above the first bench of the MISSOURI RIVER. This is a good place
to observe the Sioux in his native surroundings. During the winter
months he lives in a tiny log hut, clay-chinked and sod-roofed, heated
with a crude open hearth or a modern heating stove, depending on his
affluence. In the summer he takes to the cooler tents or brush wikiups.
Sioux beadwork and other articles of handicraft can be purchased in the
stores at reasonable prices. Many of the Sioux here are well educated
and will talk freely with strangers on current issues, but they are
decidedly reserved concerning information and legends of their people.
This is, of course, typical of the entire agency; the Indian will
pretend ignorance of the identity or whereabouts of any Indian about
whom a white man may inquire, unless the white man is known to him.
The first Sioux sun dance in North Dakota in more than 50 years was
held near Cannonball in July 1937.
Nearly opposite the mouth of the Cannonball on the eastern bank of the
Missouri, according to legend, once stood a Sioux village where in
early days a holy man prophesied the coming of the white people. This
holy man saw a vision which made him very sad, but try as he would, he
could not banish it or change it. Urged by his people to reveal what
he saw, he told that a strange race of people was relentlessly moving
westward toward them, and would eventually claim their lands. He said
these people had pale, hideous, ghastly skins, and their men had hairy
faces like wolves. They had powerful weapons also, and the red men
would not be able to withstand them when they came.
Right from Cannonball =13 m.= on a graded dry-weather dirt road to an
abandoned railroad bed, built when the N. P. Ry. planned a line to
Pierre, S. Dak. Atop the old bed runs a trail through country teeming
with upland game (_during open season excellent pheasant, chicken, and
grouse hunting_). The trail turns R. at =20 m.= and reaches ND 24 at
=22 m.=
South of Cannonball Corner the route proceeds on ND 24 to the junction
with a graveled road at =69 m.=
Right on this road at =0.5 m.= are the SIOUX COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS where
an annual Indian fair is held (_1st wk. Sept._). Handiwork and produce
are displayed, and bead, quill, and feather work can be purchased
reasonably. A rodeo is usually a feature of the fair, with both white
and Indian riders participating. Each evening there is dancing in
costume, beginning with the true Indian dances and ending with the
_kahomni_, or half-breed dances. There are also contests for the most
skillful dancers.
At =0.7 m.= is the unkept GRAVE OF SITTING BULL, covered with a
concrete slab. This great Sioux chief was killed by Indian police on
the Grand River in South Dakota during the Messiah trouble in 1890.
Sitting Bull had long championed his people against the invasions of
the white men, and was one of the leaders in the Battle of the Little
Big Horn. After the battle Sitting Bull, Chief Gall, and 300 followers,
pursued by Gen. Nelson A. Miles, took refuge in Canada where they
remained until 1881. Gall returned first, resigned himself to the ways
of the white man, and lived out his life on the reservation. He is
buried at Wakpala, S. Dak. A few months after Gall's surrender Sitting
Bull appeared at Fort Buford (_see Side Tour 6B_) followed by the
tattered and hungry remnants of his faithful band, and gave himself up
to the authorities. Although he never completely capitulated to the
desires of his conquerors, he returned to the reservation and lived
quietly there, except for a year he spent in Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show. In 1890, however, the Messiah craze arose. The Indians had been
told a new Messiah was coming to restore their lands to them. They held
ghost dances and planned for the repossession of their lands as soon
as the Messiah appeared. To forestall the possibility of an uprising
the Indian police were sent to arrest Sitting Bull, who was believed
to be a leader of the movement. In the half-light of a December early
morning they entered his home and took him into custody. His followers
were aroused and a battle ensued. At the first move from Sitting Bull's
men the police shot him, and he fell, mortally wounded. Several of the
police were also slain.
The bodies of the dead were taken to Fort Yates for burial, the Indian
police being buried in the Roman Catholic cemetery where today a
monument marks their resting places. In contrast with the elaborate
rites which attended the burial of the slain policemen, Sitting Bull's
body was interred without ceremony in the military cemetery. Fort
Yates was abandoned in 1895 and all military graves removed. Only the
burial place of the famous Sioux leader was left.
FORT YATES, =1 m.= (1,670 alt., 700 pop.), is INDIAN AGENCY
HEADQUARTERS, and seat of Sioux County. A few soldiers were stationed
at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in 1873, but with the
abandonment of Fort Rice in 1877 Fort Yates was established to protect
the western frontier. It was named for Capt. George Yates of the
Seventh Cavalry who was killed in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The superiority of railway transportation to that of the river boat led
to the abandonment of Fort Yates in 1895 and the establishment of the
new Fort Lincoln at Bismarck (_see Tour 8_).
It was at the Standing Rock Reservation that Rain-in-the-Face, a young
Hunkpapa Sioux, was arrested by Tom Custer, brother of Gen. George A.
Custer, for the alleged slaying of two white men. Rain-in-the-Face was
imprisoned at Fort Abraham Lincoln but made his escape and joined the
band of Sitting Bull, who lived without benefit of agency. He gained
his revenge by participating in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The town today retains much of the appearance and spirit of its
frontier days when it played an important part in the early Indian
history of the State. On a flat plain overlooking the Missouri, its
log huts and contrasting white frame buildings are scattered in a lazy
fashion over a wide area, with the agency offices, schools, and the
hospital as the core of the town.
Across the street from the agency office, overlooking the Missouri,
is the famed STANDING ROCK (Sioux, Inyan Woslata), for which the
agency was named. Originally sacred to the Arikara, it came into the
possession of the Sioux. When the reservation was established the rock
was on Proposal Hill, but it was later brought into town and mounted
on a brick pedestal. It is of gray metamorphic composition entirely
foreign to this area. If viewed from the correct angle, and with a
discreet degree of imagination, the stone resembles the seated figure
of a small, shawled woman. According to Dakota legend, a young Indian
woman became jealous of her husband's second wife and refused to leave
camp when the village moved. Thinking she would soon follow, the people
of the village left her sitting before the fire with her child on her
back. When she did not appear her husband sent his brothers-in-law to
look for her. They returned to the deserted camp and found her and the
child still seated before the fire--both transformed into stone. From
that time the rock was carried with the tribe and occupied a position
in the center of each village in which they lived. This rock is one of
two revered by the Sioux. The other, Inyan Bosdata (_erect rock_), is
on the Sheyenne River (_see Side Tour 8A_).
The population of Fort Yates is both white and Indian. The two great
events of the year are the annual fair (_see above_), and the Fourth
of July, when Indians from miles around come in to celebrate. On these
occasions the fairgrounds present an unusual sight. Tall, graceful
tipis rise above the squat, modern wall tents of the numerous camps
that dot the level area around the race track, and back and forth is
a bustling flow of dilapidated autos, sleek saddle ponies, running
children, hobbling old warriors, and women dressed in bright colors.
Except for their braided hair and their moccasins, the older men wear
modern attire. The younger men, in keeping with the occasion, adopt
western costume, high-heeled riding boots, blue denim trousers topped
with wide, flashy belts, brightly colored shirts, and the ever present
"ten gallon" hat. Cotton dresses and large bright shawls form the
costume of the women, and moccasins are also worn by the older women.
The highly colored Sioux costumes are seen only during the native
dances.
Memorial Day and Armistice Day are also holidays. On Memorial Day
graves are decorated with crepe paper flowers which have been made by
the women during the winter. The Indians are intensely patriotic, and
it would be hard to find a fair, tribal council, or any other meeting
over which the flag of the United States does not fly.
A trail runs NW. of the town past the Roman Catholic church to a GOLF
COURSE, all nine holes laid out on the mesa-like top of Proposal Hill,
where Standing Rock once stood. The hill in bygone days was a popular
rendezvous for Indian sweethearts, hence its name.
Across the river from Fort Yates, in the heyday of the military post,
there sprang up a little town called WINONA, a natural corollary of the
restrictions of military life on an Indian reservation. By ferryboat in
summer and over the ice by bobsled in winter went the soldier, trader,
bullwhacker, Indian, and cowboy, to taste the "night life" offered in
the gaming houses with their expansive bars and amiable hostesses.
In Territorial days no less than nine saloons were operating, and an
excellent race track was the scene of many financial exchanges.
Like other western towns, Winona attracted a wide variety of
inhabitants. One of the most colorful was "Mustache Maude" Black. She
came to the vicinity as a young school teacher, but, finding a more
lucrative scope for her talents, entered the entertainment field. Tall,
large, and angular, she was masculine in appearance, but wore women's
clothing with the exception of her boots, which she had made to order,
reputedly at $20 a pair. Because of her occupation the women of Winona
ostracized her, but the men found her well educated, an astute business
woman, a good poker player, and an excellent cook. By one of those
quirks which make human beings as interesting as they are, Mustache
Maude, the proprietor of many of Winona's most scarlet institutions,
owned a good library and was an expert needlewoman. She married Ott
Black, a rancher, and after the decline of her own business interests
managed his ranch. She lived near Winona until her death.
There was another side of life in Winona, too. It was an enterprising
business town, in the center of a growing ranching country. A Literary
Society and Dramatic Club functioned for years. The Sunday school
was organized by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Spicer, who in 1897, together
with four other members of their family, were killed by five drunken
Indians, three of whom were subsequently lynched for the crime at
nearby Williamsport.
Winona was so close to Fort Yates that at the time of the death of
Sitting Bull and the Indian policemen the wailing of the squaws was
clearly heard across the river. After the abandonment of Fort Yates,
Winona began to decline. Today nothing is left of it but a few cellars
and a solitary group of trees.
The route proceeds S. on ND 24, continuing through agency land. At =79
m.= is the junction with ND 6; left here to South Dakota Line at =85
m.=, 8 m. N. of McLaughlin, S. Dak. (_see S. Dak. Tour 2_).
SIDE TOUR 8D
Junction US 10--Center--Beulah--Halliday--Killdeer--Junction US 85.
ND 25.
Junction with US 10 to junction with US 85, 141.5 m.
N. P. Ry. branch roughly parallels route between Stanton and
Killdeer.
Graveled roadbed except 4 m. graded dirt.
Accommodations limited.
This route winds over the upper Missouri Slope, through grain-farming
and grazing country, where infrequent farmhouses hide in the valleys.
When ranching was the chief industry here, not long ago, the rough
country provided shelter not only for the herds but also for rustlers.
In the region adjacent to the route are some of the largest lignite
mines in the State. Along the Missouri are numerous ancient Indian
village sites. The Killdeer Mountains at the northern end of the route
present some of the most charming scenery in North Dakota.
ND 25 branches N. from US 10 (_see Tour 8_) 5 m. W. of Mandan.
At =12.5 m.= the highway crosses SQUARE BUTTE CREEK, named for the
square-topped buttes to the E. (_see Side Tour 3B_). The stream
parallels the route for several miles.
CENTER, =30.5 m.= (1,760 alt., 293 pop.), was named for its geographic
position in Oliver County. Its buildings, almost all of them white,
are huddled in the narrow valley of Square Butte Creek. In the Oliver
County Courthouse park is a LOG CABIN MUSEUM (_open_) erected in 1937
under the Works Progress Administration to house Indian and pioneer
relics. Nearby is the MINER MEMORIAL, a granite marker of Gothic style,
erected by former Gov. L. B. Hanna, in commemoration of 16-year-old
Hazel Miner. In 1920 Hazel and a younger brother and sister were lost
in a raging March blizzard while driving home from school. When they
were found the next morning, the two younger children were still alive,
for Hazel had used her body to shield them and to hold down the
blankets which kept them from freezing. The story of her life and death
has been made part of the official records of the county.
North of Center the route encounters rougher country and turns NW. to
follow the MISSOURI RIVER for a few miles.
At =40.5 m.= is the junction with an unimproved county dirt road.
Right on this road to the junction with another unimproved road, =1
m.=; L. here to FORT CLARK STATE PARK, =2 m.=, site of a trading post
established by the American Fur Co. in 1829. The post was only a
few feet S. of a village built by the Mandans about 1822, and later
occupied by the Arikara. West of the depressions left by the earth
lodges are the remains of a burial ground.
At =46 m.= is the junction with a graveled road.
Right on this road is STANTON, =1.5 m.= (1,722 alt., 358 pop.), on the
first bench overlooking the Missouri, which it once served as a river
port. The town was founded in 1883 and given the name of a pioneer
mother of the vicinity. Partly within the Mercer County Courthouse yard
is the site of an INDIAN VILLAGE where excavations have revealed many
artifacts.
Straight ahead from Stanton on a county road to the SITE OF SCATTERED
VILLAGE, =2.5 m.=, one of the three Hidatsa and two Mandan villages
known to white traders and trappers as the Five Villages. Charbonneau,
the French frontiersman, and his Shoshone wife, Sakakawea, were living
here when Charbonneau was engaged by the exploring party of Lewis and
Clark, in 1805, to accompany them on their hazardous journey to the
Pacific coast. Sakakawea went with her husband, and proved herself
invaluable to the success of the expedition (_see_ BISMARCK). Scattered
Village lies on the southern bank of the KNIFE RIVER, which was named
by various Indian tribes who procured flint for their knives from pits
along the river. The area about the mouth of the Knife is rich in
Indian history.
West of Stanton the route moves roughly parallel to the combined
courses of the Knife River and Spring Creek.
HAZEN, =58.5 m.= (1,760 alt., 689 pop.), was named for A. D. Hazen,
Third Assistant Postmaster General in 1884 when postal service was
established here. An OLD SETTLERS MONUMENT, at the E. end of Main St.
in a triangular plot known as Washington Memorial Park, consists of a
concrete pyramid with a buffalo skull embedded in the top. Business
men of Hazen have provided a TOURIST PARK (_camping facilities_) in a
heavily wooded area along the Knife on the southern edge of the town.
At =66 m.= (L) is the large underground LIGNITE MINE of the Knife River
Coal Mining Co. (_Morning preferred for visiting; guides at mine office
in_ BEULAH, _see below_.) This mine is one of the largest in the State.
The entrance is at the head of a little valley a few rods L. of the
highway. It opens into a long tunnel, with a narrow-gage trolley line
extending down its center. Six electric locomotives are employed to
draw a fleet of 450 mine cars over almost 30 m. of track which carry
coal out of the mine to the processing plant. The entry has passages
branching from it, leading to the veins from which the coal is taken.
As the coal is taken out, tunnels or rooms are created, extending for
miles through the underground darkness, in some places as much as 140
ft. below the surface.
The coal is loosened by electric cutting machines and blasting powder,
after which loading machines carry it upward to the mine cars; these
are formed into trains to haul the lignite to the processing plant.
During an 8-hour shift 2,500 tons of coal are mined, enough to fill
more than 60 40-ton cars. It is estimated that this particular field
contains about 50,000,000 tons of lignite, enough to enable operations
to continue for 50 years. Visitors to the mine are given electric
lights fastened to stout fiber helmets, and get a novel ride on the
underground train.
BEULAH, =68.5 m.= (1,797 alt., 913 pop.), named for the niece of an
official of the town site land company, forms one main street along
the Knife River just E. of its confluence with Spring Creek. The
PROCESSING PLANT of the Knife River mine, and an ELECTRIC PLANT of the
North Dakota Power and Light Co. are in the eastern part of town. The
electric plant uses lignite to generate the power with which it serves
surrounding towns.
At =69 m.= is the junction with ND 49, a graveled highway. What is
believed to be the SITE OF CHARLES LE RAYE'S CAMP (L), used by the
French explorer in 1803, has been marked by the Mercer County Old
Settlers' Association. Le Raye, who was held captive three years
(1801-4) by a band of Brulé Sioux, is said to have been the first white
traveler to mention the Knife River. During his captivity he was taken
through much of the area between the Mississippi and the Rockies, and
was one of the first white men to become familiar with that region.
At =75 m.= (L) is the large lignite strip mine of the Zap Colliery, one
of the heaviest-producing mines in the State, with an annual production
of 140,000 tons.
At =76.5 m.= is the junction with a county graded dirt road.
Left on this road, a winding country trail unsuited to trailer travel,
to MEDICINE HILL, =11.5 m.=, from which flowed spring waters attributed
with healing powers by the Indians. Chert, a mineral rock closely
allied to flint, is found in the Slope area, and near the hill is a
quarry from which natives took material for arrow-points and knives.
GOLDEN VALLEY, =83.5 m.= (1,946 alt., 294 pop.), was named for the
fertility of the surrounding region.
DODGE, =91 m.= (1,979 alt., 204 pop.), is in the valley of Spring
Creek.
At =97 m.= is a junction with ND 8 which unites with ND 25 to =99 m.=,
where ND 25 branches L.
Right on ND 8 at the confluence of Alkaline and Spring Creek is
HALLIDAY, =0.5 m.= (2,048 alt., 305 pop.), named for one of its first
settlers.
At =19 m.= is FOUR BEARS BRIDGE (_see Side Tour 3A_)
DUNN CENTER, =113 m.= (2,191 alt., 276 pop.), is so named because it is
near the geographic center of Dunn County.
At =120 m.= is the junction with ND 22, a graded dirt highway.
Right on this highway is KILLDEER, =1 m.= (2,233 alt., 495 pop.),
named for the nearby KILLDEER MOUNTAINS, which rise clearly into view
as ND 22 proceeds NW. from the town. The Killdeers are not mountains,
but rather two lofty hills, extending NE. to SW. more than 10 m., and
at their highest points rising 600 ft. above the surrounding prairie.
The Sioux called them Tah-kah-o-kuty (_the place where they kill the
deer_). The upper 300 to 400 ft. of the hills belong to the geologic
stratum known as the White River formation. This is the youngest of
the various layers of bedrock underlying North Dakota, having been
deposited by the last of the prehistoric seas which inundated this
area. It is also the rarest stratum in the State, since, being at the
surface, it has eroded until it is now found in only a few places.
The White River formation is particularly rich in fossil remains
ranging from fish and turtles to huge prehistoric mammals, although no
specimens have been taken from the Killdeer Mountains.
At =4 m.= to the junction with an unimproved county road; L. here to
the junction with another dirt road, =7 m.=
Directly ahead =2 m.= on the dirt road to the junction with a prairie
trail leading through a pasture gate. Right on this trail are the
buildings of DIAMOND C RANCH, =4 m.=, the little white ranch house, the
red cattle barns, and the gray weathered wooden poles of the corrals
all situated along the timbered ravine formed by FALLING SPRING, near
which took place the Battle of Killdeer Mountains. The spring drops
from a sandstone formation in a hillside to the rear of the ranch
house, providing a steady flow of cool, clear water as it did one
July day in 1864 when 5,000 Sioux were encamped along it, hunting
and preparing hides for clothing and food for the coming winter.
Gen. Alfred H. Sully, sent out to punish the Sioux for the Minnesota
Massacre of 1862, learned that they were in the mountains. Rapidly
moving his force of 2,200 men he attacked the Indians on sight the
morning of July 28. The Indians offered stubborn resistance despite
the surprise of the attack and the confusion caused by the shelling
of their camp, but were finally forced to make a hasty retreat over
the mountain through DEAD MAN'S GULCH, a steep-sided ravine leading
through the mountains back of Falling Spring, into the Badlands along
the Little Missouri River. In their retreat the Sioux were forced
to leave almost all of their belongings, and when 5 companies of
troops set about demolishing the camp it is said they worked 5 hours
destroying tipis, travois poles, cooking utensils, robes, and foods.
Dried and drying meat estimated at 200 tons was destroyed. The Sioux
loss was reported as 27 dead on the field in addition to many carried
off by their comrades. Sully's loss in the encounter was 5 killed and
10 wounded, 2 of whom were pickets slain the second night. Two white
marble slabs enclosed in a steel wire fence, a short distance S. of the
Diamond C ranch house, mark their graves.
On the county road N. of junction with ranch road to a junction with
a dirt road, =9 m.=; L. here to OAKDALE, =9.8 m.=, part way up the
eastern slope of the southern mountain. Formerly a good-sized frontier
town, it now has only a residence and a store and post office. It is a
very pleasant spot, however, for its trees and many springs of clear,
cold water flowing down from the mountain keep it several degrees
cooler in summer than the dry, shadeless prairie. Oakdale is a good
point from which to make hiking trips into the mountains, but the
tourist accommodations are limited.
From the store is a two-hour hike over a precipitous trail up the
mountain. Past oak, box elder, poplar, and scrub cedar trees, the path
leads to the base of the limestone formation. Here the trail ascends
the face of a steep cliff. In the upward climb it passes through a
narrow cleft in the rock ironically called ELEPHANT'S PASS, and comes
at last to the level mountaintop, where there is a magnificent view
of the surrounding country taking in 40 or 50 m. in three directions.
To the N. and NE. lies the rough country along the Missouri and
Little Missouri Rivers, while E. and S. stretches the vast pattern of
cultivated fields and virgin grasslands. The table-like top of the
mountain is 3,140 ft. above sea level, highest elevation in the range.
From here the trail skirts the southern rim of the cliff to MEDICINE
HOLE, from which, according to Indian tradition, the first buffalo
emerged upon the earth. Today the hole is little more than an elongated
three-foot-deep depression in the flat limestone surface of the
mountain top. It has been closed by the lodging, on the first ledge, of
a number of large rocks thrown into the aperture by curious visitors
trying to sound the bottom. It had been explored to a depth of 80 ft.
before it was closed, but the extreme cold encountered below that depth
made further exploration difficult. In summer a cold draught of air
formerly rose from the hole, and in winter a column of steam.