Chapter IV: Highways and Trails (11)

Within the hollow of the lodge site is what appears to be an ordinary granite boulder. Beneath its edges are often found coins of large and small denominations, given as offerings for good crops. The Mandans say that many offerings are left by members of the Crow tribe of Montana, distantly related to the Hidatsa. It is told that an earth girl married the Man-From-the-Sky and went to live with him, but became homesick for the earth, and attempted to leave the sky on a cord of buffalo hide. Her husband discovered her hanging by the cord, and, angered by her infidelity, threw a boulder at her. The rock crushed her to earth, and today lies where it fell, in the circle of Grandmother's Lodge.

At =39.8 m.= is NISHU (Arikara, _arrow_), community center of the Arikara (Ree) tribe. The few buildings of the community are scattered across the level land between the river lowlands and the hills to the N. Of particular interest is the circular log dance hall or MEDICINE LODGE. At the appropriate seasons of the year are held the ancient tribal ceremonies pertaining to the successful conduct of agricultural and personal pursuits. In front of the medicine lodge is the boulder which plays a prominent part in the annual cedar-tree ceremonial, a New Year ritual usually held sometime in August. The cedar and the boulder represent the Grandfather and Grandmother of the tribe, and the tree is left standing beside the boulder until spring, when it is decorated with children's moccasins and placed on the ice of the Missouri. When the ice goes out the tree is borne downstream, to carry greetings from the Arikara to their old village sites down the river. Other ceremonials of religious significance include the Mother Corn ritual, the sage dance of thanksgiving, and medicine ceremonies. Since they are seasonal, no set date can be given for these occasions (_usually open to public_). Arikara beadwork and other articles of handicraft are sometimes available at the store in Nishu.

At =40 m.= the route turns R. and follows the only telephone line on the reservation. The steep rolling country is occupied mainly by the Arikara. Their farm homes are usually white frame buildings, although occasionally there is a poorer log house. There are few barns on these farms; the Indians seldom have milk cows, and they let their horses run on the range throughout the entire year.

At =54 m.= is the junction with ND 8, a graded dirt road; straight ahead on this is SACRED HEART MISSION, =54.5 m.=, a Roman Catholic church and mission school established in 1889.

Left from the mission on a road lined with towering cottonwoods is ELBOWOODS, =0.5 m.= (1,770 alt., 135 pop.), agency headquarters for the reservation. Its name is derived from the elbow bend of the timber belt along the Missouri at that point. The town centers about the square of agency lawn. Most of the population is white. The town was settled in 1891 when the agency was established. In addition to its regular governmental functions, the agency operates a non-profit flour mill and conducts an experimental farm to educate the Indians in modern agricultural methods. Despite this, many Indians lease their farming lands to white people. What is now the GOVERNMENT SCHOOL was built in 1876 as the Congregational mission, the first on the reservation.

Just SW. of the town are the Indian FAIRGROUNDS where three-day celebrations, with rodeos and tribal dances, are held each year (_July or Aug._).

ND 8 at =55 m.= passes SCATTER VILLAGE, a little group of filling stations and garages that grew up around the approach to the highway bridge across the Missouri.

At =56.5 m.= is the junction (R) with a dirt reservation road, on which the route continues.

Left on ND 8 to FOUR BEARS BRIDGE, =1 m.=, the bridge with 19 names. When it was built, the Mandans wished it named for their chief Four Bears, subject of many paintings by the artist Catlin who visited this section more than a century ago. The Hidatsa wished it named for their chief Four Bears, who died a few years before the bridge was built. Because of these tribal jealousies it was decided to name the southern end of the bridge for the Mandan chief, and the northern end for the Hidatsa chief. At each end of the span is a plaque bearing the names of chiefs of both tribes given as associate titles to the bridge: for the Mandans there are Charging Eagle, Red Buffalo Cow, Flying Eagle, Black Eagle, and Waterchief; for the Hidatsa, Poor Wolf, Porcupine, Crow Paunch, Big Brave, Crow-Flies-High, Big Hawk, and Old Dog. This arrangement proved unsatisfactory to the Arikara, and a partial compromise was effected by adding the names of five of their chiefs, Bear Chief, Son-of-the-Star, White Shield, Peter Beauchamp, Sr., and Bobtail Bull, as associates.

The dirt reservation road proceeds NW. along the river lowlands, enters a reservation timber reserve at =60.5 m.=, and skirts the eastern wooded shore of the Missouri before rising again to the benchland. At =68 m.= is a store and filling station. The route now passes through the area occupied by the Hidatsa, also known as the Minitari or Gros Ventres (Fr., _big bellies_). Their homes are much like those of the other two tribes. The Hidatsa and the Crow Indians of Montana at one time were a single tribe. During a period of want one winter in the eighteenth century, a buffalo was killed by the tribe, and the animal satisfactorily divided until they came to the stomach. The division of this organ led to a quarrel which split the group, and one faction moved W. and became the Crow tribe.

SHELL CREEK, =79 m.=, is the Hidatsa community center. A few stores, a dance hall, a handful of dwellings, and the central agency experimental farm make up the town.

At =82 m.=, N. of Shell Creek, is the reservation boundary.

North of the boundary is VAN HOOK, =89 m.= (1,843 alt., 372 pop.), named for a teamster who served the railroad surveyors. It is one of the trade points adjacent to the reservation and has the only creamery in the vicinity, a $20,000 cooperative plant. Here is a junction with ND 8.

North of Van Hook on ND 8 is BELDEN, =104 m.= (2,250 alt., 25 pop.), the center of a settlement of Finnish people who homesteaded here in 1903-4. The Finnish tongue is used in most of their homes, and they also have the _sauna_ or steam bath without which no Finnish community is complete. The peculiar European three-cornered head scarf is still worn by many of the women. Most of the people have been naturalized and are greatly interested in political trends. About one-third of them are members of the United Farmers and Workers League of America, an organization professing communistic doctrines. The radical views and intensive political activity of these members of the community have earned it a reputation as the communistic center of North Dakota.

At =117 m.= is the junction with US 2 at STANLEY (_see Tour 6_).

SIDE TOUR 3B

Junction US 83--Junction US 10. County dirt and graveled roads,
"The River Road."

Junction with US 83 to junction with US 10, 35 m.

Dry-weather dirt road except for 6 m. gravel between =29 m.= and US
10.

Drive carefully as route is hilly with many curves. Route parallels
Missouri River.

The River Road between Washburn and Bismarck approximates the overland freighter trail established in the early 1870's between the end of the Northern Pacific Railway at Bismarck and Fort Buford near the mouth of the Yellowstone.

Lewis and Clark, when they came up the Missouri River on their history-making expedition in 1804-5, sent outriders along this side of the river. Along much the same route the freighter trail was established in 1873 when the Northern Pacific brought to Bismarck goods destined for Forts Stevenson, Berthold, and Buford, and this soon became the main-traveled highway for soldiers, traders, and later for ranchers and settlers. Today ruts cut into the prairie by heavily laden wagons, plodding ox teams, and flying hoofs of couriers' horses are still visible in many places along the road.

The route is one of the most attractive in the State as it follows the winding, wooded course of the Missouri where the high hills and buttes along the river's edge contrast with the green meadows and wooded lowlands of the river bottom. This region was once the home of three Missouri Valley Indian tribes--Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara--and the route passes three Mandan village sites.

The route branches W. from US 83 (_see Tour 3_) 10 m. N. of Wilton on a county dirt road.

At =2 m.= is the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road to WILDWOOD LAKE, =1 m.=, in an old channel of the Missouri. The permanent summer camp of the Missouri Valley Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, is on the eastern shore of the lake.

At =13 m.= a large farmhouse and a decrepit log hut with a sod roof (L) mark the site of Painted Woods Post Office, one of the early Missouri River settlements. Between the old post office and the river are the PAINTED WOODS, so named by the Indians. According to legend, the woods were a neutral ground between hostile tribes until a Mandan girl fell in love with a Yanktonai Sioux warrior. She planned to leave her people and go with him, but her kinsmen slew him in her embrace; as she knelt by his bier, avenging Yanktonai arrows pierced her. The two tribes began a bitter warfare. The bodies of the lovers were placed in the branches of a tree in the woods, and the tree soon withered and became white and bleached, like the bones in its branches. Yanktonai warriors, coming to the woods to paint their faces and prepare for battle, boastfully portrayed their victories on the tree, and in retaliation the Mandans painted the surrounding trees with war paint to mock their enemy.

At =19 m.= is the junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road to HALF MOON MANDAN INDIAN VILLAGE SITE (also known as the Larson site), =1 m.=, unusual in that a ditch, still visible, apparently divided the site in two parts and yet offered no means of defense. A sunken area in the site may have been the village square, and the circular hollows of the earth lodges are still visible in some places despite cultivation of the vicinity.

SQUARE BUTTES, early landmarks, raise their flat-topped heights across the river near the Larson site, and dominate the landscape for the next 10 m. Their odd beauty, contrasting with the graceful slopes of surrounding hills, has appealed to both red men and white. George Catlin, the artist and explorer who spent eight years in this region more than a century ago, painted a good oil of the Square Buttes.

At =22 m.= is the junction with a trail (L).

Up the steep bluffs here to DOUBLE DITCH INDIAN VILLAGE STATE PARK. Archeologically designated as the Burgois site, it is also known to the Indians as the ancient Village of Yellow Clay. The inner ditch of the two from which the site receives its name is still traceable in its entire course. The journals of the early French explorer, Verendrye, tell that the village was surrounded by a rampart and protected by an 18-foot palisade and a ditch 18 ft. wide and 15 ft, deep. The cup-shaped depressions of the earth lodges, still visible, are as large as 40 ft. in diameter. Excavations made here by the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, disclosed fine specimens of agricultural implements, religious pieces, and artifacts of warfare. Positions of human skeletons found in the excavations indicate that shallow burial was the custom of the Mandans occupying the site.

At =33 m.= the River Road passes through PIONEER PARK. On the flood plain of the Missouri, between BURNT CREEK and the road, a picnic and camp ground (_rustic shelters, tables, benches, chairs_) has been built among the towering cottonwood trees.

At =33 m.= is a junction with a winding gravel road.

Left on this road to the top of the sheer bluffs to LOOKING VILLAGE, =0.5 m.=, Mandan site named for Chief Looking. Now part of Pioneer Park, the village is known as the Ward site, and several of the earth lodges have been reconstructed under a CCC project. The natural defenses of this village were exceptional. On a level, circular summit almost completely cut off from the surrounding benchland, its eastern side was well protected by a ditch, still visible, and a wall. To the N., where the hill is less steep, a ditch and wall were also means of protection.

Built-in log steps and a graded path lead up a round knoll overlooking the river. On the western slope of this formation is a large granite boulder believed to be a petroglyph, or picture rock, of some religious significance. Close observation of the rock will reveal many small, round impressions that may be a form of rock-writing known as cup sculpture. From this point, and from the parking spaces near the Indian village site, is a beautiful view up and down the Missouri.

At =34 m.=, almost in the long shadows of the railroad bridge, Burnt Creek drains into the Missouri. A story related by Joseph Henry Taylor in his writings tells that, in the summer of 1863, 24 white people, including a woman, a small girl, and a baby, were killed here by the Sioux, and nearly $90,000 in gold dust strewn on the banks of the river. The white people had spent the winter mining at Bannock, Mont., and were returning east with their gold carried in belts and hidden in holes drilled in their flat-bottomed mackinaw boat. Stopping at Fort Berthold on their journey down the Missouri, they were warned by the trader, F. F. Gerard, that it was unsafe to continue until a large group was ready to make the trip through the territory occupied by the hostile Sioux. Thinking Gerard only wished to sell them supplies at high prices, the party disregarded his advice. This was shortly after General Sibley had pursued the Sioux across the Missouri. The Indians, however, following the departure of the military forces, had returned to the east side of the river, as game was more plentiful there, and a party was camped on Burnt Creek. The ever changing Missouri had cut a long sand bar near the creek mouth, forming a narrow, shallow channel between the shore and mid-river. On this bar an old Sisseton was fishing as the white men's boat floated into sight. In a gesture of friendliness the old man waved the boat away from the shallow channel, but his motion was mistaken for a signal, and the white men shot him. Indian women bathing at the river's edge ran screaming to their camp, bringing the warriors. The party of whites had a small cannon on board, and with it killed many of the Indians. The recoil of the cannon fire, however, sank the boat in the shallow water, and after the leader of the white party had been shot the Sioux swarmed on board and disposed of the others. They found the gold dust, but, thinking it only yellow clay, scattered it on the sands. It was several days later that Gerard heard of the massacre and sent a party of 10 Mandans, headed by his brother-in-law Whistling Bear, to recover the gold. They scooped up approximately $70,000 worth in a coffeepot found in the boat, for which Gerard gave a fine horse and a few small presents to Whistling Bear, and a feast to his helpers. The gold thought to be hidden in the hull of the boat was never recovered, although several attempts were made by fortune hunters in later years.

At =35 m.= is the junction with US 10 (_see Tour 8_) just L. of Liberty Memorial Bridge, 1 m. W. of Bismarck (_see_ BISMARCK).

TOUR 4

(Moosejaw, Sask., Can.)--Ambrose--Belfield--Amidon--Bowman--(Belle
Fourche, S. Dak.). US 85.

Canadian boundary to South Dakota Line, 264.5 m.

G. N. Ry. branch line roughly parallels route between Alexander and
Watford City.

Graveled roadbed except for 7 m. bituminous surface, 40 m. graded
dirt highway, and 16 m. unimproved dirt road.

Accommodations in principal towns.

US 85, a direct route through western North Dakota between Saskatchewan and the South Dakota Line, traverses the Coteau du Plateau du Missouri, crosses the Missouri River, and enters the severe, majestically beautiful region of the Missouri Slope with its expansive range country and scenic Badlands. Between the Canadian border and the Missouri, boulder-strewn, smoothly rounded hills are evidence of glaciation. In the rough country along the Missouri and Little Missouri Rivers, the high, mesa-like buttes, flat-topped and capped with thick layers of rock, mark the level of the land before it was worn by ages of erosion.

It has been said that men have been equal at only three times since creation--once in the Garden of Eden, once in the Declaration of Independence, and once in the "cow country" before the fence. When white settlers were just beginning to invade these wide plains and rough Badlands, cattle were being driven here from the Texas Panhandle. The famous Chisholm Trail that ran north from Texas to Abilene, Kans., had many branching trails, one of which ran through the area now traversed by US 85. In 1934, when P. P. Ackley of Elk City, Okla., an old southwestern cattleman, marked the Chisholm Trail he included this northern branch.

US 85 crosses the Canadian boundary 11 m. S. of Torquay, Sask., Canada.

At =0.0 m.= are clustered the small buildings of the customs office and the border patrol.

AMBROSE, =3 m.= (2,060 alt., 334 pop.), named for a Soo Line right-of-way employee, in its early history was one of the greatest primary grain markets in the Northwest. With five elevators, and many hawkers buying on the track, as many as 300 grain wagons often crowded the streets, sometimes remaining several days before they could deliver their loads. Before the railway was extended W. of Ambrose, the town was a shipping point for horses, sheep, and cattle from the ranch country of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. Ambrose has two parks and a swimming pool.

At =6.5 m.= is a junction with ND 5, a graveled highway (_see Tour 5_), which unites with US 85 between this point and =16.5 m.= where US 85 branches L.

In the vicinity of ZAHL, =39.5 m.= (2,000 alt., 153 pop.), are many small underground lignite mines that supply local markets and truckers. The town is named for F. R. Zahl, who came to this region in the early 1870's and became an outstanding buffalo hunter. The first post office here was at his ranch, E. of the present town. ND 50, a graveled highway (_see Side Tour 4A_), unites with US 85 between Zahl and =43.5 m.=, where US 85 branches R.

South of Zahl the route parallels the wide, flat-bottomed trough formed by LITTLE MUDDY CREEK. At =63 m.= is the junction with US 2 (_see Tour 6_), and the two highways are one route to =77.5 m.=, where US 85 branches L.

At =79 m.= the route crosses the MISSOURI RIVER on the LEWIS AND CLARK BRIDGE, built in 1927, the second bridge in the State to span the Big Muddy. Natural gas from the Baker, Mont. field is piped into the Williston territory through lines that cross the bridge.

South of the bridge the highway winds through the draws and ravines of the Little Badlands, a small area showing the results of severe erosion. At =96.5 m.= is the junction with a county improved road.

Right on this road is CARTWRIGHT, =13.5 m.= (1,896 alt., 75 pop.), named for Samuel George Cartwright, the hunter-trapper who was its first settler. At =17 m.= is the YELLOWSTONE RIVER, the largest tributary of the Missouri, and an important factor in the history of exploration, settlement, and development of trade in Montana. Here, where the river joins the Missouri just within the North Dakota border, the valley once was a hunting paradise for the upper Missouri Indians, but fur traders, trappers, hunters, and settlers gave little thought to conservation, and the big game is now extinct. The three-million-dollar irrigation project completed in 1909 by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation has brought the region the title of Prosperous Valley. Sugar beets form the principal crop, although grains, vegetables, and forage crops are raised successfully, and there is some small-scale fruit farming. Center of the sugar industry is the refining plant at Sidney, Mont. (_see Mont. Tour 9_). The entire irrigated area contains 58,561 acres, of which 19,500 are in North Dakota. Sugar-beet acreage in the Yellowstone Valley in this State is approximately 1,800. Mexican labor is used in the beet fields; most of the Mexicans make their homes in the Sidney and Fairview, Mont. (_see below_) areas.

The Yellowstone can be crossed here on the G. N. Ry. bridge, on which timber planking has been placed over the ties to permit automobile traffic. In one span of the bridge is a vertical lift to allow passage of river boats, although these are much more scarce than they were when the bridge was built in 1913.

Just E. of the bridge is the only railroad tunnel in the State, a 1,456-foot timber-supported excavation piercing the soft earth hills bordering the Yellowstone. It serves a single track on a curved alignment of three degrees.

At =21.5 m.= the road crosses the Montana Line at the city limits of Fairview, Mont. (_see Mont. Tour 9_).

ALEXANDER, =98.5 m.= (2,146 alt., 386 pop.), was platted in 1905 shortly after organization of McKenzie County by special legislative act, and was designated temporary county seat by proclamation of Governor Sarles. Alexander McKenzie, political dictator of the early Dakota scene, was one of the town site incorporators, and both the town and county are named for him. Still standing is the old log building that served as the first county courthouse.

ARNEGARD, =110.5 m.= (2,237 alt., 254 pop.), was named for Evan Arnegard, an early settler. The community is predominantly Scandinavian. Certified potatoes, both for southern markets and foundation stock for growers in the eastern part of the State, form one of the leading products of the surrounding agricultural area. Turkeys are also raised here.

1. Left from Arnegard on a graded road =2 m.=; L. here to LAKE PESHECK, =3 m.=, formed by impounded creek waters. It is surrounded by fine trees, and is fast becoming a summer recreation point. The lake was recently stocked with 1,500 trout.

2. Right from Arnegard on a dirt road to the northern entrance of the NORTH ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARK, =14 m.= (_see_ NORTH ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARK).

WATFORD CITY, =117.5 m.= (2,082 alt., 769 pop.), was named for a town in Canada. Because of lack of facilities at Schafer, the neighboring county seat, Watford City is actually, if not legally, the seat of the county government. Many of the county officers and employees live here, and county and Federal agencies have offices in the city.

The town is the terminus of a G. N. Ry. branch line, and the trade center of the "Island Empire" county, so called because the Missouri on the N. and E., the Yellowstone on the W., and the Little Missouri on the S. almost surround it with water. At the W. A. Jacobson law office is a private MUSEUM (_open weekdays 9-5_), a collection of stones, gems, fossils, Indian artifacts, coins, woods, and other articles of interest, including a Bible printed in 1535. A tourist camp is one-half mile E. on ND 23, a graveled highway.

Left from Watford City on ND 23 is SCHAFER, =4 m.= (1,950 alt., 100 pop.), seat of McKenzie County, in the little Cherry Creek valley (_see Tour 10_). Its white frame buildings and dingy log huts cluster about the frame courthouse which is an object of long-standing contention with Watford City. The town is named for Charles Shafer (1850-1930), an early rancher of the region, whose son George Shafer (1888-) served as Governor of the State from 1929-32. On the Shafer homestead S. of the town along the creek are the Schafer Springs, near which are excellent camping grounds. The springs have a flow of nearly 6,000 gal. per hour, a flow which has not diminished during recent years of subnormal rainfall.

A slight curve at =130.5 m.= reveals a spectacular view. The grassy plateau ends abruptly, and below, as though a huge, careless knife had slashed into the prairie, lies a confusion of endless gray-, ocher-, slate-, and red-layered buttes, through which winds a maze of ragged ravines and coulees. In the distance the meandering LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER looks hardly capable of producing the strange BADLANDS which it and its tributaries have carved out of the earth. The red of the scoria-topped buttes, the myriad hues of the strata laid down ages ago by successive prehistoric seas, and the brilliant green of the spruce and cedar trees clinging to the steep hillsides form a startling, almost weird, picture.

Like miniatures at the bottom of the valley are the silvery steel of the ROOSEVELT BRIDGE and the drab, squat, frame buildings of a permanent CCC camp. In 3 m. the tortuous, twisting highway drops 600 ft. (_drive carefully_) to reach the CCC camp and the main entrance to the North Roosevelt Regional State Park at =133.5 m.= (_see_ NORTH ROOSEVELT REGIONAL STATE PARK).

After crossing the river and its wide flood plain the highway climbs through the Badlands to emerge upon the prairie at =137 m.= In the distance (L) at =143 m.= are the Killdeer Mountains (_see Side Tour 8D_).

At =151 m.= the highway rounds a grass-covered prominence to enter GRASSY BUTTE (2,300 alt., 40 pop.), a little town founded in 1913 and named for the neighboring butte, which has long been a landmark in the region. Although there are many similarly shaped elevations in the vicinity, Grassy Butte is the only one not bare of vegetation. Ten Russian laborers first homesteaded in the Grassy Butte region, forming the nucleus of the present-day farming population. The old post office building still stands, a typical frontier log structure. In the early days of the town, when there were buildings on only one side of the main street, it was a local jest that Grassy Butte had the widest main street in the country, "from McKenzie County to the Atlantic seaboard."

The people who inhabit the area surrounding Grassy Butte are Little Russians or Ukrainians. They preserve many of their Old Country customs, and retain their Greek Catholic religious allegiance, though a difference of opinion has resulted in a schism.

A wedding custom of these people requires that the bride and bridegroom return to their respective homes after the marriage ceremony. At midnight a delegation representing the bridegroom abducts the bride and brings her to her husband's home. Wedding celebrations often last two or three days.

At =155.5 m.= is the junction with ND 25 (_see Side Tour 8D_).

At BELFIELD, =190 m.=, is the junction with US 10 (_see Tour 8_).

At =213.5 m.= is the junction with ND 21 (_see Side Tour 4B_).

At =222.5 m.= is the junction with a graded dirt road, not suitable for trailers.

Left on this road to CHALKY BUTTE, also known as White Butte, =6 m.=, a long high butte topped with one of the few White River limestone formations in the State. On its steep talus-covered slopes fossilized teeth and bones of prehistoric animals have been found. Outcroppings of large bones are plainly visible in the limestone cliff. The complete skull and other bones of an oreodon (small prehistoric hoofed animal) have been taken from this fossil bed.

In early days of white settlement it was believed that a treasure was buried somewhere on Chalky Butte because an Indian chief often went there and returned with gold. Although he was followed, he always managed to elude his pursuers; his cache, if it existed, has never been found. According to another story, a small party of soldiers once left Fort Meade, in the Black Hills, to take the pay roll to Fort Keogh, Mont. The pay roll never reached Fort Keogh, and no trace was found of the men, unless the three revolvers marked "U.S." and several U. S. Army wagon irons with charred pieces of wood clinging to them, found about 1900 near Sunset Butte S. of here, were the remains of their luckless expedition. Whether or not there is any connection between these two stories is a matter of conjecture.

AMIDON, =223.5 m.= (2,800 alt., 141 pop.), named for a U. S. district judge, Charles F. Amidon (1856-1937), was organized in 1915 and shortly thereafter was selected Slope County seat. In an enclosure near one of the filling stations in the town is an 8-ton petrified stump almost 6 ft. in diameter, which was uncovered on the county fairgrounds N. of Amidon. The town commands a good view of the surrounding country, with Chalky Butte to the SE., the angular outlines of the Badlands to the N. and W., and Black Butte (_see below_), highest point in the State, to the SW.

At =225 m.= is the junction with a graded dirt road with sharp curves and abrupt hills (_unsuited for trailers_).

Right on this road =2 m.=; then L. across rolling range land, gradually descending into the Badlands to the junction with a little-used trail, =11 m.=

Right on this trail =1 m.= at the end of a small valley are the BURNING COAL MINE and the COLUMNAR CEDARS. Across the ravine on a hillside sloping to the W. is the burning mine, which at dusk casts a carmine glow over the hill, and a heavy odor of coal gas hangs in the little valley. How long the lignite bed has been burning underground is not known. The Indians have legends telling of the burning ground, and old settlers in the region say that the burned area has not advanced more than a few hundred feet in the 50 years since the region was first settled by white men. The cause of the combustion is not known. As the coal burns underneath, the earth overburden crumbles and falls, taking with it all rocks, trees, and vegetation on the surface, leaving in its wake red scoria and other less brightly colored clays. The burned area succumbs easily to weathering and erosion. From large crevices in the earth intense heat pours, but with care one can peer into the flaming underground pits. (_Approach from the downhill side where there is no danger of the earth crumbling underfoot._)

In the bottom of the tiny valley, and on its western slope, grow the columnar cedars, bright green conical trees averaging 15 ft. in height. These trees, found in North Dakota only in this small area adjacent to the burning mine, taper from a large base to a narrow tip. Their brilliant green forms a decided contrast with the dull grays and tans of the hills surrounding them.

On the main side road beyond the junction with the trail, the dirt graded road winds down to the Little Missouri and upstream to the SITE OF A LOGGING CAMP, =15 m.= When the N. P. Ry. was, being built W. of the Missouri a wood cutters' camp was maintained here. The camp bunkhouse is said to have been equipped with loopholes to shoot through in event of Indian attack. The cedar ties and pilings cut at the camp were floated down the Little Missouri, but many became snagged in sand bars or scattered over the river flood plain, and few reached their destination. Across the river from the site are the two peaks known as the RABBIT'S EARS.

US 85 at =229 m.= passes directly between Chalky Butte (L) and Black Butte (R).

At =230.5 m.= is a junction with a dirt road.

Right on this road =1 m.= to an advantageous point from which to hike to the top of BLACK BUTTE (3,468 alt.), highest elevation in the State. The butte is some 8 m. in circumference, and near the top solid rock cliffs rise perpendicularly 50 to 100 ft. above its grassy slopes. At its base lie huge boulders, broken from the sides by the action of weather. Springs form numerous creeks on the northern side, and their tree-and brush-lined banks are a favorite ground for berry-picking parties. At the northern corner of the butte is a hole about 3 ft. wide, from which a slight draught of air can be felt. When a pebble is dropped into this opening a dull thud can be heard, as though the stone had not struck solid bottom. On the S. side of the butte is SNOW CAVE, where the deep winter snows often remain until August. There is a fine view from the top of the butte. At the western edge of the mesa are two rock-lined EAGLE PITS, about 4 ft. wide and 3 ft. deep, from which hidden Indians caught eagles and plucked out their tail feathers for their war bonnets. These quills were very valuable, often worth a pony in trade.

Black Butte is also known as H. T. Butte, since it was part of the H. T. ranch, which in the 1880's and 1890's was the largest horse ranch in the State. The surrounding country in those days was given over to the ranging of cattle, sheep, and horses, and it was not until the coming of the "honyocks", as the stockmen called the homesteaders, and the cultivation of former range lands, that the ranching of this section was curtailed.

Concerning H. T. Butte old-timers of this section tell a story of a cowhand named Bob Pierce who because of his merciless riding was known to his fellow workers as "Crazy Loon" as well as by numerous other uncomplimentary titles. He rode his mount at any speed anywhere, and it was hard to "keep him in horses." It chanced that at one time Bob was paired, on the circuit, with talkative old Colonel Sullers. Thinking to harry the colonel, Bob began to spur his horse to breakneck speed. Sullers kept beside him, holding up both ends of a political conversation and trying to pretend not to notice the speed. His horse, unfortunately, stepped into a hole, and the rider went sprawling. Stopping at a nearby creek to wash the dirt and blood from his head and face, he reviled his tormentor, declaring, "When you're dead your ghost will ride the tops of the hills and howl like a gray wolf." In the course of time Bob Pierce died, or he may have been killed on one of his wild rides. Since then, it is said, a horseman is seen, on dark nights, riding at breakneck speed up the steep, inaccessible sides of H. T. Butte, and sometimes the howl of a gray wolf is heard.

BOWMAN, =248.5 m.= (2,958 alt., 888 pop.), seat of Bowman County, lies at the base of flat-topped, sandstone-capped TWIN BUTTES. Known successively as Lowden Post Office and Twin Buttes, the town won the county seat election in a bitter fight with Atkinson (later Griffin) in 1907, and in January 1908 was given its present name. Both town and county are named for E. W. Bowman, a prominent Territorial legislator.

The junction with US 12 (_see Tour 9_) is in Bowman, and the two routes unite to =250 m.= where US 85 turns L. and reaches the South Dakota Line at =264.5 m.=, 103 m. N. of Belle Fourche, S. Dak. (_see S. Dak. Tour 13_).

SIDE TOUR 4A

Junction US 85--Hanks--Grenora--Sodium Lakes--Writing Rock. ND 50
and unnumbered county roads.

Junction with US 85 to Writing Rock, 30.3 m.

G. N. Ry. parallels route between junction with US 85 and Grenora.
Graveled roadbed 12 m., graded dirt roads and prairie trail
remainder of route.

Accommodations in principal towns.

This short route passes through a region of boulder-strewn, smoothly rounded hills left by glacial action, and leads to extensive but undeveloped sodium sulphate beds and the archeologically important Writing Rock State Park. The populations of both towns on the route are chiefly Scandinavian; they were settled by immigrants who arrived with or shortly after the railroad.

ND 50 branches W. from US 85 (_see Tour 4_) at Zahl.

HANKS, =5 m.= (2,114 alt., 213 pop.), named for W. F. Hanks, a Powers Lake rancher and banker who was connected with the town site company, begins its history with the arrival of the G. N. branch line in 1916. In the 1890's the N-N (N Bar N) Cattle Co. of St. Louis, which ran herds of livestock S. of the Missouri River in central Montana, refused to ship their stock over the G. N. because of a disagreement with that line. As a result they had to trail their large herds many weary miles to the nearest Soo Line points, which were at Bowbells and Kenmare, N. Dak. (_see Tour 7_). As many as 30,000 of these Chicago-bound cattle passed through Hanks in a single season on their way to the railroad, herded by dust-caked cowboys of the authentic, original, Wild West variety.

Ranching was the chief industry of this section when it was first settled, and there is still some small-scale ranching in the vicinity.

GRENORA, =11 m.= (2,105 alt., 487 pop.), has a name derived from the-first three letters of the words Great Northern, and as terminus of that railroad enjoyed a brief boom in 1916.

West of Grenora ND 50 is a graded dirt road. At =14 m.= is the junction with a county dirt road (R) which is now the route.

At =17 m.= is the junction with a prairie trail.

Left on this trail to FERTILE VALLEY LAKE NO. 2, =1 m.=, largest of the several shallow lakes in this vicinity which contain millions of tons of sodium sulphate, a valuable mineral resource. These lakes and sloughs, with no drainage outlets, are part of a linear series lying NW. to SE. along a preglacial stream course. The beds range from a few inches to as much as 80 ft. in depth. Because of the low rainfall in recent years many of the lakes glisten white in the sunlight.

Literally, a wild goose chase led to the discovery of these sodium sulphate deposits. A Grenora hunter waded into a shallow lake to recover a goose which had fallen into the water, and found the lake bottom covered with a hard crystal formation resembling salt deposits he had seen in Canada, which he knew to be commercially valuable. He directed attention to the lake, and as a result an FERA survey was undertaken in 1934, and a large amount of the mineral was found here. Fertile Valley Lake No. 2 was estimated to contain 11,000,000 tons, and two other lakes in the vicinity 5,000,000 and 1,750,000 tons each.

Sodium sulphate is also known as Glauber's salt. Commercially it has a value of about $20 a ton, and is used medicinally, in paper manufacture, as salt for cattle, and in manufacturing soap and munitions. In 1937 the University of North Dakota, in cooperation with the State Highway Department, was conducting experiments to determine the value of sodium sulphate in highway construction. At present there is little demand for North Dakota sodium sulphate because of the accessibility of sources nearer the points of consumption.

At =21 m.= is the junction with another county dirt road; =R.= on this road to the junction with a county highway, the Grenora-Alkabo route, at =23 m.=; =R.= on this road; at 30 the route turns =L.= and proceeds up a hill to WRITING ROCK STATE PARK, =30.3 m.= Of gray granite, Writing Rock stands in a slight hollow on the crest of a hill, commanding a wide view of the surrounding country. The top and two sides of the rock are covered with hieroglyphs, consisting of lines, dots, circles containing dots, and, near the top, a flying bird. Many attempts have been made to decipher the writing, which apparently was carved into the rock at several different periods. Whatever the meaning of the inscriptions, the rock is regarded as sacred by Indians who, even after the settlement of the State, made pilgrimages here from the Fort Peck (Mont.) Reservation and other distant points. The site, because of its elevation, served advantageously for smoke signals.

Several graves have been found in the vicinity, and excavations have revealed hammers, hatchets, arrowheads, sea shells, elk teeth, and beads of many shapes and colors. One grave is said to have yielded beads that measured 52 ft. when strung.

The Indians have many legends associated with the rock. The one most often heard is that told by Joe Lagweise and Tawiyaka, two old Sioux Indians of the Qu'Appelle Agency in Saskatchewan, Canada, who as young men visited Writing Rock and heard the story from an old man camped there. Many years ago a party of eight warriors stopped for the night near this rock, and just as they were falling asleep they heard a voice calling in the distance. Fearful of an enemy attack, they investigated but found nothing. The next morning they heard a woman's voice calling, but still they found no one. In their search, however, they saw this large rock with a picture on it, showing eight Indians--themselves--with their packs lying on the ground. Unable to understand this mystery, the warriors went on their way. On their return they again passed the rock, and noticed that the inscription had changed, and appeared to hold a picture of the future. When they reached home they told their people of the mysterious rock, and the entire village moved near it, only to find that the picture had again changed, this time showing the village with its tipis. From that time on the rock was believed to foretell the future until white men moved it; whereupon it lost its power. An old Indian chief once pointed out that the three lines on the rock indicated three graves near the stone, one of which he said was that of a white child. It has been suggested that the inscriptions may be the work of some race which lived in this region before the Indian known to history.

Writing Rock is approximately 5 ft. high and 4 ft. thick, and weighs an estimated 10 tons. A smaller rock, weighing about a ton, which stood near a spring about a mile below Writing Rock, also contains inscriptions, and has been moved to New Merrifield Hall at the University of North Dakota for study.

Ten acres of land surrounding Writing Rock were acquired in 1936 by the State Historical Society of North Dakota and will be developed as a State park.

SIDE TOUR 4B

Junction US 85--New England--Mott--Carson--Flasher--Junction ND 6.

ND 21. Junction with US 85 to junction ND 6, 126.5 m.

N. P. Ry. branch line roughly parallels route from Mott to Flasher;
Milwaukee R. R. branch between New England and Elgin.

Graveled roadbed except for 11 m. of graded dirt.

Hotel and tourist camp facilities limited in most towns; many
natural camping places along the Cannonball River.

Traversing the northern part of the Missouri Slope, this route passes through what was ranch land, now used for diversified farming. Most of the land adjacent to the route is underlain with deposits of lignite, and on many farms the winter's fuel is easily obtained by a little digging. Dominating the general rolling terrain are jagged, mesa-like hills capped with brown sandstone formations. Gentle, grass-covered slopes, whose rich spring green turns to amber in the fall, rise to steeper hillsides, above which jumbled, broken, weathered rocks lead to the steep cliffs crowning the flat mesas.

Trees are few along this route, except for the tiny groves on occasional farms, and the woods and bushes that edge the Cannonball River and its tributary creeks.

ND 21 branches E. from US 85 (_see Tour 4_), 23.5 m. S. of Belfield (_see Tour 8_). Dominating the landscape immediately E. of the junction are the two high, flat-topped, coffin-shaped RAINY BUTTES (R). At =6 m.= the highway passes 2 m. N. of West Rainy Butte, and at =8 m.= passes East Rainy Butte, which appears to be only a short distance from the route, but actually is 6 m. S. The tops of these twin heights are sometimes clouded in a faint gray mist, and according to Indian lore they get rain at least once a day, despite the weather. Although this is an exaggeration, it is nearly true, for at times when warm currents of air strike the cold surface of the sides of the buttes the moisture in the air is condensed, resulting in fogs or mists that usually veil the heights. This phenomenon is also common to other buttes in this area. There are evidences of Indian burials on the Rainy Buttes.

NEW ENGLAND, =14 m.= (2,593 alt., 911 pop.), its seven grain elevators standing like sentinels overlooking its level site N. of the Cannonball River, was founded in 1887. It was named and first settled by the New England Colony Association, an organization from the New England States headed by Thomas W. Bicknell (1834-1925), who was the author of several histories dealing with Rhode Island. Streets of the new town were laid out by plowing furrows in the prairie. Before the end of the first summer 50 families had arrived, but from 1888 to 1911, when the Milwaukee R. R. came in, New England was little more than a trading post. Although originally founded by New Englanders, today it is predominantly Scandinavian.

ND 22 forms the main street, at the southern end of which, in St. Mary's Catholic schoolyard, is a SHRINE TO THE VIRGIN MARY, made of huge slabs of petrified woods, scoria, odd rock formations from the Badlands, and "cannonballs" (_see Side Tour 8C_) from the river. The shrine was built by school children. Midway between the two schools on Main St. is a modern, stuccoed MEMORIAL BUILDING, a community center completed under the Works Progress Administration in 1936.

Between New England and =23 m.= ND 21 unites with ND 22.

At =18 m.= is the junction with a graveled county road.

Left on this road along the north bank of the Cannonball River is HAVELOCK, =6 m.= (2,566 alt., 118 pop.), named for an English stockholder in the Milwaukee R.R. In 1915 a small group of Moravians settled here and erected a church, but by 1924 the colony had dwindled, and the church was sold to the Congregationalists. The Moravians held their immersion baptismal ceremonies in the Cannonball. Right from Havelock (_inquire directions at post office_), =1 m.=, to a BURNING COAL MINE, operated until 1934, when it was discovered to be afire. At times smoke, accompanied by an unpleasant odor of sulphur, is emitted from the mine.

At =23 m.= is the eastern junction of ND 21 and ND 22; L. here on ND 21. Rising ahead (R) is a series of conical hills, the TEPEE BUTTES, resembling a giant Indian encampment. The highway parallels them their entire length between =25 m.= and =28 m.=

At =36 m.= is the junction with a graveled county road.

Left on this road is REGENT, =0.8 m.= (2,461 alt., 308 pop.), named by the railroad company when it was believed that its situation in the center of the county would make it the county seat. The town is on the south bank of the Cannonball. Richard Tooker (1902-), one of the State's successful fiction writers, attended high school in Regent, and had his first story published when only 15. He wrote more than 150 stories before his first novel, _Day of the Brown Horde_, appeared.

North of Regent at =1.3 m.= is the junction with a county road; R. on this road to REGENT LAKE, =2.8 m.= (_camping_, _picnicking_, _swimming_).

East of Regent on ND 21 the route proceeds for a few miles over a level plain lying S. of the almost treeless Cannonball River valley.

MOTT, =51 m.= (2,399 alt., 1,036 pop.), is in the valley of the Cannonball. On an elevation to the NW. the strikingly modern HETTINGER COUNTY COURTHOUSE overlooks the river valley. The town is the terminal of an N. P. Ry. branch, and is also on the Milwaukee. CENTRAL PARK (_tourist camp_, _tennis courts_), is between 3rd and 4th Sts. Its recreation facilities were built as an FERA project.

BURT, =58 m.= (2,358 alt., 125 pop.), originally known as Alton Post Office, was named by the N. P. Ry. to honor A. M. Burt, superintendent of the Dakota division. More than 500 poplars and Chinese elms are planted in the town schoolyard.

At =63 m.= the highway crosses THIRTY MILE CREEK, one of the larger tributaries of the north fork of the Cannonball.

At =68 m.= is the junction with a side road.

Left on this =0.1 m.= to a LIGNITE STRIP MINE, the largest of several in this vicinity. It produces 8,000 tons annually, and rough hummocks of earth are thrown up in the stripping process.

NEW LEIPZIG, =69 m.= (2,311 alt., 433 pop.), is a Russo-German community, named for Leipzig in Germany, and is on both the Milwaukee and N. P. branch lines where the two roads run parallel only 200 ft. apart.

Several years before the establishment of New Leipzig the territory to the S. was settled by a large group of Finns, of whom about a dozen families now remain. Because the settlement has dwindled in recent years, many native customs have disappeared, although a few of the older people retain a superstitious belief in witchcraft, and there are five or six _saunas_, or steam baths, in which water is poured on hot stones in a tightly closed shelter. At butchering time each autumn, rye and wheat flour are hulled, ground oats are mixed with the blood of beeves, and baked in round, thin rings similar to doughnuts. These rings are placed on long sticks, 30 or 40 at a time, thoroughly hardened near a fire, then stored in barrels, with lime as a preservative, for use throughout the winter and coming summer.

ELGIN, =74.5 m.= (2,330 alt., 505 pop.), with its many trees, is a pleasant Russo-German town. Its first name, Shanley, was discarded when the N. P. came through because of its similarity to Stanley. A new name was being discussed by a group waiting for a train one day when a member of the group, having looked at his watch, suggested the trade name, Elgin, as a good town site name. His suggestion met with approval of the railroad company. /#

Right from Elgin on an unimproved county road to the north fork of the Cannonball River, =2 m.=, where are several suitable camping places under the trees of the narrow river valley.

The road continues S. of the river. Sloping up from the stream, MEDICINE BUTTE (L), =3 m.=, is a high hill topped with a large, almost cubical block of sandstone used for many years as a PRAYER ROCK by Indian tribes, and carved with picture symbols of human hands, buffalo heads, bear paws, and other figures. It was the practice of the Indians to leave offerings at the rock and return the following day, when, the older Indians still relate, the pictures on the rock would tell them whether their prayers were to be answered. Beads, pieces of pottery, and other traces of votive offerings are still found near the stone. At the foot of the hill to the W. is a circular area, approximately 80 yd. in diameter, where it is believed that native worshipers danced while encamped near the sacred hill. Little vegetation grows on the plot, indicating that years of dancing packed the earth firmly.

At =76.5 m.= is the junction with ND 49, a graveled highway.

Left on this highway to HEART BUTTE (L), =17 m.=, known to the Sioux as Ta canta wakpa Paha (_Heart River Butte_). From this elevation the surrounding country is visible for 20 m. in all directions, and in early days ranchers used the hill as a lookout when searching for strayed cattle or horses. The wooded valley of the Heart River is 4 m. to the S., although it appears much nearer. In the sandstone formation atop the butte is a cave formed by wind and water erosion.

East of Elgin on ND 21 is the junction with a graveled county road, =85.5 m.=

Right on this road is LEITH, =4 m.= (2,353 alt., 174 pop.), named for Leith, Scotland. It is on the Milwaukee R. R.

South of Leith on an unimproved county road to the junction with another dirt road, =6 m.=; R. on this road to another junction at =7 m.=, where a vast deposit of small sea shells covers approximately one square mile to a depth of 4 ft., visible evidence that ages ago this region was the bed of a large sea. Only a thin layer of rich black soil covers the deposit, and in plowed fields the shells are easily seen. The practical-minded farmers of this region have found a good use for this gift of the prehistoric sea; they pulverize the shells and feed them to their poultry to provide the calcium in their diet.