Monday, 17 June
Graham State Park, ND, to Lewis and Clark State Park, ND
We woke up to 43-degree weather, but it was supposed to get to 71, and the rain had stopped overnight. After showers, we headed south toward Medora.
On our drive to Lewis and Clark State Park, the weather radar showed threats of rain our entire trip, but we mostly missed the rain.
Along the route, we saw a lot of apiaries and, after researching on the web, learned that North Dakota more than doubles the honey production of any other state. One of the most popular is sweet clover honey and mixes like alfalfa-clover. Other frequent kinds of honey produced by this state include canola honey, sunflower honey, alfalfa honey, and, like many states, wildflower honey is also popular. Much of North Dakota has empty pastures and plains, an ideal environment for bees due to the lack of busy farms and toxic pesticides. In more crowded regions, bee populations are threatened by pesticide overflow or agriculture accidentally destroying food sources. In North Dakota, however, these bees are often free from these negative influences and can thrive safely.
Another interesting thing we learned on this trip was that North Dakota is on a continental divide. During our drive, we passed a sign stating we had crossed the continental divide at 2,404 feet. We had seen similar signs in our earlier travels around the state with similar elevations. We were familiar with the continental divide along the Rocky Mountains (the Great Divide). Still, we did not realize that one existed in the relatively flat landscape of North Dakota. After some research on the web, we learned that there are six different continental divides, and the one that crosses North Dakota is called the Laurentian or Northern Divide.
When we passed the city of New Town, the landscape changed from gently rolling hills with pothole ponds to more rugged and colorful hills. We also started seeing many oil derrick pumps, oil tanks, pipelines, and burning flares. The oil boom has affected the area since 2006, and we were amazed at how many derricks we saw.
Lewis and Clark State Park
It took us about three hours to reach Lewis and Clark State Park, and the threat of imminent rain still loomed. The state park is located on the western end of Lake Sakakawea and has over a hundred campsites, but it was mostly empty when we arrived.
We had premium campsite #76 in the Ironstone Campground. This site was a pull-through with a gravel pad. We had water, electricity, and sewer, but we did not have any shade as far as we could tell because of the heavy overcast skies overhead. Based on the forecast for the next couple of days, that would not be a problem. Our front door lock was not working, so we used the rear door to get into the trailer.
After setting up, we ate lunch, and I repaired the front door lock. We then drove around the state park in the light rain. We stopped at the beach area, but no buoys were out, and the shoreline was thick with driftwood. After driving from one end to the other, we decided to head into Williston.
Williston
We first stopped at Cut Bluff Overlook, which commemorates Lewis and Clark’s campsite near Cut Bluff on the south banks of the Missouri River. The overlook was not on a high hill but on a marshy shoreline on Lake Sakakawea. There was an information board with an information sign below it and copies of Lewis’ notes about the stop above it.
We then drove each other to the Williston Brewery. We discovered this brewery was an upscale restaurant with only three self-brewed beers. We arrived during happy hour and ordered some nachos and two $5 mules, the day’s discounted drink. Lisa had the Carribean Mule, and I had a Grapefruit Mule. They came in the required copper mugs and were good despite the excessive ice.
We then drove back to the camper just before a major storm hit. The storm rocked the trailer, but most of the worst weather had passed below us.
Tuesday, 18 June
Lewis and Clark State Park
It stormed overnight, and it was still raining in the morning. It was also windy and windy in the 40s, with rain expected all day and a high of only 51. With most of the Midwest experiencing a heat wave, this was crazy weather.
I drove to the bathhouse and found the campground still mostly empty, though a few more campers had appeared overnight. The bathhouse was the nicest of any so far in North Dakota. After showers, we headed out to be tourists despite the rain.
Epping
We briefly drove through the nearby town of Epping, home to The Buffalo Trails Museum. The museum consists of eight buildings from the early 1900s on Main Street, nearly making the whole of “downtown Epping” a museum. It was too early for any of the buildings to open, but we enjoyed seeing this cluster of preserved buildings. If we had been able to go inside, we would have seen dioramas with mannequins in period dress and antique-furnished scenes.
Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center
The North Dakota Historical Society has a small museum at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. Inside are exhibits related to the area’s prehistoric, natural, tribal, and pioneer history. The main gallery has over 200 artifacts, including a frontier army transport wagon, a steamboat pilot’s navigating wheel, and a 1904 Model A Cadillac. Exhibits range from modern irrigation and electricity development in North Dakota to Lewis and Clark’s visit to the area in 1805 and 1806.
A small walking path outside took you along the river, but it was raining too hard for us to want to walk it. We briefly drove along it a short distance before heading over to the nearby Fort Buford.
Fort Buford State Historic Site
Fort Buford was a supply depot for the U.S. Army during the Indian wars. It was established in 1866 and built initially out of adobe and cottonwood. It was the site of Chief Sitting Bull’s surrender in July 1881 and remained in operation until 1895. The original fort was auctioned off, and all but three buildings were torn down or moved: the 1872 Commanding Officer’s Quarters, where Sitting Bull surrendered his rifle; the 1875 stone Powder Magazine; and a Duplex Officer’s Quarters. The Duplex burned down in 1937. In the 1990s, the former Officer of the Guard/Officer of the Day building was found being used as a pump house for the nearby irrigation canal and was relocated to its original location. Today, these buildings are managed by the State Historical Society. Of the approximately 1 square mile sized fort, only 40 acres are currently owned by the state of North Dakota.
When we parked the truck, we walked over a boardwalk to the Commanding Officers’ quarters, where we were greeted by some staff who gave us a brief introduction to the history of the fort. Only a few artifacts were in the building, but they pointed out the room where Sitting Bull had surrendered. A docent then took us over to a reconstructed adobe barracks built at the location of an original barracks from 1867 to 1881. It was furnished with beds and props, and the docent shared stories about the fort and its operation.
Near the fort’s entrance was the site of the first Masonic Lodge in North Dakota.
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
We then drove a short distance to the Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, which the National Park Service maintains. The site is a partially reconstructed fur trading post that operated from 1829 to 1867 and was home to John Jacob Astor’s powerful American Fur Company. The trading post sits in its original location about two miles from the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers on the North Dakota side of the Montana-North Dakota border.
When we arrived at the fort, the weather was getting windier, colder, and wetter. It was a short uphill walk from the parking lot to the fort, though when we entered the gates, our umbrellas almost blew out of our hands. The high walls and two large bastions made the trading post even more imposing than any military fort we had visited thus far.
We first stopped at the reconstructed Bourgeois House. The Bourgeois at Fort Union managed the trading post and served as the primary agent of the American Fur Company. Today, the reconstructed Bourgeois House serves as the park’s Visitor Center, exhibit center, bookstore, resource library, archives, and administrative offices. We watched a short film and walked through two small museums about the fort and the fur trade. The staff was very friendly and we enjoyed talking with them for a while before walking outside into the cold again.
We then walked over to the Trade House, where we were met by a “trader” in period clothing. It consisted of three rooms: the Reception Room, the Trade Shop, and the Clerk’s Office. It was the center of the trading process, where prices were set and goods were exchanged. The Trade Shop was the showroom for the trade goods and stocked more than 200 laborsaving or ornamental items. These items were imported from overseas or made on-site by the blacksmiths, tinsmiths, and tailors. The chief set the exchange rate between the furs and wares in the reception room. One of the most expensive items was elaborate jackets called “Chiefs Coats.”
We could walk into only a few other rooms around the fort, but I was able to climb up into the bastion. We briefly talked with an archeologist scraping a buffalo hide outside in the rain that he intended to turn into a round bullboat.
Fairview Bridge & Cartwright Tunnel
After leaving Fort Union, we made our way to Watford City. Along the way, we took a quick break at a park near the Fairview Bridge.
The park is located below the 1914 cast-iron lift train bridge that spans the Yellowstone River and then goes through a 1,456-foot-long tunnel on the other side, the only train tunnel in North Dakota. The bridge and tunnel are no longer used for trains or vehicles; they’ve been turned into a one-mile trail. The bridge’s tracks have been removed and covered with wire mesh so you can look down at the Yellowstone River below. I walked out onto the bridge but didn’t go into the tunnel because we were short on time.
McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum
When we arrived in Watford City, we could tell this was an oil town. Oil derrick pumps surrounded it, and the city was full of prefab homes, campers, and mobile homes, with work pickup trucks everywhere.
McKenzie County was first created by the Dakota Territory legislature on March 8, 1883, but was eliminated in 1891 due to a lack of settlement. The 1905 state legislature then recreated the county. In terms of area, it is the largest county in the state, and its county seat is Watford City. In the early days, McKenzie County was known as the “Island Empire” because it is surrounded by water on three sides. The Missouri River forms the northern part of the eastern border. The Little Missouri also runs along part of the eastern and southern borders. Today, it is located at the heart of the Bakken Formation oil boom, so the area has significantly increased in population.
The McKenzie County Heritage Park was a typical county museum, but it was located in a large, beautiful building that was only one year old. The building had many cute touches, like windmill blades for ceiling fans and hydrants for stair posts.
Behind the building were a dozen old buildings transplanted here from the area, such as an old Lutheran Church, two schoolhouses, a law office, a dentist’s office, and several homesteader cabins. Most buildings were open and furnished with period artifacts; the school buildings even had creepy mannequins or dolls for teachers. One of the homesteader cabins even had gun ports built in for defense. There was also a lot of old rusty farm equipment strewn about.
Inside was the typical county museum staple of quilts and old artifacts from the area from the last century. Large sections were devoted to ranching, farming, military, domestic housewares, and a sizeable commemorative gun collection. The “Oil Museum” had a small section with posters and items like drill bits. It was surprisingly small considering oil’s apparent impact on the region and the possible corporate sponsors that might like to be involved. There was a new oil derrick pump outside that we stood beside in the rain for pictures.