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.