(1,484 alt., 100 pop.), are small hamlets R. of the route. Although the
latter town has a name of English origin, the Berwick _Post_, which
suspended publication several years ago, was published partly in German
for the large community of Russo-Germans living S. of the town.
TOWNER, =183 m.= (1,478 alt., 622 pop.), named for Col. O. M. Towner,
one of the first ranchers in McHenry County, is the county seat. It
lies in a bend of the SOURIS (Fr., _mouse_) RIVER, so named by French
explorers for the numerous field mice found in the river basin. The
river itself lies on a level plain that was at one time the bed of
glacial Lake Souris, of which the stream is now the only remnant. Fully
three-fourths of McHenry County is on this plain, once principally
cattle country, now devoted to diversified farming.
During ranching days in the 1880's the country was a rough frontier
populated by an odd assortment of personalities. Among these were two
English peers, each of whom acquired a ranch near Towner, built a large
home, and settled down to the serious business of living lavishly on
remittances from home. The community was excited when one of the men
had a visit from his sister, a countess prominent in women's suffrage
work in the British Isles, who arrived on a special train. The other
exile also had a caller from home, an elderly woman who arrived
unexpectedly to find him occupied with the entertainment of a houseful
of guests. She departed without seeing him or even getting out of her
carriage. Not long afterwards both Englishmen took their leave.
Towner is the junction with ND 14, a graveled highway, which unites
with US 2 between this point and =188 m.=
1. Left from Towner on a graveled county road to the SCHULTZ HEREFORD
RANCH, =1.8 m.=, where registered Hereford cattle and Belgian horses
are bred. Situated on the timber-flanked banks of the Mouse, the
ranch has an air of early-day friendliness. Its huge barns and
corrals reflect the large-scale ranching of pioneer days joined with
the efficiency of a modern business--a combination typical of the
present-day stock raising industry in the State.
2. Right (N) from Towner on a graveled county road to a GOVERNMENT
NURSERY, =1.5 m.=, where experimental work in connection with the
shelterbelt project is conducted.
3. Right from Towner on ND 14 is BANTRY, =14 m.= (1,469 alt., 150
pop.). Left from Bantry on ND 17, a graveled highway, to the LONG
TURKEY RANCH, =20.5 m.= At the age of six weeks the young turkeys are
sent out on the 320-acre range in flocks of 700, and attain their full
bone growth during the summer months. A few weeks before fall marketing
the flocks are driven in to the ranch and the birds confined in large
pens where they are fattened for market. More than 2,000 turkeys are
shipped from the Long ranch annually.
At =188 m.= is a junction with ND 14.
Left on this graveled highway to the junction with a dirt road, =1.5
m.=; R. here to the EATON DAM, =3.3 m.=, which irrigates 6,800 acres
of meadowland. This water adds to the productivity of the heavy native
grasses from which many hundreds of tons of hay are cut each year.
At the close of the haying season the river bottoms are dotted with
hundreds of small, mound-like haystacks resembling huge grain shocks in
a field of giant wheat. In the time between haying and fall the grasses
attain a second growth, and cover the meadowlands around the stacks
with a luxurious green carpet that contrasts with the dingy brown of
the autumnal stubblefields through which the Souris courses.
At =196.5 m.= (L) are the DENBIGH REFORESTATION PROJECT HEADQUARTERS.
The feasibility of growing trees in poor, sandy soil and semiarid
climate is being tested on a 640-acre tract by the Northern Plains
branch of the Lake States Forest Experimental Station. The results
secured will serve as a guide for work in similar areas of other States.
GRANVILLE, =207 m.= (1,513 alt., 450 pop.), named for Granville M.
Dodge, G. N. Ry. civil engineer, is in a level agricultural area
W. of the sand hills bordering the Mouse River. A condition common
in homesteading days drew this worried comment from the Granville
_Record_ in 1904: "It is a great wonder this country has advanced and
is developing as rapidly as it is with so many old bachelors who do
not improve their places and so many old maids holding down claims. It
ought to cause a blush of shame to mount the face of every bald-headed
old bachelor in the vicinity."
At =216 m.= is NORWICH (1,529 alt., 100 pop.), named by the G. N. Ry.
town site company for an English town.
West of SURREY, =222.5 m.= (1,627 alt., 125 pop.), the route begins
the gradual descent to a second crossing of the Mouse River. In the
distance to the W. and S. of the river, the hills rise to the Missouri
Plateau.
MINOT, =230.5 m.= (1,557 alt., 16,099 pop.) (_see_ MINOT).
_Points of Interest:_ Minot State Teachers College, Roosevelt Park
and Zoo.
At Valley St. and 4th Ave. SE. is the junction with US 52 (_see Tour
7_), which unites with US 2 at =236.5 m.= At 4th Ave. and 2nd St. SW.
is the junction with US 83 (_see Tour 3_).
Just W. of Minot is the (L) HIGH STEEL TRESTLE (120 ft.) of the G. N.
Ry., spanning Gassman Coulee. Early one morning in the 1880's a high
wind blew down the wooden bridge which then stood here, and only the
quick work of an engineer prevented an entire train from plunging into
the deep coulee.
At =236.5 m.= is the junction with US 52 (_see Tour 7_). A large
tourist camp is L. The highway here makes an abrupt ascent to the level
Missouri Plateau.
All towns along the route W. of Minot are populated principally by
Scandinavians.
DES LACS, =245.5 m.= (1,932 alt., 205 pop.), is named for Des Lacs
River and Lake (_see Tour 7_). The little town received publicity in
1922 when it elected a complete ticket of women officials. One eastern
newspaper wrote a glowing description of a campaign torchlight parade
around the city hall and told of the enthusiasm which the men of the
town felt over the winning ticket; but a writer for a women's magazine,
sent out to look over the situation, was forced to report that there
was no city hall, and that "the men were not so enthusiastic now,
perhaps because they did not like to have their own backyards cleaned
up."
LONETREE, =249.5 m.= (2,002 alt., 36 pop.), was named by the railroad
company for the one tree that was there when the rails were laid. This
little town figured prominently in the Burlington-Minot battle for the
seat of "Imperial Ward" County in 1888, turning the election for Minot
(_see_ </sc>Minot</sc>).
BERTHOLD, =253.5 m.= (2,089 alt., 511 pop.), is the center of a
certified seed potato raising area. In the late 1880's it was the
nearest railhead to Fort Berthold on the Indian reservation to the S.,
hence its name.
At =262 m.= the terrain becomes more rolling and from here to the
Missouri River the route traverses the ALTAMONT MORAINE, a range of
hills lying on the eastern portion of the Missouri Plateau, and marking
the farthest advance of the western lobe of the last or Dakota Glacier.
TAGUS, =265 m.= (2,189 alt., 136 pop.), was named for a rancher named
Taguson.
Left from Tagus on an unimproved dirt road to CARPENTER LAKE
(_swimming_), =6 m.=
BLAISDELL (L), =273 m.= (2,264 alt., 100 pop.), was named for Alfred
Blaisdell, a settler who later became secretary of state of North
Dakota.
PALERMO (L), =280.5 m.= (2,201 alt., 205 pop.), is the namesake of a
city in Sicily.
Right from Palermo in the rolling hills of the glacial moraine N. and
E. of the town are several small lakes containing heavy deposits of
sodium sulphate (_see Side Tour 4A_).
STANLEY, =288 m.= (2,253 alt., 936 pop.), is named for one of the first
homesteaders in the area. The MOUNTRAIL COUNTY COURTHOUSE (R), topped
by a cupola, is at the northern end of town. Stanley is on a nearly
level plateau, while both to the N. and to the S. the terrain is more
rolling. There is a junction here with ND 8, a graveled highway (_see
Side Tour 3A_). In 1906 the Stanley _Sun_, a usually conservative
newspaper, joined other papers in the State in telling of the wonderful
fertility of North Dakota soil: "... the most productive soil on earth,
insomuch that if you stick a nail in the ground at night, it will grow
into a crowbar before morning."
ROSS, =296.5 m.= (2,292 alt., 108 pop.), was named by the railway
company. In 1902 a group of 20 Moslem families from Damascus, Syria,
filed on homesteads SE. of Ross, and since 1909, when the Federal
Government withdrew its objection to their naturalization, many of
them have become citizens. They are Americanized in dress, although
the women have a penchant for highly colored clothes. Many Old Country
foods are still used; one Syrian dish especially well-liked consists of
durum wheat boiled, sun-dried, ground, and screened, and stewed with
meats and vegetables or sweet oils. The dried grain is ground in a
large horse-powered machine resembling a coffee mill.
In 1929 this colony built a basement mosque, and each Friday a
member of the congregation conducts services. Each person carefully
washes his hands and feet before entering the temple; the sexes are
segregated during prayer. During Ramadan--the ninth month according to
the Mohammedan calendar, which is lunar--the people fast for 30 days,
taking food only after dark; the month ends with a feast. The wedding
ceremony of the group is unusual, for the bride is not present. Before
the wedding she selects two witnesses to act in her behalf, who state
the amount of money to be exchanged between the bridegroom and her
parents--the bridegroom gives the parents this amount and they return
the same amount to him. During the wedding ceremony the bride retires
to another room; the father places his hand in that of the bridegroom,
a large kerchief is placed over the clasped hands, and a member of the
congregation reads the service. It is a custom of these people to shake
hands at any chance meeting, no matter how recently they have met.
At =298.5 m.= is the junction with a graveled road.
Left on this road is SANISH (Arikaran, _real people_), =23 m.= (1,820
alt., 463 pop.), lying in a valley between bluffs bordering the eastern
bank of the Missouri River. Spanning the Missouri here is the VERENDRYE
BRIDGE, completed in 1927, the third highway bridge built across the
river in the State. The site was known to the Indians from the earliest
times as the Old Crossing because it was used as a ford by the large
buffalo herds in their annual migrations. Adjoining Sanish on the S.
is VERENDRYE NATIONAL MONUMENT, in which is CROW FLIES HIGH BUTTE,
named for an Hidatsa Indian chieftain. On this butte is a monument
dedicated to the Verendryes, who are believed to have visited one of
the agricultural Indian tribes here on their exploratory trip into
present North Dakota in 1738. The site discovered near Menoken in 1936,
however, may be more definitely established as the village they visited
(_see Tour 8_).
MANITOU (Chippewa, _the Great Spirit_), =302.5 m.= (2,282 alt., 24
pop.), founded when the G. N. Ry. built through the territory in 1887,
today consists of only a consolidated school, a store, and an elevator.
WHITE EARTH, =310.5 m.= (2,099 alt., 240 pop.), founded in 1891,
probably was named for the fine, white, clayey sand which has washed
down into the White Earth River valley. It overlies the Laramie
formation, which is exposed in many places on the sides of the valley,
150 ft. deep here. While diversified farming predominates in the
vicinity, traces of the old West are still found on a few small ranches
along the White Earth River between the route and the Missouri River to
the S.
TIOGA (Iroquois, _beautiful valley_), =321.5 m.= (2,241 alt., 435
pop.), was founded in 1902.
RAY, =335 m.= (2,271 alt., 621 pop.), named for Al G. Ray, chief
special agent for the G. N. Ry. when the town was established in 1902,
is scattered on level land along the railroad right-of-way. It was one
of the first towns in the United States to adopt a commission form of
city government (1910).
1. Right from Ray on a graveled county road to the WILLIAM SIMPSON FARM
HOME, =8 m.=, where there is an unusual COLLECTION (_open_) of South
African oddities, collected by Simpson, a Scotchman, who during several
years there obtained animal skins, beads, heads, and horns from the
natives.
2. Left from Ray on a dirt graded county highway to the junction with
another road, =10 m.=; L. here to the first WELL AND DERRICK of the
Big Viking Oil Company, on the Nesson Flats, =17 m.=, a level bench
just above the Missouri River opposite the mouth of TOBACCO GARDEN
CREEK (_see Tour 10_). Interest in a prospective oil field here led to
a 40-day $25,000 survey and the expenditure of $195,000 in test well
drilling by the Standard Oil Company of California in 1937. More than
200,000 acres in oil leases were taken up in the vicinity, and the
company plans (1938) to expend another $200,000 before completing the
test drilling.
Opposite Nesson Flats near the mouth of Tobacco Garden Creek an attack
upon a river steamer was made by a Sioux war party July 7, 1863. The
Sioux, goaded to hostility by repeated violations of treaties and
corrupt handling of annuity goods by governmental agencies, had met the
_Robert Campbell_ at Fort Pierre, S. Dak., to ask for the goods due
them. When Samuel M. Latta, Indian agent in charge of distribution of
the boat's cargo--a newcomer in the Indian service, arrogant and none
too scrupulous--withheld one-third of the goods, the Indians vowed to
follow the boat up the river to Fort Benton, its destination. For 600
miles they harassed the steamer, pouring shots into it at every vantage
point, attacking the crew at each woodyard, and making life miserable
for all on board.
At that time the river at the mouth of Tobacco Garden Creek was quite
narrow, and the Indians chose this spot for a massed attack. Joseph
LaBarge, captain of the =Robert Campbell=, realizing the hazards of
steaming through this point, made his boat fast to the opposite bank to
prepare for a parley. The Sioux sent word that they wanted no trouble,
only the annuity goods due them. Latta, however, refused to give up
the goods, and suggested sending a yawl ashore to negotiate with the
Indians. The Sioux consented, provided Latta came ashore. He, in turn,
agreed to go, but when the yawl was ready he became conveniently ill in
his cabin.
The yawl went ashore and had hardly landed when the Indians, angered
by Latta's perfidy, attacked the crew. Three were killed and another
wounded before the crew of the steamer opened fire, killing 18 Indians
and 20 horses. The slain white men were buried next day on a bluff
opposite the mouth of the Little Muddy Creek, where the city of
Williston now stands (_see below_).
WHEELOCK, =342 m.= (2,387 alt., 115 pop.), named for Ralph W. Wheelock,
an editorial writer on the Minneapolis (Minn.) _Tribune_ in the early
1900's, is the highest point of elevation on the G. N. Ry. in North
Dakota.
Left from Wheelock on an improved dirt road to the junction with
an unimproved dirt road, =5 m.=; L. here =3 m.= to HUNGRY GULCH, a
pleasant ravine on Tobacco Garden Creek. From the base of one hill
bubbles a spring of clear water, and level areas under clumps of
trees invite picnic spreads on the banks of the creek. Along the
stream is a deposit of "fool's gold", or pyrite, which in 1902 had
gold prospectors agog in anticipation of wealth. The story is told
that, in the rush to stake claims here, James Moorman, on whose land
the "strike" was made, was the only person to benefit. He made a
substantial profit selling the hungry prospectors his small stock of
flour, in the form of pancakes, at exorbitant prices. When the supply
was exhausted and appetites still were not satisfied, Moorman told them
he would peel bark from the trees for them to eat. The ravine has since
been known as Hungry Gulch.
South of the junction with unimproved road to SEVEN MILE HILL, =7 m.=,
a large, fairly level elevation over which passed the old trail used by
fur traders, soldiers, and travelers between Bismarck and Williston.
Blue Buttes, prominent peaks in the Badlands across the Missouri,
are visible in the SE. on a clear day; N. and E. is an expanse of
prairie; and to the S. and W. the Missouri, with its wooded banks and
lowlands, winds to the horizon. Near the foot of the hill is CUSAC
SPRINGS FARM (R), where a skirmish apparently unrecorded in military
annals--possibly between Indians and soldiers--took place near a
spring. Rifle pits are still visible, and rifle shells and human bones
have been found in them.
EPPING, =348.5 m.= (2,224 alt., 183 pop.), named for Epping, in
England, lies on the southern slope of one of the many rolling hills of
the prairie.
Left from Epping on a graveled county road, formerly US 2, to the
EPPING-SPRINGBROOK DAM, =5 m.=, largest earthfill dam in the State.
Constructed as an FERA and WPA project, it was completed in 1936. This
bulwark on STONY CREEK has created a lake covering 180 acres, which,
including a strip of land around the water, will be made into a State
park devoted entirely to recreation. A six-inch pipe will make a flow
of water available for a limited amount of irrigation below the dam.
At =358 m.= the tableland of the Missouri Plateau comes to an abrupt
end, and the highway descends into the valley of LITTLE MUDDY CREEK.
From the top of the hill leading into this valley there is a panorama
of level land dotted with farmhouses, and in the distance to the L. are
the Missouri River and Williston.
At =359 m.= is the junction with an unimproved private road.
Right on this road to the OASIS GARDENS, =0.5 m.=, a private truck farm
where irrigation has been successfully employed.
At =361 m.= is the junction with US 85 (_see Tour 4_), a graveled
highway. US 2 and 85 are one route to =375.5 m.=
At =367.5 m.= is the junction with a graveled driveway.
Left on this driveway to the twin artificial lakes known as LAKE
MINNEKOSH (Sioux, _twin waters_), =0.3 m.= These lakes, built under a
Federal project, are formed by dammed springs (_sand beaches_, _diving
towers_, _bathing houses_).
WILLISTON, =370.5 m.= (1,861 alt., 5,106 pop.), was named by James J.
Hill, builder and first president of the G. N. Ry., for his friend S.
Willis James of New York City, who was one of the stockholders in the
company. The JAMES MEMORIAL LIBRARY, cor. 1st Ave. W. and 7th St., is a
gift of the James family.
A large residential district and an active business section form
the city, which is Williams County seat and the trade center for a
large agricultural area in northwestern North Dakota and northeastern
Montana. It lies on a gravelly terrace between the lowlands of the
Missouri River and the hills and prairies. The river, which at one
time flowed at the foot of Main St. and now has cut its channel
nearly a mile to the S., has played a prominent part in the history
of the locality. Up it came Lewis and Clark in 1805 on their historic
expedition to the Pacific coast. In 1832 the _Yellowstone_, first
steamboat to navigate the upper Missouri, passed the site, and by 1860
several boats were plying the stream. For 20 years after the gold
strike in Montana in 1863 and 1864 the river was the major channel of
communication to the Northwest.
The first white settler in the vicinity was Robert Matthews, employed
by the post traders at Fort Buford to cut hay for the cavalry horses.
In the 1870's he established himself some distance below the present
town, near where Stony Creek flows into the Little Muddy. Here he kept
a stock of goods for sale, and often hired crews of woodcutters to
supply the demand for fuel for the steamboats. A post office known as
Little Muddy was established on his ranch.
Although Matthews was the first permanent settler in the immediate
Williston area, the first white man to settle in Williams County
outside a trading or military post was George Grinnell. Born in
Maryland, he served as a spy for Gen. Philip H. Sheridan in the Army
of the Potomac, was honorably discharged, and in 1865 accompanied a
military wagon train from Fort Snelling, Minn., to Fort Berthold. The
next year found him established as a "woodhawk", furnishing fuel to
the steamboats, near the mouth of Dry Fork Creek, where he operated a
sawmill until advised that he was on Government property. Part of each
year he hunted along the Missouri, and for a time in 1875 was with a
party of gold seekers in the Musselshell country of Montana.
It was common practice of the period for hunters, traders, or trappers
to select a "woman of convenience" from among the Indians. In many
instances these women were mistreated and even held in contempt by
the very men who took them from their tribes. Grinnell was one of
these men. In his earlier days along the Missouri he lived with a
pure-blooded Indian woman, later discarding her for an educated and
talented half-breed, Josephine Manuri. One bitter cold winter day
Josephine's small son had wandered from the house and been lost.
Several men were ready to search for the youngster but Grinnell,
wishing to show his contempt for his wife, threatened to kill the first
man to go after him. In the group was George Newton, buffalo hunter
and pioneer Williston businessman, who replied, "Then you've got me to
kill," and went out and brought the child back to his mother.
One day in 1888, coming from his saloon where he had been drinking
heavily, Grinnell began to abuse his wife, who ran from him to a nearby
field where several men were plowing. Too drunk to pursue her on foot,
he mounted his horse and followed her to the field where, in an attempt
to strike her with the butt of his pistol, he fell from his horse,
carrying his wife down with him. The two struggled for several minutes,
none of the bystanders daring to interfere for fear of his gun.
Suddenly Grinnell relaxed and lay quiet. He was in the habit of wearing
around his neck a long leather watch thong with a sliding knot, and in
the struggle his wife had clung to this thong and strangled him. After
ascertaining that Grinnell was dead one of the onlookers remarked,
"Let's go get a drink," and they all retired to his saloon, leaving the
body as it was. Later a coroner's jury at Williston absolved the woman
of all blame in the death of her husband with the unique verdict that
Grinnell "... came to his death through an act of Almighty God, by the
hand of His agent, Josephine Grinnell."
With the coming of the railroad Williston was moved to higher ground
farther W. It was only a tent colony and a few log cabins when the
rails were laid into it in 1887, and it was said to have had a saloon
on each corner of its one business block, with seven or eight others
between. The late Joseph Stroud, pioneer Williston merchant, related
that on the occasion of his first visit to the new town he was
attracted by a large crowd of men on the street, engaged in rolling
a man over a barrel. Inquiring of a bystander as to the cause of the
man's accident, he was informed that the victim had taken a drink of
water by mistake.
By 1900 a steady influx of homesteaders into the Williston area
had begun, and by 1910 the most desirable lands in the surrounding
territory had been settled. Williston's population of 5,000, which has
fluctuated little in the last 20 years, was attained by 1915.
An important factor in the rapid growth of the city was the location
here of the division headquarters of the G. N. Ry. The roundhouse, car
repair shop, and huge ice house require the services of a large force
of men. The railroad stockyards E. of the city accommodate 93 carloads
of livestock, and have loading equipment for 23 cars; many trainloads,
of western sheep and cattle are fed in transit annually. On several
occasions a million bushels of grain have been handled at Williston in
a year. The city is an important primary turkey market, and thousands
of birds are shipped to holiday markets each year.