stopping place of the Sibley column. A few rifle pits dug for camp
protection are still visible, and a bronze tablet marks the site. No
engagement took place here, the rifle pits being evidence of Sibley's
precautions against Indian attack.
VALLEY CITY, =58.5 m.= (1,220 alt., 5,268 pop.), seat of Barnes County,
lies sheltered and hidden in the deeply wooded Sheyenne River valley.
Originally known as Worthington, it was given its present name when
incorporated as a city in 1881.
The city's first settlers came with the N. P. Ry. in 1872, but Jay
Cooke & Co., financiers of the railroad, crashed in the Nation-wide
panic of 1873, and the next five years brought a suspension of
business and immigration. From 1878, however, the city had a steady
growth; today it is the center of a large area of diversified farming,
with flour milling and the processing of dairy products the chief
industries. One notable asset of the city is a municipal light plant
which supplies electrical energy at the lowest rates prevalent in
the State, and provides an excellent street-lighting system without
taxation. The studios and transmitter of KOVC, Valley City, are at 312
5th Ave.
On an attractive campus at the southern end of 5th Ave. is the VALLEY
CITY STATE TEACHERS COLLEGE, established in 1890. In 1895 Gov. Roger
Allin vetoed the State appropriations for the university and colleges,
and, like Other State educational institutions, the Valley City college
was kept open by popular subscriptions for the biennial period. One of
the outstanding alumni of the school is Paul Fjelde, a former student
of Lorado Taft, who was commissioned to do the bust of Abraham Lincoln
that North Dakota presented to Norway in 1914. A copy of this work has
been placed in the auditorium of the college.
Near the college campus on 1st St. is CITY PARK, which contains
recreational facilities and a small zoo. CHAUTAUQUA PARK (_swimming
pool_, _playgrounds_, _large auditorium_) is in the northeastern part
of the city.
In the BARNES COUNTY COURTHOUSE, 6th St. bet. 3rd and 4th Aves., is
a small museum which includes the Indian collection of Vernon Gale,
an amateur archeologist. Among his exhibits are several stone hearts,
which have been found only in the valley of Spiritwood Lake (=see
below=).
The N. P. Ry. HIGH BRIDGE, known as the "Hi-Line", casts its long
shadow across the river valley N. of Chautauqua Park. Including the
approaches, it measures 1 m., a long railroad trestle for its height,
which is 148 ft. above the water level of the Sheyenne.
Right from Valley City on Chautauqua Blvd., which becomes a graveled
road leading to a spot still known as ASHTABULA, =17 m.=, the name of a
post office once operated here. A ford in the Sheyenne at this point,
Sibley's Crossing, was used by Capt. James Fisk's immigrant trains
to the Montana gold fields in 1862 and 1863, and twice by the Sibley
military expedition in 1863, and later was on the Fort Ransom-Fort
Totten trail. Deep ruts of wagon trains are still visible and can be
traced across the valley.
At Valley City is a junction (L) with ND 1, a graveled highway (_see
Side Tour 8A_), which unites with US 10 to =63.5 m.=, where ND 1 (_see
Side Tour 8B_) branches R.
On US 10 at the western end of the city is PIONEER PARK (R), where an
outdoor amphitheater has been built. The park also contains a small
frame schoolhouse, typical of the pioneer period, which was moved from
its site four miles west of the city.
SANBORN, =70.5 m.= (1,443 alt., 343 pop.), named for J. N. Sanborn,
a Fargo pioneer, was at one time a booming trade center, and seemed
destined to become important, until two severe blows retarded its
growth. First, in 1880, after a hot campaign, it lost the county seat
election to Valley City; and then, in 1882, the county treasurer, whose
bond had been furnished by the businessmen of the town, absconded
with the county moneys, including a special fund for the erection of
a courthouse. Among the early settlers of Sanborn was I. W. Barnum,
brother of P. T. Barnum of circus fame.
ECKELSON, =75.5 m.= (1,472 alt., 100 pop.), was named for A. O.
Eckelson, a N. P. Ry. civil engineer of the 1870's, and was first
platted a mile E. of its present site. Because of the steep incline of
the railroad at that point, however, trains were unable to stop and the
town had to be moved to more level ground.
SPIRITWOOD, =82.5 m.= (1,475 alt., 267 pop.), is named for the lake 16
m. NW.
At =93.5 m.= is the junction with ND 20, a graveled highway.
Right on this highway to the junction with a county graveled road,
=10 m.=; R. here to SPIRITWOOD LAKE (_bathing beaches_, _boathouses_,
_cottages_, _golf course_, _and two pavilions on the southern shore_),
16 m., an attractive resort in a wooded valley. It is known to the
Sioux as Minneskaya (_water with white foam on top_). According to an
Indian legend, a grief-stricken girl plunged into its waters to join
her drowned lover, and her spirit still resides in the lake.
On the northern shore of the lake the State Game and Fish Commission
maintains an AVIARY where Mongolian pheasants are confined for breeding
purposes. Eggs are hatched on nearby farms and the poults are then
returned to the aviary for distribution throughout the State.
In the vicinity of Spiritwood Lake have been found several heart-shaped
stones marked with a small cross, probably representing a star. This
is the only locality in the State where these stone hearts have been
found, and archeologists believe they are the product of the early
Indians. Specimens are on display at the State historical society
museum (_see_ BISMARCK) and in the Vernon Gale Collection (_see_ VALLEY
CITY _above_).
JAMESTOWN, =95.5 m.= (1,405 alt., 8,187 pop.), Stutsman County seat,
lies in the fertile valley of the winding JAMES RIVER, described as
the longest unnavigable river in the world. The story is told that
the stream received its name from a French-Indian hunter-trapper who,
having lost his way, was overcome with joy upon discovering the little
river and gave it his own name--Rivière de Jacques.
The first settlement at Jamestown was made in the fall of 1871, when a
corps of five or six N. P. Ry. engineers spent the winter here in order
to be in readiness for work in the spring. Soldiers from Fort Ransom
(_see Side Tour 8A_) acted as a guard for the engineers, and in June a
military post, Fort Cross (later Fort Seward), was established. During
the summer settlers and businessmen came to the community, and a brisk
trade was carried on with the 500 railroad workers and the 3 companies
of soldiers stationed at the fort.
On Sept. 13, 1872, the first train to enter Jamestown crossed the river
into the city. Less than a month later construction crews, incensed
because of unpaid wages, stopped work, and even began tearing up
the newly laid tracks. Soldiers from the fort quickly quelled North
Dakota's first strike.
Railroads played an important role in Jamestown's inception and growth.
At one time there were prospects that two other railroads besides the
N. P. would come into the city, and hope was high that the place would
become an important railroad center. Although these plans did not fully
materialize, one of the new roads, the Midland Continental, did make
the city its home office. Financed by English capital, the Midland
began to build in 1913, with plans for a line connecting Winnipeg,
Man., with the Gulf of Mexico. The World War intervened, foreign
support was withdrawn, and operations ceased after completion of only
70 m. of road, from Edgeley to Wimbledon.
The first church services here were held in a schoolhouse, and a
pioneer tells of how these meetings were faithfully attended by an old
Indian "clad in great dignity and an old nightshirt." Jamestown's first
church, the Presbyterian, was erected in 1881. The first resident Roman
Catholic priest arrived the same year, and resided in a rectory that
measured 14 x 22 ft. Although there were many places in the State where
Catholic church services had long been held, Jamestown in September
1889 became the first seat of the diocese of North Dakota.
In 1879 a group of local businessmen organized the James River
Navigation Co. Of their first steamer, the _Belle of Richmond_, the St.
Paul _Pioneer Press_ said, "The craft is composed of a steam-whistle,
an engine the size of a teakettle and a little boat under it." Ice put
a stop to river navigation that fall, and in May the following year the
initial trip of a new boat that had been built during the winter proved
unsuccessful.
The fertile James River Valley land has produced such bountiful crops
that between 1875 and 1900 farmers often paid for their lands in two
years. A writer of that time says that "though North Dakota didn't have
granite bluffs and waterfalls for its beauty, a land that would yield
twice its cost in the first year would look rather beautiful to most
men."
Maxwell Anderson (1888-), Pulitzer Prize playwright (1933), and Curtis
D. Wilbur (1867-), Secretary of War in President Coolidge's cabinet,
once attended school in Jamestown.
The two leading institutions of Jamestown overlook the city from the
river bluffs on both sides of town. To the SE. is the STATE HOSPITAL
FOR THE INSANE, with its handsome buildings and beautifully landscaped
grounds, a little city within its 2,000 acres of farm land.
JAMESTOWN COLLEGE, on high bluffs (L) on the northeastern edge of
the city, is the oldest, and only private, college in North Dakota.
Founded by the Red River Presbytery in 1883, it was the first school
in the State to offer normal school training for teachers. A plan for
construction in semi-Gothic style has been followed, with the result
that the buildings present a pleasing and uniform campus group.
On the campus is Voorhees Chapel, one of the finest college chapels in
the Midwest; it is built of reinforced concrete, Bedford stone, and
mat-faced Menominee brick. The interior is constructed with huge hammer
beams of Gothic type, and there are two high Gothic windows. The chapel
is also used for musical and dramatic performances, as the intent of
the institution is to make this building the center of college life and
associations.
KLAUS PARK, at the southwestern edge of the city, with entrances on
Elder and Willow Aves., consists of 26 acres of heavily wooded land
lying between the James River and Pipestem Creek. It was donated to
the city by the heirs of Anton Klaus, prominent pioneer affectionately
known as "the father of Jamestown." An outdoor swimming pool is
supplied with warm artesian water. Preserved in the park is one of the
original millstones used in Jamestown's first flour mill built by Anton
Klaus in 1879.
NICKEUS PARK (_equipped playgrounds_), at the northern end of 5th
Ave., is in a loop of the James River. It was donated to the city as a
memorial to a pioneer Jamestown attorney, by Mrs. Fannie B. Nickeus,
his widow.
CITY PARK (_municipal tourist camp_, _ball park_, _fairgrounds_, _and
tennis courts_), at the southern end of 4th Ave., consists of a 52-acre
tract along the wooded James River. The Park Auditorium, completed in
1936 as a WPA project, is a domical building, the design of its facade
carried out in the straight lines and angles of modern architecture.
Constructed with laminated truss-type arches which support the
entire roof load, the auditorium has 25,000 sq. ft. of floor space
unobstructed by supporting columns. Its acoustics is excellent, owing
to the vaulted shape of the roof and the absorbing quality of the
timbers in the arches.
KRMC, Jamestown's radio broadcasting station, has its studios in the
Gladstone Hotel building at 412 Front St. W.; its transmitter is just
across the James River S. of the city.
The ALFRED DICKEY LIBRARY, corner 5th Ave. S. and Pacific St. W.,
is built of red Hebron (N. Dak.) brick. Its style shows a Byzantine
influence.
The SITE OF FORT WILLIAM H. SEWARD is indicated by a marker on US 281
at the foot of the bluffs on the northwestern outskirts of the city.
The post, named for President Lincoln's Secretary of State, was
abandoned in 1877, and in 1925 the N. P. Ry. donated the site, which is
on the bluffs SW. of the marker, as a State park.
Left from Jamestown =2 m.= on Monroe St. to HOMER STATE PARK, a
five-acre tract along the James River that was the site of an
unidentified skirmish between white men and Indians.
ELDRIDGE, =103.5 m.= (1,538 alt., 100 pop.), named for a pioneer
family, is the most westerly town on the route lying within the
Central Lowland of the Interior Plains. Between Eldridge and WINDSOR,
=112.5 m.= (1,839 alt., 110 pop.), whose name was suggested by that of
Windsor, Ont., there is a rise of 300 ft., which marks the division
between the Central Lowland and the Great Plains. The Missouri Plateau,
as this section of the Great Plains is called, extends beyond the
western border of the State. As the route continues into the plateau,
the altitude rises slightly to the village of CLEVELAND, =116 m.=
(1,849 alt., 273 pop.),--named for Cleveland, Ohio--only to fall away
gradually and then rise once more in topping the Altamont Moraine (_see
below_.)
MEDINA, =124 m.= (1,791 alt., 407 pop.), named for Medina, N. Y., has
a strongly Russo-German population. It was originally known as Midway
for its position halfway between Jamestown and Steele, and during the
first two decades of the century was an important commercial point in
the area.
At =126 m.= is the junction with ND 30, a graveled highway.
Left on this highway to the junction with a graded dirt road, =12
m.=; R. here to the junction with another dirt road, =17 m.=; R. to
another junction, =18 m.=; and L. to Lake George, commonly known as
SALT LAKE (_swimming_), 19 m., because of its heavy impregnation with
natural salts. It is said to be one of the deepest lakes in the State.
The southern shore has an excellent sand beach. Northeast of the lake
are fresh-water springs; here, on land controlled by the Biological
Survey through an easement, dikes and dams have been built to create
a fresh-water feeding and nesting ground known as the LAKE GEORGE
MIGRATORY WATERFOWL PROJECT. On the southern shore is STREETER MEMORIAL
PARK, a World War memorial.
At =132 m.= are CRYSTAL SPRINGS LAKES. A cairn (L) houses a spring
(_good water_). The lake offers fine opportunity to study varieties of
shore birds, as the marshes of the spring-fed waters provide attractive
breeding places. CRYSTAL SPRINGS, =132.5 m.= (1,777 alt., 69 pop.), is
named for the neighboring lakes.
West of Cleveland (_see above_) the route descends in a gentle grade to
TAPPEN, =140.5 m.= (1,764 alt., 268 pop.), named for an early settler.
Right from Tappen on a country trail, unsuited for trailers, to
McPHAIL'S BUTTE HISTORIC SITE, =10 m.= It was from this hill that Col.
Samuel McPhail directed the movement of his regiment of Minnesota
Rangers July 24, 1863, in the Battle of Big Mound, one of the Sibley
expedition encounters with the Sioux. After having been harried by
the white soldiers, a small group of Sioux had asked to talk with a
delegation of the enemy, and the meeting was apparently proceeding in
an amicable manner when without warning a young Indian shot Dr. J. S.
Weiser, one of the party, in the back. The Battle of Big Mound was
precipitated, and the Sioux were forced to retreat farther W. Northeast
of the battle site is BURMAN HISTORIC SITE, =2 m.=, where Dr. Weiser is
buried.
DAWSON, =146 m.= (1,736 alt., 306 pop.), named for the town site
owner, Dawson Thompson, is in a fertile subirrigated area. A route for
migratory birds crossing the United States passes through the Dawson
vicinity, and a U. S. game reserve is 7 m. S. of the town on ND 3. At
Dawson is one of the six Department of Commerce intermediate lighted
airports in the State.
Left from Dawson on ND 3, a graveled highway, to LAKE ISABEL, =5 m.=
Here is CAMP GRASSICK, a children's summer camp operated by the North
Dakota Anti-Tuberculosis Association. It is named for Dr. J. Grassick,
pioneer Grand Forks physician. Just E. of Lake Isabel are the LODGE
AND GAME RESERVE OF G. L. SLADE (_private_). Slade, a son-in-law of
the late James J. Hill, the railroad builder, maintains breeding and
nesting grounds for pheasants and waterfowl--even creating his own Lake
Slade by pumping water from deep wells--and brings large parties of
Easterners here to hunt.
At =25 m.= is NAPOLEON (1,955 alt., 709 pop.), seat of Logan County,
named for Napoleon Goodsill who was president of the town site company.
The first business establishment (1886) was a supply store operated
jointly with a newspaper, the Napoleon _Homestead_, which is still in
operation. Two pigeon-holes in a desk in the _Homestead_ office served
as boxes for the first post office in Napoleon.
BURNSTAD, =40.5 m.= (1,963 alt., 142 pop.), was formerly the trade
center of a large cattle industry. C. P. Burnstad, for whom the town
was named, was known as the "Logan County Cattle King", and grazed as
many as 5,000 cattle on 54 sections of land.
Left from Burnstad =2 m.= on a graded dirt road to BEAVER LAKE STATE
PARK (_swimming_, _picnicking_), a recreational area developed by WPA
labor. A game refuge surrounds the lake.
At =53.5 m.= on ND 3 is WISHEK (2,010 alt., 1,145 pop.), where, as in
many of the neighboring towns, Russo-Germans make up the greater part
of the population. The town is named for J. H. Wishek of Ashley, who
owned the town site and donated lots for churches, parks, the town
hall, and a bandstand.
Left from Wishek =6.5 m.= on a graveled road to DOYLE MEMORIAL PARK on
GREEN LAKE (_swimming_, _picnicking_). The land for this recreational
area and memorial to pioneers was given to the State by Mr. and Mrs.
John J. Doyle of Wishek.
At =65 m.= on ND 3 is DANZIG (2,029 alt., 86 pop.), named for the Free
City of Danzig in Europe.
ASHLEY, =77.5 m.= (2,001 alt., 1,250 pop.), began as the town of
Hoskins on the shore of nearby Hoskins Lake. Originally the town, as
well as the lake was given the maiden name of the wife of Col. C.
A. Lounsberry, historian, and at that time editor of the Bismarck
_Tribune_. In 1888, to be on the railroad, Hoskins was moved bodily to
the present site and was renamed in honor of Ashley E. Morrow, a member
of the railroad construction company. In the rotunda of the MCINTOSH
COUNTY COURTHOUSE is a series of pictures of pioneer life. A library
founded in 1912 by the Ashley Women's Club is also in the courthouse.
Right from Ashley =4 m.= on ND 11, a graveled highway, to LAKE HOSKINS
(_swimming_), a summer recreational center.
On ND 3 at =85 m.= is the South Dakota Line, 84 m. N. of Aberdeen, S.
Dak.
STEELE, =154.5 m.= (1,855 alt., 519 pop.), granted a city charter by
the Territorial legislature in 1882-83, claimed at the time of its
incorporation to be the smallest city in the United States. It is named
for Col. W. P. Steele, one of the original town site owners, who in
1889 sent the first legislature a certified check for $100,000 with
his bid for locating the State capitol at Steele. Colonel Steele liked
riding on railroad trains and meeting strangers to whom he could talk
of the glowing possibilities of North Dakota. At one time he procured
passes on many of the large railroads in exchange for passes on his
own road, the Steele-Alaska Northwestern, which despite its impressive
title was only a half-mile spur from the Northern Pacific to his brick
plant NE. of Steele. When his hoax was discovered and he was hailed
before a group of directors of the larger lines, he justified his
position with the statement, "While my line is not as long as yours, I
want it understood that it is every bit as wide."
Left from Steele on a graveled road to the junction with a dirt road,
=12 m.=; R. on this road to PURSIAN LAKE (_swimming_, _picnicking_),
_15 m._, a haven for migratory waterfowl.
DRISCOLL (L), =165.5 m.= (1,870 alt., 226 pop.), is named for a N. P.
Ry. stockholder.
Right from Driscoll on a road unsuitable for trailers to the junction
with a country trail, =3 m.=; R. here to CHASKA HISTORIC SITE, =4 m.=,
the grave of Chaska, a Sioux Indian scout with the Sibley expedition,
who died during the campaign. Chaska is said to have been one of the
two friendly Indians who warned the missionaries at the Yellow Medicine
(Minn.) Agency and led the whites to safety from the vengeful Sioux in
the uprising of 1862.
West of Driscoll the route begins the ascent of the ALTAMONT MORAINE,
the terminal moraine formed during the last advance of the Dakota lobe
of the great continental ice sheets.
At =174 m.= is the junction with US 83 (_see Tour 3_). The two highways
form one route between this point and Bismarck, _198.5 m._ Just W. of
the junction the highway passes over a crest of the moraine, from which
on a clear day the distant outline of the 19-story State capitol is
visible, 24 m. W. The highway descends the western slope of the moraine
in a gradual incline toward the Missouri River valley.
McKENZIE, =180 m.= (1,700 alt., 175 pop.), is named for Alexander
McKenzie, early day political boss in North Dakota.
At =185.3 m.= is the junction with a dirt road.
Right on this road to VERENDRYE, STATE PARK, =1 m.=, believed by many
historians to be the point at which in 1738 Pierre de la Verendrye,
earliest white explorer of present North Dakota, first visited the
Mandan Indians. Prior to the investigation of this site in 1936
it was generally supposed that Verendrye's first contact with the
Mandans had been made near Sanish, and a monument commemorating the
meeting had been erected at that place (_see Tour 6_). The Menoken
site shows clearly the position of the bastions and moat of the old
fortifications, and saucer-shaped depressions indicate where the
earth lodges once stood. In addition, pottery, flint chips, and other
artifacts have been found. Verendrye's journal states that he presented
a leaden plate, bearing the name of the exploring party, to the Mandan
chief at the village he visited. A similar plate was given to the
Indians by Verendrye's sons on an expedition farther S. in 1741, and
was found buried in the earth near Fort Pierre, S. Dak. in 1913. The
first plate, however, has not been recovered and may now lie buried
somewhere in the Menoken site.
MENOKEN, =185.5 m.= (1,720 alt., 60 pop.), has had a number of names,
and still retains two officially. In early railroad days it was known
as Seventeenth Siding, and later as Blaine. For transportation purposes
it is now called Burleigh, to distinguish it from several other towns
on the N. P. Ry. which have names beginning with _M_.
At =186 m.= is the junction with a county graded dirt road.
Right on this road to the TRANSMITTING PLANT OF KFYR, =2.5 m.=,
Bismarck's broadcasting station. The 704-foot all-steel vertical
radiator, one of the three tallest self-supporting aerials in the
United States (1938), can be seen for many miles.
Between Menoken and Bismarck the route crosses and recrosses APPLE
CREEK, along which Sibley's army traveled for some distance. In ancient
times this small, meandering stream was a great rushing glacial river.
At =196.5 m.= (R) loom the brick walls of the STATE PENITENTIARY
(_tours daily exc. Sat. and Sun. at 9, 10, and 11 a.m., 2, 3, and
4 p.m._). When the prison was built (1885-89), the walls were of
cottonwood logs wired together at the top. The present walls, 27 ft.
high and 1,650 ft. long, and made of bricks from clay found in the
vicinity, were constructed by prison labor in 1889. The island-type of
prison architecture has been employed, and there are two cell blocks of
160 cells each, all locked by a master control. Inmates are employed in
the twine plant, which has an annual output of more than four million
pounds; on the 950-acre farm; and in the auto license and tag plant.
The fact that most criminals come from large centers of population is
given as the reason that North Dakota, an agricultural State with no
large cities, has a low prison population. In 1937 it was only 270.
At =197 m.= is the junction with a graveled road.