North Dakota

Our trip to North Dakota was a little longer than anticipated as a lot of road work is going on in this state. We figure that the representatives of this state in Washington have been doing an outstanding job of getting federal stimulus funding for highway reconstruction projects. Why else are we finding lots of one way trips through construction sites? And plenty of newly repaved (or redone) highways.

Entering North Dakota, we saw grasslands, badlands and plains, but the plains are quite hilly.

Grasslands

Badlands

Prairies

We visited both the north and south parts of Teddy Roosevelt National Park. Interesting Badlands views. Teddy was quite an interesting character.

Feral Horses

Bison & Prairie Dogs

We stayed in Medora (the only place with lodging available because of the oil work) which turned out to be a great place to stay with easy access to the south Park. We also attended the Medora musical festival Tuesday evening – a great show of song and dance. When we got there we saw a spectacular view of two elk (boys with horns) on the ridge beyond the amphitheater. Great fun watching them and the dominance one displayed over the other. And the silhouette against the evening sky was quite nice.

Then, we noted that there was a fence on the far side of the ridge they were eating on. A little deeper observation revealed that there was also a fence that we could barely see halfway down the hill from where they were grazing. Ah Ha! A trick for the tourists to think they are seeing real wildlife! The elk were indeed real, but later on a rider on horseback herded them down to a corral. And we learned from a person in the seat next to us that this happens every night. Oh well, made for a fun starter to the show.

The couple sitting next to us shared that they were there to see their 16 year old niece and to chaperone her. Turns out she was one of the stars, very talented young lady, and her last name was Larson which gave us another connection with out seatmates.

16 year old Macey Jo Larson on the left

Next day we drove the route parallel to the interstate highway from Dickinson to Bismarck. This was an interesting drive through small towns that the interstate has left kind of high and dry. The towns were nice and neat and clean, but services such as grocery stores seemed to be pretty much non-existent. Guess people either shop in Dickinson or Bismarck. At New Salem we saw a very large, monstrous, statue of a Holstein cow erected to honor the dairy industry in this part of the country. Great views of the landscape from this site!

Dave & Salem Sue

On to Bismarck and the TI for some updated tourist information. Next job is plotting just what to do here for the next two days.

Thursday found us exploring Bismarck. We took the tour of the capital building (interesting!) and learned that the two houses are in business for 80 days max every two years. Kind of makes them work together to get the work done, you think?

And we learned a couple of things about how this state is managed. First, it is one of only a few states with a budget in the black. And second, we drove yesterday and the day before on a number of roads undergoing reconstruction (witness delays due to one way traffic in several places – we learned not to look forward to the orange “Road Construction Ahead, Watch for Flagman” signs). And noted other roads that have been recently completed.

Next door is the state Heritage Museum; an extremely interesting place where we spent over two hours learning about the state from prehistoric times through the Indian and settlement periods up to modern times. Including a pretty good description of how the slant drilling and frac operation works to free up oil in the sands in the NW part of the state. This technology came into its own recently and last year the action picked up big time. So why hasn’t Halliburton built temporary housing for all of their people rather than taking over lodging in the western part of ND??

Then we visited Fort Abraham Lincoln. Again, quite a place. The first stop was the cavalry headquarters where Custer was commander for 2-1/2 years prior to his final mission at Little Big Horn with a knowledgeable tour guide taking us back in time as he performed his sergeant role. Then we visited the Mandan village area where we learned about 200 years of Mandan settlement in the area, which ended with a major smallpox outbreak in ~1780 which wiped out 80% of the population. Our tour guide in this area is a history student who comes back each summer to provide interpretive tours of the reconstructed village. The Mandan’s helped the Louis and Clark party as they wintered upriver of here in 1803.

We have learned so far a great deal about the history of the Indians and white settlers who came in the latter parts of the 1800’s. Good stuff.

Friday we drove north of Bismarck to see Hidatsa sites on the Knife River, including the village where Sakakawea lived. Good film at the NPS visitor center there giving us yet another story about how the Hidatsas lived. Summer houses In villages, winter houses closer to the river where the trees provided some weather protection, and their summer forays out into the prairie to hunt for buffalo. So now we are well educated.

Mounds & Indentations showing lodge locations

We visited a recreation of Fort Mandan, where Lewis & Clark spent their 1st winter in 1804, near the Mandan and Hidatsa villages. The original site has been destroyed by the river, but this replica was purported to be historically accurate.

Fort Mandan

Lewis & Clark???

Hot today, but getting hotter tomorrow, they say. That is probably OK as the next two days take us south into South Dakota and through the Badlands into Rapid City. Looking for cooler weather on Monday.