four times more acres are planted in wheat than any other crop, the
city's industrial life is subordinate to its political. Commercially 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 seed-houses. A pioneer seed-house and
nursery, the Oscar H. Will Company, founded 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
hardy, drought resisting, 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 migrated from
Wisconsin to settle the farm lands in the Bismarck territory. They have
made the city a shipping point for a constantly increasing dairy, wool,
honey, and corn output. The drought conditions of the 1930's have cut
into agricultural production, 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 burning of
the old capitol in December 1930. The year following there was talk
of capital removal, the most serious contender being the 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 impressive sight even to
those who quarrel with the idea of a skyscraper capitol for a prairie
State. Designed in 1932 by two North Dakota architects, Joseph Bell
de Remer of Grand Forks and William F. Kurke of Fargo, with Holabird
and Root of Chicago as associates, its clean hard modern lines are
exponent of the fact that, as the architect F. A. Gutheim has said,
"Domed pseudo-Renaissance state capitols are sinking low on the Western
horizon." 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 absent
in Bismarck. The justification of the building, therefore, must lie in
its expression of the dignity and power of the State government.
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 allows 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 remarkable 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 limestone, and the base
is trimmed with a broad ribbon of Rosetta black granite (gabbro), a
relatively rare stone of volcanic origin.
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 figures, 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-cochère. 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 Hunter, the Cowhand, and other figures
symbolic of the development of the State. At the end of the elevator
lobby is the capitol café.
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 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 design, with a base of Minnesota
granite and walls of Bedford limestone, its Ionic columns rise
gracefully above the grass-covered terrace.
The massive bronze doors of the west facade lead into a corridor
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 general supervision
of all public libraries in the State.
On the ground floor are the main offices of the State historical
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 settlement 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_
MINOT), is on the third floor, and nearby is the desk which 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 OF 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 expedition 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 controversy 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 definitely 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 Wurttemberg, 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 Government as a trophy of the
World War. Near these guns lie specimens of Cannonball River sandstone
formations.
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 preserved 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 Exposition 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 Roosevelt engaged.
4. EARTH LODGE (_open weekdays 9-5 June 15-Oct. 1_), 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 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, unpedigreed style typical of
North Dakota's architecture of the nineties, 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, becoming an
unofficial representative of the Northern Pacific Railway. How much
McKenzie had to do with moving the Territorial capital 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 addition to having a
large and varied selection of magazines, newspapers, 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 Bismarck, but has been sheathed
in lumber, and additions have been built. The bureau, moved 11 times,
is now permanently established 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 encouraging 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 Industrial 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 organization, 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
warehouse.
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 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, fertilizers, 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
Greyhound, Checker, Jack Rabbit, and Triangle Lines; Cole Hotel,
407-1/2 N. P. Ave., for Liederbach Line.
=Airport:= Hector Field, NW. outskirts of city, 1/2 m. W. of US
81, Northwest Airlines, taxi fare 50c, time 10 min.; day and night
service, public hangars.
=Taxis:= 25c anywhere in city, 10c for each additional passenger.
=City Bus Line:= Intra-city, fare 10c.
=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
parking limits in business district.
=Accommodations:= 30 hotels; Fargo municipal tourist camp,
Lindenwood Park, marked road 3/4 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,
agricultural college, 13th St. at 12th Ave. N., college
productions; Festival Hall, agricultural college, occasional
touring artists and stock companies; 6 motion picture houses.
[Map: CITY OF FARGO]
=Golf:= Municipal 18-hole course, Edgewood Park, 3 m. NE. of city
limits (_greens fee 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 of
1st Ave. S.; indoor, Central High School, 3rd Ave. S. bet. 10th and
11th 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), 1-1/2 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
Norwegian Whist Tournament in connection with Norwegian
Independence Day, May 17; Lilac Festival, agricultural college,
May, no fixed date; State Fair, Fairgrounds, Bdwy. at 17th Ave.
N., June, no fixed date; Valleyland 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, agricultural 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 section 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, wholesale 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.