Williston the _Cooperative City of North Dakota_. The FARMERS UNION
COOPERATIVE CREAMERY, rated as the largest enterprise of its kind in
the State, has its modern plant on W. Broadway. On W. 2nd St. (US 2 and
85) is the FARMERS UNION OIL CO. PLANT, which maintains a wholesale
department for oils, tires, and binder twine, and has a tractor and
farm machinery repair division. On W. 1st St. is the FARMERS NATIONAL
WAREHOUSE CORP. BUILDING, a concrete elevator with 217,000 bu.
capacity, said to be the largest cooperatively owned primary grain
warehouse in the United States. Newest of the cooperatives is the
POULTRY PLANT on W. 2nd St. at the outskirts of the city.
In RECREATION PARK, between 2nd and 3rd Aves. W. and 4th and 5th Sts.
W., are playground facilities, a bandstand, and a number of cages of
wild animals and birds; the larger animals are kept in WESTLAWN PARK,
in the northwestern part of the city. HARMON FIELD (_baseball diamond_,
_football gridiron_, _cinder track_, _swimming pool_), at the northern
end of Main St., was built under the Civil Works Administration. Two
annual events in Williston are the Old Fiddlers Contest (_Jan._), and
the Upper Missouri Band Tournament (_1st wk. in June_).
Left from Williston on E. Broadway on a graveled Scenic Highway,
following the route of the old overland trail between Bismarck and
Fort Buford (_see Side Tour 3B_), to the junction with a graded dirt
highway at =2.5 m.=; R. here across CRAZY MAN'S COULEE, =3 m.= One day
in the early 1880's Robert Matthews (see above), the first settler in
the region, was seated on the steps of his ranch house just W. of the
ravine when he saw a man, dressed in skins and with hair falling to his
shoulders, come out of the thickets in the coulee. Matthews knew that
no one lived in the country for miles around, and was interested in
learning his identity. When the man saw the ranch buildings, however,
he started away, broke into a run, and disappeared into the brush
along the creek running through the ravine. About a year later a man
similarly dressed, perhaps the same person, came out of the brush and
repeated the performance of the previous year. Matthews remarked to his
wife, "That is surely Crazy Man's Coulee over there. That's the second
wild man who has come out of it."
Left from Crazy Man's Coulee =1.5 m.= on an unimproved dirt road to
MEDICINE LODGE SPRING (R), in the coulee farther to the E. An early
homesteader bottled and sold the mineral water of the spring. However,
the Indians had discovered its health-giving qualities many years
before, and used to come long distances to camp here. One of their
favorite camping places was MEDICINE LODGE HILL, visible about 1 m.
N. of the spring, from whose height signal fires could be seen in all
directions, and from which game or enemies could easily be sighted.
Atop the hill are traces of Indian rings.
Southeast from Crazy Man's Coulee on the Scenic Highway to a junction
at =5.5 m.=; L. to =11.5 m.=; R. to =13.5 m.=; L. to =15.5 m.=; R. to
the Babcock Farm, =19 m.= Right here on an unimproved trail to the Harm
Arends place on SPANISH POINT, =22 m.=
A short distance from the Arends farm is LAKE JESSIE (_boating_,
_fishing_, _swimming_), an oxbow lake formed by the changing channel of
the Missouri. The woods offer many natural camping places; the Upper
Missouri District of the Great Plains Area, Boy Scouts of America,
maintains a summer camp for boys here. Spanish Point was first known as
the Spanish Woodyard, from the fact that two Mexicans in 1868 started
selling fuel here to the steamers plying between St. Louis and the
Montana gold fields. The Mexicans were joined by other woodcutters,
and for a time the group prospered. A murder, two deaths at the hands
of Indians, and other disasters, however, took their toll, and by 1870
the log cabin and stockade were deteriorating, and in a short time the
river had washed away all traces of the woodyard.
West of Williston the MISSOURI RIVER (L) is bordered on the near side
by timbered bottomlands, and on the far side by high, steep buttes.
At =375.5 m.= is the junction (L) with US 85 (_see Tour 4_), and at
=387.5 m.= is the junction with a county graveled road (_see Side Tour
6B_). The route crosses the Montana Line at =390.5 m.=, 132 m. E. of
Glasgow, Mont. (_see Mont. Tour 2_).
SIDE TOUR 6A
Devils Lake (city)--Camp Grafton--Devils Lake--Fort Totten Indian
Agency--Sully's Hill National Game Preserve--Devils Lake (city). ND
20, ND 57, and Indian Service roads.
Devils Lake to Devils Lake, 33 m.
Graveled roadbed.
No accommodations along route.
This circular route from the city of Devils Lake along the beautifully
wooded southern shore of the lake passes the homes of the Sioux and
Chippewa Indians near the Fort Totten Agency, and many points connected
with Indian life and legend.
ND 20 branches S. from US 2 in DEVILS LAKE, =0.0 m.= (_see Tour 6_).
South of the city is level farming land, once the bed of a shallow
glacial sea of which DEVILS LAKE, =5 m.=, is a remnant. The name is the
white man's misinterpretation of the Sioux name Minnewaukan, _mystery_,
or _spirit water_. Approximately 30 m. by 10 m., the lake is narrow
and extremely irregular, with many little bays and peninsulas, and
is surrounded by high morainic hills which, particularly along the
southern shore, are heavily wooded. The clear water is strongly
impregnated with sulphite, sodium carbonate, lime, magnesium, and
iron--much like the water of oceans. It has been calculated that at
the time of origin several thousand years ago the lake had a depth of
56 ft. A fall of 21 ft. is shown between that time and the Government
land survey of 1883, and a further fall of more than 26 ft. in the
half century since. At the time of the survey fish were plentiful in
the lake, and each spring in the early 1880's the settlers caught them
with pitchforks and took them away by the wagonload. In 1888, for some
reason never clearly explained, the fish disappeared from the lake, and
by 1909 the water level had fallen so far that commercial shipping on
the lake was discontinued (_see Tour 6_). The sudden recession of the
lake is attributed to the lack of ground and surface water in North
Dakota, and has constituted a strong argument for the proposed Missouri
River diversion project which would store water from the Missouri and
divert it for use in the eastern part of this State and South Dakota,
and in western Minnesota.
Many legends concerning Devils Lake have been handed down by the
Indians. One tells of two Indian braves who were talking and smoking
on the shore, when one of them idly thrust his knife into a large log
lying on the water's edge. The log slid into the lake, and the men saw
that it was a huge sea monster. Some say this serpent still lives in
a hole in the bottom of the lake, and can be seen at times; that the
water rises and boils when he comes out of his lair; that he leaves the
lake at night to sleep on the shore.
Another story relates how a victorious party of Sioux warriors, who
had attacked the Chippewa against the advice of Owanda the Seer, were
swallowed up by the lake as they returned across its surface from the
battle.
Phantom ships are the subject of a number of stories told by both white
people and Indians. Under proper atmospheric conditions the waters of
the lake throw off a vapor through which birds swimming on the surface
can be seen from a distance highly magnified and resembling ships
moving on the lake.
At =5 m.= is a junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road is LAKEWOOD PARK (_cottages can be rented_; _due
to low water level, lake unsuitable for bathing here_ (_1938_); _band
concerts_, _dancing_, _baseball_, _and boating_), =1 m.=, (1,460
alt., 200 pop.), on an attractive arm of the lake known as Creel's
Bay. The settlement grew up about a Chautauqua movement which was
inaugurated in 1892, continued for more than 35 years, and became the
third largest in the country (1911). During Chautauqua season in the
early days steamboats, including the _Minnie H_. (_see Tour 6_), made
daily excursions to points of interest on the lake. The Chautauqua
association had its own railway from the park to Devils Lake, and on
some occasions special trains were run on all lines leading into the
city. The point is still a popular summer resort.
At =6 m.=, at the "Narrows" of the lake, which is now only about 400
ft. wide, is a junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road to CAMP GRAFTON, =2.5 m.=, where field training
of the North Dakota National Guard has been conducted annually since
1904. Named for Lt. Col. Gilbert C. Grafton, who died in the World War,
the camp covers about 6 of the 180 sq. m. that once composed the Fort
Totten military reserve. Two-week maneuvers are held in June, usually
early in the month, with 21 units, totaling approximately 1,100 troops,
participating. The high light of the training events is Governor's Day,
the second Sunday of the period, when the camp is put on dress parade
for inspection by the chief executive of the State, who is commander in
chief of its armed forces.
At =6.5 m.= on ND 20 is a junction with ND 57, now the tour route.
Left on ND 20 to the junction with a graveled county road, =10 m.=; R.
here is TOKIO, =10.8 m.= (1,501 alt., 112 pop.), near the center of the
original Fort Totten Indian Reservation.
Right from Tokio =1.5 m.= on a county dirt road to the DEVIL'S
HEART, highest point in the Devils Lake area. For the Sioux it was a
traditional meeting place to discuss war, hunting, or other ventures,
and their name for it, in translation, means _center of the region_.
Any promise made by an Indian on this hill is said to be sacred, and
must be conscientiously fulfilled. Father J. B. Genin, one of the
earliest missionaries to the Indians of this region, erected a cross
on the crest of the hill March 4, 1868, and at the same time announced
that Devils Lake was to be known as St. Michael's Lake, but the change
was never popularly adopted, and lake and town still bear the ancient
mystic Indian name. From the top of Devil's Heart there is an excellent
panorama of the entire lake region.
South from Tokio on the county graveled road to a junction at =11 m.=;
R. to =12.3 m.=; L. to WOOD LAKE (_tourist and camping facilities_;
_boating_, _fishing supplies_), =13.3 m.=, a small wooded body of
water. Fishing is good during open season (_May 15-Nov. 1 for perch_,
_June 5-Nov. 1 for crappie_). In June and July a boys' camp is operated
here by the Devils Lake Boy Scouts. On the northwestern shore is the
BENSON COUNTY PARK (_picnicking and camping_), a 40-acre tract improved
under the Works Progress Administration in 1937.
Between its junction with ND 20 and Fort Totten, ND 57 winds along
the lake shore at the foot of the high, tree-clad range, and is known
as the Burtness Scenic Highway, in honor of O. B. Burtness of Grand
Forks (1884-), who as a Congressman from North Dakota (1921-27) was
influential in obtaining funds for construction of the road.
At =11.3 m.= on ND 57 is a junction with a trail.
Left on this trail to the SKI SLIDE, =0.5 m.=, of the Lake Region Ski
Club. Each year (_Feb._) riders from all parts of the United States
participate in the tournament held here.
At =13.3 m.= is a MONUMENT TO FATHER JEROME HUNT, who served St.
Michael's Mission (_see below_) almost 40 years. With the help of
a young Indian, Ignatius Court, whom he sent to the office of the
Devils Lake _News_ to learn the art of printing, he published a small
newspaper, two prayer books, and Bible stories, all in the Siouan
language.
FORT TOTTEN, =14 m.= (1,470 alt., 1,250 pop., including town and
reservation), with its uniform white agency buildings primly facing a
central square, was originally a military post established in 1867 as a
step in the plan to place the Indians of the region on a reservation.
The reservation, named for Gen. Gilbert Totten, then Chief, Engineer
Corps, U. S. Army, was established through a treaty in 1867 with the
Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Cut-Head Sioux. On July 17, 1867, Gen. A. H.
Terry, commander of the Department of Dakota, arrived on the southern
shore of Devils Lake with three companies of the Thirty-First U. S.
Infantry, to establish the post. The original fort was of logs, and
still stands half a mile S. of the brick buildings that replaced it in
1868. The bricks for the fort were made on the reservation, and, with
the exception of present Fort Lincoln (_see Tour 8_), built much later,
this is considered the best-built fort in the history of North Dakota.
Principally used as troops' winter quarters, the post sometimes had
as many as five companies and at other times only one. Fort Totten
troops acted as escorts for surveyors of the N. P. Ry. and for the
International Boundary Line Commission, and participated in various
campaigns in Dakota and Montana, returning to the fort for the winter.
Although the Indians of the region were usually quite peaceable, there
was occasional trouble with them, particularly on the route to Fort
Stevenson along the Missouri (_see Tour 10_). This trail constituted
the main channel of transportation and communication for Fort Totten in
its early days. An anonymous poem describes what is said to have been
an actual occurrence (although the date given is not correct) in which
Josh Murphy and Charlie Reynolds--General Custer's scout on the Black
Hills expedition, who died with Custer at the Little Big Horn (_see_
HISTORY)--are carrying the mail into Fort Totten.
"It was in the spring of sixty-four,
Just a little while ere the war was o'er,
That 'twas mine the mail bags to transport
From Stevenson Pass to Totten fort;
Through the rugged passes the route to take
O'er the mountains that frown on Devils Lake;
Those canyons alive with skulking crews
Of the Chippewas and the savage Sioux;
But my heart felt light and my arm felt strong
For brave Josh Murphy rode along."
Josh is shot by Indians and begs his companion to prevent them from
taking his scalp. Charlie lifts the dying man to his saddle and Josh's
pony dashes into the night.
"We sought for Josh and we struck his trail
In the dew damp notes of the scattered mail;
And we found him at last, scarce a pistol shot
From the picket wall of the fort he sought.
There he proudly lay with his unscalped head
On the throbless breast of his pony--dead!
And the route from the pass to the cedared hill
Is known as the 'Deadman's Journey' still."
The garrison was withdrawn from Fort Totten in 1890, and the mission
school, which had been conducted by the Grey Nuns of Montreal since
1874, was consolidated with the Indian Industrial School and housed
with the agency offices in the fort buildings. Approximately 1,000
Sioux and a small number of Chippewa--many of both tribes are now of
mixed blood--are under jurisdiction of the agency. At the school here
the boys are taught dairying, gardening, carpentry, shoe repairing,
steam and electrical engineering, baking, and tailoring; and the girls,
sewing, laundering, cooking, and housekeeping.
At the auditorium (_last wk. Feb._) is held the annual Midwinter Fair.
Another annual fair is held (_1st wk. Sept._) on the fairgrounds
adjoining the agency on the NW. To both of these a few Indians bring
handicraft work for sale; elsewhere such work is scarce, though
beadwork and certain primitive musical instruments--flutes of red
cedar, whistles of bone, large drums, tom-toms, rattles, and string
bells--can be obtained at some of the homes.
The reservation, with its wooded hills and ravines, and its numerous
lakes, is a beautiful region. Originally covering 360 sq. m., it has
been reduced to 137,000 acres. The land is allotted in 60-acre tracts
to a family, and some farming is done. The economic status of the
Indians here is poor, however.
At Fort Totten is the junction (L) with a graveled Indian Service road,
from this point the tour route.
Right from Fort Totten on ND 57 to the INDIAN RESETTLEMENT TRACT (R),
=0.5 m.=, where the Government has constructed 13 new homes for the
Indians.
At =2 m.= on ND 57 are the DEVIL'S EARS, two long hills through which
the highway runs. A man passing between these hills loses his mind,
according to Indian legend, but regains it as soon as he comes out
of the valley. The Indians are reluctant to discuss these hills with
strangers; for while their pre-Christian philosophy included no devils,
the hills were believed to have some connection with the Great Mystery
or Great Spirit.
On the graveled Indian Service road is the 800-acre SULLY'S HILL
NATIONAL GAME PRESERVE, =15.5 m.= (_no admission charge_; _picnic
shelters_, _playgrounds_, _pure water_, _camping facilities_; _vehicles
not allowed within fenced area_). Trees and shrubs cover the hills
of the park almost to their peaks, and tiny lakes dot the valleys,
making this a beautiful spot. The park and its highest point, Sully's
Hill, are named for Gen. Alfred H. Sully, to commemorate his Indian
expeditions into North Dakota. A high woven-wire fence encloses small
herds of buffalo, elk, and deer, also wild fowl. Some of the animals
are quite tame, and amuse visitors with their antics. More than 14,000
people visited the park in 1935.
The DEVIL'S TOOTH (L), =17 m.=, a boulder about 6 ft. high and 5
ft. square at the base, resembles a tooth with its roots extending
upward. This rock is greatly revered by the Indians, who tell that
an Indian mother wandered over the hill one day carrying her child,
and disappeared. Searchers, looking for her in vain, found this large
stone, which had not been here before, and concluded it was the
spirit of the woman and child. The stone has since had a reputation
of connection with evil spirits. Gifts are often left here by Indians
when a relative has died, but it is said that other Indians sometimes
appropriate these offerings. It is an old custom for an Indian to give
away part or even all of his possessions after the death of a loved one.
At =19 m.= L. on a graveled Indian Service road.
At =21 m.= (R) is small, attractive COURT LAKE (_charge of 10c per day
or 25c per wk. for use of bathing beach_), named for Ignatius Court,
the Indian who helped Father Hunt print a Siouan newspaper in the
early days of St. Michael's Mission, and who served for many years as
official interpreter at the Fort Totten Agency.
At =21.8 m.= is a junction with a graveled Indian Service road (L), now
the route.
Right on this road is ST. MICHAEL, =2 m.= (1,470 alt., 180 pop.), at
the foot of Mission Hill, which affords a good view of the surrounding
country. Here is ST. MICHAEL'S MISSION, established in 1874 by the
Grey Nuns order of the Roman Catholic Church, through the efforts of
Maj. William H. Forbes, first Indian agent on the reservation. At the
mission lived and worked Father Jerome Hunt (_see above_). The old
mission church is still standing.
Left from the St. Michael junction to ND 57 at =22.5 m.=; R. here to
Devils Lake, =33 m.=
[Illustration: RABBIT'S EARS NEAR AMIDON
_Photo by Russell Reid_]
[Illustration:
GRAND CANYON OF THE LITTLE MISSOURI
_Photo by Hugh W. Hempel_]
SIDE TOUR 6B
Junction US 2--Buford--Fort Buford State Park.
Junction with US 2 to Fort Buford State Park, 9.5 m.
Unmarked graveled road 8.5 m., unimproved road 1 m.
No accommodations.
The remains of Fort Buford, at the end of this route, evoke memories of
the once feared Indian chieftains Sitting Bull, Gall, and Joseph, and
of the notable military leaders Gen. Hugh E. Scott and Gen. William H.
Hazen.
The route, an unmarked gravel road, branches S. from US 2 (_see Tour
6_) 17 m. W. of Williston. At =8 m.= is BUFORD (1,950 alt., 52 pop.), a
little village named for the old fort. At =8.5 m.= is the junction with
an unimproved road; L. here.
On the SITE OF FORT BUFORD, =9 m.=, a stone powder house and the
regimental headquarters buildings still stand; the military cemetery is
to the S.
In 1828 John Jacob Astor's American Fur Co. built its principal
post on the upper Missouri, Fort Union, 3 m. up the Missouri from
the mouth of the Yellowstone, a few hundred yards E. of the present
Montana Line. For almost 40 years Fort Union was the most important
trading post in the Dakotas. Unfortunately, the traders at the post
were more interested in getting furs cheaply than in preserving the
morale of the Indians of the region. Whiskey, although prohibited,
flowed freely. Quarrels between the Indians and the white men were
frequent. Conditions were so bad in 1864 when Gen. Alfred Sully made a
visit to the post following his campaign against the Sioux (_see Tour
8 and Side Tour 8D_), that he recommended Government control of the
trading posts if peace were ever to be made with the Indians. Upon his
recommendation, therefore, Fort Buford was established in June 1866
opposite the mouth of the Yellowstone. Fort Union was dismantled and
its materials were brought here for use in building the new post.
Because of its strategic position, the new fort, named for Gen.
John Buford, who distinguished himself at Gettysburg, commanded the
water routes to the Northwest, and for more than 25 years was one of
the country's vital Army posts. The fort was garrisoned partly by
ex-Confederate soldiers, prisoners of war who had been paroled on oath
that they would not again bear arms against the Union and on agreement
to enlist for service in the outposts of the West. It played an active
part in the settlement of the Indian troubles, and in establishing the
Indians upon the reservations.
When Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce followers from Oregon finally
surrendered in the Bear Paw Mountains of Montana in 1877 after leading
their pursuers a merry 2,000-mile chase through the Rockies for more
than a year, he was brought to Fort Buford before being placed on a
reservation in Washington. Sitting Bull and his band of Sioux, after
their flight into Canada in a vain attempt to avoid confinement on the
reservation, also came to Fort Buford in 1881, and it was before the
regimental headquarters building, the southernmost of the group now
standing, that the chief surrendered. Gall had preceded him by a few
months, also coming to Fort Buford to give himself up.
Telegraphic connections with Fort Lincoln were established in 1873, and
a wagon road, used until 1881, connected Fort Buford with the Custer
post and with the railroad, which at that time ended in Bismarck. It
followed the eastern side of the Missouri, and is still in use in some
places (_see Side Tour 3B_). Except for goods sent by steamboat, all
supplies and mail were freighted over this road.
Fort Buford was sold at public auction in 1895. The 20-room residence
of the commanding officers was purchased by John Mercer, who maintained
it as a museum until its destruction by fire in 1937.
South of the old buildings is FORT BUFORD STATE PARK, =9.5 m.=,
including the military CEMETERY OF THE FORT. The unkept graves, some
marked with marble slabs, some with wooden markers on which the
inscriptions have lost all legibility, are sunken and overgrown with
grass.
About a quarter of a mile SE. of the buildings by the river, in the
1830's and 1840's, stood a trading post known first as Fort William
and later as Fort Mortimer. When William Sublette and Robert Campbell
built Fort William in 1833, they found themselves treated as intruders
by the monopolistic American Fur Co. post at Fort Union. The policy
of the American Fur Co., in its fight against competition, was to try
every kind of tactics, from rate wars to the instigation of killings
by the Indians. On a typical occasion a band of Blackfeet Indians,
coming to trade, was met by a procession from Fort Union headed by a
band in full uniform, with the traders following, bearing articles of
barter. That day the impressionable aborigines traded at Fort Union.
Another time a Fort William expedition to the Crow Indians was robbed
of everything including horses by marauders believed to have been sent
by the neighboring post.