," declares
Herbert Gaston in his book The Non-Partisan League.
Most of the league membership was Republican; it was there-
fore an easy step to the use of the machinery of that party. In
the primary election of June 1916 and again in the fall the league
was successful. Lynn J. Frazier became the first league-elected
Governor, and three league-endorsed candidates, R. H. Grace, James
E. Robinson, and L. E. Birdzell, were placed on the supreme court
bench.
Three hundred thousand dollars was appropriated by the legis-
lature to carry out the provisions of a Terminal Elevator Com-
mission bill, but Frazier vetoed the act, declaring the appropriation
insufficent. Among the progressive legislation enacted at this session
were bills providing for the creation of a State highway depart-
ment, land title registration (never enforced, however), increased
funds for rural schools, reduction of rate of assessments on farm
improvements to 5 percent of the true value, and guarantee of de-
posits in State, banks.
*The party name was originally spelled ' 'Non-Partisan" but through usage has
been changed to its present form.
History 55
Entry of the United States into the World War brought new
activities to North Dakota in the spring of 1917. National Guard
units were sent, a Council of National Defense was created to aid
in the work of mobilization, Liberty Bonds were sold, and the
State went $200,000 over its quota in the United War Work cam-
paign.
The World War interrupted, but did not deter, the progress
of the league program. Governor Frazier was reelected in 1918,
and seven initiated amendments were added to the State constitu-
tion, forming the basis for the league program. The law for initi-
ated petitions was changed to require only 20,000 signers; the $200,-
000 debt limit of the State was abolished and the State was
allowed to issue or guarantee bonds not to exceed $10,000,000.
The league's industrial program was established at the 1919
legislative session. The industrial commission, composed of the
Governor, the attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture
and labor, was to manage the industries and enterprises undertaken
by the State. Under authority of the new legislation, the North
Dakota Mill and Elevator Association was established. A small
mill was purchased at Drake and later a mill and elevator were
built at Grand Forks with a capacity of 3,000 barrels per day and
a storage capacity of 1,659,500 bushels (see Tour 1).
In the March primary of 1920 an unusual initiated measure
was the center of interest. It was the "recall", which provided
for the removal of any elective officers, even judges. The measure
became Article 33 of the constitution.
The elections of 1920 again saw the league victorious. In the
Republican primaries Dr. E. F. Ladd, president of the State agri-
cultural college, defeated Senator Gronna for the nomination as
United States Senator. William Langer, who had been elected
attorney general in 1916 with the endorsement of the league, op-
posed Governor Frazier in the primary and was defeated by a small
margin. Frazier and Ladd were elected in November.
Two important initiated measures were passed, one providing
for a board of auditors to audit the accounts of the State treasurer,
the Bank of North Dakota, and all State industries, the other
amending a previous measure so that although State funds and
State institution funds must be deposited in the Bank of North
Dakota, county, township, municipal, and school district funds need
not be deposited there.
In 1920 deflation of the league's boom set in. The United
States Supreme Court declared the grain grading law unconstitu-
tional. The Independent Voters Association, anti-Nonpartisan, ar-
gued that the cost of government had greatly increased under the
Nonpartisans. In the 1921 session of the legislature committees
56 Survey of the State
were appointed to investigate. The minority of the Senate com-
mittee reported that the industrial commission had practiced a policy
of favoritism in affairs of the Bank of North Dakota in distributing
public funds to private banks, so that the bank could not at that
time meet its obligations; that the commission had failed to exer-
cise proper control of the North Dakota Home Builders' Associa-
tion, so that its affairs were hopelessly muddled; that it had ap-
proved contracts between the Drake mill and private merchants,
especially the Consumers United Stores Company, a subsidiary
corporation of the Nonpartisan League, resulting in losses to the
State; that it had approved a policy of the Bank of North Dakota
by which $2,000,000 of a total $5,200,000 in live claims against sol-
vent banks were against 37 institutions mostly classed as "league
banks" or "friendly" politically; that it had allowed officers of the
bank to deposit public funds in private banks with the result that
$1,400,000 of these funds were tied up in insolvent banks.
The recall was exercised for the first time in the United States
against the governor of a State. In a special election of 1921,
Frazier was defeated by R. A. Nestos, Republican, a member of
the Independent Voters Association, or I. V. A.'s, as they were
popularly called. The other two members of the industrial com-
mission, Attorney General William Lemke and Commissioner of
Agriculture and Labor John Hagan, were also recalled. But
measures initiated to curtail the industrial program failed; Governor
Nestos had to administer a program to which his party was op-
posed. Nestos was reelected in 1922. In the same election former
Governor Frazier, running for United States Senator, defeated
J. F. T. O'Connor, Democrat, who later became comptroller of
currency under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Governor Nestos was defeated by the Nonpartisan candidate,
Arthur G. Sorlie, in the primary of 1924 while I. V. A. Republicans
won several of the State offices. Senator Ladd died in office and
a Nonpartisan newspaperman, Gerald P. Nye, was appointed to
fill the vacancy. He holds that office at the present time (1938).
When Governor Sorlie died, Walter Maddock, Lieutenant Governor,
filled out the term.
In 1928 George Shafer, an I. V. A., who had been attorney
general under Nestos, was elected Governor, and in 1930 he was
reelected.
The debt limit having been increased at various times, North
Dakota's bonded debt in 1930 was estimated to be $36,357,200;
$1,000,000 represented in capital stock of the Bank of North Da-
kota; $4,000,000 in mill and elevator construction and milling bonds;
the remainder in various real estate bond series.
History 57
By 1930 North Dakota's population was 680,845, more than
double the figure at the opening of the century. Large foreign
immigrations accounted for the approximately 88 percent rise in
the 1910 census over that of 1900, and by 1920 the figure had risen
to 646,872. Statistics of the U. S. Bureau of Census show North
Dakota to have been the only spring wheat State having an in-
crease of population during the period from 1930-35. The growth
has been almost entirely rural; from 1920 to 1930 no new urban
centers (above 2,500) have appeared in the State.
The State capitol building was destroyed by fire December
28, 1930, and plans were immediately laid for building a new
statehouse. A $2,000,000 building, unique in that it is North Da-
kota's only skyscraper, today stands on Bismarck's Capitol Hill.
An initiative measure in the election of 1932 repealed the pro-
hibition clause in the State constitution, making North Dakota, dry
since it became a Territory, a wet State.
William Langer, who had been elected attorney general on the
Nonpartisan ticket with Frazier and later was defeated as I. V. A.
candidate for governor by Frazier, was elected Governor in 1932,
once more running as a Nonpartisan.
The period following proved a trying one for the rural popu-
lation of North Dakota. The farmers suffered because of low
market prices for farm products, low land values, bank failures,
and crop failures. The situation was acute at the beginning of
Langer's administration because many farm mortgages had been
based on pre-depression valuations. Farmers feared foreclosure
and the wastage of their life efforts.
To prevent foreclosure Governor Langer declared various farm
mortgage moratoriums by executive order. For a time an embargo
was in effect on agricultural products, forbidding shipment of them
from the State in the hope that prices would be forced up. A law
enacted to extend the period of redemption on real estate mort-
gages was held unconstitutional by the North Dakota Supreme
Court as applied to existing mortgages. In 1933 laws were passed
outlawing crop mortgages and deficiency judgments.
A stormy period in State history ensued when Governor Langer
was removed from office July 18, 1934, having been held disquali-
fied under the State constitution by the supreme court because of
his conviction on a Federal charge of conspiracy, arising from
solicitation of contributions from State and Federal employes for
support of his political newspaper, the Leader. (The Federal
Courts later reversed the conviction.) Ole Olson, Lieutenant Gov-
ernor, served the remainder of the term.
58 Survey of the State
Thomas H. Moodie, first Democratic Governor to be elected in
24 years, took office in January 1935, only to be declared ineligible
by the supreme court February 2, because of insufficient residence
in the State. Walter Welford, Nonpartisan Lieutenant Governor,
became acting Governor, the fourth to occupy the gubernatorial
chair in little more than six months.
The legislature of 1935 created a State Planning Board to
make investigations and surveys relative to the conservation and
utilization of the State's natural resources, and a State Welfare
Board to act as official agency of the State in any social welfare
activity initiated by the Federal Government and to allocate State
and Federal funds available for such purpose. The planning board
has since cooperated with the Federal Government in work which
has involved development of natural resources and building of
damg to overcome effects of drought.
Other legislation of the 1935 session provided for a retail sales
tax which resulted in greatly increased revenues for education and
public welfare purposes, a drivers license law, and a two-year
mortgage foreclosure moratorium. Two radical changes in public
policy effected through initiated measures in 1935 were provision
for manufacture, sale, and distribution of beer, and for Sunday
motion pictures. ^
Former Governor Langer, defeated by Acting Governor Wei-
ford for the Nonpartisan nomination for the governorship in 1936,
surprised opponents in both the league and other parties by poll-
ing a majority in the election, the first governor of any State
elected in the individual column on the ballot. In the same elec-
tion North Dakota put liquor control in the hands of counties,
municipalities, and villages.
Indicative of the increasing responsibilities of State Govern-
ments, the social-minded legislature of 1937 made the largest
appropriation for public welfare in the history of the State
more than $6,100,000 for the 1937-39 biennium.
AGRICULTURE AND FARM LIFE
Land of supersized farms, of spring wheat and winter rye
rippling in the wind, of gigantic flower gardens of paradise-blue
flax this is North Dakota, one of the greatest agricultural States
of the Nation.
Those who have seen the vast fields in the summer know the
meaning of this land to the farmer and the stock-raiser; for while
the romantically inclined can meditate on the beauties of a bronze
wheatfield under the July sun, or the picturesque qualities of fine
cattle grazing on a hillside, the agricultural statistician can point
out that 87 percent of the land in the State is devoted to agricul-
ture, and, given sufficient moisture, the richly productive soil will
more than repay the efforts of the farmer or stockman who de-
pends upon it for his livelihood.
Here in North Dakota were the original bonanza farms so-
called because of their almost fabulous yields of wheat some of
them two or three townships in extent. They are gone now, but
the size of the farms today still startles those familiar with agri-
culture in other States, for many holdings run as high as 10,000
acres, and the average for the whole State is 463 acres, as against
the United States average of 154.8 acres.
Ordinarily the rainfall is sufficient to bring crops of high
value, despite the fact that in the western two -thirds of the State
it is not abundant. In occasional years the moisture is poorly dis-
tributed, resulting in lessened cash values. About twice in a cen-
tury the dry-land farming area of the United States, of which the
western two-thirds of this State is a part, is subject to major
drought conditions. At such times farming is difficult and in places
impossible without irrigation. In the drought of the 1880's there
were few people in North Dakota to suffer. It took the recent
major drought which began in 1929 to impress not only upon North
Dakotans, but upon the Federal Government as well, the necessity
for reliance in part upon irrigation, utilizing the waters that flow
so abundantly through the State and out of it.
More than a thousand dams are contemplated in the Works
Progress Administration program for the State. Many have already
been completed, and steps are being taken to divert the waters
of the Missouri River into the James and Sheyenne Rivers, and to
utilize waters in western tributaries of the Missouri.
Fortunately, North Dakota has never had a land boom. The
result is that prices of agricultural land are low, and with the
60 Survey of the State
returning rains it is likely that the State will experience a new
wave of confidence and prosperity.
Naturally, in a State where 87 percent of the land is devoted
to agricultural pursuits, farm conditions are of paramount import-
ance to almost every person. Directly dependent upon the soil are
the farm residents who compose 53.6 percent of North Dakota's
population. Directly dependent upon the wealth of the farmer
are the 28.6 percent who live in small rural towns, and, almost as
directly, the 17.9 percent who compose the urban population. Of
the urban group, approximately one-third are employed in the
processing of agricultural products.
The same general boundaries that divide the State topographi-
cally also designate the three agricultural belts. The Red River
Valley and Drift Prairie are combined in what is known as the
black-earth belt, the Coteau du Missouri constitutes the farming-
grazing belt, and the Missouri Slope is the grazing-forage belt.
In the black-earth belt the farms are usually small, averaging
less than 400 acres in extent. Here the average annual rainfall
varies from 18 to 24 inches, 6 to 8 inches of which falls during the
months of May and June, when it is most valuable to small grains.
The black-earth region was the first part of North Dakota to be
settled. Furs were the object of the earliest white settlers there,
but the value of agricultural pursuits was by no means overlooked
even during that early period. Alexander Henry, Jr., the fur
trader who foresaw that the Red River Valley would be good agri-
cultural land if the transportation problem could be solved, tells
in his diary of planting a garden as early as 1800 at his trading
post at the mouth of the Pembina River, where he raised carrots,
cabbages, beets, potatoes, and other vegetables. Nor was he free
from the evils which beset the modern farmer: his crop was highly
satisfactory for several years, but in 1808 everything was eaten
by the grasshoppers which swarmed across the land. Henry's,
agrarian ventures were secondary to his fur trading, however, and:
it was not until the friends of Charles Cavileer settled at Pem-
bina in 1851 that a permanent agricultural colony was established
in the State. An earlier settlement by the Selkirkers of Canada in
1812 had been short-lived. When the Cavileer colony arrived,
however, the Selkirk colonists, now established at Fort Douglas,
Winnipeg, not only provided Cavileer himself with a bride but also
supplied his people with seed wheat, oats, barley, and field peas
an invaluable contribution.
For almost 20 years the little settlement at Pembina was the
only farming community in the State. Dakota Territory had been
opened to settlement January 1, 1863, and free lands were offered
Agriculture and Farm Life 61
to anyone over 21 years of age who would cultivate and improve
his 160-acre homestead, and live on it 5 years. If he wished, he
could also obtain a tree claim of 160 acres.
Ten acres of this quarter-section had to be planted in trees,
and proof, substantiated by two reliable witnesses, that the trees
had been growing for eight years was necessary before the settler
could obtain clear title to the claim. The acquisition of tree claims
was sometimes hindered by the perpetration of a cruel hoax on
newcomers. One of a group of unprincipled men, interested in
money rather than in settlement of the land, and unable or un-
willing to file claims, would approach a new settler and offer him
a "deal" on a piece of land, ostensibly planted as a tree claim,
with the little green tree shoots already appearing above the ground.
The settler would pay a substantial sum for the advantage of having
trees already planted, and in good faith would file on the claim, only
to find later in the year that instead of a 10-acre grove he had an
excellent but over-abundant crop of turnips. Notwithstanding such
discouragements, many fine groves were planted which have not
only added greatly to the beauty of the Red River Valley and
central North Dakota, but have been invaluable as a protection
against soil erosion.
A third tract of 160 acres could be secured under the pre-
emption laws which permitted the settler to locate on land before
or after it was surveyed, file declaration of intent to purchase, and
pay for the land within 18 months after filing, at the rate of $2.50
an acre for railroad property or $1.25 for any other land. Addi-
tional land could be obtained by buying up grants to soldiers in
the United States Army. Military land warrants could be pur-
chased for a nominal price, often as low as 50 cents an acre.
At first, despite the ease of obtaining land, there was no great
influx of settlers into the new land. The Nation was in the grip
of the Civil War, and Indian troubles in the West not only dis-
couraged new settlement but frightened out many who had already
made their homes there. Writers who had visited the Territory
depicted it as "a land of blizzards and Indians, drought and grass-
hoppers."
Moreover, homesteading in the northern part of the Territory
was complicated by the fact that the nearest land office was at
Vermilion, 400 miles away, a long and perilous trip in the day of
the oxcart and dogsled. The only surveyed land was in the vicin-
ity of Pembina. Here in 1868 Joseph Rolette, pioneer fur trader
and settler, filed the first homestead in North Dakota, the only one
before 1870. In 1871 a few more claims were filed, but it was not
until 1885 that settlement increased to any great extent. During
62 Survey of the State
that year so many "took up" land that Dakota Territory became
known as "the land of the free and the home of the boomer . . .
free homesteaders and town site boomers."
The extension of the Northern Pacific across the Red River
into North Dakota was partly responsible for this sudden increase
hi population. Immigrants found it easier to reach the lands
which the Government offered them. The Northern Pacific had
been given by Government grant alternate sections of land for a
distance of 20 miles on each side of its right-of-way. The land
between these sections was opened to homesteading; and since the
free lands were just as desirable as its own, the railroad could
find no market for its property. It was decided, therefore, that
the only way to profit on its investment was to encourage settle-
ment, so that there would be an increased need of transportation
in and out of the new country. In lieu of its stocks, which had
slumped in the panic of 1873, the road sold some of its enterpris-
ing stockholders large portions of its land grants for 40 and 50
cents an acre. Among those persuaded to invest were G. W. Cass,
B. P. Cheney, and Oliver Dalrymple. The three formed a company
and placed their 12,000 acres, in the vicinity of Fargo, under Dal-
rymple's management. Thus was formed the first bonanza farm,
initiating an important era in the agricultural history of North
Dakota.
The chief purpose of the early bonanza farms was to demon-
strate on a spectacular scale the potential wealth of the Red River
Valley. The farms ranged in size from 3,000 acres to the 65,000-
acre Grandin farm which covered more than 100 sections of land.
Wheat was the sole crop. All operations were conducted on a
large scale, with dozens of the most up-to-date farm machines
working on the various divisions of the farms simultaneously, and
huge crews of a hundred or more employed during the harvest
season. Tales of the bumper crops were soon spread by the tran-
sient harvest ''hands/' and visitors and home seekers came from
far and wide to see whether the stories of the fabulous crops were
actually true.
Two new inventions added to the success of the wheat-raising
bonanza farms. The first of these was the purifier, which made
it possible to produce a superior grade of white flour from spring
wheat. The second was a roller simplifying the milling of hard
wheat, with the result that this grain was placed at a premium.
In a single year, the value of the farms was raised from the
original 40 and 50 cents to $5 an acre, and by 1906 the lands were
worth from $30 to $40.
Because they raised a single crop, the managers of the bonanza
farms found it easy to systematize and mechanize their work. The
Agriculture and Farm Life 63
newest farm machines were common in this newly settled area long
before they were introduced in the older States.
Eastern syndicates usually owned the bonanza farms, and resi-
dent managers were engaged to supervise the work. As long as
only wheat was raised, the system was ideal. With the introduc-
tion of other crops, however, difficulties arose, principally because
stockholders could not agree on a plan of operation. Almost all
of the large farms were eventually broken into smaller plots and
sold to the immigrants and easterners whom they had attracted
to the West. Today, 51,149 of the 84,606 farms in the State are
operated by their owners, 33,122 by tenants, and only 335 by
managers.
Thousands who were attracted by the success of the bonanza
farms and the low railroad rates came west to take up land, and
were aided in their preparation by the Emigrant's Guide, published
by the Commissioner of Immigration for Dakota Territory in 1870.
This contained not only such valuable information as data on the
land laws, farming methods, and transportation facilities, but also
freight rates and a list of prices of staple commodities to indicate
supplies which should be brought from the East and those which
could be as cheaply purchased in the new land. Tea was one of
the most expensive of pioneer commodities, ranging in price from
$1.25 and $2 a pound. Sugar was also high from 12 to 16 cents
a pound. For light, the homesteader had a choice of candles at 25
cents a pound or coal oil at 80 cents a gallon. Furniture, tooj
could be purchased by those who did not wish to carry it across the
prairies from their eastern homes. Extension tables sold for ' $2 a
foot, washstands cost from $4.50 to $10. Ox yokes were $3, a
double harness $45. So many homesteading necessities could be
purchased at the pioneer settlements that after reading Dakota
newspapers of this period a North Carolina editor announced that
"the people are fully up to the highest notch of civilization."
As the lands of the Red River Valley and the Drift Plain were
occupied, settlers were forced to go farther west into the farming-
grazing belt of the Missouri Coteau. Influenced by the fortunes
being made in wheat in the eastern part of the State, they too be-
came wheat farmers. But although the soil of the Missouri Coteau
is almost as rich as that farther east, it does not have the same ad-
vantageous rainfall during the growing season; and while it pro-
duced successfully, it did not have the spectacular production of the
bonanza farms in the black-earth area.
Today, the farms in this region are somewhat larger than those
of the more easterly belt, being from 450 to 600 acres in size, but
the relative production is lower, Although grain farming still pre-
64 Survey of the State
dominates, ideally the farming-grazing region is, especially in dry
years, a livestock section.
To the west of this central region lies the Missouri Slope, which
constitutes the grazing-forage belt. Originally the farms here were
much smaller than those in other parts of the State with the repeal
in 1891 of tree claim and preemption laws, homesteaders were lim-
ited to 160 acres of free land. For a few years the settlers on the
Missouri Slope were able to file on desert claims, receiving one
section at $1.25 an acre with the understanding that they would im-
prove the land by irrigation; but so many people throughout the
arid regions of the United States filed on such claims fraudulently
that the act was finally amended to include the requirement that at
least $3 an acre must be spent for irrigation.
Despite this land limitation, many new settlers came to western
North Dakota during the "back to the land" movement from 1900
to 1910. Besides the farmers who took up free land, there were
many school teachers, laborers, and business and professional per-
sons who followed that method, or took a commuted homestead by
filing on land, staying there 14 months, and paying the Government
$1.25 an acre. In this region, where it is estimated that 30 percent
of the land is not suitable for cultivation, it was inevitable that
many of these inexperienced persons should settle on worthless
property. Experienced ranchers and farmers realized that only
large farms could be operated profitably, and purchased homesteads
from dissatisfied settlers. In this manner the size of farms in-
creased, until now they run to 800 acres or more.
The most fertile soil of the western region is in the valley of
the Missouri. It was here that Verendrye, Lewis and Clark, Catlin,
and other early explorers found the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara
women carefully cultivating their neat fields of corn, beans, squash,
pumpkin, melons, and sunflowers.
Lack of rainfall is the chief drawback to successful agriculture
in the grazing-forage belt; but with irrigation, field crops can be
raised dependably. The value of irrigation has been demonstrated
by the success of the 20,319 acres immediately west of the Yellow-
stone River in western North Dakota, an area irrigated by the
Bureau of Reclamation project of 1906. Similar projects are pro-
posed in the basins of the Knife, Heart, and Grand Rivers.
The grazing-forage belt as a whole, however, is not well suited
to agriculture. Texas cattlemen, driving their herds through west-
ern Dakota to furnish beef for frontier military posts, saw its true
value as a cattle country. The nutritive grasses and natural shelters
make this an ideal cattle-raising section.
Among the earliest ranchers were the Deffenbach brothers, who
opened a ranch in the extreme southwestern corner of the present
Agriculture and Farm Life 65
State in 1878. Others soon followed, including soldiers who had
finished their period of enlistment in the western Army posts and
were eager to settle in the new land. Ranching of cattle and sheep
became the industry of the western part of the State. As the
natural range showed inroads of the new industry, dry-farming was
introduced, the chief crops being forage for winter feed.
The land in the three North Dakota farm belts is still used pri-
marily for the purpose for which it was settled. The leading spring
wheat State, North Dakota is second only to Kansas in the total
wheat production of an average year. Hard spring wheat, particu-
larly marquis and ceres, is an important crop, commanding a pre-
mium on the market because of high gluten content. Three-fourths
of the Nation's durum, a hardy wheat used in the making of maca-
roni, is raised here. During the period of 1924-33, North Dakota
wheat production averaged 78,737,682 bushels a year. The State
leads in rye and flax, and is outranked only by Minnesota in barley
production. In production of grain seeds and cereal crops, respec-
tively, the United States Department of Agriculture ranks North
Dakota third and seventh.
Like the gold of the wheat, the blue of the flax flower has
been part of the North Dakota picture since pioneer days. First
planted for an immediate cash income, flax has proved an idea]
secondary crop because it extends the seeding and harvesting
periods, and since 1900 it has been an established part of the crop-
ping system of the North Central States. One -half of the flax
acreage in the United States is planted in North Dakota. As early
as 1890, the State produced 458,117 bushels. By 1900, the figure was
raised to 13,478,283 bushels, and the 10-year annual average for
1924-33 was 5,081,157 bu'shels.
Winter rye is extensively planted because of the protection it
affords against erosion after a wet autumn. During the five years
from 1927 to 1931, an average of 1,196,000 bushels was harvested in
North Dakota.
A need for more feed crops for the cattle raised in the State
has led to increased production of barley, oats, and emmer, grains
which are used locally for feed. About 85 percent of the yield of
barley is consumed by hogs and lambs. Barley is also useful as a
clean-up crop in the control of annual weeds. The average annual
production for 1924-33 was 27,227,284 bushels.
The same desire for an immediate cash crop which was the in-
centive to raise flax on the pioneer farms was largely responsible
for the introduction of potatoes and sugar beets. Potatoes had
almost always been raised for local consumption, but no effort was
made to produce them in commercial quantities. Then a few en-
terprising farmers in the Red River Valley planted large acreages,
66 Survey of the State
and were successful in marketing the crops outside the State.
Because of their high flavor, mealiness, and large uniform size,
these northern potatoes command a premium on the market. One
warehouse specializes in the shipping of hand-picked, wrapped
potatoes, packed like apples or oranges, for sale to railways and
other markets demanding fancy-grade potatoes. It is, however,
for their seed value that North Dakota potatoes are noted. Their
low fiber content makes them ideal seed stock, and under Federal
and State supervision they are certified for this purpose. In 1934
North Dakota produced 6,140,254 bushels of seed potatoes. Ex-
ports that year totaled 8,390 carloads.
Experimentation showed that the soil which was good for
northern potatoes was also excellent for sugar beets. The first
crop of beets large enough to be listed in statistics for the State
was 24,474 tons, harvested in 1924. By 1929 the tonnage had in-
creased to 59,104. This is one crop which showed an increased
production even in the dry year of 1934, when production totaled
82,304 tons, and beets were raised on 13,466 acres on 485 farms.
When the industry was first introduced, most of the labor was
performed by Mexicans. Under contract to beet farmers, train-
loads of these people came north each spring. Not only did they
work for very low wages, but they also developed a quality of
work rarely equaled by white beet workers. The cultivation and
weeding of sugar beets is done almost entirely by hand, a long
tedious process in the blazing sun, which the Mexican worker
seemed to mind not at all. In the fall, most of them would pack
their families into second-hand cars purchased with their summer
earnings, and return south. Difficulties of these workers in ad-
justing themselves to northern modes of living discouraged the use
of Mexican labor, however, and today only a few of the larger
farms still employ it. Most of the work is now carried on by local
labor, often by school children. In driving through the Red River
Valley, one can tell the farms on which sugar beets are a crop
of many years' standing, for scarcely one of these is without an
old tar-paper shack, a cook car remodeled into a house, or some
other crude dwelling which was once the home of a family of
Mexicans. In otherwise well-kept farmyards, where the buildings
are comparatively modern, these laborers' dwellings are very de-
crepit and out-of-place.
Although not a cash crop like potatoes and beets, corn has
become increasingly valuable in North Dakota. This is especially
true in the southeastern part of the State, which is the hog-raising
area of North Dakota. During the five-year period of 1927-31,
the average annual corn production was 20,200,000 bushels. Only
in rare instances does North Dakota corn reach the cash markets.
Agriculture and Farm Life 67
It is not husked as in many of the Corn Belt States; instead, the
hogs and sometimes the cattle are permitted to feed directly on
the stocks in the field. This is known as the "hogging down"
method of harvesting corn. About one-half the crop is cut annu-
ally for winter fodder.
Other feed crops are also important on the North Dakota farm.
Many hay and pasture crops, especially red clover and alfalfa, can
be successfully grown in the Red River Valley. In the western
sections, alfalfa is raised for seed. Timothy and brome grass are
also valuable grass crops in the eastern area.
In 1914 sweet clover was cultivated only on demonstration
farms; but by 1929 an average of more than half a million acres
was being seeded annually. Each year production of seed increased,
reaching a high of 171,600 bushels in 1933. Sweet clover replaces
nitrogen and other essential elements in soil which has been badly
depleted by overproduction of wheat. One remarkable feature of
this crop is its immunity to disease and insect pests.
Sheep are found generally throughout the State, although the
northern part of the Red River Valley and the southwestern cor-
ner of the Missouri Slope have proved the best sheep -raising land.
The animals were brought into the State when ranching first began
here, and in 1933 there were 706,000 head of sheep and lambs
shipped out of the State and 15,000 slaughtered locally. In 1935
North Dakota ranked twenty-second in the number of sheep on
farms and ranges.
A true picture of cattle-raising in North Dakota can scarcely
be gained from present conditions. The native grasses of the west-
ern part of the State were unable to withstand the heat and in-
sects of recent dry years. As an emergency measure, thousands
of cattle were shipped from western ranches to farms in the east-
ern and central part of the State, and even to other sections of the
country where sufficient feed was available to carry them through
the winter. The number of cattle and calves was reduced from
1,835,000 in 1934 to 1,157,000 in 1935. The decrease in milk cows,
since they are raised in the less arid sections of the State, has been
much less than that in beef cattle. In 1934 there were 620,000
milk cows, while in 1935 the number was 596,000 a drop of only
24,000. Thus, despite reverses, North Dakota was able to main-
tain a position as twenty-first in the Nation in the cattle census
of 1935.
Although rarely conducted as an independent enterprise, poul-
try-raising has had perhaps the greatest increase of any farm in-
dustry. Some type of fowl is raised on approximately 89 percent
of the farms of the State. In 1929 North Dakota was listed second
68 Survey of the State
in the production of turkeys, twenty-fifth in poultry and eggs,
thirteenth in ducks, and fourteenth in geese.
Poultry organizations are active in the State. The North Da-
kota State Poultry Association has held annual shows since 1895,
the Ail-American Turkey Show is held annually in Grand Forks,
and there are numerous regional and county organizations. The
North Dakota Farmers Union maintains a poultry cooperative at
Williston. North Dakota is second only to Texas in supplying tur-
keys for the Thanksgiving and Christmas tables of the Nation.
The multitudes of wild flowers on the North Dakota prairies
are an abundant source of honey; and with this natural incentive
to its development, beekeeping has increased rapidly throughout
the State. Although it can be successfully conducted in almost
every part of the State, the most extensive areas are along the
Missouri and in the Red River Valley. The sweet clover bloom is
the chief source of honey, and yields abundantly in July and Aug-
ust. The number of bee colonies in the State increased from 32,000
in 1929 to 35,000 in 1932.
All of North Dakota was affected by the prolonged drought
in the Great Plains States which began in 1929 and, except for one
year, continued through 1936. High winds, intensive cultivation,
and low rainfall combined to create the most destructive period of
soil erosion known to the State since its earliest settlement. This
combination of conditions brought production in all farm products
far below normal levels. Even the Red River Valley, though it
fared much better than the western part of the State, had sub-
normal rainfall and was subjected to frequent dust storms. To
counteract the menace of drought to the prosperity of a primarily
agricultural region, both State and Federal agencies began promo-
tion of conservation in three forms: water, soil, and vegetation.
Through the combined efforts of private groups and governmental
agencies, ponds, marshes, lakes, and streams are being restored.
Some irrigation projects, both private and public, have proved
fairly successful in the western counties. The contemplated Mis-
souri River diversion projects, with the Grand, Knife, and Heart
sub-projects, would lead to reclamation of a large area of North
Dakota. Planting hedges and forests to hold moisture in the soil
and to prevent increased erosion constitutes the soil conservation
program. To conserve vegetation, a program of dry-farming is
recommended, including summer fallowing and the planting of
drought-resistant crops.
Various agencies are cooperating in a program to educate farm-
ers in these conservation plans. Extension workers, including coun-
ty agents and their assistants, are employed by the United States
Department of Agriculture to assist farmers. The agricultural col-
Agriculture and Farm Life 69
lege at Fargo, the Northern Great Plains Field Station at Mandan,
the State School of Forestry at Bottineau, and experimental sta-
tions and farms are constantly conducting soil conservation and
moisture control experiments designed to raise North Dakota agri-
culture to an even higher rank.
FARM LIFE
The fact that eastern and central North Dakota has been settled
25 or 30 years longer than the western part of the State is evident
in the appearance of the farms. The average eastern farm home
has well-painted and modernized buildings, surrounded by a neat
lawn and grove. Electricity is in use on many farms, being sup-
plied from either an individually owned plant or a nearby power
line. Telephones, radios, and cars are generally considered neces-
sities. Since the farms are small and close together, and small
towns are within a few miles of one another, social contacts are
easily maintained. Activities center in the towns, where farm
women are members of clubs, lodges, and church societies, and the
men of fraternal and civic organizations. Consolidated schools have
supplanted many of the one-room buildings, and parent-teacher
groups have a prominent social position. Libraries are found in
many towns, and are patronized by rural as well as city dwellers.
The farms in central North Dakota are as a rule not as modern
as those in the east, but on the whole are well kept. A somewhat
different picture, however, is presented by the western farms and
ranches. The semiarid climate makes it difficult for even the most
ambitious farmer to improve his place with trees, shrubs, grass,
and flowers. Moreover, since there were no tree claims in this
part of the State, early settlers did not have the incentive to plant
groves. Periods of drought have been felt more severely here, and
have prevented many farmers from making modern improvements
on their buildings. On some farms, the shacks erected to establish
residence under the homestead act are still in use. There is, how-
ever, one modern convenience found more frequently in western
rural homes than in those of the east the furnace. The chief rea-
son for this is the vast and accessible supply of lignite, a fuel
which does not burn readily in stoves.
Since farms in western North Dakota are large, homesteads
are necessarily far apart and social contacts cannot be made easily.
The majority of homes .do not have telephones, because the market
is limited to a few patrons and the cost is therefore prohibitive.
The longer distances to towns result in lack of interest in urban
recreational, social, and church functions.
The one-room school predominates in western North Dakota.
Libraries are few, and most of the people fail to take advantage
of loaning facilities offered by State libraries.
70 Survey of the State
Farm families in all parts of the State participate in various
seasonal activities. During the spring and summer months, school,
church, club, and old settlers picnics are scheduled frequently.
When harvest season arrives the farmer is exceptionally busy, but
always has time to welcome the visitors from town, who come out
to watch the threshers and often stay for a cook-car dinner. Later
in the fall, especially in the eastern counties, young people par-
ticipate in strawstack parties. Dances and card parties are held
in community halls and barn lofts during the winter.
Winter activities are limited by heavy snowfalls, which often
keep communities and farms snow-bound for days. Main-traveled
highways are kept open except in unusually bad weather, but side
roads are often drifted over for weeks at a time. Then the radio
becomes the chief source of entertainment in the farm home; radio
reception on the open prairie is exceptionally good. In winter the
western farmers have an advantage over those of the east, for they
get less snowfall, and chinooks (warm dry winds which descend
from the Rocky Mountains) often temper the weather and melt
the snow, permitting social life to continue almost uninterrupted.
In every rural community "fair week" is an important date.
Farmers take their best cattle, hogs, sheep, and poultry to com-
pete with their neighbors' entries for the prized blue ribbons.
Farm women select their finest handiwork, their choicest jars of
jellies, jams, and pickles, to enter in competition. Cookies, cakes,
and pies are baked both to exhibit and to fill the picnic baskets,
for when the family goes to the fair everyone is prepared to spend
the day; one or two hurry home in the evening to do the chores,
and return in time for the grandstand events at night. Almost
every county has its annual fair in June or July, the oldest being
the Pembina County Fair, which has been held at Hamilton each
year since 1894. Even before this Pembina County Fair, a State
fair under State subsidy was being held annually in Grand Forks,
where the citizens had donated 80 acres of land for that purpose.
When the first State legislature met, it created a department of
agriculture, one of the duties of which was to hold an annual
agricultural exhibit. Now State help is also received by the fair
associations at Fargo and Minot.
Increasingly popular in recent years are the harvest festivals
in various towns. These are held in September and October, when
the garden products have reached maturity, and therefore often
surpass the earlier fairs in the quality of exhibits. The junior
chambers of commerce of the State sponsor a Golden Grain Fes-
tival which is held the latter part of August, each year in a differ-
ent city of the State. In September comes the Grand Forks Har-
Agriculture and Farm Life 71
vest Festival, and the extension division of the agricultural college
sponsors a similar event in Fargo early in October. Bismarck is
the scene of the annual Corn Show in October.
Alfalfa Day at Fessenden in March features displays of alfalfa
hay and seed, and also includes small grains, corn, and potatoes.
The midwinter fair at Park River is sponsored by the Walsh Coun-
ty Agricultural College, and consists of exhibits from farmers
throughout the Red River Valley. Other outstanding exhibits in-
clude the Barnes County Corn and Lamb Show held in Valley City
the fourth week in September, and the Emmons County Breeders
Association Stock Show which takes place in Hazelton each June.
INDUSTRY AND LABOR
On any cold winter night in the early 1800's it was not un-
common to see a fur trader set out from Pembina, with his dog-
sled loaded with valuable pelts, to make the long trek to St. Paul
or Fort Garry. With no roads, few landmarks, and the con-
stant danger of Indian attack, such a night trip was extremely
hazardous. Daylight, however, presented even more dangers, for
the reflection of the winter sun upon the snowy ground often
caused snow-blindness; daytime temperatures softened the drifts
so that the dogs sank deep into them, while at night they could
skim easily over the frozen surface. Despite the dangers of the
fur trade, many men engaged in it, taking their cargoes to the
frontier cities and bringing back sled -loads of supplies to be ex-
changed for the furs that Indians brought to the trading posts.
The first stores were at these posts, where the Indians came
to barter for blankets, trinkets, food, and alcohol, using the valu-
able beaver skin as the standard of reckoning. To avoid long dis-
cussions over the price of goods, the traders devised a system of
marking which could be readily understood by the natives: a single
horizontal line drawn on an article indicated a value of one beaver
skin, two parallel lines placed the price at two skins, and so on.
The quality of some English-made blankets is still designated by
a survival of this early system, with lines known as "points" woven
into the border.
From this frontier commerce, North Dakota industry grew. In
1909, a century after the fur trade began, the State produced goods
valued at $19,150,000; and in 1935 manufactures were valued at
$40,076,326, with 325 establishments each doing an annual business
of $5,000 or more, and collectively employing 3,306 workers. Al-
though these figures are small in comparison with those of essen-
tially industrial States, they are large in view of the youthfulness
of North Dakota and its distinctly agricultural economy.
The fur trade prospered until the Indian insurrections of 1863-
64. Then trapping became a perilous occupation, and traders and
trappers returned East. Eastward, too, went most of the settlers
who had come to farm. The only ones to remain were Charles
Cavileer and his little colony at Pembina, who staunchly continued
to cultivate their level farms in the face of Indian dangers. With
the exception of a few brave adventurers, they had the entire area
virtually to themselves, until the extension of the Northern Pacific
Industry and Labor 73
lines into the Red River Valley in 1871 promoted a period of home-
steading. Then, for the first time, agriculture took its place as the
leading occupation of this area.
Many of the industries which were important during the de-
velopment of the State are no longer in existence. Because lumber
was an expensive commodity to import, sawmills were established
at Grand Forks and Fargo in the 1870's; and because the North
Dakota side of the Red River could not furnish a large enough
supply for the mills, logs were floated down from the Minnesota
woods. Lumber jacking meant cash and wages, and many home-
steaders left their families in possession of their claims while they
went to Minnesota to earn money for seed and machinery and for
building permanent homes on their farms. As traffic on the Red
River increased, construction of steamers became an important in-
dustry for which North Dakota mills supplied much of the lumber.
On the prairies west of the Red River Valley, the homesteaders
could not engage in logging and lumbering to earn money for im-
proving their farms; but, resourcefully, they found another way to
get funds. Buffalo bones were scattered abundantly upon the land
from Devils Lake westward, and cash prices of eight to ten dollars
a carload were paid by sugar manufacturers who used the bones in
a refining process. Many homes were built and much machinery
purchased with the income derived from gathering and selling this
material. Gradually, however, these pioneer occupations died out
The more efficient railway supplanted the river steamers. The
supply of buffalo bones was soon exhausted. New occupations,
allied with the expanding agriculture of the region, grew into
importance.
The first farmers here found the lack of transportation and
marketing facilities a great problem. Fort Garry and St. Paul were
the nearest markets for grain until 1851. In that year Father Bel-
court, who had established a mission where the town of Walhalla
now stands, found that sufficient power could be obtained from
the Pembina River there to operate a small flour mill. The mill
was built, and farmers came from as far east as Pembina to
patronize it. Generally, however, there was a lack of mills through-
out the region. Elevators and shipping points were far apart, and
many farmers had to drive their wagonloads of grain from 25 to
100 miles to market* When the railroads were extended westward,
elevators were built in the towns and at sidings, greatly simplifying
the marketing problem. The new freight lines made it possible for
mills to import fuel from the East, but unfortunately the cost of
shipment was prohibitive. The development of North Dakota lig-
nite mines, beginning in the 1880's, removed an important handi-
cap to mill operation, however, and later the lowering of freight
74 Survey of the State
rates allowed importation of other fuel. Although a large pro-
portion of North Dakota grain is still shipped out, there are now
in the State 27 flour mills which in 1931 had an output valued at
$12,000,000. The largest of these is the State-owned mill and ele-
vator opened at Grand Forks in 1922 as part of the Nonpartisan
League program of State industries.
One of the important industries which has grown out of the
agriculture of. North Dakota is seed production. Potatoes, clover,
alfalfa, brome-grass, and corn are shipped out in large quantities.
A number of nurseries ship trees, plants, and shrubs.
A French nobleman, the Marquis de Mores, was the first per-
son to realize the possibilities of a packing plant in North Dakota.
Drawing upon his own and his father-in-law's resources, he estab-
lished a plant at Medora in 1883. The venture failed, partly because
his grass-fed beef, produced at a high cost because of his artless
business methods, could not compete with grain-fed meat; but today
modern packing plants at Grand Forks and West Fargo prove that
the marquis was not the impractical dreamer his contemporaries
thought him.
Since most of North Dakota's industry is concerned with the
processing of agricultural products, no large manufacturing centers
have been developed; but mills, warehouses, poultry markets, and
creameries have been established near the areas which they serve
many of the finest creameries are in sparsely settled rural areas.
Fargo is the only city in the State that manufactures other than
agricultural products.
Difficulties in shipping grain to outside markets provided one
of the chief factors in the development of the many cooperatives
which are important in the present economic life of the State.
Grain farmers early realized that by acting independently they
could not trade advantageously with eastern buyers. By 1891
there were ten farmers' elevators in the State, and the cooperative
movement grew until the Equity Association, the National Pro-
ducers Alliance, and the Better Farming Association developed the
North Dakota division of the Farmers Educational and Cooperative
Union of America, which at present includes some 540 buying and
consumers' cooperatives in the State. At first exclusively grain-
selling organizations, the cooperatives have expanded to include
the handling of twine, machinery, petroleum, products, tires, elec-
tricity, dairy products, and groceries.
The period since the World War has seen the revival of the
occupation of the first white settlers the fur industry. Some trap-
ping is done each winter, but the fur sellers today do not rely
upon this nineteenth-century method of getting pelts. Instead they
Industry and Labor 75
have farms on which they raise the furbearing animals, usually
silver-black foxes. The climate is well suited to this industry, for
the cold winters produce heavy and valuable furs.
Although agriculture and its allied industries will probably
always predominate, recent years have seen the beginning of the
development of North Dakota's great mineral resources, which lay
neglected or unrecognized for years while farmers attempted to
emulate the phenomenal success of the bonanza wheat growers.
Ranchers in the western counties early discovered large de-
posits of lignite, a black or brownish substance in a stage between
peat and bituminous coal, lying at or near the surface of the earth.
Lignite has a conspicuously woody appearance, often showing clear-
ly the grain of the wood or the shape of the trunks and branches
from which it was formed. It is known to underlie the entire
western part of the State. For many years its use was entirely
local, chiefly because it contains a large amount of moisture which
evaporates upon exposure to the air, causing the coal to crumble.
To overcome this difficulty, shipment is now made in closed box-
cars; briquetting of lignite has also proved successful, and the
mineral is now common fuel. Lignite is used exclusively by State
institutions and by many of the manufacturing concerns in the
State. In the eight-month period from November 1, 1935, to June
30, 1936, the production of 355 mines amounted to 1,704,983 tons,
valued at $2,077,800.15. New mines are continually being opened.
The rapidity with which the industry has been developed is dem-
onstrated by the fact that there were 67 more mines in operation
in 1935 than in 1931, with production in 1935 twice that of 1924
and eight times that of 1908.
The interest of the university school of mines in lignite ex-
perimentation did not end with the perfecting of the briquet pro-
cess. The most recent achievement of the school is the produc-
tion from lignite of activated carbon, a substance (hitherto pro-
duced largely from animal bones) used in water purification, sugar
refining, rubber tire manufacture, and other commercial processes.
The development of this product should furnish a new and profit-
able industry for western North Dakota.
Western North Dakota has, in addition to its lignite beds, large
deposits of clay. These, like lignite, engaged the interest of the
late Dean E. J. Babcock of the university school of mines,
and largely as a result of his efforts are being developed. Upon
his urging, a ceramics department was created at the university
in 1910 to determine the commercial value of native clays. From
experiments conducted, it was found that certain varieties made
excellent brick, tile, and other building materials, while others
were especially suitable for pottery. Reproductions of fine Euro-
76 Survey of the State
pean pottery and original pieces of local design turned out at the
university have attracted attention at exhibitions throughout the
United States. Large-scale commercial development of the State's
clay deposits is centered at Dickinson, where both building mate-
rials and pottery are produced.
Sodium sulphate and bentonite are two of the more recent
mineral discoveries in North Dakota. In the southwestern part of
the State are large beds of bentonite which, because close to the
surface, are easily accessible for commercial purposes. Bentonite
is used in the manufacture of paint,' rubber, soap, cosmetics, dyna-
mite, and a variety of other products; it has also been found to
give rich gold and brown tones to decorative designs on pottery.
The chalky-white crystals of sodium sulphate, sometimes known
as Glauber's salts, are found in few places in the United States
outside of the old lake beds of northwestern North Dakota. Sodium
sulphate is principally used in the manufacture of paper. Millions
of tons of it are easily accessible in the open lake beds where it
has been deposited by springs.
Development of mineral resources should help to solve the un-
employment problem of the State a problem which is constantly
growing. Except in recent years, residents have had no difficulty
in finding work, because agricultural pursuits usually require the
same amount of labor year after year regardless of agricultural
prices. Despite this, new factors are increasing unemployment.
In the period between 1930 and 1935, North Dakota was the only
State in the spring wheat belt to show an increase in population.
Another primary cause of increasing unemployment is the steadily
growing percentage of persons over 40 years of age: in 1900, 18.4
percent of the population was over 40, in 1920 this had increased
to 20.8 percent, and in 1930 to 25.6 percent.
In keeping with the comparative unimportance of the State
labor movement at present is the small number of labor unions in
North Dakota. The State's first labor organization was the Bis-
marck Typographical Union, chartered in 1883. In 1906 the Ameri-
can Federation of Labor granted a charter to the Fargo Trades
and Labor Assembly, and in 1911 the State Federation was offici-
ally organized. Branches of the latter have since been formed in
almost all of the larger towns in the State.
State regulation of labor conditions had its beginning in 1907
with the passage of a Workmen's Compensation Act. Many re-
visions have since been made in this law. A State welfare com-
mission was formed in 1917 to regulate labor conditions; and two
years later, partly through the efforts of this commission, a mini-
mum wage law was passed and placed under the administration
of the Workmen's. Compensation Bureau. At the same time pro-
Photo by Russell Reid
ANCIENT INDIAN TURTLE EFFIGY
Photo by Paul S. Bliss
A MODERN SIOUX SUN DANCE CEREMONIAL
Industry and Labor 77
vision was made for regulating the wages and hours of women
laborers. In 1936 North Dakota was the only State haying an
eight-and-one-half hour day provision for women in factories,
stores, hotels, laundries, cafes, and telephone and telegraph offices.
The first State child-labor act was passed in 1909. Under the
present law, employment of children under the age of 14 is pro-
hibited. The proposed child-labor amendment to the Constitution
of the United States was ratified by the North Dakota Legislature
at the 1931 session.
RACIAL GROUPS AND FOLKWAYS
International repute as a farming State brought North Dakota
a steady stream of immigration up to the time of the World War.
Tales of the rich wheatlands of Dakota drew a continuous pro-
cession of settlers with their household goods from the eastern
States and from across the sea, to claim a share of the fertile
western acres.
Little more than two decades has passed since this influx
ceased. The State presents a patchwork of foreign groups, each
still retaining many Old World customs of speech, dress, and social
life. Cultural assimilation, however, has slowly veneered the life
of the State with an American character which is gradually seep-
ing into and supplanting the ways of the Old World.
The prevalence of foreign speech and customs seems quite jus-
tified by the 1930 census, which showed 105,148 persons, or 15.5
percent of the total population of 680,845, to be of foreign birth.
In addition to this number, a still larger portion of the population,
45.4 percent, is first-generation American, born of foreign parents
and therefore in close contact with the speech and customs of its
fathers during its formative years.
Forty-two countries, most of them European, have contributed
to the foreign-born population of North Dakota. Norway has the
largest representation, followed in order of numbers by Russia,
Germany, Canada, Sweden, and other countries, including the
Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary, Finland, Rumania, and Iceland.
Unfavorable social and economic conditions among the rural
population of Norway, coupled with harsh military regulations,
prompted most of the Norwegian emigration to the United States.
North Dakota was the natural choice of many whose families had,
for generations, lived upon the land. Norwegian stock today con-
stitutes 30 percent of the population of the State, and persons born
in Norway make up 29.8 percent of its foreign-born population.
Their settlements have been made throughout the northern and
eastern sections of the State. In contrast with many other national
groups, the Norwegians show little tendency to localize, and while
predominant in many communities they manifest no aversion to
settling where other groups are already represented.
The hospitality of the Norwegians is their greatest distinction.
The coffeepot is always in use, and, coffee and pastries made from
Old Country recipes are served whenever anyone chances into a
Norwegian home, as well as at meals and between meals. The
Racial Groups and Folkways 79
Norwegians have a charming way of bidding each other "Tak for
sidst" meaning "Thanks for the last time I met you."
They retain to a marked degree their native tongue in its
various dialects or bygdespraag, widely mixed with the English
language. They are fond of music, and mountain waltz melodies,
polkas, and spring dances, played on the accordion or violin, are
enjoyed by young and old alike. The Har danger violin, which
has eight strings, is still made and played by the older musicians.
The adult Norwegian, being very independent by nature, does not
readily fit into an orchestra or large chorus; such organizations
are more common among the younger people.
The most fantastic of the Norwegian dances is the Hailing
Dance, still seen on special occasions. It is reputedly the survival
of a "dance of death" from the days when the knife was the means
of avenging jealousies among the young men of Hailing Valley in
Norway. When a man began the intricate acrobatic steps of the
Hailing Dance, the other dancers knew he had seen an enemy or
rival in the crowd, and unobtrusively withdrew to the edge of the
dance floor, leaving the enemy, often unsuspecting, in the clear.
Then, in a great whirl, the Hailing dancer would send his knife
spinning through the air with its message of death. The dance
today is an acrobatic performance which requires great skill. It
includes handsprings, the Halling-kast a whirling and kicking step
and the krukeng, a jiglike step done in a half -sitting posture
with the dancer moving about the floor.
In many Norwegian towns, Jule Bokke or Christmas Fools
still make the rounds of the homes between Christmas and New
Year. They are young people dressed in costume and masked, who
call on the neighbors and are given food and drink at each home
visited.
Among the factors which keep alive the Old Country speech
and manners are the lager or societies, each of which represents
a district in Norway, Members are former residents, or descend-
ants of residents, of the district. At their meetings, native music,
dances, and costumes are revived.
A holiday in all Norwegian communities is the Seventeenth of
May, Norway's Independence Day. The festivities usually include
speeches, picnicking, and dancing.
Norwegian influence has been felt in every phase of North
Dakota life. Among prominent figures in the State have been
Paul Fjelde, sculptor; Konrad Elias Birkbough, who discovered a
cure for erysipelas; Carl Ben Eielson, pioneer Alaskan aviator;
R. A. Nestos, A. G. Sorlie, and Ole Olson, who became Governors
of the State. In the business world, the Norwegians have in-
fluenced the rapid growth of the cooperative movement. Skiing,
80 Survey of the State
a Scandinavian sport, is a popular winter recreation. The accordion,
favorite of both the Norwegian and the German, is widely used
in concert groups and dance bands. Foods which are commonly
known, although not widely prepared outside the Norwegian home,
include lutefisk, which is cod cured in lye; lefse, an unleavened
potato bread baked in great flat, rough, gray sheets on top
of an iron range; and fattigmand, a pastry fried in deep fat.
In the first two decades of the nineteenth century there oc-
curred a German migration into Russia which was to be felt later
in North Dakota. Free lands offered by the Russian Government
(desirous of having its people learn German farming methods)
drew many Prussians eager to escape the heavy taxation of their
homeland. Throughout the Black Sea area German colonies grew
up; in later years these contributed heavily to the stream of emi-
gration to America. Today Russo- Germans dominate the Russian
element, which forms 12.8 percent of the total population of this
State.
Because of this Russo- German constituency, the Russian and
German racial groups in the State often overlap. Native Germans
form 1.5 percent, and persons of German stock 8 percent, of the
population. The Russo -Germans first came to this State about
1889, settling in the south-central section, in Mclntosh and Emmons
Counties. Other Russian and Russo -German settlements are in the
Missouri Slope and in the central area of the State. German groups
are found in the southeastern part of the State, in Ward County
in the northwestern area, and in Morton in the Slope region.
Among outstanding Germans who have taken part in the develop-
ment of the State are two Governors, George F. Shafer and Wil-
liam Langer. >
In its residence in Russia, the Russo-German group acquired
many customs which now distinguish them from their German
cousins, but the two groups have much in common. They cling
tenaciously to their native tongue in their homes and churches;
the Russo-Germans, however, speak a dialect which is a result of
their Russian residence. Both groups retain Old Country customs
of dress, most noticeable of which is the use of the tuch or shawl
worn by the women in place of a hat. On Sundays and holidays
some of the older women appear in beautiful handworked tuecher
and full-skirted dresses typical of peasant Europe. White stock-
ings are often worn by the older women on holidays. The occa-
sional appearance of a fez-like astrakhan cap during the winter
bespeaks the Russian influence.
Although the dress of the older Russo-Germans is rather som-
ber, their homes are quite the opposite. Floors throughout the
house are invariably painted bright orange, this color scheme
often extending to the back and front porch and steps. The ex-
Bacial Groups and Folkways 81
teriors of the house and other buildings are likewise sometimes
painted in bright colors, with contrasting trimming. A not un-
common decorative scheme consists of two or three brilliant hues
alternating in diagonal stripes across the sliding doors of garages,
granaries, and barns. The interior of the summer kitchen (which
is to be found back of most farmhouses and many town homes)
is often painted in contrasting bright colors, one shade being used
for a wainscoting effect, another for the top half of the walls and
the ceiling, and a 'third forming a dividing border. Because of
American influences, the penchant for these bright colors has be-
come more subdued in recent years.
A popular note in home decoration is the use of bright-colored
artificial flowers, which often adorn curtains, picture frames, and
the organ or piano in the Russo -German home.
A typically Russian note is the common use of glass tumblers
instead of cups for serving hot drinks. Another practice is the
use of chicory as a substitute for coffee. A favorite delicacy of
the Russo -Germans, also typically Russian, is the sunflower seed,
known as the "Russian peanut." They eat these much as Ameri-
cans eat peanuts. The sunflower seed is becoming popular as a
confection throughout the State, and is now roasted and packaged
for sale, in contrast with the old method of drying the ripe sun-
flower in the sun until the seeds could be brushed from the plant.
One of the most beautiful customs retained by the modern
generation of Catholic Germans and Russo-Germans is the visit of
the "Christmas Angels." Three young girls, trained as a rule by
nuns, go dressed as angels from home to home in the community
on Christmas Eve. They knock for admission, and when this is
granted they enter the home, bless it, and sing one or two
Christmas carols. For this service they are given a small amount
cf money. Another custom is the observance of "Name Day,"
when, on the day of the saint for whom he is named, each person
must hold open house for his friends. Callers greet the host or
hostess with "Happy Name Day." Birthdays, on the other hand,
if they occur on a day other than the Name Day, are disregarded
almost altogether.
Many German families observe December 31 as "Sylvester's
Day." On this day the last person arising is "Sylvester" or the
lazy member of the family for the coming year. Of course every-
one in an industrious German family tries to avoid this stigma.
Another New Year's custom is for all members of the family to
leave through a rear door of the home at midnight and reenter
through a front door. The first person to enter the home after
midnight is a herald of the coming year: if he is fair, the new
year will bring good luck; but if he is dark, he augurs misfortune.
82 Survey of the State
The German people are fond of community music, and numer-
ous bands and choruses have organized almost spontaneously under
leaders. They are especially fond of song, and when a group of
older people gathers for a social evening their chief pastime is often
hymn singing. Much of the social life centers about the church,
although in some communities the verein, or society, has many
members and serves to keep alive the speech and customs of the
Old Country, much as does the Norwegian lag.
Two interesting German religious sects are the Moravians, rep-
resented in the area near Fargo, and the Dunkards or, as they are
now known, Bunkers, who have a settlement near Cando. One of
the beautiful customs of the Moravians is the "love feast,'* a sur-
vival of an early Christian custom of breaking bread as an indica-
tion of brotherly love. The feast today generally consists of coffee
and doughnuts, but the spirit is unchanged.
The Bunkers, or German Baptist Brethren, follow their early
sectarian precepts of plain dress and plain living. While few of
the women still wear the "dropped bonnet" a small grey or black
sunbonnet the prayer covering or small lace cap is still worn
during attendance at church services. Older members of the col-
ony hold to the early rulings of the church in carrying no form
of insurance. In early October of each year a harvest festival is
held in the form of a religious observance.
From both the Germanic and the Norwegian groups is derived
the most prominent foreign contribution to the language of the
State: the universal use of ja ("yah") for yes.
Few group characteristics attach to the Canadians, who con-
stitute 1.5 percent of North Bakota's foreign-born population, and
are found in the northeast counties and the Bed River Valley.
Many of them are descendants of the Selkirk colonists who settled
from Fort Garry to Fort Pembina early in the nineteenth century.
It is from these colonists that most of the Scottish people in this
State trace their descent.
For the French- Canadians the most important festival of the
year is St. Ann's Bay, July 26. A shrine to St. Ann has been
built by French and Indians at Belcourt on the Turtle Mountain
Reservation, and here on the saint's day come the lame, the halt,
and the blind, to walk or be carried in the processional. Many
miracles have been claimed.
In French-Canadian communities in the Red River Valley, the
colorful Old Country wedding customs are still observed. As the
wedding march is played the bridal pair and their attendants enter,
followed by young men dressed in highly padded French costumes,
and wearing grotesque masks. They are in both male and female
attire, and dance and cavort to the delight of the guests.
Racial Groups and Folkways 83
Like their Norwegian neighbors, the Swedes who have come
to America are predominantly a rural people. In North Dakota
they constitute 1.2 percent of the total population, and are found
in the eastern part of the State, mainly in Cass County, and in the
central section east of the Missouri in Burleigh and McLean Coun-
ties.
Smaller racial groups in the State include Hollanders, in Em-
mons County near the south-central border; Danes, in the east-
central counties of Cass, Barnes, and Stutsman; Poles and Ice-
landers, in the northeast section; Hungarians, in the Slope area;
Czechs, in Richland and "Walsh Counties in the Bed River Valley
and in Stark County in the Slope area; and many others, all show-
ing a distinct tendency to localize.
Through their national societies, the Ukrainians in Burleigh,
McLean, and Billings Counties in the western half of the State
have retained much of the music, dances, and costumes of their
native land. These are in evidence at their club meetings and also
on holidays. The costumes are colorful and elaborate, and testify
to the embroidering skill of the girls.
The Bohemians in Richland and Walsh Counties likewise are
noted for their musical organizations, but they do not retain their
native costumes or dances. The sokol or physical culture group
is found in many of the Bohemian communities.
The sauna or steam bathhouse is a characteristic feature of the
Finnish settlements in the southern and western sections of the
State. Water sprinkled on a large brick stove or on heated rocks
provides the steam for these baths, which are stifling on first trial
but soon become a pleasing habit. The Finns, like the Norwegians,
serve coffee to all guests who come to their homes, no matter what
the hour. Coffee is drunk from the saucer, through a lump of
sugar held in the cheek. Two holidays which are still celebrated
in Old Country style are Midsummer's Day and New Year's. Mid-
summer's Day, June 24, is an occasion of picnicking, church ser-
vices, confirmation of scholars, settling arguments or quarrels, and
pitching horseshoes. On New Year's Eve, fortunes are told by
dropping bits of melted soldering metal into cold water. One piece,
melted and hardened before midnight, is a symbol of the old year;
and the process is repeated with another piece after the stroke of
midnight, to foretell the fortunes of the new year.
Both the Irish and the Icelanders continue to hand down their
legends which have been brought from Europe. Icelandic children
usually are well posted on the national sagas, including the alfa
sorgur, which tell of the huldu folk or elves; and no Irish child is
so poor as to be deprived of the ghosts, the banshees, the lepre-
chauns, and other weird creatures of the Emerald Isle.
84 Survey of the State
At Ross, in northwestern North Dakota, is a small colony of
Syrians, most of whom are Ahmadiyya Moslems. They have then-
own place of worship, and conduct services each Friday as well
as on other holy days. They retain many food customs of the Near
East, one of the most interesting being the use of a meal made by
crushing durum wheat which has been boiled and dried in the sun.
The meal is then stewed with meats or vegetables or sweet oils.
The sugar beet industry of the Red River Valley has resulted
in the importation of Mexican workers, who provide cheap and
skilled labor for cultivation of the beet fields. The Mexican popu-
lation is not large, however, having decreased greatly from the 1930
figure of 600, and has left no permanent imprint of its folklore
or customs. The Negro population, never large, is also rapidly
decreasing. The 1930 census showed 377 Negroes in the State.
Although not foreign-born, the Indian population constitutes a
distinct racial group. Sioux and Rolette Counties, containing the
Standing Rock and Turtle Mountain groups, have the greater part
of the Indian population and consequently register the highest
illiteracy in the State, from 7 to 8 percent. Other counties usually
have an illiteracy rate of less than 1 percent, and sometimes less
than half of 1 percent.
The Indians retain many racial customs and legends despite
the encroachment of the white 1 man's civilization. The metis, of
French and Chippewa blood, were famous as hunters and trappers.
Many of them were found in the upper Red River Valley and ad-
joining territory about 1850. Their descendants now live in small
clay-plastered log houses, with much of their household equipment
and bedding kept in the yard.
Many of North Dakota's characteristic folkways represent for-
eign cultures rather than anything intrinsically American. There
is no lack, however, of native customs which are gradually absorb-
ing and supplanting the Old World ways.
Because North Dakota is a farm State, many of its customs
hinge on certain matters of rural importance such as the weather
and the crops. Whether or not the farm people are able or in-
clined to attend is the greatest factor in the success of most social
and civic events. Saturday night is the farmer's night in town, a
welcome holiday after his week of isolation and work. Shops and
garages become social as well as commercial centers, as friends stop
to exchange news, gossip, and recipes. In many communities, Sat-
urday night dances are held, and during the summer months a
vacant lot will often be the scene of open-air motion pictures, with
the spectators seated in their parked cars and blowing the horns
in lieu of applause when the pictures meet with approval.
In addition to such general holiday celebrations as Christmas,
New Year, and Memorial Day, in the Norwegian sections of the
Racial Groups and Folkways 85
State, Norwegian Independence Day, May 17, is also marked by
festivity. Among the Russo- Germans, Ascension Day is an un-
usually solemn holiday. At Christmas time, holiday decoration of
homes is common, and groups of young people stroll about the
streets or ride in sleighs singing carols. New Year's Eve brings
about the usual noisy gayety, and in many towns it is customary
to fire guns in a salute as the new year comes in. Watch parties
are held in the churches for the more serious-minded.
The Fourth of July is an important holiday, not so much for
its historic meaning as for its local interpretation. For days pre-
viously, the skies are anxiously scanned for signs of inclement
weather. As the Glorious Fourth dawns a salute is fired, usually
by ex-servicemen, and soon in the early morning air the sound of
hammers is heard, as booths and "concessions" rapidly go up to
be draped with bunting. Flags appear on the buildings and homes.
Cars begin to pour into town, parking near Main Street, which has
been roped off for the races. The square is soon filled with a
milling crowd, all in their best clothes, the children clutching their
long-hoarded pennies and nickels which they will exchange for
soda pop, ice cream, and firecrackers. The program of the day
includes patriotic speeches, airplane and parachute exhibits, races,
and bowery dances, and in the evening the climax of the exciting
day a fireworks display.
The Russo-Germans know the holiday simply as "the July,"
and in a good year it is an occasion for new clothes for the entire
family, commonly designated "July dresses" and "July suits."
Conviviality often joins with practical necessity to provide
social occasions for North Dakotans. Butchering, sausage making,
soap making, quilting, threshing, burials, illness, all furnish oppor-
tunity for friends to meet and visit while performing some deed
of necessity or kindness. The farmer who is ill during sowing
time will often have his crop put in by his neighbors, and he
may be called on in the fall to help harvest for the recently be-
reaved widow of one of his friends. The neighbor who has lost
his home by fire or has had some other misfortune will probably
be given a "make-glad" party, at which he will receive gifts in
kind and perhaps in money. After harvest, when there is straw
to be burned, the young people of the locality will hold strawstack
parties, roasting wieners and marshmallows as the burning stacks
light the autumn night with their red gleam.
Sometimes, with the coining of dusk on winter evenings, bob-
sleighs slide away from darkened country homes, filled with all
t}ie members of the family, from grandparents down to babies.
Often the sleigh will pick up additional passengers at a nearby
homestead, and sometimes it becomes so crowded that there is
scarcely room for the boxes of sandwiches, carefully wrapped cakes,
86 Survey of the State
and jars of pickles among the shuffling feet and heated rocks and
bricks in the bottom of the sleigh. The singing creak of the
sleigh runners accompanies songs that boom out on the night air.
Presently a number of sleighs reach an appointed home, but they
do not pause long. Across the fields the light of a farmhouse
window offers a prelude to their welcome. They become studiously
quiet until they reach the door, then burst in with shouts of "Sur-
prise!" There follows a confusion of greetings and commands:
"Get a lantern."
"Put your horses in the east stall. John, show Henry where
to put his horses, and hey, John, turn Jip and Molly out to make
room for Millers' team."
"Bring in them sandwiches I brought, Helen."
"Oh, heavens, you knew all about it you're all dressed up and
ready for us. With the country line it ain't possible to surprise
anyone."
(Even where there is no country telephone line, it is con-
sidered something of a feat to catch the unsuspecting host or
hostess napping. Yet all North Dakotans like surprise parties, and
have them on birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and every other
plausible occasion.)
The farmhouse is converted into a dual-purpose hall. The
accordion is placed near the stove to "thaw out," wraps are de-
posited in corners, on chairs, and on beds, except the one reserved
for the babies. Tables, the drophead sewing machine, and every-
thing else that will serve the purpose are arranged for card play-
ing. One room is cleared for dancing. After the first spurt of
conversation lags, the, musician takes his instrument on his knee,
the floor is sprinkled with corn meal or grated paraffin, and soon
the house is shaking from studding to rafter. Someone suggests
a quadrille, or square dance, and the room resounds with the calls:
"First two gents cross over
And leave your lady stand,
Side two gents cross over,
And take her by the hand.
Salute your corner lady,
Salute your partners all,
Swing the corner lady,
And promenade round the hall."
"First couple to the right,
Birdie in the center and three hands round,
Birdie fly out and hunter step in.
Three hands round."
At midnight, after three or four hours of dancing and card
playing, "the ladies" serve lunch. The hat is passed for contri-
butions to the musician, but he does not take the money until he
is through playing, which is usually about 3 o'clock in the morn-
Kacial Groups and Folkways 87
ing. Then, after a general bedlam of looking for mislaid coats,
the babies are carefully wrapped, the younger children are wak-
ened and rub their eyes sleepily as they climb into the sleighs, the
empty cake plates and pickle jars are collected, farewells are called,
and horses, anxious to return to their own stalls, speed the drowsy
parties home through the cold night.
The young people of the State usually have ample opportu-
nity for courting at such parties, or at meetings of junior church
organizations, church camps, and junior choirs. Matchmaking still
exists in isolated Russo- German, German, and Norwegian commu-
nities, however. Except in the larger towns and sometimes even
there the newly married pair is usually honored by a charivari,
or <k chivaree," with the bridal couple seated conspicuously on some
slowly moving vehicle and taken through the streets to an accom-
paniment of blaring automobile horns and clanging tin pans. The
bridegroom is expected to climax this procedure by buying drinks
or cigars for the crowd.
Cigars are much in evidence at the birth of a first child, and
also thereafter at the birth of a son. A child born with a caul is
believed by many to have the gift of second sight, and it is also
sometimes thought that the caul is a powerful fire-fighting weapon.
Superstitions attach to many other phases of life, as well as
to births. Most of these beliefs are not peculiar to North Dakota,
but are rather a part of the folklore of the Nation. A dropped
spoon means company is coming, and so does the cat's washing
its face. Snakes do not die before sundown. A horse-hair put
in water will turn into a snake. The number of stars in the ring
around the moon show the number of days before a coming storm.
Plants which bear underground should be planted in the dark of
the moon, and those which bear above ground in the light of the
moon. A window shade rolling up when no one is near it portends
a death in the family.
Many of the myriad superstitions are not believed, but never-
theless continue to be passed on. There is some belief in ghosts
and occult powers, and scarcely any community is without the
story of a strange death and a haunted house such as the tale
of the doctor who was mysteriously killed on a farm near Wilton
and whose ghostly galloping team disturbed the farmer so much
that he was forced to move. These stories, however, are often
not credited but merely passed on for effect. As for fortune tel-
lers, the most popular prophets are those who deal, not with tall
dark men and long trips, but with isobars and isotherms, for the
interests of agricultural North Dakotans are inseparable from the
weather, which governs their destinies far more surely than any
other factor in their lives.
SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND SOCIAL CURRENTS
For many years education and religion in North Dakota were
closely associated, for the earliest schools were organized by priests.
The Scottish Highlanders of North Dakota's first white settlement
the Selkirk colony at Pembina were a highly religious peasant
people who keenly felt the absence of churches and schools in the
land to which they had migrated. Their sponsor, Lord Selkirk,
also felt that a church would add to the harmony and stability
of the community, and offered to contribute 25 acres for a church
and 20 square miles for a school and mission if the Bishop of
Quebec would approve a church at Pembina. The bishop acceded,
and in 1818 Father Joseph Dumoulin, Father Joseph Provencher,
and William Edge, a catechist, arrived to establish churches and
schools, and study the "savage languages" in order to "reduce those
languages to regular principles so as to be able to publish a
grammar after some years of residence."
EDUCATION
The first school in North Dakota, at Pembina, had an enroll-
ment of 60 children, white and half-breed, and courses in English
were supplemented by lessons in planting small grains, both in-
tended for the enlightenment of the "savage" Chippewa. The school
was conducted until 1823, when, after the determination of the
international boundary, many of the Selkirkers moved north to
Canada, thus breaking up the colony. The missionaries were with-
drawn, and the school and chapel remained closed for a quarter
century. When Father George Belcourt came to the region in
1848, he reopened the Pembina Mission and founded another at
St. Joseph in the Pembina Mountains. A school conducted at St.
Joseph by the Sisters of the Propagation of the Faith received
financial aid from the Federal Government, the first Federal sup-
port given to education in this State.
In the early settlements of the State, a mother would often
gather the children of the neighborhood in her home for instruc-
tion, and itinerant teachers occasionally held classes in the tent
cities which sprang up in the wake of the railroad. As the com-
munities grew, residents cooperated in hiring teachers and building
schools. The railroad companies assisted by shipping lumber free
for schools. Between 1853 and the attainment of statehood in 1889,
1,362 schools were opened, many of them in country communities,
taught by men or women who had come West to homestead. A
teacher's report on one such school, sent to the superintendent of
the Griggs County schools in 1886, recorded that he had taught a
Schools, Churches and Social Currents 89
62 -day term, with 15 pupils enrolled and daily average attendance
of 7 7/31; that his salary was $35 a month; and that the school
building and grounds were in good condition, the former containing
a "Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, New 8-Inch Terrestrial Globe,
New Forms and Solids for object Teaching and Two Slate black
boards."
By 1883 two institutions of higher education had been founded
in the northern half of Dakota Territory. Jamestown College, the
first school in the State to offer a normal course, had been estab-
lished by the Presbyterian Church, and three months later the
Territorial assembly voted to found a University of North Dakota
at Grand Forks. Originally a liberal arts college, this institution
extended its curriculum until, in 1889, it included a law school, a
college of mechanical engineering, and a school of mines. In its
first year the university had an enrollment of 79; during 1936,
2,555 attended classes or took correspondence work in its six
colleges.
Several private colleges were opened prior to 1889, and the
Enabling Act of that year provided for the establishment of an
agricultural college and normal schools. Like the other private
institutions, Jamestown College was forced to close its doors during
the financial panic of 1893. Reopened in 1909, it is now the only
endowed liberal arts college in the State. The effects of the 1893
depression on the university and normal schools were accentuated
by the vetoing of the appropriations for a two-year period. Weath-
ering this crisis, the State colleges and university reached an en-
rollment of 2,000 in 1904, and by 1936 their total registration ex-
ceeded 10,000.
Notable in educational history was the affiliation in 1905 of
the university and Wesley College, a Methodist school originally
located at Wahpeton. Similar affiliations were later made among
other colleges, including the North Dakota Agricultural College,
where the Wesley College buildings are now used for an inter-
denominational school of religion.
To comply with the provision of the Enabling Act requiring
establishment and maintenance of a public school system open to
all children and free from sectarian control, the first legislature
set up an education department administered by three branches a
State superintendent, county superintendents, and district boards.
It also created a tuition fund from the proceeds of school lands,
supplemented by poll taxes, school taxes levied by general law,
and all fines for violation of State statutes. The money from these
sources was made available to all schools in which the English
language was taught.
90 Survey of the State
The school lands to which the law referred were received by
the State in accordance with the plan of the Federal act of 1785
granting each new State carved from the Ohio Territory section
16 of each township for public school support. For North and
South Dakota, under the Enabling Act, this grant was doubled,
giving the schools one-eighteenth of all land surveyed. Town site
boomers and speculators in other States commonly took .advantage
of school land grants to buy property at prices far below the actual
value; but in the Dakotas they were forestalled by the alert Ter-
ritorial superintendent of schools, W. H. H. Beadle, who incorpor-
ated into the constitutions of both States the provision that school
lands might not be sold at less than $10 an acre, and might be
leased as hay or grazing lands but not for cultivation, and that the
title of western coal lands included in the grant must always be
retained by the State. Similarly guarded were 750,000 acres of
land granted to other educational institutions. So successful was
Beadle's plan that it has been adopted by almost every other State
admitted to the Union since 1889.
At the State School of Science at Wahpeton, opened in 1903
as a trade school and junior college, two methods of industrial
education have been originated, the Babcock plan and the North
Dakota plan, both of which have attracted the attention of edu-
cators throughout the United States. The former provides for the
establishment of three departments within the school a trade
school, a junior college, and a business school, each of which, by
a plan of interaction, is made to serve the others. The North Da-
kota plan, evolved to solve the problem of providing industrial
education in an agricultural State, concentrates all trades educa-
tion in one school, with the exception of night courses offered at
other points in the State under the supervision of the school of
science,
A second junior college was established in 1925 at the school
of forestry in Bottineau. North Dakota is now one of the 27 States
which have junior colleges.
Twenty parochial schools, most of them maintained by the
Roman Catholic or the Lutheran Church, offer grade and high
school work, and are governed by the State department of public
instruction.
Under the supervision of the board of administration, the State
supports a school for the deaf at Devils Lake, a school for the blind
at Bathgate, and an institution for feeble-minded at Grafton.
The board also has jurisdiction over the hospital for the insane at
Jamestown, the training school for delinquents at Mandan, the
penitentiary at Bismarck, and a sanatorium at San Haven. Several
semi-public homes and orphanages are operated by churches and
other organizations.
Schools, Churches and Social Currents 91
It is compulsory for all children between the ages of 7 and
15 to attend school, and a student who has not completed the eighth
grade must continue in school until he is 17 years of age. Agri-
culture is a compulsory course in public schools. Free textbooks
are provided for rural schools, and uniform texts are prescribed
for all public schools.
A school census taken in June 1930 showed North Dakota to have
a school-age population of 222,798, of whom 169,277 were enrolled
in public schools 139,580 in elementary, and 29,697 in high schools.
Indian children are given grade and high school education and
vocational training in special schools at Fort Totten, Fort Yates,
Elbowoods, Belcourt, and Wahpeton. Preservation of tribal arts,
including beadwork and pottery, is encouraged.
The North Dakota educational system is greatly influenced by
the agrarian character of the State. Because children are needed
for farm work, most of the country schools are not opened until
October, and operate for a term of only seven or eight months.
A survey made in the winter of 1923-24 showed a sharp decline
in attendance records in rural schools, and consequently legislation
was enacted providing free transportation for pupils living more
than two and one-half miles from school. The legislation affected
two -fifths of the rural school population, and resulted in improved
attendance in elementary schools. The one-room school is still
the most common type of educational institution in the State, al-
though the number of consolidated schools is being increased an-
nually. Sixty high schools, including the Benson and Walsh
County Agricultural Schools, receive Federal aid through the Smith-
Hughes Act, which provides funds for vocational training and
courses in agriculture. This act also enables the North Dakota
Agricultural College in Fargo to operate extension service and
experimental stations, and to provide a State-wide educational pro-
gram for farmers.
Reading facilities in public schools were improved by the
1911 legislative appropriation of $25 to each school district for a
permanent school library. In many communities these school
libraries, supplemented by the loan services offered by the State
educational institutions and the traveling libraries of the State
library commission, are the only sources of reading material. The
first public library in the State was opened in 1897 in Grafton by
a group of clubwomen, and many other towns have received similar
benefit from the efforts of women's clubs to build up library
collections.
RELIGION
Through the influence of three prominent men in the Red
River settlement Joseph Rolette, Norman Kittson, and Anton
92 Survey of the State
Gringas Father Belcourt was able to maintain his Pembina Mis-
sion, establish another at St. Joseph, and extend his work west
to the Turtle Mountains. He held services for Indians and hunters
alike.
Meanwhile, Protestantism was introduced into the State by
James Tanner, a half-breed interpreter from the Cass Lake (Min-
nesota) Reservation who had become a Baptist minister. At his
request, Rev. Alonzo Barnard came from the Presbyterian mission
at Cass Lake to Pembina and St. Joseph late in 1848. Barnard re-
mained only a short time, being succeeded in 1850 by a young
Baptist missionary, Elijah Terry, who was killed by hostile Sioux
as he was cutting logs for a chapel. The following summer Bar-
nard returned, accompanied by his wife, David Spencer and his
family, and John Smith. Despite severe misfortune, including Mrs.
Barnard's death from pneumonia, and the death of Mrs. Spencer,
who was pierced by an Indian arrow as she stood in the window
of her cabin with her baby in her arms, the mission was kept open
until 1858.
Except for occasional visits by priests and ministers from Cana-
da to the Pembina settlement, there was little further religious
activity in North Dakota until 1871, when the Presbyterians again
sent a minister into the Bed River Valley. Oscar H. Elmer, who
received the appointment, drove up and down the valley in a home-
made cutter, and was the first to conduct church services in many
of the pioneer towns, including Fargo and Grand Forks.
When the Episcopal Church decided to send a missionary into
the newly settled territory, the board, guided by the stories it
had heard of Dakota winters, recalled Rev. Robert Wainright
from his mission in Labrador, feeling that his experience there
should have qualified him to serve in Dakota. Mr. Wainright
took over the northern half of Dakota Territory, and raised funds
to carry on his work by appearing in Labrador costume and giv-
ing exhibitions of his skill with a 40-foot whip, with which it is
said he could flick water out of a glass.
As settlement increased, other church groups sent mission-
aries and ministers. At first, services were held in homes, schools,
or tents, and often a building used during the week as a saloon or
gambling hall would become a place of worship on Sunday. The
ministerial duties frequently included janitor work, and since the
remuneration usually consisted of donations from the parishioners,
many of the ministers supplemented this income by operating small
farms. The hardships of pioneer days led to much resourcefulness
on the part of early churchgoers. Gopher tails were saved and
placed on the collection plate by those who had no cash to give,
for the church could then claim the three-cent bounty on gophers
offered by the State. As communities grew, new church build-
Schools, Churches and Social Currents 93
ings were erected, until now some of the most notable structures
in the State are churches. Religious colonies came to North Da-
kota to settle, and Mennonite, Dunkard, Moravian, and Moham-
medan are among the approximately 25 creeds represented in the
State. Most influential are the Lutheran (due to the large num-
ber of Scandinavian settlers) and the Roman Catholic.
The actual number of churches is decreasing as parishes are
enlarged, and in smaller towns and rural sections the consolidation
of churches has been found practical
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
A movement in 1915 for increased social legislation resulted in
the passage of mothers' pension, juvenile court, and old age pen-
sion acts, and in the abolition of capital punishment except in the
case of a convict already serving a life sentence for murder.
In contrast to the general trend of prison populations through-
out the United States, that of the North Dakota penitentiary has
steadily decreased until in 1935-36 it reached the lowest figure in
10 years 274. Most of the decline has occurred in the number
of non-residents of the State committed, probably due to the fact
that, with poorer crops, employment of transient farm labor has
'been unnecessary, and the annual influx of transients has there-
fore decreased.
Impetus was added to the program against juvenile delinquency
in 1921 by the publication of the results of a five-year survey
which showed that more than 500 children were brought into court
annually. Laws regarding juvenile delinquency were made more
stringent. The reform school at Mandan was renamed the State
Training School, and a corresponding change was effected in the
methods of handling delinquents sent there. From a juvenile prison
the institution became virtually a boarding school in which boys
and girls between the ages of 12 and 21 supplement regular grade
and high school work and vocational training with such extra-
curricular activities as music, dramatics, athletics, and club work.
Since the survey revealed that, while only 5 percent of the
child population of the State lived in three cities having a popu-
lation of more than 10,000, these cities reported 45 percent of the
delinquency, social service groups in all the cities were enlisted to
deal with the problem. New emphasis was placed on character-
building organizations such as Boy and Girl Scouts, Campfire Girls,
Y. M. C. A., and Y, W. C. A.; playgrounds were opened, and rec-
reational programs promoted. The American Legion formed a Ju-
nior Baseball League for boys under 17 years of age, which was
so successful that in many communities boys who graduated from
the junior teams are now receiving civic support in the organiza-
tion of intermediate and senior clubs.
94 Survey of the State
North Dakota's moderate temperature and dry air came in for
early prominence in the advertisements of promoters, who assured
prospective settlers that this was one of the most healthful States
in the Union. It was a fortunate circumstance that they were cor-
rect, for lack of transportation facilities and the limited number
of doctors often made it impossible for settlers to obtain medical
aid. Today the number of doctors is adequate for the population,
but their tendency to concentrate in the larger towns leaves many
western rural communities, and a few in the east, with no medical
aid within many miles. Despite this uneven distribution of doc-
tors, North Dakota has always had a good health record. Since
there are no large cities, contagious diseases do not spread rapidly
and epidemics are comparatively rare. In 1935 the State had a
record of 8.0 deaths per thousand of population, while the figure
for the United States as a whole was 10.7. The highest death
rate is among the Indians, tuberculosis being the most prevalent
cause. Largely through the efforts of Dean H. E. French of the
university school of medicine, a State health department was estab-
lished in 1923, and has set up a health program and secured pas-
sage o{ laws providing for medical inspection in public schools,
creation of a board of examiners for nurses, registration of nurses,
and employment of county nurses.
The work of State agencies for the care of children and aged
or physically handicapped persons is coordinated through the State
welfare board. Under the provisions of revised legislation en-
acted in 1935, the board distributed 7,431 old age pensions, and in
1936 inaugurated a program for the aid of the blind which, within
a single year, provided vocational education and other assistance
for 150 people not enrolled in the State school at Bathgate.
In conjunction with the Children's Bureau, created in 1923,
and local lodge groups throughout the State, the welfare board
holds clinics for physically handicapped children, provides them
with medical care whenever possible, and helps them learn trades.
Similar work with adults is carried on by the State department of
vocational education and rehabilitation organized in 1921. Of the
124 handicapped individuals who received training through the
facilities of the department in 1935-36, 45 were placed in employ-
ment. ,
Stringent pure food and drug acts were drafted for the State
by the late Dr. Edwin F. Ladd, an outstanding figure in the field
of public health, who as United States Senator from North Dakota
drew up some of the Federal pure food laws. A regulatory de-
partment maintains a laboratory where foodstuffs and other pro-
ducts are tested for compliance with State laws. The department
of public health also has laboratories throughout the State, and
several cities have their own facilities for testing water supplies.
TRANSPORTATION
When in 1738 the intrepid French-Canadian, Pierre Verendrye,
his three sons, and his nephew set out on foot to trudge weary
miles across the prairies to the Mantannes on the Missouri River,
they did not dream that some day man-made birds would flash
their silver wings against the sky and, glide smoothly to rest on
the level plains. Less than 200 years were to pass before this
miracle of transportation progress would become so commonplace
that a native North Dakotan would think nothing of a trip from
Montreal to Bismarck by plane, but would be astonished at the
thought of anyone's walking that distance.
Verendrye, the first white man known to have touched North
Dakota soil, and other explorers who followed in those early years,
came on foot to visit the Indians. They found the Mandans, who
lived beside the Missouri, in possession of unusual means of water
transportation. The dugout canoe, made of a log, was found
on all the rivers of North Dakota, but only in the Missouri Valley
did the Indians use the bullboat, a circular craft of the coracle
type which the Indians made by stretching a buffalo hide over a
willow frame. Before the introduction of the horse, Indians used
the dog train for hauling heavy loads overland, but when the Sioux
migrated into this territory from the south and east they brought
the horse with them. Of all tribes the Sioux were the most grace-
ful and daring riders. The horse travois, a rather crude means of
hauling baggage devised by the Indians, soon gave way to the
white man's wagon as settlers began to pour in.
The covered; wagon served to move the immigrant family to
its new home, and furnished immediate living quarters. In the
Red River country before 1820, the oxcart, made entirely of wood
with cross sections of a round log for wheels, was introduced at
Pembina. Long creaking trains of these carts drawn by oxen made
their way slowly across the country carrying settlers and supplies.
Before the coming of modern means of transportation, the
Missouri River formed the most important avenue of entry into
what is now North Dakota. The ascent of the river by the steam-
boat Yellowstone to Fort Union in 1832 was an event of import-
ance, because the Big Muddy had never before been navigated
through this territory.
The Indians who witnessed the coming of this first boat found
great significance in it also. According to George Catlin, the artist,
who was aboard the steamer, some of them shot their dogs and
horses in a sacrifice to appease the Great Spirit, whom they thought
96 Survey of the State
to be offended; some ran frightened to their homes; and some
among the Mandans cautiously approached the ship, "the big medi-
cine canoe with eyes", which in some mysterious way could see
its own way to take the deep water in the middle of the channel.
The frequently changing channel and swift current of the river
proved a severe test for the hardy and resourceful pilots who fol-
lowed in the wake of the Yellowstone. As the Sioux City (Iowa)
Register stated in 1868, "Of all the variable things in creation the
most uncertain are the action of a jury, the state of a woman's
mind, and the condition of the Missouri River."
The humorist George Fitch, as quoted in Edna LaMoore Waldo's
Dakota , describes the stream in these words:
"There is only one river with a personality, a sense
of humor, and a woman's caprice; a river that goes travel-
ing sidewise, that interferes in politics, rearranges geog-
raphy and dabbles in real estate; a river that plays hide-
and-seek with you today, and tomorrow follows you around
like a pet dog with a dynamite cracker tied to his tail.
That river is the Missouri."
A pilot familiar with the river, and able to foresee its vagaries,
often received and was easily worth $1,000 a month, fabulous
as that salary may now seem.
The Red River was also a highway of traffic in the heyday
of the steamboat. Supplies were carried down it to Grand Forks,
Pembina, and Winnipeg (then Fort Garry). The steamboat could
be employed only during the summer months, however, when the
river was open. During the winters in the 1870's, messages, sup-
plies, and mail were carried by pack horse and dog sled. Regular
mail routes were established between Fort Abercrombie and Fort
Totten, and from St. Paul to Winnipeg, by way of Pembina.
As news of the vast untouched, wealth of the new Territory
drifted back to eastern capitalists, they turned their eyes westward.
Soon survey parties mapped the projected courses of railroads.
By 1871 the Northern Pacific Railway had been completed as far
as Moorhead, Minn. The next year it crossed the river, and in
1873 reached Bismarck, halting at the Missouri. It was no easy
task to span this treacherous river; and, with the interruption of
the panic of 1873, not until 1879 was there any further westward
extension. Construction work to the Montana border was finished
in 1881, two years before the Northern Pacific became a transcon-
tinental line. So great was the influence of the railroad in bring-
ing new settlers to Dakota that in the period from 1870 to 1875
the population of the western half of the Red River Valley doubled,
Transportation 97
General Ouster's expedition returned from the Black Hills in
1874 with glowing tales of gold. There was a rush for the Hills,
and Bismarck, the nearest railroad terminus, became temporary
headquarters for parties leaving by stage for the gold fields. The
route that Custer had taken to the Hills from Bismarck was long
known as the Territorial Highway.
Although James J. Hill was one of the first to sponsor steam-
boat traffic on the Red River, it was not until 1880 that he began
building the Great Northern Railway down the Red River Valley
to Grand Forks, and thence westward to Minot in 1887. Other
lines of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern, main and branch
lines of the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, and branches
of other roads soon entered the State. In order to build perma-
nent business for their lines, they brought in new settlers, gave
special rates on household and farm equipment, and in every way
encouraged settlement. It was because of the railroads that bonan-
za farming, an important phase of North Dakota history, was intro-
duced. The State is now served by seven railroads, with more
than 5,000 miles of trackage. The Dakota Division of the Great
Northern, with its 1,800 miles of main-line track, is the largest
railroad division in the world.
With the railroads came the telegraph lines, the first of which
was established between Winnipeg and Abercrombie, with offices
at Fargo and Grand Forks, in 1871. Soon all of the young Terri-
tory was in communication with the outside world.
The colorful era of the steamboat had ended with the coming
of the cheaper and speedier transportation by rail, but methods
of local transportation remained unaltered. The horse still fur-
nished the power, although fashions in wagons and buggies might
change.
It was left for the twentieth century to usher in the age of
speed. In the first decade, the wheezing steam automobile chug-
ged with difficulty over sticky gumbo roads in the Red River Val-
ley, and over scoria trails in the west. Automobiles were rare, and
possession of one marked the owner as an aristocrat or a public
nuisance, according to the point of view of the observer.
When the internal combustion motor vehicle was improved,
road building began in earnest. Bus companies, established to fill
a need for north and south transportation facilities not provided
by the railroads, opened a campaign for better roads. They were
joined by an ever increasing number of car owners, and as a re-
sult road conditions have been steadily improved since the early
1920's.
98 Survey of the State
The first bus line in the State was begun in 1922, between
Bismarck and Minot. Although the next two years saw the intro-
duction of many bus and truck lines, these were not regulated by
State law until placed under jurisdiction of the board of railway
commissioners by legislative act in 1925. Immediately, operating
permits were required from all companies, one of the first being
granted to the Northland Transportation Company, forerunner of
the Northland Greyhound Line. Today a network of bus and truck
lines covers the State.
The airplane proved admirably suited to this part of the coun-
try. The clear dry atmosphere afforded ideal flying conditions,
and almost every part of the State was suitable for landing fields,
even without improvement. Municipalities became interested in
the new mode of transportation, hangars were built, and runways
laid out. Now all of the larger cities and towns have airports,
and almost every small town has its landing field. Private planes
are found at the airports, and here and there ships are seen on
farms, where mechanically minded lads pilot them in leisure hours
for their own pleasure. All planes and pilots must be licensed
under a State law of 1929, as well as conform to the regulations
of the Department of Commerce.
Cheering crowds at Fargo, Grand Forks, and Pembina greeted
the pilots of the first air mail between the Twin Cities and Win-
nipeg in 1928. Hundreds of letters and cards were carried on this
flight for collectors who desired copies of the special commemora-
tive cancellation stamp. North Dakotans' air mail letters now reach
Washington, D. C. or Los Angeles 12 hours after mailing. Daily
service on the original line is still maintained, and two other regu-
lar lines have been extended into the State, one between Chicago
and Seattle which stops at Fargo and Bismarck, the other from
Bismarck to Tulsa, Okla.
Transportation has advanced with amazing rapidity since the
Territory of Dakota was organized in 1861. Nevertheless, a severe
winter such as that of 1935-36 is capable of halting communica-
tion almost completely. But even then, with automobile traffic at
a standstill because of blocked roads, trains delayed because of
mountainous snowdrifts, and planes grounded because snow and
ice made landing too hazardous, the radio still kept the State in
constant touch with the outside world.
THE PRESS AND RADJIO
Whether or not the first printing press in North Dakota,
brought to St. Joseph (Walhalla) by Rev. Alonzo Barnard in 1848,
was ever used in the State is a matter of conjecture. When Mr.
Barnard, a Presbyterian minister, was transferred to Dakota, he
took his press a gift from students at Oberlin College overland
from the Cass Lake (Minnesota) Reservation to Red Lake, by
canoe across the lake and down the Red Lake and Red Rivers to
Pembina, then by oxcart to St. Joe. Here he may have used it,
as he did in Minnesota, to publish news letters and pamphlets for
his parishioners, but nothing printed on it in North Dakota has
been preserved.
The first North Dakota publication was probably the Frontier
Scout, a short-lived four-page, three-column sheet which made its
appearance at Fort Union in July 1864. In the following year its
successor, the Pioneer Scout, was issued at Fort Rice and, accord-
ing to its editors, "published weekly by the First U. S, V. Infantry
for the edification of the people of Dacotah, both civilized and
savage; and as 'green' spots and 'green* backs are so few, we will
not mention terms, but bid it, like the grace of God, go free."
The editors further declared that "every article in this paper is
original and sees the light of day for the first time."
Journalistic activity lapsed subsequent to these military literary
efforts, and was not revived until the railroad and the resultant in-
flux of settlers in 1872 brought the new Territory to the attention of
Minnesota editors. Col. Clement A. Lounsberry, sent by the Min-
neapolis Tribune to cover colonization in the Fargo area, went on
to Bismarck where, on July 11, 1873, the first number of his own
paper, the Bismarck Tribune, appeared. First a weekly and later
a daily, it has been published continuously since that time, missing
only one edition, and on that occasion newsboys distributed hastily
printed handbills containing formal notice that the Tribune plant
had been destroyed by fire (see BISMARCK).
Early journalism in the Fargo area was stimulated by the offer
of the Wells-Fargo Express Company to give a cash bonus for a
paper appearing under the name of the Fargo Express. First and
unsuccessful bidder for the bonus was a sheet bearing the correct
name, but printed at Glyndon, Minn. The prize was awarded
in 1874 to a Fargo-printed publication. Between 1874 and 1891
several other papers were issued, to be merged finally in the Fargo
Forum in 1891.
100 Survey of the State
In 1874 the Grand Forks Plaindealer was founded; five years
later the Herald was also in the field, and eventually absorbed the
Plaindealer (see GRAND FORKS).
With the beginning of settlement newspapers sprang up quickly
in the other new towns of Dakota, so that when North Dakota
was admitted to the Union in 1889, it had 125 periodicals. Many
so-called newspapers were nothing more than a final proofsheet,
printed in order that settlers might comply with the homesteading
law which required publication of notice of final claim. The cost
of establishing such a paper was slight. Official notices, an occa-
sional advertisement, and a few local news items were all it
contained. If the editor could win the favor of the United States
Land Office registrar, who usually designated the official paper,
he might obtain one hundred or more notices an issue; these at
$5 each made his income quite substantial. Often the paper was
short-lived, but the editor usually remained in the State, setting up
his type cases and presses in some promising small town and
starting an actual weekly paper. Many villages had two or more
rival papers for a time, and the number of publications increased
rapidly; in 1904 there were 265 in the State, and in 1919 a high of
336 was reached. The weekly papers were widely read and often
had great political influence.
Improved transportation facilities, however, led to the retreat
of the weeklies before the increasing circulation of the daily papers.
North Dakota now has 196 publications including 11 dailies and 4
trade journals.
Always active in the political life of the State, the newspapers
have been an especially important factor in the Nonpartisan League
fight. With the daily press usually unanimously opposed to its
program, the league has purchased weeklies through which it has
exercised a great influence on the rural population. Although it
does not control as many weeklies now as it formerly did, it still
has a strong hand in the editorial policies of many papers in the
State.
In May 1922, less than two years after the first radio broad-
cast in the United States had been put on the air by KDKA in
Pittsburgh, WDAY of Fargo presented the first commercial broad-
cast in North Dakota. The State now has seven other stations,
situated in Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot, Devils Lake, Mandan,
Valley City, and Jamestown.
KFJM in Grand Forks is one of the few stations in the United
States owned by a State university. It is leased to private opera-
tors with the provision that its facilities be at the disposal of the
school for special broadcasts and experimental work (see GRAND
FORKS).
The Press and Radio 101
The radio has made an important contribution to the State
service by broadcasting information on weather conditions when-
ever necessary. Lives and thousands of dollars in property have
been saved by warnings of spring floods. During the winter
months frequent weather and highway reports are given, and warn-
ings sent out regarding advisability of sending children to school
during storms or extremely cold weather. In November 1930 an
unusual service was performed by the Fargo and Bismarck sta-
tions. Heavy coatings- of sleet had broken down telephone and
telegraph wires throughout the State, and severed all communi-
cation between Fargo and Jamestown, division points on the North-
ern Pacific. During the first afternoon of the storm short-wave
communication was established between the Fargo transmitter and
an amateur set at Jamestown, but after sunset interference forced
abandonment of this broadcast. Receiving sets were quickly in-
stalled at the studios of the Fargo and Bismarck stations, making
possible a two-way conversation. On the one available telephone
connection between Jamestown and Bismarck the dispatchers' of-
fice in Jamestown was hooked up with the Bismarck studio, in
Fargo the dispatcher was linked with WDAY, and for two days
all trains on the line were dispatched by radio. Between train
orders the facilities of both stations were turned over to the tele-
graph offices, and Fargo alone sent out more than 200 messages.
Several amateur stations were in operation before any com-
mercial broadcasting had been done in North Dakota. When the
convention of the Dakota Division of the American Radio Relay
League was held in Fargo in 1936, there were 300 licensed opera-
tors in attendance, and each year finds an increased number of
people selecting short-wave broadcasting as a hobby.
ARCHITECTURE
The buildings of North Dakota cling closely to the low, tran-
quil landscape of the State, avoiding exposure to the cold north-
west winds that sweep across the snowy prairie in winter. Farms
and towns huddle in valleys or hug the open plain, and only grain
elevators dare to break the comfortable horizontality of the pre-
vailing contours. In the few cities a tendency can be noted to-
ward height in buildings, but the number of skyscrapers in North
Dakota can be counted on the fingers of one hand.
Despite this relatively small number one skyscraper, the State
Capitol (designed by Joseph B. DeKemer and William F. Kurke,
and Holabird and Root, associates), has aroused more interest and
comment than any other building in the history of the State. This
interest has not been confined to the borders of North Dakota, for
the "slender shaft of modernity" which dominates the Bismarck
skyline represents a trend in the architecture of State capitols that
is gaining the attention of the entire Nation. Because the basic
reasons for the skyscraper exaggerated land values and proximity
to transportation centers are utterly lacking in this capacious
prairie State, much criticism has been directed at the type of state-
house chosen. Nevertheless the point is made that the character
and purpose of the building as the seat of State government are
well expressed in the impressive height and dignity of its lines,
while at the same time the structure is decidedly utilitarian. (See
BISMARCK.)
Utilitarianism characterized the architecture of this region be-
fore even the earliest white explorations took place. When Veren-
drye visited the Mandan Indians along the Missouri in 1738 he
found them living in well-built lodges made of earth packed over
a framework of logs, comfortably cool in summer and warm in
winter. The lodge was constructed of native materials and suited
the settled agricultural life of the Mandans. In the same way
the easily moved skin tipi of the nomadic Sioux whom the early
explorers found to the east of the Missouri was well suited to their
wandering mode of life.
The fur traders were the first white people to build in this
region, and, like the Indians, they made use of native materials.
Their posts, usually on the rivers where timber was available, were
rough affairs of untrimmed logs, roofed with dirt laid over a tim-
Architecture 103
ber framework, with the earth for a floor. Like the Indians of
the Missouri Valley, the traders put up log stockades around their
posts to ward off attacks of hostile natives.
The settlers who followed the traders into this country also
made use of the trees which grew along the streams, but as settle-
ment began to penetrate the unforested interior of the State the
earth itself provided building material for frontier homes. A fur-
row some three inches deep was plowed into a tough sod contain-
ing many grass roots, and the broken sod was cut into lengths the
width of the wall, up to two and a half feet. One row of
blocks was laid lengthwise of the wall and the next crosswise,
with the joints staggered as in laying bricks. The finished wall
provided a strong, thick barrier against summer heat and winter
cold. The roof, like that of many log houses, was of poles covered
with brush, often finished with overlapping strips of sod. Some-
times these sod roofs actually bloomed in the spring as their many
roots came to life, and one pioneer told of the small poles which
formed the framework of his roof leafing out inside the house in
midwinter.
Improved transportation brought lumber into North Dakota, and
frame shanties and houses were built. The red barn took a promi-
nent place on the farm, and the silo, for storing fodder, reared
its vertical mass, sometimes dwarfing even the windmill with its
revolving silvery fins. Except for the more affluent farms, where
the homes sometimes boasted as many as 12 rooms and a porch,
the farmhouses followed an uninspired cycle of rectangular or L-
shaped frame structures, often with a lean-to shed at the back
for storing wood or coal. On Russo-German farms in the south-
ern and western parts of the State a European love of color as-
serted itself as houses were painted sky blue or nile green or
pink, and color combinations such as red, white, and blue formed
a pattern of diagonal stripes on the barn or granary door.
In each township appeared the one-room country school,
usually white or light green in color, with its three windows on
each side, coal shed and door in one end, chimney and black board
in the other, and possibly a bell tower over the door. The early
school was not only a seat of learning, it was also the community
center, where a Saturday night basket social might be followed
by church services the next morning.
As the stories of rich land and the lure of the frontier brought
more people to this region, small towns grew up on the prairie,
most of them consisting of one business street and a few residen-
tial streets. Along the wooden sidewalks of Main Street the false-
front building predominated, its frame facade rising a half story
104 Survey of the State
or more above its roof. The motive for constructing the false-
front building may have been to provide space for a sign, or it
may have been merely to "put on front" literally as well as fig-
uratively. Often the sole brick building in the young North Da-
kota town housed the bank, and the hotel could be easily identi-
fied by its porches. Near the railroad track was the long gable
roof depot of dark red, dark green, or yellow trimmed in red. The
school was a boxlike white frame structure topped with a bell
tower, and every town had at least one rectangular, white, gable
roof church with windows in either side and a steeple and bell on
the entrance facade. Residences varied from tar-paper shanties to
the ornate, gabled, towered mansion of the eighties.
Dominating the silhouette of these little villages were the
grain elevators, those bright sentinels which symbolized the reason
for the towns' founding, and still remain the most typical build-
ings in the North Dakota picture today. Like tall men standing
head and shoulders above a crowd, they rise 60 to 70 feet above
the low prairie. First glimpsed as any town comes into sight is
the row of wedge-shaped cupolas, like arrowheads in profile, top-
ping the almost square red, green, or maroon shafts. On the side
opposite the railroad track, along which the elevators are lined,
each building has its one-story scalehouse, where the trucks and
wagons dump their loads of grain. A few feet from the scale-
house is the small rectangular power house and office building.
As towns have prospered, brick buildings have come into use
in the business sections, and new homes of bungalow, Colonial,
old English, Spanish, and other modified styles have been built.
Leaving behind the era of metal fronts, towers, and domes, public
buildings are emerging in neoclassic, Gothic, Colonial, and modern
architecture. The little white churches have given way in many
instances to stone and brick structures varying in design from
Gothic to modern, the United Lutheran Church in Grand Forks
being an example of the latter. The schools haye shown perhaps
the greatest development of any type of building, and most towns
now have well-designed modern schools which often serve as com-
munity centers.
Native building materials are becoming more popular in North
Dakota, and each year an increasing amount of construction uti-
lizes native-made brick and locally quarried sandstone. An inter-
esting development in the use of native materials is the rammed-
earth building, the walls of which consist of earth tamped until
it is hard as rock. A house and garage of this construction erected
on the Scoria Lily ranch near Hettinger (see Tour 9), because of
Architecture 105
their unusually low building cost, have attracted wide attention.
The use of native boulders as a building material is well illustrated
in the Cairn, home of Mr. and Mrs. Clell G. Gannon in Bismarck.
Even with these attempts there is no native North Dakota
architecture. The schools, farms, grain elevators, and false-front
business buildings are common to the entire Midwest. Many of
these, although old, do not mellow, but have an air of imperma-
nence, as though intended to serve only until something better
came along. A few houses, on the other hand, follow the good,
substantial precedent of the older Eastern homes of the country.
New buildings which go up represent a variety of forms, a con-
stant flux in ideas.
As evinced by buildings ranging from statehouse to filling
stations, North Dakota is architecturally in an irresolute frame of
mind, striving, willing to try anything suggested, yet unable, to
date, to evolve from these many trials a distinctive architectural
contribution of its own.
RECREATION
North Dakota offers many diverse forms of recreation among
scenes varying from the spectacle of the fantastically carved Bad-
lands to the severe beauty of the far reaching prairies. The Bad-
lands are probably the best known recreation area of the State.
Here the two Roosevelt Regional State Parks have been set aside,
and many miles of bridle paths and automobile roads are being
built. The strangely colored buttes form one of the most unusual
scenic and geologic areas in the United States, and contain endless
treasures of petrified wood and fossils of prehistoric plant and
animal life.
More conventional is the beauty of the wooded Turtle Moun-
tains, where many attractive lakes provide swimming, fishing, and
boating. In the woods are countless varieties of wild flowers, and
many species of song birds. Of the many lakes in the Turtle Moun-
tains, the largest and best known are Metigoshe in the northwest
part of the hills and Upsilon in the east. Here well- equipped
resorts have been established for the accommodation of summer
visitors.
Lakes are scattered through the region south of the Turtle
Mountains, and provide the main source of summer recreation in
that area. Devils Lake, formerly the principal resort in the State,
still attracts many visitors each year; and other lakes, especially
Spiritwood near Jamestown, are becoming popular. Some North
Dakota lakes offer good fishing, being stocked with pike, crappies,
sunfish, black bass, and rock bass. The rivers also yield pike,
perch, and sunfish, as well as catfish and pickerel.
For the Indians who once inhabited this region, hunting the
buffalo was an activity in which the entire community partici-
pated. The buffalo had almost disappeared when a young
man named Theodore Roosevelt came to Dakota from the East
to regain his health; but big game was still plentiful, for his
books tell of hunting not only bison, but also deer, mountain sheep,
elk, antelope, wolf, coyote, and grizzly bear. Despite the vanish-
ing of the big game, North Dakota still has excellent hunting. In
the wooded areas of the Missouri and Mouse River valleys and
among the Turtle and Pembina Mountains, deer may be hunted
during open seasons. Coyotes are present, as the long dreary wail
heard on the western prairies on a still night testifies; an interest-
ing sport is shooting them from airplanes. Many such small ani-
Recreation 107
mals as the prairie dog, gopher, squirrel, and rabbit provide popu-
lar sport; and the alert hunter may even bag a red fox, for these
crafty animals can still be found in the broken country where
there is cover.
Because migratory flocks pass over the State flying south in
the fall, and because the many sloughs, swamps, and shallow lakes
form ideal breeding and feeding places, North Dakota has an abun-
dance of game birds. Duck hunting is particularly good in the
north and central regions; the southeast section of the State is best
for pheasant hunting; and prairie chicken and grouse are also
plentiful throughout the State. Sportsmen's clubs have taken an
active part in the protection of game birds, providing food for
them in winter and sponsoring projects to give them more ade-
quate shelter. Through the efforts of these clubs, several artificial
lakes have been created: a typical project is Lake Ardoch, where
melted winter snows are impounded to form a home for migratory
waterfowl.
The climate of North Dakota is conducive to winter sports.
Skating, sleighing, and tobogganing have always been popular, and
in recent years many fine ski slides have been built and tourna-
ments held annually. Hockey and curling have many followers.
Figure skating, formerly regarded as a professional achievement,
has also become popular, and many clubs have been formed. The
frozen rivers and snow- covered fields are excellent for ski and
snowshoe hikes. In the larger cities gala winter-sports carnivals
of competitive and exhibition events are held each year, with en-
tries from this State, Minnesota, and Canada; they are particularly
interesting because of their international character. Snow model-
ing is one of the recent items added to the list of contests, and
the varicolored snow statues add a festive appearance to the parks
in which the carnivals are held.
Hiking is a favorite sport the year round, and is the only way
many interesting but otherwise inaccessible spots in the Badlands,
the Turtle and Killdeer Mountains, and in the many State parks
can be reached.
On the Indian reservations, glimpses are afforded of a people
who, despite a certain degree of assimilation, remain apart from
the white civilization that has surrounded them. Special dances are
performed on ceremonial occasions and at fairs. The tribal cos-
tumes are retained to some extent, particularly among the older
people; many of the ancient methods of cooking, weaving, bead-
work, and basketry can be seen, and articles of handicraft pur-
chased.
10.8 Survey of the State
North Dakota is rich in remains of early Indian life. Mounds
and village and camp sites yield arrowheads, stone implements,
enigmatic petroglyphs, beads, and pottery. Old trails of early
white explorers, soldiers, and home seekers can still be traced in
many places, despite the fact that large areas have been plowed up.
Of the numerous fairs and agricultural exhibits held through-
out the State, probably the most interesting to the tourist are those
in the western counties, where rodeos are usually a part of the
program. The rodeo (pronounced ro'-deo in North Dakota) cus-
tomarily is held in a large arena surrounded by a stout fence. The
most dangerous sports are riding the "bucking broncs" and "bull-
dogging"; in the latter, the rider throws himself from his horse to
the neck of a running steer, grasps its horns and twists its head
in an effort to stop the animal and throw it to the ground, all in
the shortest possible length of time. Other events often included
are roping running calves; Roman races, in which the contestant
stands on the saddles of two horses running double with their bits
tied together; and wild- cow milking contests, in which one con-
testant must draw a half cup of milk from a wild cow while his
partner holds the animal. Typical rodeos are held each year in
connection with the fairs at Elbowoods and Fort Yates, where
interest is increased by the large number of Indians who partici-
pate in the contests.
Spectator sports are to be found in almost every town, and
include baseball, diamond or soft ball, basketball, football, golf,
tennis, track events, boxing tournaments, and horseshoe pitching.
8
BATTLE OF THE BADLANDS, 1864
Drawing by a soldier who participated in the engagement
Opposite
STATE CAPITOL,
BISMARCK
Photo by Risem
A "LITTLE OLD SOD SHANTY" OF EARLY DAYS
REVIVING A NORWEGIAN FOLKDANCE, ESMOND, N. DAK.
Photo by P. B. Rognlie
CITY NEIGHBORS
BISMARCK
Railroad Stations: Northern Pacific, Main Ave. bet. 4th and 5th
Sts., for N. P. Ry.; Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie, 117
7th St., for Soo Line.
Bus Stations: Union Bus & Truck Terminal, 618 Bdwy., for North-
land Greyhound Lines and Interstate Transportation Co.; Grand
Pacific Hotel, Bdwy. and 4th St., Mandan-Bismarck, for local in-
tercity line, fare 25c.
Airport: Municipal airport, 2 m. SE. of city on unmarked county
road, taxi fare 50 c, time 10 min., for Northwest and Hanford Air,-
lines. Day and night service, no public hangars.
Taxis: Fare 25c in first zone and to Capitol; 35c to outlying dis-
tricts.
City Bus Line: Busses leave Patterson Hotel, Main Ave. at 5th St.
and cor. of 4th St. and Bdwy., through residential district to Capi-
tol, fare lOc.
Traffic Regulations: No U-turn on through streets, Main Ave. (US
10) and 6th St. (US 83). Turns in either direction at intersections
and vehicle to the right has right-of-way. One-way streets bor-
der Custer Park in W. end of city. Street signs show hour park-
ing limits in business district.
Accommodations: 6 hotels; tourist camp adjoining Riverside Park at
SW. edge of city, reached by turning L. on US 10 just before reach-
ing Liberty Memorial Bridge.
Information Service: Association of Commerce, 215 6th St. City
Hostess maintains office here also.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Bismarck Auditorium, Bdwy,
at 6th St., occasional road shows and local productions; 3 motion
picture theaters.
Golf: 18 -hole course at Country Club on NW. outskirts of city
(greens -fee 40c, Sat. and Sun. 75c).
Tennis: Country Club and Hughes Field, 316 Ave. D, W.
Swimming: Outdoor municipal pool, 323 *W. Bdwy.
Skating: Floodlighted rinks at 7th St. and Ave. D, 4th St. and
Ave. F, Hannafin St. and Ave. A.
Hunting and Fishing: Inrormation can be obtained from State
Game and Fish Department in the Capitol.
Annual Events: Slope Poultry Show, World War Memorial Bldg.,
early January; State high school basketball tournament, World War
Memorial Bldg., 215 6th St., March, no fixed date; State Art Ex-
hibit, Capitol, mid-May; City Flower show, World War Memorial
Bldg., late summer, usually August; State Corn Show, World War
Memorial Bldg., last week in October.
112
City Neighbors
BISMARCK (1,670 alt, 11,090 pop.), Burleigh County seat,
watched over by its lonely skyscraper statehouse, is the storm
center of the State's widely known progressive politics. Ever since
it won that honor in Territorial days, its chief claim to fame and
most prized possession has been the capitol, which is an integral
part of Bismarck, influencing its development and character more
than any other single feature. From the very first the capital city
showed signs of enterprise that has characterized its growth. Its
name was selected with a view to flattering Germany's Iron
Chancellor in the hope of bringing German capital to the rescue
of the financially stricken Northern Pacific Railway.
Bismarck is in the south- central portion of the State where
the Northern Pacific Railway and US 10 cross the Missouri River.
The natural ford here was long known to Indians and buffalo as
\ MUNICIPAL
\ GOLF
\ COURSE
\ KiWANiS"
% \ PARK
-L3L
CITY OF BISMARCK
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
ROADW
STATE CAPITOL
(g) LIBERTY MEMORIAL BUILDING
ROOSEVELT CABIN
EARTH LODGE
POST OFFICE
PUBLIC LIBRARY
2> NORTHERN PACfFlC DEPOT
Scale -Feer '
500 IOOO 20OO 3000
STATE
k PENITENTIARY
Bismarck 113
one of the narrowest and least dangerous crossings on the Mis-
souri. A "pay roll" town because of the State and Federal offi-
ces, it is a growing city despite post-boom years; 87 new homes
were built during 1936. Modern business buildings constitute the
downtown area, and comfortable, new, bungalow-type homes, clean
streets, and well-kept lawns can be seen on the hills which not
long ago were the home of Indian tribes.
The generous western spirit of the residents seems reflected
in the structure of the city. Nothing is crowded. On the east bank
of the restless Missouri River the site of the city is hilly, rising to tn~e
north. Gullies and small hills in the residential district have been
filled in and smoothed off as the city has grown. Along the Missouri
near the city cretaceous rocks are exposed. Strata of shale reach-
ing up almost to the summit of the bank are topped with a thin
layer of drift. Butte-like hills can be seen in the distance north
and east of the city, their flat tops capped with Fox Hills sand-
stone.
In Bismarck are the headquarters of both of the old-line politi-
cal parties and the various progressive groups. Hotels are the un-
official headquarters of different parties, especially when the legis-
lature is in session. At such times, although the city is business-
like on the surface, there is an air of expectancy as it awaits new
developments in the State's changing political creeds.
Pioneers of the city can still remember the first legislative
session in 1889, when the lobbyists for the Louisiana Lottery pour-
ed their money into legislators' pockets, and were shadowed and
exposed by private detectives hired by a Governor and his friends.
Nor forgotten are the machinations of Alexander McKenzie, who
represented the railroad interests in all things political, and who
in later years exercised his peculiar talents in Alaska to such an
extent that Rex Beach accorded him the role of villain in his
novel The Spoilers (see below). And even the young citizens
recall how four governors succeeded one another in the teakwood
gubernatorial office in the course of a little more than six months.
Long before the arrival of the white man, the Mandan Indians
found the Bismarck-Mandan area a favorable spot for their homes.
Their culture gives this vicinity an interesting archeological back-
ground (see INDIANS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS). Several village
sites of the Mandans and Hidatsa are in this vicinity, and a full-
sized model of an earth lodge is constructed on the Capitol grounds.
Artifacts, including implements of warfare and agriculture, pottery,
and beads, were recovered in these sites and are preserved in the
museum of the State historical society.
114 City Neighbors
French fur traders, Lewis and Clark, Prince Paul of Wurttem-
berg, Maximilian, Prince of Wied, and many another early adven-
turer and explorer passed the site of Bismarck in voyages up the
Missouri, but squatters, anticipating the westward path of the
Northern Pacific Bailway, were the first to settle this vicinity,
in the winter of 1871-72. During construction of the railroad a
settlement called Burleightown, named for Dr. Walter Burleigh
of the Northern Pacific Company, grew up near where Fort Lin-
coln stands. At the end of the railroad grade on the bank of the
Missouri, just opposite Fort McKeen, was a tent-town called
Carleton City, later called Point Pleasant, and known to the sol-
diers of the fort as Whiskey Point.
The site of the city was originally occupied by Camp Greeley,
later known as Camp Hancock, a military post established in 1872
for the protection of railroad crews. One of the log buildings of
the post is incorporated into the United States Weather Bureau at
101 Main Avenue, the original post site, and is the oldest building
in Bismarck.
In 1860 river transportation had begun on the upper Missouri,
opening a vast new region to settlement. During this period at least
fifty cargoes were being discharged yearly at Fort Benton in Mon-
tana, while it required a fleet of some thirty or more vessels to
transport troops and carry supplies to the various posts, forts, and
Indian agencies in the Missouri basin. The "Crossing on the Mis-
souri" became a stirring steamboat port, attracting many rivermen
and wood choppers. The latter served an industry of extensive
proportions, since wood supplied all fuel needs for boats on the
river and for the military posts and agencies.
The flooding of the flats near Burleightown each spring threat-
ened danger for the railroad grade, however, and this is thought
to have been the ostensible reason for changing the route in 1873;
actually, the change was probably made to keep land grabbers from
obtaining control of the point at which the road would cross the
river. A new grade was built about one mile north, running
past Camp Greeley. The Lake Superior and Puget Sound Com-
pany, a town site location company auxiliary to the Northern Pa-
cific, was then able to locate another city site which was named
Edwinton for Edwin F. Johnson, Northern Pacific chief engineer,
but was generally known as "The Crossing." When the Burleigh-
town grade was left unused the town was abandoned and the N in-
habitants moved to Edwinton. In 1873 the name Bismarck was
chosen, but the first title of the town persisted. When Mrs. Linda
Slaughter became postmistress in 1874 she found it necessary to
Bismarck 115
point out to the Post Office Department in Washington that mail
should be addressed to "Bismarck, D. T." rather than to 'The
Crossing, Northern Pacific Railroad on the Missouri River, D. T."
Rails were laid into Bismarck on June 4, 1873, and it remained
the terminus of the Northern Pacific until 1879. With the coining
of the railroad the town became the head of navigation on the
Missouri. When river traffic closed in the fall because of low
water, no attempt was made to operate the Northern Pacific west
of Fargo until the following spring, as the company did not have
snow-fighting equipment with which to keep the road open during
the winter months. Merchants had to stock up in the fall with
enough goods to last until spring. Mail came once a week via
a Government carrier from Fargo to Fort Abraham Lincoln. En-
terprising persons sometimes came from Minnesota with loads of
dressed poultry and hogs for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The
trip from Fargo to Bismarck took about six days by wagon.
In early days the young town combined the advantages of a
river steamboat port and a western railway terminus. A frontier
town, the life of its residents was necessarily rugged. A story is
told of the young son of a newspaper editor, who questioned a
stranger about his family and learned that the father of the visit-
ing gentleman had died. The youngster, familiar with the columns
of his own father's paper, said, "Got shot, did he?" The stranger
replied that he had not. 'TDrank too much whiskey?" Again the
visitor replied in the negative. "Well, he can't be dead then,"
the boy triumphantly exclaimed, "'cause that's the only way men
die in Bismarck!" There were always the few, however, who
made an effort to preserve the social graces. At the first party
given in Bismarck, honoring Dr. and Mrs. Slaughter on their fourth
wedding anniversary, dancing was part of the entertainment, and
the evening ended with refreshments of champagne and buffalo
tongue sandwiches.
The first train arrived in Bismarck June 5, 1873. Part of its
cargo consisted of printing presses for the Bismarck Tribune, which
was first issued July 11, 1873, and continues publication as North
Dakota's oldest newspaper. The Tribune's greatest scoop was scored
in 1876 when it gave the world the story of the Custer massacre
at the Little Big Horn in Montana. Mark Kellogg, reporter for the
Tribune and New York Herald, was killed in the battle, but more
than a column of notes on the battle was found in a buckskin
pouch on his body. When Grant Marsh's steamer Far West
brought Reno's wounded and the first news of the disaster, Col.
C. A. Lounsberry, founder-editor of the Tribune, obtained the
story, wiring it to the Herald at a reputed cost of $3,000 for 24
hours use of the telegraph wires.
116 City Neighbors
Bismarck felt the loss of Ouster's command keenly, for he and
his Seventh Cavalry officers from Fort Abraham Lincoln had fig-
ured prominently in the social life of the city.
The Bismarck Sun, another early newspaper, had a prominent
part in the exposure of Indian and military post corruption which
led to the impeachment of Secretary of War William W. Belknap
in 1876. James A. Emmons, publisher of the paper, issued a hand-
bill entitled Pirates of the Missouri which alleged that appoint-
ments as traders at military and Indian posts were being bought
from the Secretary of War. The New York Herald sent out a re-
porter, who obtained a position at Fort Berthold Indian Agency,
incognito, and succeeded in exposing the dishonesty prevalent at
almost all of the Missouri River posts. The reporter barely es-
caped with his life when his identity was discovered; but he re-
turned the next year and succeeded in completing his investigation.
Belknap was impeached on a charge of bribery, and resigned, but
was later acquitted. The episode caused a great furore through-
out the country, but particularly in Bismarck.
Gold was discovered in the Black Hills in 1874, and Bismarck
experienced its first boom. A regular stagecoach and freight line
was maintained to Deadwood, S. Dak, It was more than 200 air
line miles cross country, with no towns between. Stations were
established every 20 miles and all freight was hauled into the
Black Hills by wagon, 10 or 12 yoke of "wild Montana cattle"
being used to pull trains of two or three wagonloads of freight.
Gold seekers flocked to Bismarck, where they outfitted their
supply trains before departing for the gold fields. The Bismarck
Tribune of October 25, 1879, reported:
"There are no rooms available at the hotels in Bismarck
tonight as there are many transients in town bound for
the Hills. Our freight and passenger business to the gold
fields has been very heavy during the past ten days,
amounting to 300,000 pounds of freight and seventy pas-
sengers. There were also two carloads of horses shipped
in for the stage coaches. There are at present two and
sometimes three stages a day."
Gold dust and nuggets brought $20 an ounce in trade in Bismarck.
Many who came to join in the gold rush stayed to take advan-
tage of the business opportunities.
The year 1881 saw a serious flood of the Missouri River.
Most Bismarck residents, with their homes up on the hills out of
the river's reach, made light of the occasion, some even to the
extent of an excursion. Capt. William Braithwaite ran his steamer
Eclipse to the foot of Third Street where passengers boarded for
a trip to nearby Mandan, the greater part of which, like the five
Bismarck 117
miles of river bottom land between the two towns, was under
water. It is reported that everyone on the boat "danced and had
a good time," Not so pleasant, however, were the experiences of
those who lived in the lowlands. The flood came upon them sud-
denly, drowning their horses and cattle, inundating their homes,
and forcing many to climb trees. Perched above the muddy, swirl-
ing waters and floating cakes of ice, several of these unfortunates
froze their hands and feet or otherwise suffered from exposure.
Wildlife also suffered because of the flood, and deer and other
game could be seen floating down the river on cakes of ice.
The Northern Pacific railroad bridge across the Missouri was
completed in 1882. Previous to this time the trains had crossed
the river on barges in the summer and on tracks laid on the ice
in winter.
When the Territorial capital was removed from Yankton, S.
Dak., to Bismarck in 1883 the city experienced a second boom.
Land prices skyrocketed, and blocks of lots often changed hands
several times in an incredibly short period, since it was fondly, if
erroneously, anticipated that Bismarck would have a phenomenal
growth and would soon outrank many well-established and popu-
lous cities. The cornerstone of the capitol building was laid that
year at an elaborate ceremony attended by members of the Golden
Spike Excursion who were on their way west to celebrate the com-
pletion of the Northern Pacific Railway. Headed by ex-President
Grant and Henry Villard, president of the Northern Pacific, there
was present a galaxy of prominent Americans including Sitting
Bull and numerous foreign dignitaries and noblemen. These nota-
ble guests spent some time in Bismarck and every effort was
exerted to make their stay eventful. One young woman went so
far as to painstakingly decorate her apple tree with three bushels
of apples purchased at a local grocery store. Showing it to her
admiring guests the next day she asked, "What do you think of
this for a fruit-growing country?" "Magnificent, magnificent!"
Grant replied, "I am surprised, wonderfully surprised!" So were
townsmen standing nearby, but they held their tongues.
Since these early booms the growth of the city has not been
remarkable, but it has been steady. A large factor in the pros-
perity of Bismarck has been the numerous Federal and State in-
stitutions and offices.
Bismarck's first church service was held on June 15, 1873, al-
though Mrs. Linda W. Slaughter organized a Sunday school in a
Camp Hancock tent as early as August of the previous year. The
first church in the city was the Presbyterian, at 303 Second Street.
When the Catholic church was built in 1898 the Marquise de Mores
118 City Neighbors
gave a large stained glass window in honor of her late husband.
The window, portraying the Immaculate Conception, bears his
name and is in the front of the church in the choir loft. Fourteen
religious denominations are represented in Bismarck.
Two hospitals and several clinics serve both the urban popula-
tion and a large rural area. Radio station KFYR, with studios at
200 Fourth Street, is an associate member of the National Broad-
casting Company and operates on 5, 000 -watt power during the day
and 1,000 at night. Four newspapers in addition to the Tribune
are published in Bismarck: Two semi-weeklies, the Bismarck
Capital and Der Staats Anzeiger (German) ; and two weeklies, the
Leader, organ of the Nonpartisan League, and the Dakota Freie
Presse (German). Bismarck and its surrounding territory have a
large German and Russo-German population.
The city was the home of James W. Foley, North Dakota
poet, during his school days, and later he was a member of the
Bismarck Tribune staff. His numerous books include Prairie
Breezes and Voices of Song.
Although Bismarck is in the heart of the spring wheat region,
where four times more acres are planted in wheat than any other
crop, the city's industrial life is subordinate to its political. Com-
mercially it is a wholesale distributing point for many State or
district offices of various lines of merchandise. In addition there
are flour mills, creameries, grain elevators, and seedhouses. A
pioneer seedhouse and nursery, the Oscar H. "Will Company, found-
ed in Bismarck in 1881, is the largest concern of its kind in the
State, Specializing in seed corn, in which it followed the example
of the agricultural Mandan Indians, the company has propagated
many new, and acclimated several established, varieties of plants,
grain, and nursery stock that are exceptionally liardy, drought re-
sisting, and quick maturing. North of Bismarck are extensive
lignite coal deposits, with one of the largest strip mines in the
State in north Burleigh County, near Wilton,
In 1903 several thousand farmers of German extraction mi-
grated from Wisconsin to settle the farm lands in the Bismarck
territory. They have made the city a shipping point for a con-
stantly increasing dairy, wool, honey, and corn output. The
drought conditions of the 1930's have cut into agricultural pro-
duction, but have intensified recognition of the need for diversified
farming, which is more widely practiced each year.
One of the most notable events of recent years was the burn-
ing of the old capitol in December 1930. The year following there
was talk of capital removal, the most serious contender being the
Bismarck 119
city of Jamestown, 100 miles to the east. In the election of 1932,
however, popular vote decided in favor of retaining the site at
Bismarck, and on October 8 that year Vice President Charles M.
Curtis laid the cornerstone of the new statehouse.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. The 19 stories of the STATE CAPITOL (open weekdays
9-5; guide), N. end of 6th St., high on Capitol Hill, overlook the
city and the broad Missouri valley. The white shaft is an im-
pressive sight even to those who quarrel with the idea of a sky-
scraper capitol for a prairie State. Designed in 1932 by two North
Dakota architects, Joseph Bell de Hemer of Grand Forks and Wil-
liam F. Kurke of Fargo, with Holabird and Boot of Chicago as
associates, its clean hard modern lines are exponent of the fact
that, as the architect F. A. Gutheim has said, *T)omed pseudo-
Renaissance state capitols are sinking low on the Western hori-
zon." North Dakota has followed the example of Nebraska and
Louisiana in building what may be a forerunner of a new and
distinctive style of State capitols.
The possibility of architectural developments from this building
does not, however, deter critics who find it difficult to reconcile the
skyscraper with the prairies. The customary objection is that those
conditions which are the raison d'etre of the skyscraper- high land
values and congestion at transportation centers are decidedly ab-
sent in Bismarck. The justification of the building, therefore, must
lie in its expression of the dignity and power of the State govern-
ment.
Despite criticism, the Capitol has its defenders, who feel the
strength and height of the structure to be expressive of its intent.
And no matter what the decision may be on the architectural
problem, the building at any rate fulfills its utilitarian function:
it is one of the most efficiently built government buildings in the
country. It provides space for approximately one thousand State
and Federal employees. The asymmetrical tower arrangement al-
lows complete separation of the executive and legislative branches
of the State, and despite differences of opinion as to the exterior
of the building, opinion is general that the interior is both re-
markable and beautiful
The building houses State administrative offices in the tower
and the State legislature in the circular three-story wing. The
two sections of the structure are joined by Memorial Hall. The
outer walls of the entire building are faced with Bedford lime-
stone, and the base is trimmed with a broad ribbon of Rosetta
bkck granite (gabbro), a relatively rare stone of volcanic origin.
120 City Neighbors
A sweeping flight of steps leads to the plaza, above which
rise the huge bronze-framed windows of Memorial Hall, topped
with symbolic bronze figures representing the Indian, Hunter,
Trapper, Farmer, Miner, and the Mothers of the State. These fig-
ures, as well as others in the interior of the building, are the
work of Edgar Miller of Chicago.
The building can be entered from the plaza or on the ground
floor through the porte-cochere. The ground floor corridor is
wainscoted in rosy -tan Montana travertine. In the lobby is the
custodian's desk where visitors register. From this point tours of
the building leave hourly. To the right is the elevator lobby,
where the sliding bronze elevator doors depict the Indian, the Hun-
ter, the Cowhand, and other figures symbolic of the development
of the State. At the end of the elevator lobby is the capitol cafe.
Steps ascending from the ground floor in a stairwell of highly
polished black Belgian marble lead directly into Memorial Hall,
which, although 342 ft. long, 25 ft. wide, and 42 ft. high, appears
even more spacious with its 10 tall fluted bronze columns lining
either side and catching the sunlight which floods through the
tall windows of the facade. The walls are of polished Montana
travertine and the floors of gray-white Tennessee marble. From
the windows in the facade there is a beautiful view of the city,
the winding Missouri, and the hazy blue bluffs beyond.
The legislative foyer, a continuation of Memorial Hall into the
three-story wing, is paneled in rosewood and curly maple. Inlaid
canopies project over upholstered wall seats. Both the House of
Representatives (L) and the Senate Chamber (R) are semicircular
in design. Paneling of matched chestnut adorns the walls of the
House, and the floor and ceiling are blue. An indirect lighting
and ventilation system is concealed in the coves of the ceiling.
The Senate Chamber, somewhat smaller than the House, has been
judged one of the most beautiful rooms in the United States. It
is paneled in a rich brown English oak with bronze cross stripes
covering the joinings. The ceiling and floor are brown and the
chairs are upholstered in cream-colored leather.
At the end of Memorial Hall opposite the legislative foyer
are the offices of the governor, attorney general, and secretary of
state. In the governor's suite the reception room is paneled in
laurelwood, the private office of the governor in teakwood, the
corridor in prima vera, and the conference room in mahogany.
The second floor of the tower is occupied by the supreme
court. The dignified courtroom is paneled in rosewood, the judges'
conference room is finished in walnut, and Honduras mahogany
is used in the office of the chief justice. The supreme court law
Bismarck 121
library of 50,000 volumes occupies two large rooms. A fine view
of Memorial Hall can be obtained from the supreme court elevator
lobby, which faces directly on the hall.
Above the second floor of the tower are other State offices.
The eighteenth floor is designed as an observation tower, which
affords a panoramic view of the entire Bismarck-Mandan vicinity,
taking in Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Fort Lincoln, the State
Penitentiary, the curving river with its wooded lowlands, the
gray-blue bluffs beyond, and, all around, the rolling prairie.
2. LIBERTY MEMORIAL BUILDING (open weekdays 9-5),
SE. of the Capitol, a memorial to World War dead, designed in
1921 by Keith and Kurke of Fargo, houses the North Dakota State
Library Commission, State Historical Society of North Dakota, and
its museum and library. A four-story structure of Classic de-
sign, with a base of Minnesota granite and walls of Bedford lime-
stone, its Ionic columns rise gracefully above the grass- covered
terrace.
The massive bronze doors of the west facade lead into a cor-
ridor paneled in Italian travertine with a trim of Kasota stone.
The graceful double stairway which rises across the corridor has
marble balustrades and travertine newel posts.
Left of the stairway is the historical society library exhibit
room, and right is the State library commission which has gen-
eral supervision of all public libraries in the State.
On the ground floor are the main offices of the State histori-
cal society library. The offices of the historical society are on
the second floor. This society was founded in 1887, became a
State department in 1905, and in addition to its work in collecting
and preserving historical material has been especially active in
building up the 46 State parks and historical sites.
The HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM, on the second and third
floors of the Memorial Building, contains excellent collections of
North Dakota material. The Indian collection gives a complete
picture of the life of the North Dakota Indian, showing examples
of clothing, cooking utensils, pottery, knives, drums, saddles, war
clubs, bows and arrows, canoe, and bullboat It also includes many
archeological finds made in the State.
In the pioneer rooms are relics of early days of white settle-
ment of the State. A military collection shows many types of
guns and cannon in use since settlement. The natural history
rooms contain fine displays of flora and fauna, fossils and minerals.
An equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt, the plaster model
by A. Phimister Proctor for the statue in Roosevelt Park in Minot
(see MUSTOT^ is on the third floor, and nearby is the desk which
122 City Neighbors
Roosevelt used for most of his writing at his Badlands ranch.
Many models of early forts, Indian villages, and river steamboats
are on display.
A bronze STATUE OP SAKAKAWEA stands on the lawn between
the statehouse and the Liberty Memorial Building. Sakakawea was
the Shoshone Bird Woman who led the Lewis and Clark expedi-
tion through the unexplored mountainous Northwest to the Pacific
Ocean. The statue, by Leonard Crunelle (1910), depicts the Indian
woman with her baby strapped to her back, looking westward
toward the country she helped to open.
Unsung during her lifetime, Sakakawea in recent years has
been recognized as the outstanding woman in the development of
the Northwest. Carrying her new-born son, Baptiste, she joined
the expedition at the Mandan village near the present site of
Stanton, N. Dak. She accompanied the party with her husband,
Touissant Charbonneau, who had been engaged as an interpreter.
Soon she proved to be the most valuable member of the party.
Her services were those of guide, cook, and general emissary to
the Indian tribes encountered on the journey. Lewis and Clark
credited her with the success of their expedition.
On the return of the exploring party Sakakawea, Baptiste, and
Charbonneau were left at the Mandan village where they had
joined the expedition more than a year earlier. Mystery and con-
troversy obscure the lives of the Indian woman and her son from
this point. Sakakawea is believed by some to have died on the
Shoshone Reservation at Wind River, Wyo., when almost 100 years
of age. Others hold that she died at Fort Manuel on the Grand
River in South Dakota only a few years after the return of the
Lewis and Clark expedition. Painstaking investigation has defi-
nitely proved neither theory.
Of Baptiste it is known that he was educated by Capt. William
Clark at St. Louis. Returning to the Northwest, he became an
interpreter like his father, and met Paul Wilhelm, Prince of Wurt-
temberg, who was exploring North America. With the German
nobleman he went to Europe, but on his return his path is lost
to the historian. He may have been with his mother on the Wind
River Reservation if, indeed, she died there.
The PROW OF THE BATTLESHIP North Dakota, mounted on a
boulder of native granite, stands N. of the Memorial Building, near
the statue of Sakakawea. To the south of the building stands a
large Krupp gun, assigned to the State by the Federal Govern-
ment as a trophy of the World War. Near these guns lie specimens
of Cannonball River sandstone formations.
Bismarck 123
3. ROOSEVELT CABIN (open June 15-Sept. 15, weekdays 10-
5, Sun. 2-5), E. of Memorial Building, was the home of Theodore
Roosevelt from 1883 to 1885, when he was a rancher in the North
Dakota Badlands. Known as the Maltese Cross because of its
cattle brand, the ranch was renamed by Roosevelt for nearby
Chimney Butte.
The cabin originally had a much steeper, shingle roof, but a
later owner replaced this with a sod one, hoping to make the
building warmer. The interior furnishings are copies of those
used by "Teddy," although the cook stove is thought to be the
original. Much Rooseveltiana, including books and guns, is pre-
served in the cabin.
In 1904 the Chimney Butte cabin was purchased by the North
Dakota Commission, and sent to the St. Louis World's Fair of that
year, to Portland, Ore., for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Expo-
sition in 1905, and then to Bismarck where it was placed on the
grounds in front of the Capitol, and after a few years was moved
to its present site. An iron gate, handwrought by Haile Chisholm
of the North Dakota Agricultural College faculty, depicts the
initial letters of the various fields of enterprise in which Roose-
velt engaged.
4. EARTH LODGE (open weekdays 9-5 June 15-Oct. I), N.
of the Roosevelt Cabin, is a reproduction of the dwellings of the
Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa, the agricultural tribes who inhabited
the valley of the Missouri previous to white settlement of this
region. (For description of the earth lodge see INDIANS AND THEIR
PREDECESSORS.) The lodge was built by the State historical society
under the direction of Scattered Corn, a Mandan woman, the
daughter of Moves Slowly, last of the Mandan Corn priests.
The women of the Indian tribes built the lodges in the river
villages, although the men gave them assistance in placing the
heavy timbers which supported the thick earth walls. A Mandan
legend relates that when the first Mandan village was built under
the leadership of the tribal hero, Good Furred Robe, the First Man
told them how to build the earth lodges.
5. GOVERNOR'S MANSION (private), 320 Ave. B, has been
the residence of North Dakota Governors since 1893, when the
house was purchased by the State from Asa Fisher, wealthy brewer.
Governor Eli C. D. Shortridge was the first chief executive to
occupy the mansion. Typical of the architecture of the Territorial
day in which it was built, the two-story white frame building,
with its spacious, high-ceilinged rooms and four fireplaces, has
124 City Neighbors
remained unchanged except for the addition of a front porch. The
large elm and box elder trees were planted in 1900. During early
statehood many important social functions were held in the
mansion.
6. CAIRN (private), 912 Mandan St., home of Mr. and Mrs.
Clell G. Gannon, is a small house built largely of native boulders,
and designed by its owners.
7. HOME OF ALEXANDER McKENZIE (private), 722 5th St.,
a large white frame house built in the indeterminate, unpedi-
greed style typical of North Dakota's architecture of the nine-
ties, remains unchanged from the days when it was the home
of Alexander McKenzie (1856-1922), spectacular figure of early
Bismarck and State history, master politician, ally of the railroads.
Arriving in Bismarck as a young man in the early 1870's, he
soon rose to a position of civic and Territorial importance, becom-
ing an unofficial representative of the Northern Pacific Railway.
How much McKenzie had to do with moving the Territorial capi-
tal from Yankton to Bismarck will perhaps never be known.
However, the fact that a Capital Commission was named and given
power to move the capital, and the fact that McKenzie secured
for himself a place on the commission, are credited to him as among
his most able political maneuvers.
Although he held only one public office sheriff of Burleigh
County for 12 years his influence and the so-called "McKenzie
ring" survived all attacks by political reformers. He was active
in State politics until his death in 1922.
8. BURLEIGH COUNTY COURTHOUSE, Thayer Ave. between
5th and 6th Sts., is a three-story modern-type building designed by
Ira Rush of Minot and constructed of North Dakota concrete-brick
faced with Bedford limestone, with a base of pearl pink granite.
In the main floor vestibule, wainscoted in marble, is a series of
murals by Clell G. Gannon, Bismarck artist, depicting early county
history. A further native note appears in the balustrading of the
stairways, where grilled nickel silver forms a graceful design
using the stalk, ear, and slender leaf of the corn as motif.
This is the third Burleigh County courthouse to stand on this
block. A marker on the west lawn designates the site of the first,
a log building built in 1873. It was replaced in 1880 by a brick
structure. The present building was erected in 1930.
9. BISMARCK PUBLIC LIBRARY (open weekdays 10:30-9;
Oct.-May Sun. 2-5), 519 Thayer Ave., a Carnegie institution, is a
vine -covered, red brick Georgian Colonial style building. In addi-
Bismarck 125
tion to having a large and varied selection of magazines, news-
papers, and fiction and non-fiction books, it maintains a separate
children's division with loan service, reading room, and story hour.
10. FEDERAL BUILDING, NE. corner Bdwy. and 3rd St., a
tile-roofed Indiana limestone building of Italian design, houses the
post office, United States courtroom, and various Federal offices.
11. MARQUIS DE MORES' STORAGE PLANT, 300 Main St.,
is a plain, somewhat shabby building used as a restaurant, built
by the marquis when he envisaged a huge meat packing industry
in the Badlands (see Tour 8). The building was formerly situated
south of the railroad. The walls consist of two-inch planks laid
flat on each other. These, together with the brick veneer, form
a wall about 14 inches thick.
12. UNITED STATES WEATHER BUREAU (open), 101 Main
St., was begun as part of the work of Camp Hancock in 1874, and
a portion of the structure, the old log building which was Camp
Hancock headquarters, remains. It is the oldest building in Bis-
marck, but has been sheathed in lumber, and additions have been
built The bureau, moved 11 times, is now permanently estab-
lished at its first home.
13. WORLD WAR MEMORIAL BUILDING, 215 6th St., which
serves as a community center, is a three -story structure of modern
design, built of white Hebron (N. Dak.) brick and concrete with
limestone trim. It was designed by Liebenberg and Kaplan of
Minneapolis in 1930.
14. BANK OF NORTH DAKOTA (open weekdays 8:30-4:30),
700 Main St., was created by a special referendum election of June
26, 1919, passing a law providing that "For the purpose of encour-
aging and promoting agriculture, commerce and industry, the State
of North Dakota shall engage in the business of banking, and for
that purpose shall and does establish a system of banking, owned,
controlled and operated by it, under the name of the Bank of
North Dakota." It is managed and controlled by the State Indus-
trial Commission. State funds, and funds of State institutions are
deposited here. The bank was one of the important features in
the program of the Nonpartisan League at the time of its organi-
zation, being designed to carry out the fourth plank of the league
platform, the establishment of rural credit banks operated at cost.
The red brick bank building was originally an automobile ware-
house.
STATE REGULATORY DEPARTMENT LABORATORY (open), is on the
fourth floor of the Bank of North Dakota Building. North Dakota
was a pioneer State in pure food legislation. A law passed in 1895
126 City Neighbors
paved the way for the pure food and fertilizer laws of 1903. State
inspectors, active at all times throughout the State, send samples
for analysis to this laboratory, where trained chemists make the
tests. Constant inspection of food and dairy products, feeds, fer-
tilizers, water, oils, and paints is maintained.
15. ST. MARY'S CEMETERY, NE. edge of the city, contains
the graves of many of the pioneers who played an important part
in the development of the city and State. Among those buried
here are Alexander McKenzie and his son, Alexander, Jr.; and
Gen. E. A. Williams, first representative from Burleigh County to
the Territorial Assembly, and his wife.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
State Penitentiary, 2 m., Fort Lincoln, 4.5 m., Sibley Island,
7 m., Liberty Memorial Bridge, 1,5 m. (see Tour 8). Fort
Abraham Lincoln State Park, 9.5 m. (see FORT ABRAHAM
LINCOLN STATE PARK). Pioneer Park, 2 m. (see Side Tour
3B).
FARGO
Railroad Stations: Northern Pacific, Bdwy. at Front St.; Great
Northern, Bdwy. at 5th Ave. N.; Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul
(Milwaukee), 1101 2nd Ave. N.
Bus Stations: Union Station, 502 N. P. Ave., for Northland Grey-
hound, Checker, Jack Rabbit, and Triangle Lines; Cole Hotel, 407%
N. P. Ave., for Liederbach Line.
Airport: Hector Field, NW. outskirts of city, % m. W. of US 81,
Northwest Airlines, taxi fare 50c, time 10 min.; day and night
service, public hangars.
Taxis: 25c anywhere in city, lOc for each additional passenger.
City Bus Line: Intra-city, fare lOc.
Traffic Regulations: Front St. and 1st Ave. N. (US 10), 13th St
(US 81), 10th, and 4th Sts. are through streets. Watch for stop
signs and street signals; no U-turn on through streets; turns in
either direction at intersections. Street signs designate hour park-
ing limits in business district.
Accommodations: 30 hotels; Fargo municipal tourist camp, Lin-
denwood Park, marked road % m. S. of city limits, from S. end
of 5th St.
Tourist Information Service: Greater North Dakota Association
13 Bdwy.; Chamber of Commerce, 504 1st Ave. N.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: Little Country Theater, agri-
cultural college, 13th St at 12th Ave. N., coUege productions; Fes-
tival Hall, agricultural college, occasional touring artists and stock
companies; 6 motion picture houses.
"h-2
7TH *
PUBLIC LIBRARY
<D POST OFFICE
GREATER NORTH DAKOTA. ASS'N
NORTHERN RACiFfC DEPOT
GREAT NORTHERN DEPOT
OAK GROVE PARK
EL ZAGAL PARK
UNDENWOOD PARK
TOURIST CAMP ^
123 City Neighbors
Golf: Municipal 18-hole course, Edgewood Park, 3 m. NE. of city
limits (greens jee 35c).
Tennis: Courts at Oak Grove Park, E. end of 6th and 7th Aves.
N.; Island Park, S. end of Bdwy.
Swimming: Outdoor, Red River bordering Island Park at E. end
cf 1st Ave. S.: indoor, Central High School, 3rd Ave. S. bet.
10th and llth Sts., open during summer; Y. M. C. A., 632 1st
Ave. N.
Baseball: Barnett Field, Fairgrounds, 19th Ave. N. and Bdwy.,
Northern League.
Skating: Island Park; Pershing Park, 14th St. at 8th Ave. N.
Skiing: Dovre Ski Club, highest artificial jump in United States
(1936), IVz m. N. of 19th Ave. on N. Bdwy. Rd.
Tobogganing: Island Park.
Hockey: Island Park, Commercial League and high school teams.
Annual Events: Ice Carnival, Island Park, January 1; Farmers'
and Homemakers' Week, agricultural college, 3rd week in January;
Bison Brevities, agricultural college, March, no fixed date; May
Festival, agricultural college, 1st week in May; Northwest Nor-
wegian Whist Tournament in connection with Norwegian Independ-
ence Day, May 17; Lilac Festival, agricultural college, May, no fixed
date; State Fair, Fairgrounds, Bdwy. at 17th Ave. N., June, no
fixed date; Valley land Music Festival, June, no fixed date; State
Golf Tournament, Fargo Country Club, July, no fixed date; Harvest
Festival and Homecoming, agricultural college, October, no fixed
date; 4-H Club Boys' and Girls' Achievement Institute, agricul-
tural college, December, no fixed date.
FARGO (907 alt, 28,619 pop.) is on the Red River of the North
at the entrance of two transcontinental railroads into the State. A
small, youthful city, whose varied activities give its business sec-
tion a somewhat disorderly air, it is the largest town in North
Dakota. Over the flatness of an old lakebed, where ten thousand
years ago the water of the melting glacier stood 200 feet deep,
the city now widely spreads its homes, manufacturing plants, whole-
sale houses, trees and parks, schools and hospitals.
The trail which in 1871 led west from the Red River ferry,
across the level floor of prehistoric Lake Agassiz, is now Front
Street, which enters Fargo from the east to be greeted by the
city's slum district, where dilapidated, unpainted frame shacks near
the river give way westward to better buildings in a wholesaling
district, until Broadway is reached. Broadway is the very heart
of Fargo, a busy, crowded thoroughfare whose appearance often
causes visitors to believe the city larger than it actually is. From
its wide south end where it intersects Front, Broadway runs north,
flanked for six blocks by two- and three- story store and office
buildings. Two of North Dakota's four "skyscrapers" are on
Broadway.
Fargo 123
Fargo first appeared on the horizon in the 1870's as an out-
fitting point, the last outpost of settlement for those tens of thou-
sands who pioneered in the State, and through the years of its
growth has retained its first excuse for being, for it still serves
as chief distributing point for a large agricultural area. Farm
implements, foodstuffs, petroleum products, automobiles, and auto-
motive equipment to the value of more than $45,000,000 are handled
annually.
Although from a North Dakota standpoint it is an old city,
Fargo is young enough to have a few of its founders still alive
to tell of how they first advertised their spindly little city by
boasting that its volunteer fire company, the Yerxa Hose Team,
was the world's fastest; or of how, in later years, Fargo gloried
in being the "Gateway City" to the "bread basket of the world,"
the fertile Red River Valley which real estate agents compared to
the valley of the Nile. The Valley is no longer the intensive
wheat-raising area it was, but the Fargo Chamber of Commerce
will tell you that this very fertile flat land, through which mean-
ders one of the few rivers that flow north, is literally a land of
milk and honey, and others no less cognizant of their surround-
ings have changed the old slogan to the "food basket of the
world."
Because it is the distributing point for an agricultural State,
changes in farming methods have been reflected in the business
life of the city. With the introduction of diversified farming to
supplement wheat growing, Fargo became an important shipping
center for grain, potatoes, dairy, and poultry products. In 1936 it
was the largest primary sweet clover market in the world. Seed
companies, creameries, a flour mill, bakeries, and implement dis-
tributors are evidence of the relationship between the city and the
large farming area it serves. As late as 1927 Fargo was the world's
third largest farm machinery distributing point, and, although it
undoubtedly does not retain this position, as a shipping point it
has become even more significant. A change in freight rates
granted in 1925 by the Interstate Commerce Commission boosted
Fargo volume. Two of the three railroads into the city are trans-
continental lines which, with their branches, cover almost the
entire State of North Dakota. Several "feeder lines" converge
at Fargo and in addition there are a large number of trucking
companies. The Minneapolis Star said in 1936:
"Fargo stands in exactly the same relationship to the
northwest that Minneapolis has always stood. . . The sig-
nificant point is that it is some 250 miles nearer the west-
ern point of consumption. Goods that used to stop at
Minneapolis for distribution now flow on to Fargo to be
piecemealed out."
130 City Neighbors
The largest single part of the wholesale trade is carried on by
automotive distributors, including the Ford and Chevrolet Motor
Companies. Processing accounts for the next largest part of the
city's industry, and, although meat packing and creameries are
important, there is a constant increase in the manufacture of steel,
wood, and glass products. Fargo is likewise a banking and in-
surance center, and has the home offices of two insurance com-
panies.
Its situation, at the point where railroads first entered
the State, in what Stuart Chase has characterized as perhaps
the richest farming region in the world, has combined with the
North Dakota Agricultural College to make Fargo the natural
agricultural headquarters for North Dakota. Results of experi-
mental work conducted at the college station and its substations,
extension work through 4-H and Homemakers clubs, and judging
of farm produce at State and county fairs by college instructors,
all contribute to the improvement of agricultural and rural life
in the State.
Fargo's percentage of home ownership is far above the na-
tional average. Homes clustered around the business district are
of early twentieth century frame vintage, while farther out newer
cottages and bungalows, in English and Colonial style, behind small
young trees and newly sprouting lawns, are characteristic of the
more recent residential additions. Some of Fargo's finest homes
are on Eighth Street South.
Fargo's public school system consists of 11 elementary schools,
3 junior high schools, and a senior high school; privately owned
are 3 Catholic schools, a Lutheran school, 3 business colleges, 2
music conservatories, and 5 trade schools. The first Protestant
church services in the southern Red River Valley in North Dakota
were held in Fargo, and now more than 30 denominations have
churches in the city. St. Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the dio-
cese of the Roman Catholic Church for the eastern half of North
Dakota, and Fargo is likewise the seat of the North Dakota diocese
of the Episcopal Church.
The city's best-known musical group, the Amphion Male Chorus,
composed of Fargo and Moorhead, Minn., singers, has toured nearby
cities and eastern United States, giving concerts in New York and
Philadelphia. Community singing is popular in Fargo, and during
the summer months Island Park is the scene of outdoor concerts
and singing contests. In June each year the music-minded of the
Red River Valley gather in the city for ' the Valleyland Music
Festival.
The agricultural college, always prominent in the cultural life
of the city, has become even more important in late years with the
increased number of college lyceum programs and the growth of
Fargo 131
the community theater movement. The Little Country Theater,
the outstanding players' group in the State, has become a virtual
authority on community theater organization and has received
favorable notice nationally.
The city is named for William G. Fargo, a director of the
Northern Pacific Railway and founder of the Wells-Fargo Express
Company, and its early history is closely linked with that of the
railroad. In 1871 the announcement that a railroad would be built
"from Lake Superior to the Pacific Ocean" aroused much specula-
tion as to where it would cross the Bed River, and the untouched
land along the river suddenly became populated. Three settlers,
Jacob Lowell, Jr., Henry S. Back, and Andrew McHench, formed
a triumvirate and patrolled the Red from the mouth of the Wild
Rice to the Elm River from April to June 29 in an effort to
discover "the first indications of the railroad crossing."
Meanwhile, Thomas H. Canfield of the Lake Superior and
Puget Sound Company, a town site company auxiliary to the
Northern Pacific, worked with the railroad engineers in seeking
the best point for the line to cross the Red, since he wished to
secure title to the land for his company before it was snatched
up by some speculator in the hope of selling it to the railroad
for a large sum. He and his engineers chose the present crossing
because it was the highest point on the river and therefore in the
least danger from floods. Andrew Holes, who with his wife had
been touring the country in a covered wagon, was sent to Alexan-
dria, Minn., to purchase the land on the east side of the river
from its homesteader-owner, Joab Smith. In order to locate on
the lands west of the Red it was necessary to plow a half acre
of each section. Aided by Maj. G. G. Beardsley, Canfield secured
the necessary farm equipment, hid it until Holes returned with
the deed to the Minnesota property, and by moonlight secretly
made the required improvements.
On June 29, while on his patrol, Lowell found a "Fanner
Brown" squatted with three Scandinavian settlers on what became
the Fargo town site. Although Farmer Brown was clothed in
well worn overalls with a brown hat and hickory shirt and "sat
with such ease and unconcern upon the handles of his plow/* Lowell
doubted his being a farmer. He hastily summoned Back and Mc-
Hench, and the three, after a consultation, located near Farmer
Brown on July 1 and 2, 1871. Shortly afterwards Farmer Brown's
identity as Beardsley became known and a stampede of settlers
followed. Since Beardsley and his party were in the employ of
the Lake Superior and Puget Sound Company, and were not
bona fide settlers, their prior occupancy was disregarded and later,
132 City Neighbors
after much litigation, the company withdrew its claim to the Fargo
land, retaining only the purchased Moorhead area.
In September 1871 G. J. Keeney was appointed postmaster of
Centralia, the little settlement that sprang up at the railroad cross-
ing. Keeney was also a lawyer and real estate agent and his
office was somewhat of a community center, according to one
author, who wrote,
"Ke placed over the door of his 10 x 12 office the sign Tost
Office*, on the door the sign 'Law Office', and in the
window 'Land Office.' He raised lettuce on the earth
roof of his log shack, and decorated the inside walls with
papers sent by the folks back home. On entering, one was
at once impressed with the air of cleanliness and comfort
which pervaded the sanctum of this enterprising limb of
the law, and it became a popular reading and rest room,
but . . . one assumed a risk in becoming interested in a
story as some chapter of it was certain to be found on the
ceiling."
During the winter following the location of the site, the set-
tlement divided into two communities. "Fargo on the Prairie",
headquarters of the Northern Pacific engineering department (near
the corner of Broadway and Front Streets), was a tent town, home
of the railroad engineers and surveyors and their wives and chil-
dren. Although crude, the tents of "Fargo on the Prairie" had
all the luxuries and conveniences that money could bring into
the frontier settlement. In sharp contrast to this was "Fargo in.
the Timber," a town of huts, rough log houses, dugouts, and caves
dug in the river banks, which stretched along both sides of the
trail leading up from the ferry crossing. The two communities
had nothing in common and residents of one would never be mis-
taken for residents of the other. The Timber used great quanti-
ties of whiskey, and popping revolvers made the night dangerous.
The postmaster resorted to "double planking" the sleeping bunk
of his tent for safety, and it was well that he did, for in later
years he could show a board of the bunk with a bullet embedded
in it.
A typical Timber sense of humor was displayed by the resi-
dent who, when buying a load of wood from two young Moorhead,
Minn., men, had them haul it over to Fargo, and N then drew his-
revolver and ordered the men back across the river without
troubling to pay for the wood.
The difference between Fargo in the Timber and Fargo on the
Prairie engendered a rivalry which both sides seldom neglected
to intensify. Once when a wagonload of potatoes arrived for
Gen. Thomas L. Rosser of the Prairie, residents of the Timber
loosened the endgates of the wagon and shot off revolvers to
Fargo 133
frighten the horses. As the team dashed wildly up the road, the
potatoes rolled out of the wagon, to be picked up with relish by
residents of the Timber, for many of whom those were the only
potatoes obtainable all that winter.
On another occasion, as a sleighload of dressed turkeys and
chickens bound for military headquarters drove through the one
street of the Timber, with the driver muffled in a heavy buffalo-
robe coat, residents of that community gradually lightened his
load, audaciously picking off the fowls one by one, until all were
taken. The driver did not know his loss until he reached the
mess tent.
Whiskey "in a tin cup" was generally supposed to be more
enlivening than if taken otherwise. One Sunday, as the time for
church neared, a disappointed minister found only a small group
gathered to hear his sermon. One of the men assured the clergy-
man, however, that there would be more in a few minutes. Taking
a bell, he went up and down the street, ringing it and exhorting
all Christians to attend an address by Rev. O. H. Elmer of Moor-
head, "whiskey in a tin cup to be served free immediately after
the service." A large crowd heard the sermon.
The law in early Fargo had its amusing moments. H. S. Back,
justice of the peace, after performing the first wedding ceremony,
invested his $3 fee in drinks for the crowd. The next day he tried
his first case, found the prisoner guilty, and fined him $15 and
costs. Informed by the prisoner's attorney that there was only
$5 in sight, he changed the fine to $5 and no costs.
At this time Fargo was still Indian territory, and the Lake Supe-
rior and Puget Sound Company, hoping to regain possession of the
town site, informed the Government that residents of the Timber
were illegally located on Indian lands, and were also selling
liquor. On the evening of February 16, 1872, troops passed through
the city and camped for the night near General Rosser's head-
quarters on the Prairie. The troops, it was said, were on their
way west to fight Indians, but a commotion before daylight the
next morning awakened the Timber to find soldiers stationed
before the door of each dwelling. All residents of the community
were arrested and taken to the tent that served as a temporary
jail, and those for whom the soldiers had warrants for selling
liquor were removed to Pembina for trial. The others were ordered
to leave the city lest their property be confiscated and burned
and they be removed by force. They were not so easily defeated,
however, and appealed to the Government for their land rights.
A treaty was made with the Indians whereby the land was opened
134 City Neighbors
to settlement and those residents of the Timber who were guilty
of no other offense were allowed to hold their land according
to their original claims.
From a virgin prairie land where the Sioux battled the Chip-
pewa, the terrain around Fargo became a rich farming country,
well peopled and with acres of land sown to wheat. As late as
1868 the Red River Valley was generally believed to be a barren
country, and in the early seventies Cass County was still a Sioux
reservation. The first wheat sown by the acre was harvested in
1872, and there was barely enough grain to make bread for the
few people in the vicinity. James Holes, whose farm was one
mile north of the Northern Pacific depot in what is now Holes'
addition to the city of Fargo, complained to the railroad that the
exorbitant freight rate of 30c a bushel from Fargo to Duluth
made wheat raising unprofitable for anything but local consump-
tion. Freight rates were reduced in 1873, and Holes* 175-acre
crop brought him nearly $5,000 in 1876 and by 1893 he was har-
vesting a 1,600-acre tract.
Bonanza farms, demonstrating the profit in large scale wheat
raising, were largely responsible for the enormous increase in
acreage and the equally large gain in population through immi-
gration.
The influx of new settlers who came on the first train of the
Northern Pacific across the Red River June 8, 1872 brought law
and order to the city. Even the saloons felt the difference one
of them closed every Sunday, and an admonition printed on its
curtains read, "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy/'
The Father Genin Mission House on the Red River above
Fargo, established in 1866, was the only place of regular Christian
worship until the Episcopal church was built in 1872. The first
school was a private one, presided over by Miss Mercy Nelson,
aged 15.
As the Yuletide season of 1873 , approached, Fargo residents
laid plans for a community Christmas celebration. A tree pur-
chased for the occasion was stolen, however, and at a mass meeting
of protest the suspected culprits, Moorhead, Minn., residents, were
hanged in effigy from the railroad bridge. Next morning a mock
funeral was held; a locomotive and boxcar draped in mourning
proceeded slowly to the bridge, the effigies were cut down and
buried in a snowdrift. That night the tree was returned. It
was set up at 27 Front Street, and decorated with silver half dol-
lars, one for each child under 14. A locomotive headlight was
used to illumine the tree. Most of the children had never seen a
half dollar, as the coins, intended as souvenirs of the occasion,
were new at the time.
Fargo 135
Although there was traffic on the Red River as early as 1857,
not until the railroad crossed the Red, and Fargo became the
southern terminus of river transportation, did steamboating boom.
In the season of 1872 three steamers of 100-ton capacity reported
carrying 1,000 passengers and 4,000 tons of goods on trips north.
Bonanza farming brought greater need for transportation of grain
and merchandise and by 1879 river traffic was at its height. There
were several boatyards at Fargo, and Government engineers were
employed in clearing and improving the channel of the river.
The Kittson Line, owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, was the
largest line on the river. It successfully outlived all competitors
and enjoyed a monopoly a large part of the time. The income
from a single eight-day trip of the steamer Sheyenne from Fargo
to Fort Garry (Winnipeg, Manitoba) is said to have resulted in a
profit large enough to cover the entire cost of building the steamer
and the three barges it towed. Construction of the Great North-
ern Railway northward through the Red River Valley in 1880,
however, inaugurated the decline of river transportation at Fargo.
By 1880 the city had a population of 2,693. An interesting
cross- section view of the community is given by Finlay Dun, a
British agricultural expert who toured the Red River Valley in
1879:
"In Fargo, built of stone and brick, there are already
three good hotels, and another in contemplation; rather too
many drinking saloons; a concert and ball room, where
recently a grand subscription ball was given for which
gentlemen's tickets were stated to be $25. There is a
courthouse and two portly courteous judges, and a provost
marshall or commandant of police, all those important of-
ficers holding their appointments from year to year; a suc-
cessful daily newspaper, two corn-merchants, a thriving
school, while preparations are being made for building
churches. An Opera-Comique is in successful operation
. . . (and) from an area of many miles the dark-visaged
farm-fellows with slouch hats, many with blue guernseys,
some lumberers in red flannel jackets, and occasional In-
dians, and many half-breeds, congregated in large numbers
to this opera-house in Fargo . . . The immense and varied
collections of agricultural implements are strikingly indica-
tive of the breaking in of new lands. The light wagons
are drawn by horses, mules, and oxen, but the ox teams
are rather the most numerous."
Even as he wrote, Fargo was rapidly changing from a frontier
village to a city, for he says, "But Fargo is a metropolis compared
with the 'primordial cells' of towns budding at roadside stations
. . ." While almost everyone in the city owned a buffalo-robe
coat, and one of the duties of locomotive engineers was to use
their steam whistles for fire alarms, a horse-car line was in opera-
City Neighbors
tion during the winter of 1879 and 1880; unfortunately the track
layers failed to prepare a firm bed for the rails and when spring
came the track disappeared into the mud.
Early in the city's life William G. Fargo offered a premium
cf S500 for the establishment of a newspaper to be called the
Fargo Express. In order to secure the bonus A. H. Moore and
Seth Boney started a paper under that name in June 1873, but
payment was withheld for the reason that it was printed on the
press of the Glyndon, Minn., Gazette. On January 1, 1874, the
Fargo Express, the first paper actually printed in Fargo, was pub-
lished and received the promised bonus. From a combination of
the Express and seven later papers has emerged the Fargo Forum,
today leading the newspaper field in Fargo and the State. The
Norr.ianden, a Norwegian weekly, successor to the Red River
Posien established in 1886, is the only foreign language paper pub-
lished in the city.
Fargo had a private college as early as 1887, but when North
Dakota was preparing for statehood in the late 1880's, and each
of the various cities in the State was trying to annex at least one
State-maintained institution, progressive Fargo citizens succeeded
in getting the promise of an agricultural college. There was one
close call, when only a veto by the governor averted transfer of
the school to Valley City, but in the fall of 1889 Fargo saw the
opening of the North Dakota Agricultural College. The prairieland
which had been designated as a campus boasted not one building,
so rooms were rented from Fargo College until 1891, when the
administration building was erected.
On a hot windy day in June 1893 the most severe fire in the
city's history broke out on Front Street. Burning almost the en-
tire business section and northeast part of the city, it left many
homeless. Although the four to five million dollar loss was a
serious setback, the fire marked the end of the wooden era, and
rebuilding with brick began at once. For many years a fire fes-
tival was held on June 7 to celebrate the anniversary of the event
which resulted in so many civic improvements.
Four years later, March 31, 1897, the Red River, dammed by
an ice jam north of Fargo, began rising, and continued until
April 7. Conditions became appalling. Residents who had moved
from the first floor of their homes were forced to leave for still
higher spots via second story windows. Merchants carried their
stocks up to top floors and attics, and groceries and the necessi-
ties of life were delivered by boat. When the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific railroad bridges were in danger of being swept
away, locomotives and threshing machines were run out on them
to hold them down. The Fargo Forum wrote,
Fargo 1ST
"A. N. Hathaway's family left Island Park by crawling
out of the second story windows. Colonel Morton decided
that discretion was the better part of valor and retreated
. . . from his Oak Grove residence Saturday night. Pas-
sengers from the east this morning saw three horses and
four cows on the roof of one barn."
Later the paper complained editorially when Congress appropriated
only $200,000 for flood sufferers in the Mississippi and Red River
Valleys, saying, "Fargo before the world begging for a handout
... It wouldn't buy a good dose of quinine for each resident of
the inundated district to stave off the chill he's sure to have."
When the waters had subsided it was found that 18 blocks of
sidewalk and 20 blocks of wooden street paving had floated away.
During the flood and the six weeks while the debris was being
cleared away and the damage repaired, the Forum was published
without interruption. A temporary office was set up with a thresh-
ing machine engine furnishing power to operate the presses, and
deliveries were made by boat.
The attractions of open farm lands and expanding industries
brought thousands of settlers to North Dakota, and by the turn of
the century Fargo had a population of 9,589. Important among the
industries listed in a 1901 paper were two harness and horse collar
factories, one of which issued a 300 -page catalogue of its mer-
chandise. One of the larger wholesale houses was Brown's Bicycle
House en Broadway at N. P. Avenue.
The city was taking on a metropolitan air. An opera house,
seating 1,000, was built in 1893, and belonged to the "Bread Basket
Circuit" which included Winnipeg, Grand Forks, Crookston, and
Brainerd, with headquarters at Fargo. Fargo was a favorite "stop-
over" for theater companies, and among the celebrities who thrilled
those early audiences were Mrs. Fiske in Becky Sharpe, arid
Blanche Walsh and Chauncey Olcott in A Run Away Girl. In
1899 an item in the Record, a magazine published in Fargo, re-
marked, "It is considered quite the thing to drop in at the Coffee
House on Broadway . . . between one and five p. m. and spend
a few moments drinking coffee and chatting, etc." This fad may
have been due to the divorce colony which flourished in Fargo
then. A 90-day divorce law was in effect, and the city became
the temporary abode of many wealthy people who came to estab-
lish residence and obtain a separation from their mates. Lawyers,
hotels, cafes, and bars did a rushing business.
In the 30 years between 1900 and 1930 Fargo tripled its popu-
lation. Almost half of its residents are of Norwegian descent.
Feeling the effects of an economic depression in their own country
in the late nineteenth century, thousands of Norwegians, exhorted
by transportation companies and influenced by the glowing tales
138 City Neighbors
of their countrymen in the United States, emigrated to North Da-
kota. Taking advantage of the free lands opened to homesteading,
they became some of the first farmers in the upper Red River
Valley and helped settle Fargo. Those who made their homes here
are today well mingled with the rest of the population and few of
their Old World customs are kept alive with the exception of the
preparation of Norwegian foods such as lefse, lutefisk, fattigmand,
and flad breed. (See RACIAL GROUPS AND FOLKWAYS.) Not for-
gotten, however, are important national holidays such as May
17, Norwegian Independence Day, which is celebrated with parades
and appropriate ceremonies. The Norse influence is further seen
in the statues and sculpture of and by noted Norsemen found
throughout the city.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. THE NORTH DAKOTA AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, 13th
St. at 12th Ave. N., occupies a level, 100-acre campus in the north-
west outskirts of the city. The large tree-enclosed square is cut
by graveled driveways curving between rows of hedges, trees,
and clumps of shrubbery connecting the irregularly placed, archi-
tecturally heterogenous buildings.
Under the Enabling Act of 1889 North Dakota, upon entering
statehood, became possessed of a Federal grant of 40,000 acres
for an agricultural college. A year later the first State legislature
took advantage of the earlier Merrill Land Grant Act, and ac-
quired an additional 90,000 acres of Federal lands. Proceeds from
these lands, together with Congressional appropriations, have cre-
ated an endowment fund that enables the school to offer courses
at a minimum tuition fee and to conduct extensive agricultural
experiments.
A group of only five students under the supervision of eight
instructors gathered October 15, 1890, for the opening classes, held
in quarters rented from Fargo College, but before the end of the
term the enrollment was 122. Elaborate dedication services for the
college were planned in connection with the laying of the corner-
stone of the administration building the following spring. After
the program had begun it was discovered, to the consternation of
the participants, that there was no flag available for the ceremony.
A quick-witted student saved the day by contriving a make-shift
pennant from a pair of overalls.
From the entrance at 12th Ave. N. and 13th St., a graveled
road makes a loop through the campus. Past the TENNIS COURTS
(R) is a TABLET (L) of Norwegian granite, in which is set a me-
dallion of Bjornstjerne Bjornson, Norwegian poet and patriot. Best
Fargo 139
known as author of the Norwegian national anthem Ja vi elsker
dette landet (Yes, I love this land), Bjornson was also a promi-
nent exponent of scientific agriculture. The medallion is the work
of Sigvold Asbjornson, Norwegian sculptor.
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING (R), a two-story red brick and
sandstone structure, shows architectural influence of the Medieval
and Romanesque periods. On the second floor is the LITTLE COUN-
TRY THEATER, founded hi 1914 as a country-life laboratory by Prof.
A. G. Arvold, head of the department of public discussion and
social life. With facilities available in the average rural commu-
nity, students are taught to present entertainments which will pro-
vide recreation and education for the communities in which they
expect to live.
The LIBRARY (L), of Classic design, contains nearly 55,000 vol-
umes, and is a depository for United States Government docu-
ments. The ENGINEERING BUILDING (R), including the engineering
and architectural departments, is a neoclassic structure of pressed
brick with sandstone trim. As the road turns R., SCIENCE HALL,
a rambling brick structure, is L. It houses the schools of science,
literature, and education, and the laboratories of the experimental
station where research is conducted in botany and plant pathology.
A three-section GREENHOUSE (L) is maintained in connection with
this department.
The AGRICULTURE BUILDING (L), a three-story tile-roofed struc-
ture showing influences of Roman and Spanish architecture, houses
the school of agriculture, offices of the experimental station, and the
extension division.
Right is the CHEMISTRY BUILDING. FRANCES HALL (L) houses
the farm management division and the school of pharmacy. The
DAIRY BUILDING and the old BARRACKS are R.
At the next curve of the road are the FARM BUILDINGS of the
agriculture division (L and R). Just before reaching 13th St.
the road passes the PHYSICAL EDUCATION BUILDING (L), erected in
1930. It has an indoor track, swimming pool, and auditorium with
seating capacity of 3,600. Athletic events featured today at the
college with its modern gymnasium and floodlighted football field
were impossible during early days at the school, for even if enough
students had been enrolled to allow football and basketball teams,
there was no athletic coach, and lack of transportation facilities
prohibited games with other colleges. In those days one of the
chief pastimes of the students was bronco busting, facilities for
which were readily available.
140 City Neighbors
Right on 13th St. is the MEN'S DORMITORY (R) and the home
economics PRACTICE HOUSE (R). The SCHOOL OF RELIGION (L), of
modern design in white stucco, originally conducted as a branch
of Wesley College, has been turned over to the agricultural col-
lege under a 99 -year rent-free lease of its buildings and equip-
ment, together with a charter for conferring degrees in religion.
Right on a campus road is CERES HALL (R), named for the
goddess of grain, and housing the women's dormitory, gymnasium,
and the home economics department. FESTIVAL HALL (R) is used
for R. O. T. C. drill, college entertainments, proms, and informal
dances. The FOOTBALL FIELD is R. of Festival Hall.
An outstanding organization on the campus is the Gold Star
Band which is part of the college R. O. T. C. unit. Directed since
1902 by Dr. C. S. Putnam, it participates in special military events,
appears at athletic contests, and has made several tours through
North Dakota and Minnesota.
With its campus on the plains of the Red River Valley where
great herds of buffalo once roamed, it is appropriate that the school
should have the bison as Its insignia. The college emblem is a
green and yellow shield (the college colors) bearing the letters
"N D" surmounted by a bison. The traditional Homecoming banquet
held each fall features a bison barbecue.
The college maintains an extension division and experimental
stations. The extension service includes the formation of agricul-
tural clubs in rural communities and at the college, and adminis-
ters Federal funds allotted the State for agricultural education. A
primary function of the experimental department is the study of
plant diseases and the development of disease-resistant grains.
H. L. Bolley, a member of the faculty, discovered the formaldehyde
treatment of seed for the prevention of smut on wheat and other
grains and perfected a wilt-resistant flax while using these experi-
mental facilities.
2. UNITED STATES VETERANS ADMINISTRATION FACIL-
ITY (visiting hours: 2-5 and 7-9 p. m.) 9 19th Ave. at the NE. edge
of the city, is generally referred to as the Veterans' Hospital.
Erected in 1929, the three-story brick veneer hospital contains 100
beds, 92 percent of which are filled throughout the year. The
grounds cover 50 acres; they are beautifully landscaped, with sunk-
en gardens, ivy arbor, sundial, and Japanese gates. A rock garden
was partially financed by the "40-and-8," a veterans' organization.
3. BLACK BUILDING, 114-118 Bdwy., is one of the few build-
ings in North Dakota of skyscraper proportions. Designed by Lang,
Raugland, and Lewis of Minneapolis, with Brasseth and Houkom
of Fargo as associates, it is constructed of concrete, steel, and white
ADMINISTRATION BUILDING,
AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, FARGO
Photo by Kermit Overby
THRESHING
SAKAKAWEA, BISMARCK
Fargo 141
brick faced with blocks of Indiana limestone with contrasting
black spandrels between the windows. Consisting of eight floors
and basement, it rises 122 feet above the ground.
RADIO STATION WDAY has its studios on the top floor. The
oldest commercial station in North Dakota, it began to function
in May 1922, operating on 100 watts. In March 1931 it became
an associate member of the National Broadcasting Company, and
a number of chain programs, including several from the agricul-
tural college, have originated in its studios.
4. FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, 619 Bdwy., is of English
Gothic architecture, a modern adaptation of the cathedrals erected
in northern Europe in the sixteenth century. It was designed by
Magney and Tussler of Minneapolis. The interior appointments are
simple and severe, following the traditional arrangement for formal
Lutheran services. In an arched sanctuary is the altar of golden
Sienna marble. The congregation represents a consolidation of
two church groups, the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church
founded in Moorhead in 1874 and moved to Fargo four years
later, and St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran, organized in Fargo in
1903.
5. FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, cor. 8th St. and 2nd
Ave. N., in modified English Gothic style, is of Faribault gray
sandstone with slate roof, in cruciform construction. It was de-
signed by Lang, Raugland, and Lewis of Minneapolis, with William
F. Kurke of Fargo as associate. The altar was hand-carved by a
cousin of Anton Lang, the Christus of the Passion Play at Ober-
ammergau.
The three-manual pipe organ is a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norman
B. Black of Fargo. A stained glass window, designed by Homer
L. Huntoon and presented by him in 1932 in memory of his wife
and infant son, contains three panels, the central one of which
depicts the sacrifice of motherhood, showing a young mother with
her baby kneeling before an angel who holds the chalice and
host, symbols of redemption. Art and music are represented in
the two side panels.
6. UNITED STATES POST OFFICE AND COURTHOUSE, 705
1st Ave. N., erected in 1929-30 at a cost of $600,000, is in Italian
Renaissance style, built of reinforced concrete faced with limestone.
Ninety tons of steel were used in the first floor, making it strong
enough to support 10 stories in addition to its present three.
7. FARGO'S FIRST HOUSE (private), 119 4th St. S., is the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Hector. It was built in 1871 of oak
logs cut in what is now Island Park, and, although used for two
years as a hotel, it was originally intended as the home of A. H.
Moore, United States marshall.
142 City Neighbors
8. CASS COUNTY'S FIBST COURTHOUSE, 708 1st Ave. S.,
has been remodeled into the DeVolne Flats. This two-story gray
frame building has had a varied existence. Built in 1874, it served
for 11 years as the seat of the county government. It was then
moved to the corner of Seventh and Front Streets and used for a
Government land office until October 4, 1886, when the construc-
tion of a new Northern Pacific depot made it necessary that the
building be again moved, this time to Eighth Street. It remained
there for a few months, then was sold for $500 and moved to its
present location where it became the first club rooms for the Fargo
Y. M. C. A.
9. MASONIC GRAND LODGE MUSEUM (open weekdays 9-5;,
501 1st Ave, N., houses the Masonic Library, the only lodge library
in the State. The museum includes exhibits ranging from Indian
artifacts and historical relics to religious articles, Fargo's first
sewing machine was donated to the lodge because its owner, found
it so "noisy to run."
The library specializes in genealogical research for Masonic
families. Originally it was part of the museum and contained
only copies of rare books. The lodge members became interested
in a State-wide program of adult education, and began a lending
library of non-fiction books. A collection of 800 rare volumes, a
gift to the library of T. S. Parvin, secretary of the Iowa grand
lodge, was destroyed in the Fargo fire; the library later bought
Mr. Parvin's entire private collection. Important items include
Orationes Philelphi printed in 1491; a collection of Bibles dating
from the time of King Christian III of Denmark (1503-1559) ; a
copy of the first printed constitution of Freemasonry, dated 1723;
and histories of some of the early guides.
10. MONUMENT TO GANGE ROLF, Bdwy. at 5th Ave. N.,
stands in the Great Northern depot park. Rollo, as Gange Rolf
was also known, entered France in 909 with a band of Northmen,
and founded Rouen. Two years later he installed himself Duke
of Normandy. His line through William the Conqueror became the
royal house of England in 1066, and the reigning family of Nor-
way in 1905. The statue, a gift of the Society of Normandy to the
Norse people of America, was unveiled in 1912 on the 1001st an-
niversary of the founding of Normandy.
11. ISLAND PARK, Bdwy. at Red River, Fargo's first park,
was donated for a recreational center in 1877 by the Northern
Pacific Railway. It was undeveloped until the early 1880's when
the city council undertook the task of landscaping. In the attrac-
tive grounds are various athletic facilities and a building that
serves as a community center.
Fargo 143
A granite MONUMENT in a fenced plot near the south drive-
way was intended for a sundial but was never completed. The
oddly phrased religious sentiments on the sides are by O. W. Lien
of Breckenridge, Minn., donor of the shaft, who said they were
dictated to him by a voice.
Near the west drive is a bronze MONUMENT TO HENRIK WERGE-
LAND, a Norwegian poet noted for his efforts in opening the doors
of Norway to the Jews and the naming of May 17 as Norwegian
Independence Day. The monument is a gift of the Norwegian
people to North Dakota and was presented during the Wergeland
centenary in 1908.
12. OAK GROVE PARK (tennis courts, horseshoe courts,
playground apparatus, soft-ball diamonds, wading pool, picnic
facilities), on the Red River, has entrances at the E. end of 6th
and 7th Aves. N., known as South and North Terrace. So
sharp are the curves of the river that at one point one can look
from North Dakota west into Minnesota. Oak Grove covers 39
acres.
13. EL ZAGAL PARK (private), 1411 Bdwy., is the property
of the El Zagal Shrine Club. On the nine-hole golf course is the
El Zagal Bowl, a natural amphitheater, used during the summer
months for concerts and dramatic presentations. Programs each
year include recitals by the Amphion Male Chorus of Fargo and
Moorhead. North from the park are North Drive, which follows
the Red River, and Memorial Drive, leading to Edgewood Park.
14. DOVRE SKI SLIDE, 1% m. N. of 19th Ave. on N. Bdwy.,
when completed in 1935, was the highest artificial ski scaffold in
the United States. At its highest point it is 140 feet from the
ground. Reaching their maximum speed at the end of the run-
way, 300 feet from the top of the slide, skiers land on a hillside
leading to the Red River, and complete their slide in Minnesota.
15. GOOD SAMARITAN SCHOOL FOR CRIPPLED CHIL-
DREN, 716 7th St. S., stands on the site of a log cabin, the birth-
place on August 27, 1871, of Anna Thoresen, later Mrs. Anna Roe,
first white girl born in Fargo and Cass County. The school is
housed in the buildings once occupied by the first college in the
city, Fargo College, founded in 1887 as a Congregational school
The campus and main building had a beautiful setting overlooking
Island Park. A shrinking income closed the school in 1919. In
1933, sponsored by the Good Samaritan Society, it became a school
for crippled children, a private organization dependent upon dona-
tions from churches, fraternal societies, and other sources. It
operates as a boarding school, with vocational training and aca-
demic courses from the first grade through" high school.
144 City Neighbors
16. On the SITE OF THE HEADQUARTERS HOTEL, between
Bdwy. and 7th St. S., N. of the Northern Pacific Railway, stood a
large two-story frame building which was the railroad station,
hotel, and social center of Fargo during its early days. Built by
the Northern Pacific in 1872, the hotel was formally opened April
1 the following year. After a disastrous fire in 1874 it was rebuilt
by Fargo business men at a cost of $45,000. The new three-story
combined hotel and depot was a prominent landmark, visible for
many miles on the flat prairie. Around it flowed the life and
business of the little frontier settlement and through it filed the
men and women who helped make the history of the West. Its
register carried the names of such notables as President U. S.
Grant and Gen. William T. Sherman. Gen. George A. Custer and
Gen. Nelson A. Miles often stayed there on their way to and from
the frontier. A menu preserved from the hotel's Christmas dinner
in 1887 lists the following game dishes: "wild turkey, stuffed
chestnut dressing; possum with browned sweet potatoes; partridge
with English bread sauce; baked squirrel; saddle of venison, cur-
rant jelly; young black bear; antelope, game sauce; buffalo steak;
reed birds a la provencale; broiled quail on toast" and any of
these for 50 cents. One of the few buildings to escape the fire of
1893, the hotel burned in 1899.
17. ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL, Bdwy. at 6th Ave. N., seat
of the diocese of Fargo since 1891, is a red brick structure
showing influences of Classic and Gothic style. A prominent
feature is a 190 -foot bell tower and steeple topped with a bronze
cross. On the northeast corner of the building a small tower
forms a niche and canopy for a heroic size statue of the Virgin
Mary. In bas-relief on either side of the east window over the
entrance portals are figures of SS. Peter and Paul. The cathedral,
completed in 1899, was dedicated by Bishop John Shanley, first
Roman Catholic Bishop of North Dakota.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Armour Packing Plant and Union Stockyards, West Fargo,
5 m. (see Tour 8). Wild Rice River, 7 m.; Holy Cross
Cemetery, 8 m. (see Tour 1).
GRAND FORKS
Railroad Stations: Great Northern, DeMers Ave. bet. 6th and 7th
Sts. N., for G. N. Ry.; Northern Pacific, 202 N. 3rd St., for N. P. Ry,
Bus Stations: Union Station, Dacotah Hotel Bldg., 1st Ave. N. at
N. 3rd St., for Checker and Triangle Transportation Companies,
Northland Greyhound, and Liederbach Lines; Columbia Hotel, 624
DeMers, for Triangle Transportation Co.
Airport: Municipal airport, 1 m. W. of city, % m. S. of US 2,
for Northwest Airlines; taxi fare 75c, time 10 min.
Taxis: Fare 25c first m., lOc additional each % m., 50c to university.
City Bus: Throughout city, to university, and East Grand Forks,
Minn., fare lOc.
Traffic Regulations: Left and inside turns permitted at all inter-
sections. N. 5th St. and Belmont Rd. (US 81) and University
Ave. are through streets. W. from N. 5th St., 60 min. parking limit
from noon to 6 p.m. No U-turn in business district. Traffic sig-
nals on DeMers Ave. at 3rd, 4th, and 5th Sts.
Accommodations: 8 hotels; municipal tourist camp, Riverside Park,
NE. outskirts of city.
Tourist Information Service: Chamber of Commerce in City Hall,
2nd Ave. N. at 4th St.; Travelers' Aid Bureau (operating part
time), Great Northern depot.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: City auditorium, 5th Ave.
N. at 5th St., and Metropolitan Theater, 116 S. 3rd St., occasional
road shows, local and university productions, concerts; Masonic
Temple, Central High School Auditorium, local and university
plays, concerts; 4 motion picture houses.
Golf: Municipal 18-hole course, Lincoln Park, SE. outskirts of
city on Belmont Rd. (greens fee 40c); Nodak 9-hole course, Uni-
versity Ave. at Columbia Rd. (greens fee 20c for 18 holes).
Tennis: Courts at Riverside and Lincoln Parks, university campus
(small fee).
Swimming: Outdoor pool, Riverside Park, open June to September,
charge for adults; indoor, Y.M.C.A., 15 N. 5th St.
Hockey: Winter Sports Bldg., university; Riverside Park; and
1st Ave. N. at Washington St.
Skiing: 105 ft. and 30 ft. scaffolds at Lincoln Park. Cross country
trails through park and up Red River.
Tobogganing: Central Park, S. end of 3rd St., toboggans (small
hourly charge) ; small slides at Riverside and Lincoln Parks.
Skating: Winter Sports Bldg., university; lighted outdoor rinks
at Central and Riverside Parks; neighborhood rinks throughout city.
Trap Shooting: Grand Forks Sportsmen's Association, range just
outside city limits on University Ave.; Eckman rifle range, 1^ m.
N. and V 4 m. W. of city off US 81.
146
City Neighbors
Animal Events: All-American Turkey Show, City Auditorium,
usually last week in January; Snow Modeling Contest, city parks,
January; Winter Sports Carnival, city parks and Winter Sports Bldg.,
university, 2nd week in February; Carney Song Contest, university
armory, February 21; Flickertail Follies, March; Engineers' Day,
university, 4th Friday in April; Norwegian Independence Day, May
17; Interfraternity Sing, Bankside Theater, university, 4th week in
May; High School Week, university, May; State Fair, fairgrounds,
CITY OF GRAND FORKS
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
Pro/ecf
ca/e
'
500 1000 2000 3000
STATE MILL
AND ELEVATOR
<3) NORTHERN PACIFIC DEPOT
PU5LJC LIBRARY
GREAT NORTHERN DEPOT
g) BANKSIDE THEATER
U N D STADIUM
Grand Forks 147
NW. outskirts of city on US 2, June; Water Carnival, Riverside
Park, July; State Peony Show, June; Harvest Festival, 3rd week
in September; Homecoming, university, October.
GRAND FORKS (830 alt., 17,112 pop.), seat of Grand Forks
County, is named for its situation at the confluence of the Red River
of the North and Red Lake River. The broad low profile of the
city, dominated by the State Mill and Elevator and the radio
station towers, is visible long before it is reached. Even the
many trees do not obstruct the view, for they grow chiefly along
the river, roughly paralleling the highway.
Like other small Midwest cities, Grand Forks is a heterogeneous
mixture of nineteenth century and modern architecture. The south
part of town, along US 81 and its neighboring streets, is the finest
residential district. University Avenue, lined with rooming houses
and quiet homes, culminates in an architectural spectacle along
Fraternity Row, an impressive group of houses vying for prominence
and grandeur.
Meat packing, milling, and processing of other agricultural pro-
ducts constitute the city's chief industries. The largest railroad
terminal between St. Paul and Seattle, Grand Forks is head-
quarters of the Dakota Division of the Great Northern Rail-
way, the largest division in the world, containing more than 1,800
miles of main line track. The Northern Pacific Railway and sev-
eral truck lines add to the shipping facilities.
The State university is not only a material asset of the city,
but is a vital part of its intellectual and social life. University
musical and dramatic performances are popular with townsfolk,
college parties and proms are leading society events, and athletic
contests draw a large attendance, not only from the city but from
the entire northeast section of the State.
It is thought that the early French- Canadian explorers of
North Dakota may have given this site the name of Grandes
Fourches; by this name it was commonly known to the French
fur traders of the late eighteenth century. In 1801, under direc-
tion of Alexander Henry, Jr., John Cameron established a North
West Company depot here. Where Henry's men traded furs with
the Indians, Grand Forks stands, the second largest city in the
State, and hub of a rich agricultural region in the Red River
Valley.
Nothing is known of the occupants of the first house in Grand
Forks, a tumble-down shack discovered by travelers near the
shores of the Red River in the early 1850's. The site is now
occupied by the warming house of the Central Park skating rink.
148 City Neighbors
In 1868 Nicholas Hoffman and August Loon, carrying mail
from Fort Abercrombie to Fort Pembina, built a log cabin at the
present corner of Eighth Avenue South and Almonte. They used
it as an overnight shelter on the long trip across the prairies.
Following his expedition by dog-sled through Dakota in I860,
James J. Hill, who later built the Great Northern Railway, sent
Capt. Alexander Griggs to explore the Red River. By the fall of
1870 Griggs had built up a good freighting business, using flat-
boats to carry his cargoes. George Winship, later publisher of the
Grand Forks Herald, also went into the flatboat freight business
and a friendly rivalry developed between the two commanders and
their crews.
On one occasion Winship loaded two flatboats with merchandise
at McCauleyville, scheduled for Pembina. At the same time Captain
Griggs was loading a fleet of flatboats destined for Fort Garry
(Winnipeg). Winship set out a half day before Griggs finished
loading, but Griggs' crew boasted they could overtake the rival
fleet. At the Goose Rapids Winship was forced by low water and
the rocky channel to reload his entire cargo to a "lighter," a
two-day task. Toward evening of the second day shouts up the
river announced Griggs* arrival at the head of the rapids. Con-
fident of keeping their lead, Winship and his crew tied up for
the night. Before morning a violent storm washed overboard
several kegs of beer which were part of their cargo. All were
retrieved but one, which floated unnoticed downstream, to be sal-
vaged by the Griggs crew. As a result of the ensuing party most
of Griggs' men were incapacitated, and he was forced to tie up
his fleet at Grandes Fourches to await recovery.
Winship reached Pembina safely, but before Griggs could pro-
ceed the river froze, and he was forced to unload his cargo and
store it in improvised sheds. His crew, with no alternative but
to spend the winter here, were the first white people known to
have domiciled on the site of Grand Forks.
Captain Griggs built a squatter cabin at the mouth of the
Red Lake River, and after a trip to St. Paul in 1871 built the first
frame house in the settlement on the bank of the Red River, at the
foot of what is now Kittson Avenue, and brought his family to
the new community.
In its early years Grand Forks was a typical river town, de-
veloping into an important station for the heavy river and oxcart
traffic on the St. Paul-Fort Garry trail. Dwellings began to dot
the prairie beside the river, log huts and crude frame structures
built from the product of Captain Griggs' sawmill. A post office
was established in 1871, and mail arrived once or twice a week by
Grand Forks 149
dog team. In the same year a telegraph station was established,
on the first line in the State, running between Fort Abercrombie
and Winnipeg. It was about this time that the English pronun-
ciation of the community's name came into general use.
In the winter of 1872 there was much unemployment and
saloons were filled with idle men. During this winter "Catfish
Joe," a half-witted Frenchman, murdered a local character known
as Old Man Stevens who, while intoxicated, called him uncom-
plimentary names. The saloon crowd decided on a lynching, and
all through the night plans were discussed, but with so many
rounds of drinks that action was impossible. Catfish Joe was tried
for murder at Yankton, spent two years in prison, and returned
to terrify Grand Forks by strutting about the streets decorated
with a bowie knife and a Winchester. One courageous townsman,
Bert Haney, seized the gun and struck Joe a terrific blow on the
head, breaking the rifle barrel from the stock, but with no damage
to Joe's head. Catfish Joe later went to Montana where he mur-
dered his partner for refusing to get up in the night and prepare
breakfast.
By the spring of 1872 Captain Griggs' sawmill was doing a
flourishing business, turning out lumber for building and repairing
river boats and barges. Logs were cut and floated down the river
to Winnipeg. When Frank Viets opened the first flour mill in the
Red River Valley at Grand Forks in 1877, he added another in-
dustry to the growing settlement. The Hudson's Bay Company
operated a store, managed by Viets, who purchased it when the
company moved to Winnipeg in 1877.
Since five families in the city had children of school age in
1873, it became necessary to establish a school As some of the
families lived on North Third Street and others in the Lincoln
Park area, they could not agree on a suitable location, and each
faction held a school of its own. Claim shanties served as school
buildings, and a drayman, one of Captain Griggs' hired men, taught
the north end school.
There was no dentist in the community in the early days of
Grand Forks. Alex Walstrom, a blacksmith, used a pair of home-
made tongs about two feet long to pull aching teeth.
On October 26, 1875, Captain Griggs filed a plat of the original
town site of Grand Forks, covering 90 acres of his claim. The
following spring Viets filed the plat of his first addition. In 1879
the village of Grand Forks was organized and three years later
was incorporated as a city.
Although life at the little river post lacked many refinements,
the social aspect was not entirely neglected. Weddings were car-
ried out with pomp and ceremony, and anniversaries appropriately
150 City Neighbors
celebrated. A popular social custom, New Year calling, was in-
troduced on January 1, 1876. Groups of men rode together in
sleighs to call on their friends, and then drove to the Hudson's
Bay Company store, purchased flour, sugar, tea, and other neces-
sities, which they took to the homes of the destitute.
Until 1879 traffic moved by steamboat or stage, but the coming
of the Great Northern Railway in that year brought the rapid de-
cline of both these early modes of transportation. Their end was
hastened by the extension of the Northern Pacific Railway from
Crookston, Minn., to Grand Forks two years later.
George Walsh founded the Plaindealer, the first newspaper
northwest of Fargo, in 1874, and published it without competition
for five years until George Winship started the Herald. There
began a continuous quarrel between the two editors which was at
times decidedly heated, although when the plant of the Plaindealer
burned in 1884 Winship shared his equipment with Walsh. While
acknowledging the courtesy, the Plaindealer continued to attack
the editorial policies of its benefactor. Winship eventually pur-
chased his rival's paper and merged it with the Herald, which
since 1881 has been published as a daily. The late J. D. Bacon,
when publisher of the Herald, established the Lilac Hedge Farm
northwest of Grand Forks to demonstrate the practicability of
diversified agriculture and the value of using purebred stock.
Colonel Viets' mill on South Third Street was one of the first
industries established in the city, and was the only flour mill until
1882, when John McDonald founded a mill at the present corner
of Fifth Street and Kittson Avenue. This was operated later by
the Diamond Milling Company and then sold to the Russell-Miller
Milling Company.
Cream of Wheat was first processed in Grand Forks and was
manufactured locally for a number of years about the turn of the
century, before the manufacturer moved to Minneapolis.
In Grand Forks politics and the weather were of great im-
portance. Elections were always exciting. When D. M. Holmes
ran for mayor in 1886 his friend James J. Hill ordered all Great
Northern trains of the north, south, and west lines to run into
Grand Forks so that the train crews could vote for Holmes.
Against such odds Holmes' opponent withdrew.
A tornado that struck Grand Forks in June 1887 killed two
women and wrecked many buildings. Ten years later the city
experienced one of the worst floods in its history. The Red River
made an all-time record by flowing four miles an hour. Houses
along the river flats were floating or completely submerged. The
piers of the west approach of the Minnesota Avenue bridge were
Grand Forks 151
swept by ice, and the Northern Pacific tracks were under water.
When water filled the basement of the Herald building, the staff
was forced to resort to hand composition to continue publication.
Many families lived in second stories, and on nearby farms plat-
forms were built on the roofs of barns and fenced in for the
livestock, which was fed from boats.
In 1890 a brick plant was established in Grand Forks, and
another in 1900. Other industries which sprang up during this
period were bottling works, breweries, and foundries. Besides the
Grand Forks Herald, two weeklies were established, the Red River
Valley Citizen and the Normanden, the latter in the Norwegian
language.
In 1919 a group of farmers and business men from Grand
Forks and the surrounding territory opened the Northern Packing
Company, designed to handle 500 hogs and 150 cattle and sheep
daily, with a plant one and one-half miles north of the city (see
Tour 1). The State Mill and Elevator began operation in 1922
(see Tour 1). A candy company that uses locally produced beet
sugar has an annual output of about 1,000,000 pounds. A large
potato warehouse with laboratory and experimental department
was constructed in 1935 at the corner of North Third Street and
Lewis Boulevard.
The population of Grand Forks has increased from 200 in 1873
to 17,112 in 1930, and is composed of many nationalities, although
more than 75 percent of the native whites are of Norwegian or
Canadian descent A small section of the city bounded by Sixth
and Eighth Avenues North and Twentieth and Twenty-third Streets
North is a Scandinavian community designated locally as 'Tattle
Norway." Here Norwegian is spoken almost exclusively by the
older people, although the children have acquired American speech
and habits. Norwegian Independence Day, Syttende Mai (May 17),
is celebrated by the residents of this district and their homes are
then decorated with Norwegian flags. Much political activity of
an earlier period centered about this little community, since it
generally voted as a bloc. Politicians of that day believed that
the candidate who was most liberal with ale would receive the
community's vote, and on the eve of election torchlight parades
marched through the streets of this district and candidates for of-
fice generously dispensed both oratory and beer.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. FEDERAL BUILDING, 1st. Ave. N. at N. 4th St, houses
the post office, United States courtroom, a branch of the United
States Immigration Service, and the Federal Reemployment office.
152 City Neighbors
The superstructure is of white Bedford stone and pressed brick,
with a base of solid granite. It has a 12 -foot cornice of stone with
carved and blocked ornaments. The lobby has marble floors and
high wainscoting of marble, contrasting shades being used for bor-
ders. Fixtures are of quarter-sawed oak.
2. CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 1st and 2nd Aves. N. between
4th and 5th Sts., has an auditorium unit constructed entirely without
windows. It was the first public building in North Dakota to
utilize indirect lighting throughout. It was erected in 1936-37 with
WPA assistance at a cost of $275,000, and includes a pipe organ,
the gift of the Grand Forks Music Association.
3. SORLIE MEMORIAL BRIDGE across tlie Red River con-
nects Grand Forks, N. Dak., and East Grand Forks, Minn., on US 2.
It is dedicated to the late A. G. Sorlie, former Governor of the
State, and was built in 1929.
4. RADIO STATION KFJM (open daily 2:30-5 p.m.), top floor
of the First National Bank Bldg., cor. DeMers Ave. and N. 4th
St., is one of the few State-owned university radio stations in
the United States. It is leased to a local company. A studio is
maintained at the university.
5. TRIANGLE APARTMENTS, 5th and Chestnut Sts. and 5th
Ave, S., mark the site of two of the most important buildings in
early Grand Forks history. The city's first school building stood
across the street from this triangle, on the courthouse site. In 1883
the old building was moved into the triangle and converted into the
Park Hotel. The Arlington House, a hotel built by the Hudson's
Bay Company in 1873, was also moved to this lot and in 1906 Col.
Andrew Knutson purchased both buildings and operated them as the
Arlington-Park Hotel. This hotel was torn down in recent years
and the lumber used in the construction of the apartment building
that now occupies the site.
6. GRAND FORKS COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 4th and 5th Sts.
S. between Kittson and Bruce Aves., was erected in 1913 and de-
signed by Buechner and Orth of St. Paul. It is a three-story Indiana
limestone building of modified Classic design, with a figure of Jus-
tice surmounting its dome. The halls are finished in white marble
with mural decorations. Embellishing the upper part of the rotunda
are four painted lunettes showing typical North Dakota scenes.
7. SOLDIER'S MONUMENT, 6th St. S. and Belmont Rd., was
donated by George B. Winship, early newspaper publisher, as a
memorial to 168 local Civil War veterans, whose names are engraved
on a bronze tablet. Mounted on a square base of Vermont granite,
the monument represents a Union soldier "at rest."
Grand Forks 153
8. CENTRAL PARK (picnicking not allowed), Red River
bank, S. end of 3rd St., is a beauty spot and playground. The
flower gardens, a mass of brilliant bloom, are lighted at night.
At the bandstand in the center of the park concerts are presented,
usually each week, during the summer months. In front of the
bandstand are millstones from the first flour mill in the Red River
Valley, which was built on the site of the city waterworks plant
in 1877. An outdoor skating rink is lighted for winter skating.
The warming house is on the site of the first building erected
within the present boundaries of the city. Across the drive from
the ball diamond are the toboggan slides, partially hidden from
view by evergreen trees and shrubs.
9. UNIVERSITY PARK (playground equipment and super-
vised play), University Ave. bet. 24th and 25th Sts., has a chil-
dren's library at the clubhouse, and children's band concerts (week-
ly, June- July) are given by the university band,
10. LINCOLN PARK (municipal golf links, tennis courts, ski
slide, picnic and play equipment), Belmont Rd. at S. edge of city,
contains the old Red River Oxcart Trail (see Tour 1) which crossed
the little hill on which the clubhouse stands. Later, when the
settlement became a stage station on the St. Paul-Fort Garry
Trail, the Stewart House was built here and housed Grand Forks'
first post office. This old log building is now the kitchen of the
clubhouse.
11. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH DAKOTA is at the W. end of
University Ave. 2 m. from the principal business section of Grand
Forks. (University bus at 3rd St. and DeMers Ave., fare We.)
The campus facing the avenue is bordered by a low hedge,
and the two main entrances are marked by large brick pylons.
Tree-shaded roads wind past the buildings and along the banks of
English Coulee. In the spring and summer the wide expanses of
green lawn are broken by plots of flowers and clumps of lilacs,
spirea, and flowering almond. All of the buildings erected since
1910 are in modern collegiate Gothic style, a modification of true
English Gothic architecture adapted especially for educational in-
stitutions.
The University of North Dakota was established by the Terri-
torial Legislature before North Dakota became a State. The corner-
stone for "Old Main" was laid October 12, 1883, on the prairie be-
side the banks of the winding English Coulee, and September 8, 1884,
the university opened classes with 79 students and a staff of 4 in-
structors. Enrollment now numbers almost 3,000 students and the
school has more than 130 instructors.
154 City Neighbors
Selection of a site two miles from the city was opposed by many
of the townspeople who thought the university should be located at
the south end of Third Street, on the present site of Central Park.
During the tornado of 1887 the roof of Old Main, then the only
building on the campus, was blown almost to the south end of
Third Street. Agitation was begun to bring the remainder of the
building to join the roof, but State officials refused to consider
the plan, chiefly because the property originally used was school
land. Old Main was remodeled and a women's dormitory erected
near it. That settled the controversy.
For students who were unable to live on the campus, trans-
portation was a troublesome problem. Only a country road of
sticky Red River Valley gumbo connected the campus with the
city, and, except for the fortunate few who caught rides on horse-
drawn vehicles, city students walked to classes. During severe
weather it was often necessary to flag a freight or passenger train
of the Great Northern to make the trip to town. About 1900 a
trolley line was established to the university, and despite its er-
ratic service it greatly facilitated attendance of non-resident
students.
Although given an endowment of 86,080 acres of public lands in
1889 when it became the University of North Dakota, there were
many years when the school derived no revenue from this source,
but had to depend entirely upon legislative appropriation. In 1895
Governor Allin vetoed most of the appropriation, leaving money
for the janitor's salary but none for the faculty. The institution
was kept open through private contributions, and President Webs-
ter Merrifield and other professors served without salary during
a trying two-year period. Despite financial difficulties, attendance
at the university in its first 15 years increased more than 40 per-
cent and in 1898 President Merrifield reported to the legislature
that the facilities of the institution were inadequate. Continued
expansion added law, premedical, and commerce schools, and me-
chanical, electrical, and mining engineering departments at the
university by the end of the 1901 term.
During the first six years of university history there were
only two buildings on the campus. The main building, later known
as Merrifield Hall, contained classrooms, book store, post office,
and men's dormitory. The other building, later named Davis Hall
for Hannah E. Davis, one of its early matrons, housed the girls'
dormitory, and, in the basement, the university dining hall. Alumni
of those days relate that the dining hall was a very popular place.
When meals were ready to be served a napkin was hung out the
basement window, and the first student in the main building who
spied the sign, regardless of whether he happened to be in a class
Grand Forks 155
or not, yelled, "Rag's out!'* The shout was taken up and a stam-
pede to the dining room followed. This custom prevailed for sev-
eral years. One day President Merrifield was showing some of his
Eastern friends through the institution when suddenly "Rag's out"
reverberated through the halls. The visitors wondered if there was
a riot, and the mortified president realized for the first time how
the dinner call sounded to outsiders. He suppressed it with dif-
ficulty, after many student debates on the sacredness of college
traditions.
With the advent of football teams, "Odz, odz, dzi," an imita-
tion of a Sioux war cry, became the college yell, and has con-
tinued to the present.
When a delegation from the first North Dakota legislature
visited the campus on a tour of inspection in 1889, residents of
the girls' dormitory held a tea in their honor. In order to im-
prove upon the barrenness of the sparsely furnished parlor, pieces
were borrowed from the girls' rooms and from friends. The ex-
pedient was more successful than the girls had anticipated, for the
legislators considered the furnishings more than adequate and there-
upon decreased the amount allowed in the budget for dormitory
equipment.
Although the University of North Dakota has been in existence
only 55 years (1938), it has had its share of distinguished alumni,
among whom is Maxwell Anderson (class of 1911), playwright,
author of What Price Glory, Mary of Scotland,, Winterset, and other
dramas. In 1933 his play Both Your Houses was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize.
Vilhjalmur Stefansson, explorer, attended the university from
1899 to 1902, and left at the request of the faculty* His escapades,
though doubtless improved upon with the years, are quite typical
of him. It is said he attended classes as seldom as possible, yet al-
ways received the highest grades. The story goes that he went to
his calculus class only on the first day of the term, then returned
for the final examination, which the professor allowed him to write,
with gloomy prophecies of his ruin. Stefansson's mark was 98. The
professor could not help remarking that he had done well consider-
ing that he had attended only one class. "And," retorted Stefans-
son, "if I hadn't come here the first day I'd have got one hundred.'*
The Arctic explorer has been credited with pranks such as re-
leasing a small pig on the speaker's platform at convocation, and
rolling a keg of beer across the campus to win a bet when North
Dakota was a very dry State. There was then no trolley from
Grand Forks to the campus, and President Merrifield was driven
the two miles to and from town in his private carriage. One day
156 City Neighbors
Stefansson saw the carriage parked downtown. The driver was old
in service, and when Stefansson stepped into the carriage and said
"Home, Peter" in a good imitation of the president's voice, Peter
suspected nothing. Stefansson rede in comfort to the campus, while
President Merrifield, it is said, walked. Expelled in 1902, Stefansson
was called back to his Alma Mater in 1930 to have the LL. D.
degree conferred on him in recognition of his contributions to
science.
The east campus road passes the LAW BUILDING, WOODWORTH
HALL, CHEMISTRY BUILDING, and BABCOCK HALL. In Woodworth,
the school of education, is the campus broadcasting studio. The
University of North Dakota was the second university in the United
States to offer courses in radio administration, and engineering stu-
dents use the KFJM transmitter, adjacent to the campus, for prac-
tical class work in technical radio instruction. Just S. of the
Chemistry Building are the university tennis courts, and a nine -hole
golf course is E. of MEMORIAL STADIUM (L) erected in 1927. The
university athletic department is a member of the North Central
Conference and books games with schools from coast to coast. The
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM on the top floor of Babcock Hall (open 9-5
daily) contains a large collection of Indian artifacts and geological
and historical items.
The road curves back of Babcock and the COMMONS past CAMP
DEPRESSION (L), established in 1933, where railroad cabooses are
fitted up for enterprising students to provide cooperative accom-
modations at a minimum cost. Left of Camp Depression is the
shiny arched steel WINTER SPORTS BUILDING. Around the curve is
the ARMORY (L) where athletic and social events and weekly con-
vocations are held. The road to the R. passes BUDGE HALL (R),
men's dormitory, built in 1889; OLD MERRIFIELD HALL (L), generally
known as "Old Main," the first building on the campus and now
occupied by administrative offices, post office, book store, and of-
fices of the extension division; NEW MERRIFIELD HALL (L), the lib-
eral arts college building, completed in 1929; SCIENCE HALL (R),
housing the medical school and State Public Health Laboratories;
and the LIBRARY (L), containing 77,000 catalogued books and peri-
odicals and about 17,500 uncatalogued Government documents.
Curving L., the road passes the PRESIDENT'S HOUSE (R), a spa-
cious Georgian Colonial brick residence. Next is MACNIE HALL, a
cooperative men's residence hall, named for John Macnie, for 20
years a member of the faculty, and composer of the university
Alma Mater. Vine-covered CHANDLER HALL (R), named for Elwin
Chandler, dean emeritus of the school of engineering, is headquarters
during Engineers* Day held the last Friday in April each year.
Grand Forks 157
DAVIS HALL (K), women's dormitory, is the second oldest building
on the campus, erected in 1887. It houses the home economics
department.
ENGLISH COULEE (R), so-called because an Englishman is said
to have drowned in it, borders the campus on the W. Between
Davis Hall and the WOMEN'S GYMNASIUM the stream curves, cre-
ating the impression that the opposite bank is a wooded Island.
This far bank is the stage of the BANKSIDE THEATER, and the con-
cave bank facing it is used to seat the audience. The theater Is
the scene of an Interfraternity Sing held the last week in May.
The original Bankside Theater, about one block N. of the
present site, was dedicated in 1914 and is said to have been the
first open air theater to make use of the natural curve of a stream
to separate the stage from the auditorium. The initial perform-
ance given here, A. Pageant of the Northwest, was written by stu-
dents of the Sock and Buskin Society (now the Dakota Playmakers)
under the direction of Prof. Frederick Koch, who is distinguished
for his work in American folk drama.
The banks of English Coulee have fostered both drama and
romance. College sweethearts spend their evenings by this stream,
admiring the reflection of the moon in the water. The custom
is known locally as "coulee-banking."
Thirteen social fraternities, including 11 national groups, are
represented at the university, and there are 10 sororities, 9 of
them national. The houses along Fraternity Row on University
Avenue and the other streets near the campus present the archi-
tecture of many nations and periods. A French chateau shoulder-
ing a stucco cottage, a graceful Georgian Colonial residence stand-
ing between an English country house and an Italian mansion, and
houses of Spanish and English design form a quaint architectural
democracy that is, perhaps, a fitting background for the social
life of a student body representing various nations.
12. WESLEY COLLEGE, N. of University Ave. opposite the
University of North Dakota, is the first of the Methodist schools
in the United States designated by that name and the first church
school to affiliate with a State university. Its residence halls are
open to students of all church affiliations, as are the classes in re-
ligion, music, and expression. .Work in any department of Wesley
College is credited toward university degrees.
The campus contains four buildings, Corwin, Larirnore, Sayre,
and Robertson Halls, constructed of white brick with trimmings of
white glazed terra cotta in Grecian style. Robertson Hall, the new-
est building, contains the administrative offices, school of religion,
and expression department. This building, costing $40,000, was
158 City Neighbors
made possible by the contribution of an alumnus, John M. Hancock,
and his family of Hartsdale, N. Y., and was completely furnished
by Mrs. Hancock. Corwin Hall houses the well-equipped music
department. Larimore Hall, the women's dormitory, is immedi-
ately behind Corwin, while the men's dormitory, Sayre Hall, ad-
joins Robertson Hall.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
North Dakota State Mill and Elevator, 1 m.; Red River
Oxcart Trail, 1.5 m.; Northern Packing Plant, 1.5 m.; Grand
Forks Silver Fox Farm, 4 m. (see Tour 1). American
Sugar Refining Co. plant, 2 m. (see Minn. Tour 7),
MINOT
Railroad Stations: Great Northern Station, W. end of Central Ave.
across viaduct, for G. N. Ry.; Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste.
Marie Station, 17 N. Main St., for Soo Ry.
Bus Stations: Union Bus Depot, Front at 3rd St. SE., for Checker,
Interstate, and Northern Transportation Co. bus lines; Stearns
Bldg., 2nd St. SW. at 1st Ave., for Minot-Crosby Bus Line.
Airport: Municipal airport, 1% m. N. of business district on out-
skirts of city, E. of US 83, taxi fare 35c, time 10 min.; no scheduled
air service, no public hangars.
Taxis: 25c to any point in city, lOc for each additional passenger.
City Bus Line: Throughout city, to State Teachers College, fare lOc.
Traffic Regulations: VaUey St. (US 52), 4th Ave. SE. and SW.
(US 2), 2nd St. SW. and NW. (US 83), are through streets. No
U-turn on through streets and no left turns out of alleys. Turns
may be made in either direction at intersections.
Accommodations: 10 hotels; municipal tourist camp, Roosevelt Park,
4th Ave. SE. at llth St.
Tourist Information Service: Association of Commerce, 205-207
1st Ave. Bldg.
Theaters and Motion Picture Houses: McFarland Auditorium, State
Teachers College, 9th Ave, NW., college productions and lyceum
programs; Minot high school auditorium, 2nd Ave. SE. between
1st and 2nd Sts.; 3 motion picture houses.
Athletics: Baseball, football, track, skating, and hockey rinks,
Roosevelt Park Recreation Field.
Golf: Municipal 9-hole course SW. edge of city on US 2 (greens
fee 25c); Riverside 9-hole course, E. of city limits on US 2 (greens
fee 25c).
Minot
159
Tennis: Courts at Oak Park, W. end 3rd Ave. NW.; Lincoln Park,
4th St. at 5th Aye. NW.; and Roosevelt Park.
Swimming: Municipal outdoor pool. Roosevelt Park.
Skating: Rinks at 2nd St. and 8th Ave. NR, 1st Ave. at 3rd St.
NW., Lincoln Park, South Hill residential district, and Roosevelt
Park; all floodlighted.
Curling: Rink near Fairmount Creamery, 701 4th Ave. SE.
Annual Events: Winter Sports Carnival, February, no fixed date;
Northwest State Fair, fairgrounds E. end of 4th Ave. SE., week of
July 4; Homecoming, State Teachers College, October, no fixed
date; The Messiah, State Teachers College, December, no fixed
date.
$00 DEPOT
GREAT NORTHERN DEPOT
POST OFFICE
PUBLIC UBRARY
& COURT HOUSE
160 City Neighbors
MINOT (1,557 alt., 16,099 pop.) is still young and growing,
although past its fiftieth birthday. Its name (pronounced MY-not)
was given it to honor Henry D. Minot, young Eastern capitalist
and college friend of Theodore Roosevelt. Situated in the deep
valley of the Souris (Mouse) River, the town overflows the level
mile-wide flood plain to thrust itself up the south slope of the
valley onto the open prairie. Rough, well worn block pavement
in the business section evolves into smooth, tree-bowered asphalt
avenues lined with fine homes in the residential districts. The
twisting, sluggish river winds through the center of the city, in
some sections its banks scarred with piles of refuse, in others
rimmed by trim lawns.
The hills that rim the Souris at Minot are evidences of the
mighty force of the raging waters that during the glacial period
poured from the melting edge of the great Dakota ice sheet to
plow deep valleys and lay the basis for the town's future pros-
perity. The products of the geological past yield valuable returns.
One, the rich, fertile bed of glacial Lake Souris, provides good
crops. The other is lignite, the soft brown peatlike coal that
underlies much of the northwestern portion of the State, and for
which Minot is an important shipping point.
James J. Hill's Great Northern Railway was pushing west
through Dakota Territory in 1887 when it was found necessary to
stop near here and build a bridge across a coulee. Where con-
struction halted there immediately sprang up a large tent town,
which was generally assumed to be the start of a permanent set-
tlement. The railroad company, however, had selected a town
site to the east, on the Souris River, and when this became known
the exodus was sudden and complete; almost overnight the tent
town was transplanted to the new location. This mushroom-like
appearance, coupled with an almost phenomenal growth to 5,000
population during its first year, earned the new frontier settlement
the title of the Magic City.
The first white man to settle on the ground now incorporated
into the city of Minot was Erik Ramstad, who in May 1885 had
come from Grafton, N. Dak., and settled by squatter's right on a
quarter section bisected by the Souris. Late in the summer of
1886 he relinquished 40 acres south of the river to the town site
people, and this land together with another 40 acres to the south
became the original site of Minot. On July 16, 1887, less than a
year after settlement, Minot was an incorporated city. A few weeks
later an entire slate of city officers was selected in a campaign
which set a high standard for many heated city elections of later
years. Principal interest centered about the candidates for mayor,
Minot 161
and with typical frontier camaraderie the defeated man was the first
to sign the bond of office for his victorious opponent. At its
initial meeting the newly elected city council selected as the city's
first police chief William Flumerfelt, a saloon-keeper.
When Minot's first Christmas arrived, in 1887, not a church
graced the town. To observe the season a Christmas tree was set
up in Jack Doyle's saloon, which stood on the site of the present
Woolworth store at the corner of Central Avenue and Main Street.
Most of the town turned out for the celebration, gifts were hung
on the tree, and everyone was given candy.
Many early residents were buried in a cemetery in southwest
Minot, although no markers remain. This burial place on one occa-
sion almost saw the interment of a person who, by virtue of being
very much alive, was quite undeserving of inclusion here. It
happened that a local character known as Spider had gone to his
reward, and "the boys" had taken over his obsequies, stopping on
the way to the cemetery to fortify themselves at a saloon. Reach-
ing the grave, they attempted to lower the coffin, but one end
dropped down and the other caught on the side of the grave.
John J. Powers, a well-known rancher, was selected to straighten
the coffin, but in getting down he was caught between it and the
wall of the grave. Disregarding his protests, the high-spirited
pallbearers proceeded to shovel in dirt, and he was covered except
for his head and shoulders when passersby, hearing his cries,
arrived on the scene and effected a rescue.
It was events like this that earned Minot the name of a wild
town; and, considering the type of people who flocked into the
new city transient railroad workers and hangers-on, horse and
cattle thieves who at that time infested the west and northwest
sections of the State, gamblers who saw opportunity in the new
settlement, and criminals who had escaped across the boundary from
Canada it is hardly remarkable that the town soon had a repu-
tation for lawlessness and iniquity. Many pioneer residents of
Minot still remember a certain railway passenger conductor who
would call the name of the station, "MINOT, this is M-I-N-O-T,
end of the line. Prepare to meet your God!"
In spite of the disreputable element, many dependable citizens
selected the boom town for their permanent homes, and to them
the development of the city has been due. As early as 1887 Mar-
shall McClure was publishing the first newspaper, the weekly Minot
Rustler-Tribune. The city had its first wooden sidewalk in 1888,
and the same year Main Street was lighted with kerosene lamps.
The city council passed an ordinance against speeding with horses,
the limit being set at eight miles per hour. Apparently the COUH-
162 City Neighbors
cil of that day believed that actions speak louder than words, for
on one occasion it adjourned to go out in a body to grub stumps
and fix a road that needed repair. In 1889 this same progressive
body voted that the city pay 50 cents per barrel for the first 10
barrels of water delivered at any fire in the city. The first fire
wagon was John Strommen's dray, which was used to haul water
every time an alarm was turned in.
Burlington (see Tour 7), the first community in the Souris
region, had confidently expected that the Great Northern would
be routed past its door, but instead the road chose the Minot site.
The Magic City thereupon set out to deprive its rival of the county
seat as well. Arrangements were made for the railroad company
to sidetrack an old freight car at Lonetree 28 miles west of Minot.
Telegraph wires were strung into it, and the roadmaster presented
an affidavit to the county commissioners stating that a station had
been opened. Burlington protested: Lonetree belonged in the Bur-
lington precinct, it claimed, and there were not enough residents
to open the polls. The railroad installed two operators, a station
agent and a helper; Lonetree was declared a precinct, and it is
said that railroad crews as far west as Glasgow, Mont., voted.
Minot became the county seat.
Settlers rushed into "Imperial Ward" County when it was sur-
veyed and opened to homesteading in 1896. The origin of the
county's nickname is apparent from the following description in
Colonel Lounsberry's Record: ". . . . a small sized empire of 5,000
square miles rich in soil, clays, coal, and the energy of its people,
immigration unequaled, steady and firm like the flow of a river."
Land entries at Minot during the first nine months of 1905 were
said to be greater than at any other U. S. land office in the coun-
try. Homesteaders slept on the floor of the office to avoid losing
their turn in filing for land.
Imperial Ward remained intact until 1910, when its ample
acres were carved into Renville, Burke, Mountrail, and present
Ward Counties.
Deer, antelope, prairie and timber wolves, foxes, mink, otter,
beaver, ducks, and geese provided early settlers of the Minot area
with food, furs, and sport. In the winter, when water holes were
opened in the frozen river for stock, fish would come up to the
openings in such numbers that they could easily be speared with
pitchforks, and it was not uncommon at these watering places to
see fish frozen and stacked up like cordwood.
Since the Souris winds through Minot for a distance of eight
miles, its overflow can cause great damage, and several times
there have been severe floods. The worst occurred in 1882, 1904,
Minot 163
1916, 1923, and 1927. The 1904 flood took the town by surprise,
as there were no telephones in the territory upstream from Minot
by which the alarm could be given, and small houses were torn
from their foundations as the crest of the flood hit the city. Rail-
road tracks were under water and traffic on the Great Northern
and Soo was at a standstill. The flood continued for about three
weeks, and children rejoiced as school was discontinued. People
went about their business in boats, using their front porches for
piers. Many north side residents moved in with friends living on
the higher south side.
In recent years dikes have been built to keep the Souris with-
in bounds, and Federal works on the river above the city, the
subsistence homestead project at Burlington, and the Upper Souris
migratory waterfowl project (see Tour 7) have constructed dams
which enable engineers to control the flow of water.
While the Great Northern was responsible for Minot's origin
and early growth, several factors have shared in the city's later
development. Extension of the railroad westward added to the
trade territory, all of which is agricultural, and the city became
the logical wholesale distribution point for northwest North Dakota.
The arrival of the Soo in 1893 tapped untouched areas southeast
and northwest, again enlarging the trade region. The first bus
line in the State began operation between Minot and Bismarck
in 1922. Truck and bus lines now radiate from Minot to serve
the many outlying communities not on the transcontinental rail-
roads. The city is a center for an area of 22,500 square miles,
extending north to the Canadian line and west into Montana. In
1930 Minot had the second largest volume of wholesale business
in the State, with transactions totaling $18,500,000.
Its location in an extensive agricultural area has established
Minot as a farm market. During both pre-war and post-war
periods of heavy crop yields and high prices, Minot boomed as a
grain shipping point. Two flour mills have been a factor in main-
taining cash grain prices at higher levels than in other commu-
nities. Processing of dairy and poultry products has become an
important industry, and a cash livestock market has brought ad-
ditional returns and marketing facilities in the past few years,
A plant of the poultry cooperative maintained by the North Dakota
Farmers Union is situated in Minot. The recent droughts lessened
grain marketing, but pushed forward in another direction the pro-
duction and stability of diversified farm products, as indicated by
the expansion of one and the erection of another creamery and
processing plant.
164 City Neighbors
Like other cities, Minot has felt the depression period, but
outwardly there remains only one prominent scar "Sparrow Hotel,"
the steel skeleton of a 10-story hotel building. Begun in 1929,
construction was halted by the market crash of that year, and the
framework now houses only a multitude of twittering, chirping
sparrows.
Its rail facilities have helped to make Minot a natural ship-
ping point for the great quantities of lignite mined in this vicinity.
The Truax-Traer Company, with headquarters here, is one of the
largest lignite strip mining companies in the United States, and
operates the three largest strip mines in the State.
Out of the Rustler -Tribune, which reported Minot's earliest
events, there grew the Minot Optic Reporter, which is now the
Minot Daily News. The Democrat, a political publication, has
grown into the Dakota State Journal, and the weekly Ward Coun-
ty Independent is also published in Minot. A radio station, KLPM,
maintains studios in the Fair Block on South Main Street.
With improved transportation facilities and good roads, Minot
has become a medical center for the northwest section of the State.
Two large hospitals, two smaller private hospitals, and medical and
dental clinics are maintained.
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. MINOT STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, 9th Ave. NW. be-
tween 2nd and 8th Sts., with an average quarterly enrollment of 525,
is the largest normal school in the State. It is an accredited
four-year college with a teachers training school in connection.
Its 70-acre campus, 60 acres of which were donated by Erik
Ramstad, Minot's first settler, lies at the foot of the hills border-
ing the Souris valley on the N. and contains six brick buildings
of modern construction, including a main educational building with
auditorium and gymnasium, two dormitories, two training school
buildings, a powerhouse, and a floodlighted athletic field.
The college offers a two-year standard teachers course as pre-
scribed by State law, a two-year junior college course, and a
four-year curriculum leading to a B.A. degree in education. In
the training school a model primary, grade, and high school is
maintained, enabling prospective teachers to secure actual experi-
ence in their profession. Many children in the northwest section
of the city attend the college school.
2. WARD COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 3rd St. SE. between 3rd
and 4th Aves., was dedicated May 31, 1930. It is said to be the first
North Dakota public building of modern design. A motto inscribed
Minot 165
upon the front elevation reads: **Let Us Develop the Resources
of Our Land, Call Forth Its Power, Build Upon Its Institutions
and Promote All Its Great Interests."
This austere spacious structure, designed by Tolz, King and
Day of Minneapolis, and erected at a cost of $450,000; succeeded
an old-fashioned brick courthouse built in 1891 and razed in
1928. The old courthouse, built after Minot had won the county
seat from Burlington, was by no means adequate, but the com-
missioners feared to submit the question of a new courthouse to
a vote, since the county as a whole was not reconciled to Minot' s
county seat victory. As the law allowed repairs without popular
approval, the commissioners "repaired" the $8,000 courthouse to
the extent of a new $25,000 addition.
3. PUBLIC LIBRARY (open 9-9, except July and Aug., 9-6},
101-107 2nd Ave. SE., is a buff brick Carnegie institution contain-
ing more than 18,000 volumes.
4. ROOSEVELT PARK (swimming pool, playgrounds, picnic
grounds, athletic field, tennis courts, tourist camp), E. end of 4th
Ave. SE., on the S. bank of the Souris River, is an 85-acre tract
beautified by rustic bridges, lagoons, flower beds, and sunken gar-
dens. A Zoo containing many species of foreign and domestic
animals attracts thousands of visitors annually.
In the park is a bronze EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF THEODORE
ROOSEVELT,, depicting him as a Rough Rider. The base of the
statue is a reproduction of the Badlands formations along the
Little Missouri River where Roosevelt once lived. This memorial,
designed by A. Phimister Proctor of New York and presented to
the city in 1924 by Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, pioneer North Dakota
physician and life-long friend of Roosevelt, is dedicated to the
school children who contributed the cost of the base.
COE DRIVE, a scenic two-mile route through the woods bordering
a loop of the Souris River, connects with a mile drive through
Roosevelt Park. It is reached by driving one block into the park
from the entrance and turning right.
5. OAK PARK, W. end of 3rd Ave. NW., has more than 50
acres of wooded land. Provided with tennis courts, wading pool,
and picnic tables, it is a favorite spot for Sunday picnickers from
the surrounding country.
6. ROSEHILL CEMETERY, 3rd St. SE. at llth Ave., con-
tains the nine-foot marble WORLD WAR MEMORIAL SHAFT and the
DAUGHTERS OF UNION VETERANS OF THE CIVIL WAR MEMORIAL.
POINTS OF INTEREST IN ENVIRONS
Burlington underground lignite mines, 8 m.; Burlington
Subsistence Homestead Project, 8 m.; Velva lignite strip
mine, 32 m. (see Tour 7).
PLAYGROUNDS
FORT ABRAHAM LINCOLN STATE PARK
Entrance: 4.5 m. S. of Mandan on graveled road (see Tour 8).
Points of interest in park: Fort McKeen, Slant Indian Village, site
of old Fort Abraham Lincoln.
Regulations: Park open during daylight hours only; parking cars
on highway prohibited.
The 750 acres of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park lie on the
west bluffs of the Missouri River, encompassing three sites of his-
torical and archeological interest a Mandan Indian village and
two old military posts. The park is being developed by the State
Historical Society of North Dakota in cooperation with the National
Park Service.
As the roadway enters the park, the bluffs rise steeply to the
right, while below on the left is spread a beautiful view of the
Missouri winding away to the distant hills, tracing the outlines
of Sibley Island, the Heart River below, flowing into the Missouri,
and Bismarck and the capitol set against the background of the
valley rising on the other side of the river.
Fort McKeen is on the river bluffs, and the Indian village is
below on the river bank, slightly higher than Fort Abraham Lin-
coln, the cavalry post, on the broad ancient plain near the mouth
of the Heart.
Left as the highway enters the park is a crude log palisade
that guards the old SLANT VILLAGE. Before these prairies saw
the invasion of the white men, perhaps two centuries ago, a group of
Mandan Indians, seeking a new location in their advance up the
Missouri Valley, selected this narrow point of land which had such
excellent natural protection. On the east was the Heart River and
on the south a deep coulee. Along the exposed sides the Indians
built a palisade and dug a moat to secure their little town.
Depressions in the earth show that the settlement contained
68 lodges. Five have been restored by the park administration,
four of them homes and the other the large ceremonial lodge. All
have been placed as nearly as possible on their original sites, and
in some cases the locations made by park workers were so accu-
rate that remains of the old lodges were found in excavating for
the restoration work. The five lodges have been carefully repro-
duced in every detail. (A general description of the construction
and equipment of the typical Indian earth lodge will be found
under INDIANS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS.)
170 Playgrounds
Crude tools such as the inhabitants of this town used in do-
mestic and agricultural work are on display in one lodge. Hoes
and shovels were flat bones fastened to wooden handles, and
brooms were bunches of brush bound together. A short post with
a hollowed center served as a mortar, a club about the size of a
baseball bat as a pestle, and with this apparatus corn was ground
for meal.
Furnishings in the lodge include the horse corrals, beds, and
altars which were part of the domestic scene. There are speci-
mens of dog and horse travois, and an Indian bullboat, made by
stretching a green buffalo hide over a wooden frame and drying
it. The result resembled nothing so much as an ungainly washtub,
but the awkward-looking craft would carry two or three persons
quite safely across the treacherous currents of the Missouri.
The ceremonial 1 lodge, with a diameter of 84 feet, has been
restored in its original position in the center of the village court,
and the interior of this surprisingly large building furnishes an
index of the architectural advancement of these supposedly savage
people. In this lodge tribal ceremonies were held, and the site
doubtless witnessed many enactments of the most holy Mandan
religious service, in which the young men of the tribe were in-
ducted into manhood with bloody and gruesome torture rites.
Right of the highway, almost opposite the entrance to the vil-
lage, the restored and graveled military road branches steeply up-
ward to where FORT McKEEN commands a far view of the plains
and the twisting Missouri. Although Bismarck, the two bridges
across the river, and many other marks of settlement are now part
of the scene, the entire view from this point was one wild, un-
touched, verdant picture when Army engineers came from Fort
Rice in 1872 in search of a location for an infantry post to protect
the surveyors, engineers, and workmen who prepared the way for
the gleaming intrusion of the Northern Pacific rails. This site was
selected, as the Mandan 200 years before had selected the one be-
low, for its natural protection. The fort was built in 1872, and
was named for Col. Henry Boyd McKeen of the Eighty-first
Pennsylvania Volunteers, but on November 19, 1872, the name was
officially changed to Fort Abraham Lincoln in honor of the mar-
tyred President. A triangular* area was fortified, with a block-
house at each corner and palisade walls connecting them on two
sides. The steep face of the bluff protected the remaining side.
Within the stockade were officers' quarters, barracks, kitchens,
hospital, and laundry. The scouts' headquarters and the laundry
were built of cottonwood logs cut along the river, while most of
the other buildings were of lumber.
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park 171
The soldiers stationed at the fort led a varied life, the monot-
ony of frontier existence being tempered by fighting the Sioux,
maintaining order among the lawless element which followed the
progress of the railroad, and even building smudges to protect the
workers from the tormenting swarms of bloodthirsty mosquitoes.
The three blockhouses and the palisade have been restored, so
that the fort looks much as it must have looked more than 50
years ago when it crowned this bluff, guarding its prominent posi-
tion on the river. None of the buildings within the enclosure is
left, but the sites of all are marked.
To avoid confusion, the restored fort is commonly referred to
as Fort McKeen, distinguishing it from the later Fort Abraham
Lincoln, although the latter included both posts. The FORT
ABRAHAM LINCOLN SITE is right of the park road just south of
the Indian village. Markers indicate the sites of the various struc-
tures, and holes partly filled with debris also show where the
buildings of the Northwest's strongest fortress once stood. A row
of cottonwoods, which grew along Officers' Row, stands in lone-
some splendor.
When Gen. George A. Custer and his spirited Seventh Cavalry
came to Fort Abraham Lincoln in 1873 it became a nine-company
cavalry and infantry post, with the cavalry established on
the level plain below, where a good drill and parade ground
was available. Custer, with his long sandy-colored hair and rest-
less vivacity, was one of the most personable and interesting mili-
tary men of his time. He and his wife, a young and talented
woman, soon drew about themselves a social circle that was widely
known and aspired to. Balls, musicales, and other entertainments
drew people from the surrounding territory, including the new
town of Bismarck across the river. The social life at Fort Abraham
Lincoln would have been a credit to any city, as, beneath crystal
chandeliers, to the music of the Seventh's band, stately couples
moved in the graceful figures of the dance.
For the soldiers, life consisted chiefly of maintaining order
among the Indians and the incoming white population. At one
time the guardhouse at the fort had a distinguished occupant,
Rain-in-the-Face, the Sioux warrior. He had been heard boasting
of "counting coup" on the bodies of two white men killed on the
Stanley expedition in 1873, and Tom Custer, brother of General
Custer, was sent to take him into custody at Standing Rock Agency
(see Side Tour 8C). Rain-in-the-Face was arrested and imprisoned
at Fort Abraham Lincoln, but escaped in a jailbreak engineered
by friends of some of the other prisoners, and joined Sitting Bull.
172 Playgrounds
Life at the post often grew monotonous for the troopers, who
in winter found their activities hampered by the severe cold,
and in the summer suffered from the torments of the heat and
the mosquitoes.
When the routine of military life palled too greatly on the
soldiers, they took refuge in the activities of the Point, a little
settlement of dance halls, saloons, and similar places of enter-
tainment, that flourished on the opposite bank of the river directly
across from the fort. Since there was no bridge across the Mis-
souri the Point could be reached only by ferry or on the ice. At
the time of the spring break-up, however, even the ferry could
not be used, and many of the soldiers missed the customary recre-
ational and liquid facilities afforded by the Point. One spring, as
the ice was going out, a young man, whose fine physique was
equalled only by his foolhardy daring, offered to cross the river
for some liquor. Crossing a river on breaking ice has been known
as a daring feat since even before the days of Eliza and the blood-
hounds, but crossing the Missouri is a particularly hazardous exploit,
for this river, always maliciously menacing, is even more so in the
spring, with great ice blocks eddying and whirling, crunching vio-
lently together, then flung apart by the swift current. The slight-
est misstep or miscalculation meant death to the young, thirsty
soldier, but with the greatest nonchalance he made the crossing
and the return, bringing his precious burden back with him, and
great and twofold was the rejoicing when he safely reached the
home shore.
Three years of existence left Fort Abraham Lincoln in com-
parative quiet, with only an occasional Indian skirmish. Then
events on the frontier conspired to bring the Indian troubles to
an end. The campaign of the Little Big Horn was planned (see HIS-
TORY) . One day in 1876 the Seventh, with bands playing and colors
flying, marched away along the Heart in pursuit of the Sioux.
On a stifling night early in July the residents of Bismarck were
awakened from their sleep by loud sounds of shouting, of wagons
and horses moving, at the river. Capt. Grant Marsh had arrived
from the Little Big Horn with his steamer, the Far West, loaded
with the wounded of Major Reno's command, survivors of the
Battle of the Little Big Horn. But more than the wounded, he bore
news news of the death of 267 men, of the annihilation of Custer
and his immediate command. Twenty-six of the waiting wives at
Fort Abraham Lincoln were widows.
The only living thing left of Ouster's command was Comanche,
Capt. Myles Keogh's horse. Through the rough country filled with
hostile, victorious Sioux, Reno's wounded men had been carried to
the Far West, and Captain Marsh had made his epic 54-hour run
to Bismarck and the fort 700 miles away.
Roosevelt Regional State Parks 173
Captain Marsh's story of how he learned of the Custer tragedy
is strange, and almost unreal. He related later that, as he waited
on the river for word from the military commanders, a Crow
Indian peered from the brush along the shore and signed that he
wished to board the boat. On deck the Indian, unable to speak a
word of English, squatted and began to make signs. . He drew a
group of dots, designated them with the Crow word for **white
men." Then he showed a circle of dots around the white men,
and for them spoke the word for "Sioux." And then, with a
sweep of his hand, he wiped out the inner group of dots. In this
simple, abrupt manner, Marsh related, the tragedy was first told
to the world.
The story of Ouster's annihilation was put on the telegraph
wires by Col. C. A. Lounsberry. James W. Foley, North Dakota
poet laureate, has commented: "It was, for stark tragedy, horror
and surprise, perhaps the greatest news story ever flashed over a
telegraph wire to a stunned and stricken country, in the his-
tory of the United States."
The Little Big Horn disaster was the beginning of the end of
the era of Indian fighting in this region, and troops were with-
drawn from Fort Abraham Lincoln in 1891, after which the build-
ings were carried off piecemeal by the settlers in the vicinity. A
new infantry post, known as Fort Lincoln, was later established
across the river (see Tour 3).
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park is being developed for recre-
ational and historical purposes by the Federal Government in co-
operation with the State historical society. The grounds are being
landscaped, foot trails laid out, and picnic shelters built. Under
construction between the Indian village and the Fort Lincoln site
is a museum which will house some archeological material being
unearthed on the sites of the old earth lodges and historical
material dealing with Fort McKeen and Fort Abraham Lincoln.
ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARKS
Season: Open year round. June to September most favorable
period.
Tourist Information: State Historical Society of North Dakota,
Liberty Memorial Building, Bismarck, N. Dak.
Admission: Free.
174 Playgrounds
Transportation :
North Park. Entrances: E. entrance, US 85 (see Tour 4); N.
entrance- less desirable dirt road from Arnegard (see Tour 4).
Branch of Great Northern Ry : , Fairview, Mont., to Watford City;
Carpenter Bus Line from Williston.
Roads: 14 m. gravel and scoria highway; 10 m. horse or hike trail.
No guide service.
South Park. Entrances: E. entrance, W. entrance, US 10 (.see Tour
8) . Main line Northern Pacific Ry. and Northland Greyhound Bus
Line to Medora (see Tour 8).
Roads: 10 m. gravel and scoria highway; 10 m. graveled truck
trail; 5 m. horse or hike trail.
Guide service: Buddy Ranch, 1.5 m. E. of Medora on US 10.
Accommodations :
North Park. Hotel accommodations at Watford City (see Tour 4) ;
camping and trailer facilities at Squaw Creek Picnic Area (see
North Roosevelt Regional State Park Tour below).
South Park. Hotel accommodations at Medora (see Tour 8) .
Camping and trailer facilities at camping area in park (see South
Roosevelt Regional State Park Tour below).
Meals, cabins, and horses at Buddy Ranch, 1.5 m. E. of Medora.
Horse rates for resident guest, $1,50 per day, guide provided with
party of 5; for non-resident guest, $1.50 for one-half day, $2.50 per
day, guide provided with party of 5.
Climate, clothing, and equipment: Summer tourists should pre-
pare for hot days and cool evenings and for sudden rain or dust
storms. Those who expect to tramp in the Badlands should dress
for walking through brush and soft, clayey soil. Breeches and
high-top boots are in order, the latter serving the additional pur-
pose of protection against snake bite.
Medical service:
North Park. Watford City (see Tour 4).
South Park. Belfield (see Tour 8).
Special regulations: No hunting allowed. Camping permitted at
points where facilities are provided. Fires allowed only at points
designated.
Warnings: Avoid low places during heavy rainstorms. Horse
trails should not be attempted after rains until trail makers have
had an opportunity to repair. Use only native horses. Rattle-
snakes are encountered only infrequently (see GENERAL INFORMA-
TION.
Summary of attractions: Badlands views, petrified forests, horse-
back riding, camping.
Theodore Roosevelt's biographer, Herman Hagedorn, writes:
"Between the prairie lands of North Dakota and the
prairie lands of Montana there is a narrow strip of broken
country so wild and fantastic in its beauty that it seems
as though some unholy demon had carved it to mock the
Roosevelt Regional State Parks 175
loveliness of God. On both sides of a sinuous river rise
ten thousand buttes cut into bizarre shapes by the waters
of countless centuries. The hand of man never dared
to paint anything as those hills are painted. Olive and
lavender, buff, brown, and dazzling white mingle with emer-
ald and flaming scarlet to make a piece of savage splen-
dor that is not without an element of the terrible. The
buttes are stark and bare. Only in the clefts are ancient
cedars, starved and deformed. In spring there are patches
of green grass, an acre here, a hundred acres there, reach-
ing up the slopes from the level bottom-land; but there
are regions where for miles and miles no green thing
grows, and all creation seems a witch's caldron of gray
bubbles tongued with flame, held by some bit of black art
forever in suspension."
Here in this broken country, known as the Badlands of the
Little Missouri, the Roosevelt Regional State Parks are being
developed to preserve parts of the strange area as scenic and
recreational centers, and at the same time to establish a memorial
to the former President, who as a young man spent part of each
year from 1883 to 1886 ranching here. (See Tours 8 and 10.) To
view the freakish, tumbled, unearthly valley is to appreciate and
at the same time be amused by Gen. Alfred Sully's oft-quoted
characterization of the region as "hell with the fires out." It
must be remembered that the general received his impressions
as he jolted along in a wagon, sick, while his troops fought
Sioux through the confused, uncertain terrain all one hot day in
August 1864. Others visiting it under more favorable circum-
stances, especially during the freshness of spring, concede the
unparalleled fantasy of the landscape, and' agree on its strange,
wild, potent beauty. Twenty years after Sully fought the Sioux
here Roosevelt wrote, "I grow very fond of this place ... it ...
has a desolate, grim beauty, that has a curious fascination for me."
Since then many noted travelers and writers have marveled at
its beauties and deplored the fact that its attractions have not
been made more widely known.
The traveler approaching the Badlands from the rolling prairies
on either side suddenly finds himself overlooking a valley cut
abruptly into the heart of the plain, a valley filled with a strange
welter of bare ridges and hillocks, buttes and domes, pyramids and
cones, forming one of the most extraordinary topographies on the
surface of the earth. In broad horizontal stripes across the varied
shapes of the buttes are the browns, reds, grays, and yellows of
the sand and clay laid down centuries ago when during successive
ages arms of the sea covered large parts of the North American
Continent. Where today the visitor stands and looks out over the
176 Playgrounds
naked buttes once lay a mighty sea in which swam monsters whose
fossilized skeletons are embedded in the strata laid down by the
primordial waters.
Here and there, standing out against the lighter coloring of
the sands and clays, are black veins of lignite. Ages ago dense
forests, rivaling those of the tropics of today, rose over the swamps
of the receding seas. The motorcar speeds through a region where
the giant hog, the three-toed horse, and the saber-toothed tiger
roamed among lofty trees. The cast-off growth of the forest fell
into the swamps below, where, shut away from the air by water
and mud, it turned into peat. Centuries later the seas returned
to crush it with heavy layers of shale and clay, until pressure and
heat drove out most of the volatile oils of the wood, leaving car-
bon or coal. It is not surprising to find that lignite coal has the
same cellular formation as wood, and that it at times bears the
imprint of leaves or of whole trunks of trees. The forms of stumps
15 feet in diameter have been found in the coal beds of the State.
Lighting up the dull strata of the buttes are the ever present
pinks and reds of scoria clay burnt into a brick-like shale by the
centuries- old fires of burning coal veins. Some of these burning
veins still exist in the Badlands, being more easily discoverable in
the wintertime, when the heat from combustion causes steam
to rise. This burning has been one of the major factors in the pro-
duction of the present Badlands topography, for as the fires have
eaten into the coal veins in the cliffs, the earth has crumbled and
been carried away by the rains and streams. These fires were an
awesome sight to the Indians, who believed the hills were on fire.
The chief agent, however, in the formation of the Badlands
has been the Little Missouri River, which centuries ago began to
carve its way down through the soft shales and sandstones with
which the early seas had covered the area. Aided by the eroding
action of wind, frost, and rain, by huge landslides, and by burning
coal veins, the once swift, always silt-laden river and its tribu-
taries have floated away all the age-old clays of the region except
these buttes and domes piled in indescribable confusion along the
valley floor. The Indians^ called * the valley "The-place-where-the-
MUs-look-at-each-oSier," and the first white explorers, impeded in
their fravel, named it "bad land~s to travel through," a phrase in-
evitably shortened to Badlands.
Adding to the bizarre coloring of this unusual valley are the
blue-gray and silver of the sage, so often remarked by Roosevelt,
the light green of the sparse grasses of butte top and valley, and
the darker green of the cedars which cling to the shady sides of
buttes. Cottonwood, ash, box elder, elm, bull pine, dogwood, and
Roosevelt Regional State Parks 177
flowering currant grow along the Little Missouri, while gooseberries,
buffalo berries, and chokecherries ripen in the gullies. In June "the
large, white, open flowers of the low-growing gumbo lily, also
known as the cowboy lily and the butte primrose, appear in the
otherwise barren soil at the foot of the buttes, to be followed
shortly by the purple- centered white and lavender Mariposa and
creamy white yucca lilies. In midsummer the small, wine-colored
flowers of the ball cactus and the large, waxy, lemon-yellow and
brown blossoms of the prickly pear cactus show on the drier soil
of the buttes, and the scoria lily, with its thistle-like foliage, opens
its large, white flower only after sundown. In addition to these
striking, gaudy blooms, a great variety of more common North
Dakota flowers also appear in the valley of the Little Missouri,
especially in the springtime.
When white men first visited the region, it was rich in wild
life. Beaver and otter swam the streams, flocks of game birds
hid in the breaks, droves of elk, deer, and antelope fed along
the Little Missouri, and huge herds of buffalo often darkened the
prairie above the valley. In Roosevelt's ranching days game was
still abundant, and grizzlies and mountain lions were encountered
occasionally. Rocky Mountain, or bighorn, sheep were killed as
late as 1906. Bobcats and coyotes are found occasionally even
today. The valley harbors more than 300 species of birds, including
many game birds and the golden eagle.
On patches of dry grassland here and there, down in the bot-
toms or up on the buttes, there are prairie-dog towns areas some-
times as much as a hundred acres in extent, thickly dotted with the
small mounds of their cunning inhabitants. Prairie dogs, somewhat
larger than good-sized rats, are burrowing rodents allied to the
marmot. In digging their burrows they throw the earth up into
little mounds, upon which, whenever anything has aroused their
curiosity or fear, they sit to chatter, barking like very small dogs,
or perhaps more like gray squirrels.
Interesting in connection with any description of the origin
of the Badlands is the Sioux legend of their formation. Unknown
centuries ago, it is said, the Badlands were a fertile plain, covered
with rich grasses and abounding with game. Every autumn the
plains tribes came here to get meat for winter and to hold friendly
councils beneath the trees which grew along the rivers. Tribes,
hostile at other times and in other places, while here greeted each
other in peace.
This happy arrangement continued for many years, but one
season a fierce tribe came from the mountains to the west and
drove the plains tribes from their hunting grounds. Being unsuc-
cessful in their attempts to dislodge the invaders, the plains people
178 Playgrounds
finally called a great council and fasted and prayed. Many days
passed, however, and no answer came from the Great Spirit, and
they began to despair.
Then suddenly a great shudder convulsed the earth, the sky
grew black as midnight, and lightning burned jagged through the
gloom. Fires hissed from the earth and the once pleasant land
rolled and tossed like the waves of the sea, while into its flaming,
pitching surface sank the invading tribe, the streams, the trees, and
all living things. Then just as suddenly as it had begun, the up-
heaval and the conflagration ceased, leaving the plain fixed in
grotesque waves.
In this way the Great Spirit destroyed the prize that had stirred
up strife among his children, and the Badlands were created.
NORTH ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARK TOUR
East entrance (see Tour 4) Sperati Point (.see Tour 10), 14 m.
The North Roosevelt Regional State Park, which has an area
of approximately 40 square miles, presents many of the best Bad-
lands features, including a petrified forest and the remarkable
views of the Grand Canyon of the Little Missouri River from
Sperati Point,
From the eastern entrance the winding graveled and scoria park
highway proceeds in a general westerly direction along the northern
side of the LITTLE MISSOURI.
Just inside the entrance are the blue -gray buildings of the
permanent CCC CAMP (L), which houses the 200 men assigned to
putting trails through the area and building rustic equipment at
the picnic and camping areas in the park.
At 1.5 m. is the CHALONER CREEK HORSE TRAIL.
Right on this trail which affords an opportunity for a ride
of 5 m. among the buttes and along the edge of the higher land
above the brush-filled gullies or breaks. Some parts of the trail
are cut through groves of aspen, ash, elm, and cedar on the north
side of buttes, while other parts move over the face of the cliffs
or on high and narrow ridges with precipitous canyon walls 300
ft. or more in depth dropping on either side. Petrified stumps
are along the trail.
The highway, continuing W. more directly than the river, which
here makes a deep bend to the S., skirts patches of woodland
along the bottoms to reach SQUAW CREEK PICNIC AREA, 5 m.,
the best-developed camping center in the two parks. This picnic area
on the banks of the Little Missouri has excellent grass and shade,
Roosevelt Regional State Parks 179
Its one-way road leads among aspen, aromatic sumac, oak, poplar,
and cottonwood to a number of individual camp sites. In addi-
tion to a stone and log shelter and numerous fireplaces, the area
has 4 wells and 45 tables. At the east edge of the area a rustic
footbridge leads over a little ravine, to clean, grassy picnic grounds.
Northwest of Squaw Creek Picnic Area the road passes along
the edge of the breaks overlooking the river to a junction with
CEDAR CANYON HORSE TRAIL at 5.8 m.
Left on this 5 -mile trail, which is very similar in character
to the Chaloner Creek Horse Trail, are? lookout points affording
excellent views. In spring portions of the trail show a profusion
of wild flowers.
The highway proceeds NW. to the junction with a graded road.
Right at this junction on a road disclosing very good views;
it leads NW. along the west side of dry SQUAW CREEK to the
northern boundary of the park, 6 m. Beyond lies ARNEGARD,
20 m. (see Tour 4), by which the Badlands and the park can be
entered from the N.
At 7 m. is CEDAR CANYON LOOKOUT, which commands an
exceptionally good view to the S. across the Little Missouri River
and beyond, where as far as the eye can reach stretch the tumbled
outlines of the buttes.
Northwest of Cedar Canyon the road moves out upon the
plateau above the Badlands and then turns W. and SW. in a large
arc along the edge of the breaks to SPERATI POINT, 14 m. {see
Tour 10), a high shoulder of the plateau, overlooking the spectacu-
lar GRAND CANYON OF THE LITTLE MISSOURI. Lying just W.
of the bend of the Little Missouri where it turns E. toward the
Missouri, the point affords views up and down the canyon, which
in places is 600 ft. deep. It is proposed to make this a completely
developed recreational center, with cabins, stables, lodge, and a store.
From Sperati Point an unmarked and indefinite trail, which
should not be tried without a guide, leads SW.
Left on this trail to a PETRIFIED FOREST, % m., one of those
Badlands areas, often many acres in extent, which abound with
petrified logs and stumps. Petrified stumps are a common sight
throughout the valley of the Little Missouri, suggesting that at one
time it must have been heavily forested. When the originals of
these stone trees died, their trunks, either standing or fallen, soaked
up soil water holding mineral matter in solution. As the water
evaporated, the mineral matter was left behind, filling the pores
of the wood and the tiny cavities produced by decomposition. In
time decay removed all the wood and the trees became stone, or,
popularly, petrified wood. Some of_ the logsr- for, .of course, the
trees are not now standing ^re as much as 35 ft. in length and
2 ft, in diameter. In some places the soil has been washed and
blown away from beneath the stumps, leaving odd formations
shaped like toadstools.
180 Playgrounds
SOUTH ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARK TOUR
East entrance (see Tour 8) Hell's Hole West entrance (see
Tour 8), 10 m.
The South Roosevelt Regional State Park comprises an area
of approximately 90 square miles, lying along the Little Missouri
just N. of US 10. In addition to the fantastic beauty of the Bad-
lands buttes, it contains a petrified forest, and one of the largest
burning coal mines in the Badlands.
From the eastern entrance the route leads NW. over the broad,
pale-pink ribbon of the graveled and scoria park highway.
HELL'S HOLE (L), 4 m., was named for a burning coal mine
once situated in this valley. The mine burned out, causing the
earth to crumble and destroy a tiny lake which lay under the cliff.
At 7 m. three trails form a triangle on a level area adjacent
to the LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER. Here it is proposed to develop a
recreational center with full tourist accommodations, including
cabins, store, lodge, and stables. At the north end of the proposed
area is the old PEACEFUL VALLEY RANCH, which served tour-
ists many years. It has been acquired by the park, and the ranch
house and corrals are to be preserved as a recreational center.
At Peaceful Valley Ranch are the junctions with an unimproved trail,
a graveled truck trail, and an unmarked and indefinite horse trail.
1. Right from the ranch on the unimproved trail to PADDOCK
CREEK, 0.4 m., which like all the creeks here is dry except in rainy
seasons. Up the creek, one on the L. bank at 1 m. and the other
on the R. at 1.5 m. are the mounds of two PRAIRIE-DOG TOWNS.
2, Right from the ranch on the truck trail which crosses
JONES CREEK, 0.8 m., and turns E. just before reaching CATHED-
RAL BUTTE, 2 m., an old landmark on the trail.
Left from Cathedral Butte 0.5 m. on an unimproved trail to
WIND CANYON, a narrow, deep valley leading down to a broad
elbow of the Little Missouri. Its name was suggested by the striking
examples of erosion by winds, which, whipping at the buttes for
centuries, have worn them into odd shapes. From Wind Canyon
the trail passes NW. along the river to SHELL BUTTE, 0.8 m., a
high butte into which the river has cut deeply, revealing large
deposits of marine shells.
East of Cathedral Butte on the main side route, following the
truck trail for about a mile and then NE. across JUEL CREEK,
3.3 m., to GOD'S GARDENS (R), 4.5 m., an unusually attractive
stretch of butte and lowland, from which the road leads NW. across
GOVERNMENT CREEK, 5.3 m., where to the R., one on either side
of the creek, are two PRAIRIE-DOG TOWNS. At the crossing of
Government Creek is the junction with an unimproved trail (do
not follow without guide).
Right on this trail 3 m- to a BURNING COAL MINE, which is
one of the largest in the Badlands. The burning of the coal causes
cracks to form in the earth above the vein; one guide says he has
Roosevelt Regional State Parks 181
brought water to a boil in 15 min. by placing it above one of
these cracks. As the vein is consumed, the earth crumbles and
falls, and the rains cany it away to the streams.
Amid some of the finest Badlands scenery the truck trail con-
tinues in a general northwesterly direction to the north boundary
of the park, 10 m.
3. Left from the ranch on the unmarked and indefinite horse
trail to a PETRIFIED FOREST, 5.5 m., considered one of the best
examples of a petrified forest (see North Roosevelt Regional State
Park Tour above) in the Badlands. The trip to this forest, which
makes a nice day's outing, requires a guide.
Southwest of Peaceful Valley Ranch, the route runs along the
east bank of the winding, shallow Little Missouri to a CAMPING
AREA (R), 8 m., sheltered by trees along the stream. It is fisr-
nished with tables, fireplaces, and wells, and several individual
camping spaces have been developed along the road that circles
through it.
At 8.5 m. the route fords the river a passage which in times
of high water cannot be effected by motorcars and, turning SW.
along the western bank, reaches a permanent CCC CAMP (L), 9 m.,
with its low, trim, slate-blue buildings lying next the stream on a
level piece of bottom land overshadowed by lofty buttes.
At 9.5 m., is a junction with a graveled road leading uphill away
from the river.
Right on this trail is a PICNIC SHELTER, 0.5 m., built over a
spring and provided with a fireplace.
Right from this shelter 5 m. on a marked HORSE TRAIL, which
winds among the buttes in a figure eight. At some points on the
trail the tops of Square (Flat Top) and Sentinel Buttes (see Tour
8) are visible far away to the SW. At the center of the figure
eight, forming a pleasant place for lunch, is a clump of trees with
a spring flowing down over little sandstone terraces.
At 9.8 m, is the sandstone portal of the west entrance, beyond
which is the junction with US 10 (see Tour 5), 10 m.
HIGHWAYS AND TRAILS
TOUR 1
(Winnipeg, Man., Can.) Pembina Grand Forks Fargo
Wahpeton (Watertown, S. Dak.). US 81.
Canadian boundary to South Dakota Line, 256.5 m.
N. P. Ry. parallels route between Canadian border and Joliette;
G. N. Ry. between Hamilton and Fargo; Milwaukee R. R. between
Fargo and South Dakota Line. Winnipeg-Fargo route of North-
west Airlines parallels route between Canadian border and Fargo,
Graveled roadbed except about 31 m. bituminous-surfaced.
Accommodations of all types in principal towns.
US 81 crosses North Dakota along its eastern boundary from
the Canadian to the South Dakota border, and passes through the
rich low valley of the Red River of the North, a wide level plain
that was once the bed of the great prehistoric Lake Agassiz. The
route parallels the Red River to Wahpeton, and the Bois de Sioux
River between that city and the South Dakota Line. Constantly
in sight to the left of the road are the heavily wooded river banks,
but except for crossing several timbered tributaries the route runs
through almost unbelievably flat green fields, broken here and
there by an occasional farmstead.
During the early settlement of this region the Red River pro-
vided transportation into the newly opened Northwest, and beside
its course slow-moving trains of creaking oxcarts preceded the
steamboat into the new land. It was in the Red River Valley that
the first white settlements in the State were made. Here in the
last quarter of the nineteenth century flourished the bonanza farms
those huge land tracts entirely devoted to the growing of wheat
that earned for this valley the title of "the bread basket of the
world." Today the Red River Valley produces many other crops
potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa in addition to wheat Its natural
endowments of rich soil and good rainfall combine with the man-
made facilities of transportation to constitute the most prosperous
section of North Dakota.
US 81 crosses the Canadian border 64.5 m. S. of Winnipeg,
Can.
PEMBINA (Chippewa, Jdghbush cranberry), 3 m. (792 alt., 551
pop.), named for the berries that lend their flaming color to the
nearby woods in autumn, is the cradle of North Dakota white
settlement Here, at the confluence of the Red and Pembina Rivers,
the earliest trading posts and the first white colony in the State
were established. Charles Chaboillez, representing the North West
Co., built the first fur post on North Dakota soil on the south
bank of the Pembina River within the present site of Pembina in
186 Highways and Trails
1797-98. Rudely constructed and of short duration, it had already
disappeared when Alexander Henry, Jr., also of the North West
Co., came up the Red River in 1800. The following year he built
a post on the north side of the Pembina, and in the same year
both the XY and the Hudson's Bay Co. opened posts at the mouth
of the river. The three competing companies, with their free rum
and unscrupulous trading, brought about a lawless social condition
in the new settlement. Drinking bouts and brawls were continuous
as the Indians were plied with liquor by the conscienceless traders,
who excused their conduct on grounds of competition.
It was during this time that the first child of other than
Indian blood was born on North Dakota soil. The child was not
white, but Negro, the daughter of Pierre Bonza, Henry's personal
servant. The first white child in the State was born at Henry's
post in 1807, the illegitimate son of the "Orkney Lad", a woman
who had worked at the post for several years in the guise of a
man. Her imposture was not generally known until the birth of
her child, after which a collection was taken up and she and the
child were sent back to her home in the Orkney Islands.
During the middle of the nineteenth century Pembina was the
rendezvous for white and metis hunters, and the town was the
starting point for the great Pembina buffalo hunts (see Side Tour
5A).
The fur trade brought some white settlers to this area, but it
was not until 1812 that systematic colonization was attempted. In
that year William Douglas, Earl of Selkirk, brought a group of
dispossessed Scottish peasants to the Red River Valley to farm under
an agreement with the Hudson's Bay Co. Untrained for the rigors
of frontier life, and persecuted by the fur traders of the rival
North West Co. who did not want settlers in their lucrative area,
many of the Selkirk colonists moved to Canada in 1818 after estab-
lishment of the international boundary defined Pembina as United
States soil. The next 30 years saw a slow influx of settlers into the
Red River Valley and by 1851 Pembina had become a fairly im-
portant river port. In that year Norman Kittson, a fur trader,
was named postmaster, the first in North Dakota; and Charles
Cavileer, for whom the town and county of Cavalier were later
named (see Tour 5), was appointed collector of customs at Pem-
bina. Cavileer became postmaster in 1852, and, as under his in-
fluence newcomers arrived to farm, the fur trade declined and
there developed the first permanent agricultural community in the
State.
Pembina appears from a distance more like a grove of trees
than a town. Most of its buildings are old, reflecting the rococo
architecture of an earlier day.
Tour 1 187
On the Red River at the eastern end of Rolette St. is MASONIC
PARK, where a marker commemorates the site of the first Masonic
lodge in the State, organized at Pembina in 1863. Each year, both
on July 1, which is Dominion Day (the Canadian holiday similar
to the U. S. Independence Day) and on July 4, the flag of the
United States and the Canadian Union Jack fly together from the
park flagpole, a practice illustrating the neighborliness of the border
States and Provinces. The Canadian flag is a gift of the Masonic
Grand Lodge of Manitoba.
The highway crosses the Pembina River, which in dry seasons
is likely to appear more like mud than water. Left on the high-
way is PEMBINA STATE PARK (good water, firewood, kitchens, and
tables), which includes the site of the Chaboillez trading post.
A bridge over the Red River connects Pembina with St. Vin-
cent, Minn., situated on US 59 (see Minn. Tour 17).
At 4 m. is the PEMBINA AIRPORT (R), airport of entry
operated by the Northwest Airlines. It is on part of the former
military reservation of Fort Pembina, established in 1870. The
reservation was turned over to the U. S. Department of the In-
terior in 1895 and sold at public auction. The fort was situated
a mile and a half S. of the city of Pembina on the Red River.
JOLIETTE, 14.5 m. (796 alt., 100 pop.), is a French-Canadian
community named for Joliette, Quebec.
At 16.4 m. is the junction with ND 44, a graveled highway
and an alternate route of shorter distance between Joliette and
Manvel (see below).
Left on ND 44 is BOWESMONT, 8.6 in. (794 alt, 125 pop.),
named for William Bowes, the first storekeeper. It lies on the
level land just W. of the Red River, its treeless streets more like
a western North Dakota prairie town than the usual Red River
Valley village. The story is told that Bowes won the opportunity to
name the town in a game of cards. Bowesmont was first buHt on
the banks of the river, but settlers experienced great hardships
when the stream overflowed its banks each spring, and the build-
ings were moved.
Near Bowesmont in the spring of 1860 occurred an event illus-
trative of the hardships suffered by the missionaries to this region.
The Rev. Joseph Goiffon, assistant at the Pembina Catholic Mission,
returning from a trip to St. Paul, left his party behind in an effort
to reach the mission in time to conduct a certain Mass. A driving
rain had been falling and this suddenly turned to a swirling snow-
storm. In a short time the ground was covered with six or seven
inches of snow, and the driving wind made it impossible for *rm
to continue. The blizzard did not abate, and in two days his horse
had died from exposure and his own legs had frozen so that he
was unable to walk. For five days he remained on the prairie,
living on the flesh of his horse, until the storm subsided and a
188 Highways and Trails
passer-by heard his feeble cries for help. It was f9und necessary
to amputate parts of both legs, but in spite of this he returned
to the Pembina mission, and was later transferred to St. Paul and
Mendota, where he served until his death in 1910.
DKAYTON, 18.5 m. (800 alt., 509 pop.), first known as Hastings
Landing, was given its present name by settlers who came west
from Drayton, Ont, Canada. In contrast with its neighbor Bowes-
mont, Drayton is situated directly in the timber on the banks of
the Red. Its 42-acre city park is unusual in that it lies in another
State, across the river in Minnesota. The bridge leading to the
park is also unusual; it is a drawbridge, built in 1911, when the
high stage of the Bed aroused hope of reviving steamboating. After
the bridge had been completed the river stage fell, and has never
risen, so that the draw has not been lifted since it was built.
Drayton is an active sports town, especially interested in curl-
ing, and 10 teams compete in the large enclosed rink each winter.
Left on ND 44 to ACTON HALL, 29.5 m., a community build-
ing.
On ND 44 to the junction (R) with a graveled road, 36.5 m,
In a triangle formed by the junction is a CRUCIFIX. On a base of
natural boulders, in summer the clear, marble-like whiteness of
the cross and canopied figure stands out in contrast with the green
of the surrounding countryside.
At 50 mu is the junction with US 81 (see below).
HAMILTON, 24.5 m. (830 alt., 151 pop.}, also a Canadian set-
tlement, is named for Hamilton, Ont. The oldest State bank in
North Dakota, organized in 1886, is operated here. The Pembina
County Fair, established in 1894, is held here (June or July) each
year. In Hamilton is the junction with ND 5 (see Tour 5).
In GLASSTON, 31.5 m. (843 alt, 70 pop.), named for Archibald
Glass, first postmaster, and ST. THOMAS, 37 m. (846 alt., 595 pop.),
named for St. Thomas, Ont., are the homes of many retired farmers.
The latter is also a potato and sugar-beet shipping center.
AUBURN, 46,5 m. (848 alt, 50 pop.), was larger than its neigh-
bor GRAFTON, 52.5 m. (833 alt, 3,136 pop.), until the latter be-
came a railroad junction. Named by early settlers for Grafton
County, N. H., Grafton is on the Park River in the center of a
rich farming area. It was the first city in this part of the North-
west to maintain a municipal light plant, and had the first public
Hbrary in North Dakota, established by a women's club in 1897.
A SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR MEMORIAL, one of the few in the State,
is on the Walsh County Courthouse grounds. On a hill W. of the
town is the GRAFTON STATE SCHOOL for the feeble-minded. Opened
in 1904, the institution in 1937 had 778 inmates and a faculty
and staff of 110. The grounds, including the school farm, cover
20 acres.
Left from Grafton on ND 17, a graveled highway, to the junc-
tion with ND 18, 10 m.
Tour 1 189
Right on this highway 8.5 m. is HOOPLE, (901 alt., 325 pop.),
one of the largest primary potato-shipping points in the State.
More than a thousand carloads of Red River Valley potatoes are
loaded here each year. The town is named for Allen Hoople, an
early settler. U. S. Senator Lynn J. Frazier, former Governor of
the State (1917-1921), lives on a farm NE. of here.
On KD 17 is PARK RIVER, 16.5 m. (1,000 alt, 1,131 pop.), on
the PARK RIVER, probably named by early explorers for the buffalo
parks along the stream. The Indians had no weapons which were
effective on buffalo at long range, so they constructed corrals of
brush into which the animals could be herded for killing. When-
ever possible these corrals, which the first white explorers called
buffalo parks, were built near the bank of a river or edge of a
hill so that the buffalo would charge over the edge and be killed
or badly injured in the crushing fall. The WALSH COUNTY AGRI-
CULTURAL AND TRAINING SCHOOL, secondary vocational institution,
is located in the town. In Park River are offices of the SOUTH
BRANCH PARK RIVER PROJECT of the Soil Conservation Service, which
has a demonstration area of 51,000 acres in central Walsh County
on which contour farming and wind strip cropping are practiced.
Sinclair Lewis, the novelist, owns a farm 1 m. S. of Park River,
which he has never seen.
William Avery Rockefeller, father of John D. Rockefeller, the
late oil magnate, lived on a Park River farm for some time. In
1881 an elderly man who gave his name as Dr. William Levingston
homesteaded on a quarter section of land just E. of the town,
where he lived each summer for! 15 years. He later purchased
an adjoining quarter, but the deed to this land was in the name
of Pierson W. Briggs, a son-in-law of William Rockefeller and then
purchasing agent for the Standard Oil Company. In 1895 George
W. Towle, former Park River banker, who transacted much of Dr.
Levingston's business, saw a picture of the senior Rockefeller in a
copy of McClure's Magazine., and recognized it as that of his
former client, Levingston. William A. Rockefeller was not a doctor,
but sold patent medicines and acted as a cancer specialist.
MINTO, 63 m. (826 alt., 565 pop.), originally settled by Cana-
dians and named for an Ontario town, is now a Czech and Polish
settlement. The Feast of St. Wenslaus, September 28, and Czecho-
slovakian Independence Day, October 28, are occasions of festivity.
Minto is situated on the FOREST RIVER. There is a park by the
stream S. of the town (stemming pool, recreational area, and
campgrounds.)
ARDOCH, 69 m. (830 alt, 110 pop.), also named for an Ontario
town, is now predominantly Polish. LAKE ARDOCH, a large arti-
ficial lake constructed as a water conservation and migratory
waterfowl project, adjoins the town on the E.
At 80,5 m. is the second junction with ND 44 (sec above).
MANVEL, 81.5 m. (826 alt., 183 pop.), is named for Gen. A. A.
Manvel of the G N. Ry. Originally known as the Turtle River
station, it was one of six stops on the Fort Abercrombie-Fort
190 Highways and Trails
Garry trail in the 186CTs. The stage station was a crude log hut,
roofed first with prairie sod and later with a thatch of weeds
when the rain washed the sod away. The hut had one window
and one door. Cooking was done on a fireplace made of clay
dobes or hand-made bricks. For meals, served on an improvised
table, the traveler paid 50 cents, and for the same price he had
the privilege of sleeping on the dirt floor. These stations were
comfortable, however, in the coldest weather, with great fires
roaring in the fireplaces to warm and cheer the traveler.
At 92,5 m. is the junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road to the GRAND FORKS SILVER FOX FARM,
2 m. {visitors allowed Jan. l~June 1; arrange with manager).
About 200 pair of foxes are kept at the farm each winter.
Left at 93 m. is a stone memorial marking a point on the old
RED RIVER OXCART TRAIL between St. Paul, Minn., and Fort
Garry (Winnipeg), Canada. During the late summer and fall most
of the traffic through the region was on this trail. It was first
used by traders at Fort Garry to transport furs to St. Paul. The
exact route is not known today, but it is believed to have run
through Grand Forks on 3rd St., turned S. at the present corner
of S. 3rd St. and Minnesota Ave., whence it followed approximately
the route of US 81 to the Lincoln Park golf course. Here it is
believed to have turned E, toward the river, which it followed to
Frog Point (Belmont, see below), and thence up the valley. Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Cavileer, pioneer settlers at Pembina, made a
romantic honeymoon journey to St. Paul on this trail in 1840.
At 93 m. is the junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road to the NORTHERN* PACKING COMPANY
PLANT (open), 0.3 m., which in its 15-year existence (1937) has
purchased more than $20,000,000 worth of livestock.
At 93.5 m. (R) is the NORTH DAKOTA STATE MILL AND
ELEVATOR (open weekdays 9-5; conducted tours), a State-owned
plant. A product of the Nonpartisan League's industrial program,
this institution has played an important role in State politics since
its opening in 1922. As early as 1915 the Society of Equity and
the Equity Exchange had attempted to establish a State-owned
elevator, but had failed, and this failure hastened the formation
of the Nonpartisan League. By 1919 the league was strong enough
in the legislature to establish its industrial program, part of which
was a State mill and elevator. The State Industrial Commission
governs the mill and elevator. Managership is generally considered
a political plum. Whether or not the mill is a paying venture is
a perennially hotly debated question. Its opponents, taking into
consideration the original cost of the mill, an amount in excess
of $3,000,000, cannot see how it will ever pay for itself, while
Tour 1 191
those who favor its operation maintain that it makes a profit,
and assert further that the creation of a market within the boun-
daries of the State is of invaluable benefit to the farmers. Sales-
men for the State sell the mill's product in eastern States, and
one of the accusations repeatedly hurled at the mill manager during
political campaigns is that Dakota Maid Flour retails at a lower
price in the East than in North Dakota.
A State law requires all official State documents to be stamped
"Buy 'Dakota Maid' Flour."
The mill and elevator consists of six steel-and-concrete fire-
proof buildings. The mill proper has three storage wings, and
contains three mills, each with a daily capacity of 1,000 bbl The
elevator, equal in height to the average 12-story skyscraper, has
a capacity of 1,659,600 bu. Thirty-two storage tanks each have a
capacity of 50,000 bu. The elevator is operated independently of
the mill, which buys in the open market and pays a rental to the
elevator for storage space. In addition to Dakota Maid Flour the
mill manufactures cereals, oatmeals, and poultry feeds.
GRAND FORKS, 94.5 m. (834 alt, 17,112 pop.) (see GRAND
FORKS) .
Points of Interest: University of North Dakota, Wesley College.
At N. 16th St. and Skidmore Ave. N. is the junction with
US 2 (see Tour 6).
At 105.5 m. is the junction with ND 15, a graveled highway.
Right on this road is THOMPSON, 2 m. (972 alt., 273 pop.),
the center of a large potato-farming area.
At 116.5 mu is the junction with a graveled road.
Right on tiiis road is REYNOLDS, 2 m. (915 alt, 351 pop.),
named for Dr. Henry Reynolds, an early settler and temperance
apostle. The town is on the Grand Forks-Traill County line and
many of the residents have their business places in one county
and their homes in the other.
At 121.5 m. is the junction with a graveled spur.
Right on this spur is BUXTON, 1 m, (935 alt, 410 pop.), a
Scandinavian town named for Thomas Buxton, a business associate
of Bud Reeves, the town site owner. Reeves, active in State
politics, was one of the leaders in the drive to obtain funds for
maintenance of State colleges after veto of the appropriation bill in
1895 (see Side Tour 1A). When Reeves campaigned for election
to Congress on the Democratic ticket in 1894 he traveled over the
State in what was probably the first house trailer ever used here,
and one of the first used in the region. He had a log cabin built
on wheels, and in this he visited every part of the State, a large
cowbell attached to the cabin announcing his arrival in each town.
No mean patriot, during his speeches he had with Mm on the plat-
form the American flag and a live eagle.
Several important personages have been residents of Buxton,
including two Governors of the State, R. A. Nestos (1877- ) and
A. G. Sorlie (1874-1928); U. S. Senator A. J. Gronna (1858-1922),
192 Highways and Trails
one of the six members of the Senate who opposed entrance of the
United States into the World War; and Dr. Lila M. O'Neale (1886- ),
anthropologist and ethnologist who has engaged in research work
in Guatemala under the auspices of the Guggenheim Memorial
Foundation, and is now a faculty member at the University of
California.
At 123.5 m. is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road is BELMONT, 11.5 m., a ghost town which
in the 1870's was a booming river port known as Frog Point. It
was named by Capt. Sam Painter, one of the first Red River pilots,
on an early trip down the river, probably in 1860. Finding the shores
almost covered with frogs, he is said to have erected a rude sign
reading "Frog Point", and through the rise and fall of the town
which grew up there the name remained. In 1871 the Hudson's
Bay Co. established a trading post on the point. A year later,
because of the fall of the river, Frog Point became head of naviga-
tion, and in short order was a rendezvous for boatmen, trappers,
hunters, teamsters, and drifters, all living in tents or hastily con-
structed buildings. Teamsters hauling freight overland from the
S. in their heavy, eight-horse, high-wheeled "jumpers", and trap-
pers and Indians with their catches, here boarded the Hudson's
Bay Co. steamer International, and James J. Hill's Selkirk. The
town, cut from the woods on the bank of the Red, and towered
over by tall oaks, became a wilderness metropolis, and its reputa-
tion spread to Europe. In England it was believed by many to be
a city of broad avenues and tall spires, second in size only to
Liverpool, and filled with the hum of industry. Foreign visitors,
traveling to Fort Garry, looked eagerly for this Red River capital,
and even their disillusionment on seeing the little backwoods city
could not dim its reputation. In its streets rough, rugged, heavy-
booted woodsmen, rivermen, and trappers thundered up and down
the wooden walks, and many a citizen was hastily despatched by
their 44's. Heavy-jowled saloonkeepers, slim-fingered sleek gamb-
lers, and gay dance-hall girls were all a part of the mushroom
town.
Nature brought downfall to the Point as quickly as she had
elevated it to importance. The river fell lower still, and Frog
Point lost its position as head of navigation. Many of its inhabi-
tants departed as swiftly as they had come. Fire wiped out a
number of buildings which were never rebuilt. Trade dwindled
and storekeepers shut up shop. Some 20 years later, with the
river level again up, the town revived as a grain-shipping center,
but the flood of 1897 ruined grain elevators and their contents,
and within a short time the bustle of the town again faded into
the past. Today the Hudson's Bay Co. building, which houses a
farm implement shop, is all that remains of the early affluence.
The present population of the hamlet, which is not even an or-
ganized village, is 33.
CUMMINGS, 124.5 m. (935 alt., 84 pop.), named for Henry
Cumings, an early G. N. employee who helped build the rail-
road, is principally a Scandinavian community. Originally spelled
with one "m", its name was misspelled so consistently that the
Post Office Department legitimized the misspelling by inserting
the second "m."
Tour 1 193
At 129.5 m. is the junction with ND 7, a graveled highway
(see Side Tour LA).
HILLSBORO, 132.5 m. (907 alt., 1,317 pop.), named for James
J. Hill, the "Empire Builder*' of the G. N. Ry., was platted in
1880 on the attractive GOOSE RIVER. A bitter fight for the Traill
County seat was prominent in the early history of the town.
Neighboring Caledonia, on the Red River, had been the county
seat since organization of Traill County in 1875, but the routing
of the G. N. Ry. through Hillsboro gave that young city aspira-
tions, and in 1890 it came forward as a contender for the county
seat. The campaign grew heated, and Caledonia citizens carried
arms and posted guards around their village. To lead their de-
fense they organized a committee, whom Hillsboro residents dub-
bed Tigers of the Jungle and Irreconcilables. The Tigers imported
Col. W. C. Plummer, a widely known professional standard bearer
who had served as campaign speaker in many parts of the coun-
try, and whom James G. Blaine once called "one of the three best
political speakers in the United States." The colonel became the
leading figure in the county seat fight. He was an impressive
speaker, and the floods of oratory he loosed in behalf of Cale-
donia were greatly enjoyed by his listeners. The majority of
them, however, apparently remained impervious to his arguments
when the votes were counted Hillsboro enjoyed a 1,291 to 218
majority.
WOODLAND PARK, a 25-acre recreational and tourist camp area
in the northern part of town, contains a log cabin, originally built
at Belmont, in which are an old-fashioned loom once used in weaving
the homespun clothing of a pioneer family,, and other relics of
pioneer days.
Right from Hillsboro on a graveled highway to STONY POINT,
1.5 m., site of a camp used by pioneers freighting their supplies
overland from Fargo during early settlement of the region. The
camp site, situated on a sandy ridge left by the recession of glacial
Lake Agassiz, is marked by a large, pointed boulder 20 ft. in
diameter, which once served as a landmark. In early days it was
believed, from the manner in which the rock was situated in the
earth, that it might have dropped from the sky.
South of Hillsboro are many well-built farmsteads some of
which were once part of bonanza farms and four peaceful villages
which in bonanza days were busy wheat centers, but now lie
quietly basking in their memories.
GRANDEST, 146 m. (898 alt., 172 pop.), is the largest of these
towns. It was named for J, L. Grandin, one of the two Tidioute,
Pa., brothers who bought 99 sections of Red River Valley land and
farmed them under the bonanza system. Dividing their land into
1,500-acre farms, each with a superintendent and a foreman, they
194 Highways and Trails
harvested their first crop in 1878. They had 14,000 acres under
cultivation near Grandin, and 6,000 at Mayville. Before the ad-
vent of the railroad the wheat raised on their land was hauled
on barges towed by the steamers Grandin and Alsop to Fargo, a
distance of 90 m. overland Grandin is 35 m. from Fargo. The
Grandin farm was one of the earliest practical users of the tele-
phone, although whether the first in the State was installed on
this or the Dalrymple farm (see Tour 8) is in dispute.
GARDNER, 154.5 m. (891 alt, 108 pop.), named for the town
site owner, was founded in 1880 when the surrounding territory
was being developed as wheat country, but was not incorporated
as a village until 1929.
ARGUS VTLLE, 161.5 m. (889 alt., 115 pop.), is believed to have
received its name from the Daily Argus, Fargo newspaper pub-
lished at the tune of the town's founding in 1880.
HARWOOD, 169 m. (892 alt., 82 pop.), was named for A. J.
Harwood, a prominent Fargo real estate dealer who bought all the
town sites between Fargo and Grand Forks when the G. N. Ry.
was built.
At 179.3 m. is the junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road to HECTOR AIRPORT, 0.5 m., a U. S.
Bepartment of Commerce A-l field, land for which was donated
by Martin Hector, pioneer Fargo banker, in 1931. The buildings
include a city hangar of laminated truss-arch construction, com-
pleted in 1936 under the Works Progress Administration.
FARGO, 181 m. (907 alt, 28,619 pop.) (see FARGO).
Points of Interest: North Dakota Agricultural College, Veterans' Hos-
pital, Dovre Ski Slide.
At Front and 13th Sts. is the junction with US 10 (see Tour ).
The WILD RICE RIVER, which the route crosses at 188 m.,
was named for the wild grain which formerly grew on its banks.
Near here, in a battle between the Sioux and Chippewa in 1807,
Tabashaw, a Chippewa chief, was slain while avenging the death of
his eldest son, who had been killed a short time before by the Sioux.
At 189 mu is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road is HOLY CROSS CEMETERY, 0.3 m., one
of the first cemeteries in the State, established in 1862. The first
burial here is said to have been that of a priest who had been
beheaded by an Indian. Another victim of frontier tragedy whose
body rests here was Archibald Montrpse, a young English noble-
man who came to America to establish a home. He was found
frozen within a few rods of his own door during a blizzard in 1871.
His devoted young wife ordered a covered shelf built on the out-
side wall of their cabin beneath her bedroom window, and had
his coffin placed there. In the spring, when the ground had thawed
sufficiently to permit the digging of a grave, she unwillingly con-
sented to the burial of her husband's body. Soon afterward their
Tour 1 195
baby daughter, born after the father's death, died also, and the
mother, her mind affected by the grief of her bereavements, joined
them in the nearby burial ground. For many years a large wooden
cross marked the spot where Montrose died.
WILD RICE, 191 m. (909 alt, 35 pop.), is the center of a
French- Canadian farming community.
HICKSON, 196 m. (915 alt., 100 pop.), is named for the Ole
Hicks family who were early farmers in the vicinity.
At 198.5 m. is the junction with ND 46, a graveled highway.
Right on this highway to a bridge crossing the SHEYENNE
RIVER, 9 m. On the bridge a tablet has been placed reading:
"Sibley Trail 1863. Sibley's Indian Expedition crossed the Sheyenne
at this point Aug. 20, returning from the Missouri to Fort Aber-
crombie."
At 9.5 m. is the junction with a graveled spur.
Right on this road to KINDRED, 1 m. (948 alt., 429 pop.), a
tree-shaded town named for F. E. and W. A. Kindred, surveyors
who platted the town site and later were large landholders in the
vicinity. The community is principally Scandinavian. An interest-
ing COLLECTION (open by arrangement) of European museum pieces
and Indian artifacts is owned by Hj aimer Rustad of Kindred, and
is kept at his home.
ND 46 traverses a low range of sandy hills, the western rim
of glacial Lake Agassiz. At 19 m. is the junction with a dry-
weather dirt road. Left on this road at 26.5 m^ just across the
river to the SHEYENNE RIVER PARK (central building oj native
logs, spring-fed swimming pool, iive picnic areas, cabins, and camp
sites), under development (1938) as a recreational center by a
Federal land utilization project. The park includes an area of
unusual scenic attraction. A road winds along the heavily wooded
river bottom, and side roads and graveled trails lead out of the
valley to the sand dunes which stretch away to the S. The great
plain here was deposited in glacial days, when the rushing Shey-
enne, then a large stream carrying the sediment-laden waters of
the melting ice sheet, flowed into Lake Agassiz. As the lake re-
treated the sand was left to the winds, which pushed and whipped
it into dunes that dip away toward the horizon. Hummocks of
trees and shrubs appear like green islands in this wide sea of dull
brown. In some places, to combat the moving sand, elm and oak
bark has been laid lengthwise in the road to preserve the trail.
CHRISTINE, 204.5 m. (926 alt., 204 pop.), has a population 95
percent Scandinavian. When Christine Nilsson, the noted Swedish,
operatic soprano, appeared in the United States in 1873, she was
honored by American Scandinavians, who named this town for her.
A COLLECTION (open by arrangement) of pioneer implements, in-
cluding spinning wheels, brass kitchen utensils, and relics from
Fort Abercrombie, is owned by Dr. M. U. Ivers.
ABERCROMBIE, 212.5 m. (935 alt., 242 pop.), is a typically
peaceful small town on the banks of the Red River. The air of
serenity which lies over its tree-lined streets and substantial homes
196 Highways and Trails
is in decided contrast with the bustling activity of the settlement
which surrounded the pioneer post of Fort Abercrombie, first
Federal fort in North Dakota, built in 1858. It was named for
Lt. Col. John J. Abercrombie, officer in charge of its erection.
The most westerly outpost of the settlers' advance during the 1860's,
Fort Abercrombie became the gateway to the Dakotas. From here
expeditions set out to the unexplored plains of the Northwest, and
trains of settlers left by oxcart and covered wagons to seek homes
on the prairie beyond.
It was between Fort Abercrombie and Fort Garry that the
first steamboat to ply the waters of the Red River of the North
carried passengers and freight Built in Georgetown hi 1859, the
Anson Northrup, named for its owner, who hauled the machinery
overland from the Mississippi River, made its maiden trip to the
Canadian post the same summer.
Because of its position on the outskirts of the white settle-
ment, Fort Abercrombie was particularly vulnerable to Indian
attacks, and during the Minnesota uprising of 1862 was besieged
for five weeks by the hostile Sioux. The first attack, September
3, was repulsed with the loss of one man. At the close of this
encounter the defenders discovered that only 350 rounds of rifle
ammunition remained a supply had been ordered in the spring but
had not arrived. The ingenuity of the garrison was exercised;
canister shells for the 12-pound howitzers contained balls which
fitted the rifles, so the women in the fort were put to work open-
ing the canisters. The makeshift ammunition served its purpose
weH.
The fort had no stockade; consequently, after the first attack,
the defenders threw up around the entire fort a cordwood breast-
work 8 ft. high. In the meantime messengers had slipped through
the Indian lines to summon aid from Fort Snelling at Minneapolis.
On September 6 a force estimated at 400 warriors again attacked
the fort, but was driven back after a lon^ fight in which two
soldiers were killed and many wounded. The Indians made no
more determined attacks on the fort, but continually harassed the
beleaguered settlers with desultory sniping until the arrival of
a detachment of 350 infantrymen from Fort Snelling relieved the
garrison September 23.
In November of the same year 10 acres of the fort reserve
were enclosed by a heavy oak-log stockade with blockhouses at
three corners, and about the same time a larger garrison was sta-
tioned at Abercrombie. It was from this enlarged post that the
Sibley expedition set forth to punish the Sioux the following sum-
mer (see HISTORY). The enlarged garrison was maintained until
the abandonment of the fort in 1877. During the 1870's Fort Aber-
Teur 1 197
crombie was the point from which trails led W. to Forts Totten,
Ransom, "Wadsworth, and Garry, and many a train of home seekers
or gold seekers spent a few days there before embarking on the
hazardous trip through Dakota.
Fort Abercrombie in 1870 was the scene of a treaty between
the Chippewa and Sioux, concluded through the influence of
Father J. B. Genin, a Roman Catholic priest. After this treaty
the eastern part of the Territory was comparatively free from fear
of Indian attacks.
FORT ABERCROMBIE STATE PARK, on the eastern edge of the
town, preserves 7 acres of the original 7 sq. m. of military reser-
vation. The park lies along the river, and its natural beauty makes
it a pleasant recreation center. An old cabin in the park houses
a collection of early-day relics. Nearby stands a Red River oxcart
whose wooden wheels once creaked over the old river trail before
the days of railroads and highways.
DWIGHT, 224 m. (959 alt., 104 pop.), was named for Jeremiah
W. Dwight, head of a large bonanza farm company organized here
in 1879, and was the home of John Miller, first Governor of North
Dakota. Miller was superintendent of the Dwight Farm and Land
Company, which operated 27,000 acres, and was established with
a cash capital of $150,000, The MILLER RESIDENCE (private), former
home of the family, is R. of US 81 in the southeastern corner of
the village.
At 227.5 m. is the junction with ND 13, a graveled highway.
Right on this road is MOORETON, 7 m. (966 alt., 147 pop.).
Here is the headquarters farm of F. A. Bagg, one of the largest
landowners in the Red River Valley. He maintains three air
planes in a hangar on his farm and supervises his holdings by air,
WAHPETON (Sioux, village of the leaves), 233 m. (969 alt.,
3,176 pop.), is at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux (Fr., forest
of the Sioux) and Ottertail Rivers, where the two streams meet
to form the Red River of the North. From 1871 to 1893 the town
was known as Chahinkapa (Sioux, top of the trees) , an old Indian
name given this area by the Sioux who, coming from the W. to
fight the Chippewa, would here see the tops of the trees appear
over the level prairie.
Alexander Faribault, for whom Faribault, Minn., was named,
has told of visiting the present site of Wahpeton in 1810 when
3,000 Indians were encamped and engaged in hunting buffalo and
drying the meats for food. At that time the grasslands along the
Red River were black with bison, who summered on the grazing
lands here, and wintered on the uplands of the Missouri Slope W.
of the Missouri River.
198 Highways and Trails
