North Dakota A Guide to the Northern Prairie State by Henry G Alsberg

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Title: North Dakota
A Guide to the Northern Prairie State

Author: Various

Release Date: August 23, 2014 [EBook #46661]

Language: English

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KEY TO NORTH DAKOTA TOURS

NORTH DAKOTA

A GUIDE TO THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE STATE

AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES

NORTH DAKOTA

A GUIDE TO THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE STATE

Written by Workers of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of

North Dakota

Sponsored by the State Historical Society of North Dakota

Illustrated

KNIGHT PRINTING COMPANY

Fargo, North Dakota

1938

WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION

Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator

Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator

Henry G. Alsberg, Director, Federal Writers' Project

FOREWORD

As Governor of the State of North Dakota, I am happy to write the foreword to the first comprehensive guidebook that
has ever been written for this State. Compiled by North Dakota writers, the publication of this book has been made
possible by means of Federal and State funds. The importance of this book lies, not only in calling the attention of
tourists and other outsiders to the picturesque scenery and the places of historical significance in North Dakota; but in
awakening the consciousness of North Dakota people to the historical, sociological, and cultural heritage which is theirs.

(Signed) William Langer,

Governor of North Dakota.

PREFACE

North Dakota: a Guide to the Northern Prairie State is something new in this part of the country. For the first time
North Dakotans and their guests have a concise but comprehensive survey of the State, which tells them what should be
seen, and why, and how. Our aim has been a book not only to be used in touring the State, but to be enjoyed by
fireside travellers and all who would deepen their understanding of North Dakota.
As one of the volumes in the American Guide Series, written by the members of the Federal Writers' Project of the
Works Progress Administration, the North Dakota guide has more than State significance, wide as this is. The National
project was designed primarily to give useful employment to needy writers and research workers; it has developed into
a more ambitious undertaking. The American Guide Series, covering the forty-eight States, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and
numerous cities and towns, is unrolling a unique and inspiring panorama of these United States with their lively
background and their vibrant present. The North Dakota guide adds its contribution to the whole, giving the reader a
picture of the State, its land and resources, its history, people, the cities and towns they have built, and the principal
points of interest. New chapters in North Dakota's story and other phases of its life and works are still to be told. This
volume—a pioneer enterprise in a State where the records of the past and the varied life of today had not heretofore
been assembled—may well serve as an incentive and a foundation for further books.
Not ten or fifty or a hundred, but actually hundreds of North Dakotans helped in the making of the guide, from the many
who contributed information about their own communities or fields of work down to the handful of editors and writers
who brought that information within the covers of this book. In expressing the Project's appreciation of this friendly and
cooperative help, so generously given, I wish particularly to thank Mr. Russell Reid, superintendent of the State
Historical Society of North Dakota, and his staff, especially Mrs. Florence H. Davis and Mr. Arnold Goplen; Mr.
George Will and Mr. Robert A. Ritterbush, of Bismarck; Dr. Irvin Lavine, of the University of North Dakota; Mr. E. A.
Milligan, of Michigan City; Mr. J. A. Patterson, of Minot; Dr. E. C. Stucke, of Garrison; and Mr. Henry Williams, of
Appam.

Ethel Schlasinger

State Director

CONTENTS

FOREWORD
v

By William Langer, Governor of North Dakota

PREFACE
vii

By Ethel Schlasinger, State Director, Federal Writers' Project

ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
xiii

GENERAL INFORMATION
xv

ANNUAL EVENTS
xix

I. SURVEY OF THE STATE

CONTEMPORARY NORTH DAKOTA
3

NORTH DAKOTA: ITS NATURAL SETTING
5

INDIANS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS
16

HISTORY
35

AGRICULTURE AND FARM LIFE
59

INDUSTRY AND LABOR
72

RACIAL GROUPS AND FOLKWAYS
78

SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND SOCIAL CURRENTS
88

TRANSPORTATION
95

PRESS AND RADIO
99

ARCHITECTURE
102

RECREATION
106

II. CITY NEIGHBORS

(City Descriptions and Points of Interest)

Bismarck
111

Fargo
126

Grand Forks
145

Minot
158

III. PLAYGROUNDS

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
169

Roosevelt Regional State Parks
173

IV. HIGHWAYS AND TRAILS

TOUR

1
Canadian Line (Winnipeg) to South Dakota Line (Watertown). US 81
185

1A
Mayville to Hatton. ND 7 & 18
200

2
Canadian Line (Brandon) to South Dakota Line (Aberdeen). ND 4 & US 281 202

3
Canadian Line (Virden) to South Dakota Line (Pierre). US 83
207

3A
Garrison to Stanley. ND 37 & 8, unnumbered roads
211

3B
Junction US 83 to Junction US 10. Unnumbered roads
215

4
Canadian Line (Moosejaw) to South Dakota Line (Belle Fourche). US 85
218

4A
Hanks to Writing Rock State Park. ND 50 and unnumbered roads
225

4B
New England to Flasher. ND 21
228

5
Hamilton to Montana Line (Scobey). ND 5
232

5A
Junction ND 5 to Leroy. ND 32 & 55, unnumbered road
243

6
Minnesota Line (Duluth) to Montana Line (Glasgow). US 2
247

6A
Circular tour from Devils Lake. ND 20 & 27, Indian Service Roads
263

6B
Junction US 2 to Fort Buford State Park. Unnumbered road
269

7
Carrington to Canadian Line (Estevan). US 52
272

8
Minnesota Line (Minneapolis) to Montana Line (Glendive). US 10
277

8A
Valley City to South Dakota Line (Aberdeen). ND 1
303

8B
Dazey to Junction US 2. ND 1 & 7
308

8C
Mandan to South Dakota Line (McLaughlin). ND 6, 21, & 24
312

8D
Junction US 10 to Junction US 85. ND 25
318

9
South Dakota Line (McIntosh) to Montana Line (Miles City). US 12
323

10
Medora to Bismarck. Little Missouri and Missouri Rivers
328

CHRONOLOGY
339

BIBLIOGRAPHY
345

INDEX
361

ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS

Ring-billed Gulls
Pasques
Flickertail
A Modern Indian
Scaffold Burial, Formerly Used by Some Indian Tribes

between pages 44 and 45

Ancient Indian Turtle Effigy
Sioux Sun Dance as Originally Performed
A Modern Sioux Sun Dance Ceremonial
North Dakota In 1879, From an Old Map of Dakota Territory

between pages 76 and 77

Gen. George A. Custer
Sitting Bull
Battle of the Badlands
A "Little Old Sod Shanty" of Early Days
State Capitol, Bismarck
Reviving a Norwegian Folkdance, Esmond, N. Dak.

between pages 108 and 109

An Early School (Oliver County, 1885)
Administration Building, Agricultural College, Fargo
Threshing
Sakakawea, Bismarck

between pages 140 and 141

A Red River Valley Wheatfield
Oats
between pages 172 and 173

Law Building, University, Grand Forks
Roosevelt Monument, Minot
between pages 204 and 205

Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Blockhouse of Fort McKeen
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Slant Indian Village Lodge
Marquis de Mores
Badlands

between pages 236 and 237

Rabbit's Ears Near Amidon
Grand Canyon of the Little Missouri
between pages 268 and 269

Lignite Strip Mining, Velva
Arikara Woman Pounding Cherries
Writing Rock Near Grenora
Lake Upsilon, Turtle Mountains
Buffalo, Sully's Hill National Game Preserve

between pages 332 and 333

Barnes County Courthouse, Valley City
Sioux Camp Gathering, Fort Yates Agency
Sioux Tipis
Sioux Hoop Dance
Magpie Rock, Killdeer Mountains

between pages 340 and 341

MAPS

North Dakota State Map
Inside back cover

North Dakota Key Map to Tours
Inside front cover

Bismarck
112

Fargo
127

Grand Forks
146

Minot
159

GENERAL INFORMATION

(See State map for routes of highways, railroads, and air lines.)

Railroads: Chicago & North Western Ry. (Northwestern); Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific R. R.
(Milwaukee); Farmers' Grain & Shipping Company (Farmers' Line); Great Northern Ry. (G. N.); Midland Continental
R. R. (Midland); Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Ry. (Soo); Northern Pacific Ry. (N. P.). Main line of N. P.
runs almost directly E. to W. across the State. Main line of G. N. runs N., then W., while cut-off runs in northwesterly
direction. Soo line runs SE. to NW.
Highways: Eight Federal highways, seven of them transcontinental or with international connections. Inspection at
international border. State highway patrol checks violations of State highway laws and enforces regulations. Gasoline
tax, 3c.
Motor Vehicle Laws (digest): Maximum speed, 50 m.; on curves and at intersections, 20 m.; approaching within 50
ft. of grade crossing where view obstructed, 20 m.; on any highway in business or residence district, 25 m.; passing
school during recess or while children are going to or leaving school, 20 m. Time limit for operation of car in State by
nonresident, 90 days. Hand signals must be used for a turn or stop. Spotlights permitted. Personal injury or property
damage ($50 or over) must be reported to civil authorities.
Prohibited: Parking on highways; use of stickers, except those required by law, on windshield or windows.
Bus Lines: Northland Greyhound Lines: Fargo via US 10 to Glendive, Mont., Fargo via US 81 to Winnipeg. Minot-
Crosby Bus Line: Minot to Crosby via US 52 and ND 5. Checker Greyhound Lines: Noonan via ND 40 to Regina,
Saskatchewan. Studebaker Bus Line: Devils Lake to Jamestown via US 281 and ND 19. Swanson Bus Line:
Jamestown via US 281 to Aberdeen, S. Dak. Carpenter Bus Line: Williston to Bowman and Hettinger via US 85, ND
25, ND 22, and US 12. Checker Transportation Co.: Fargo to Minot via US 10, ND 18, ND 7, and US 52; also
Fargo to Minot via US 10, ND 18, US 81, and US 2. Interstate Transportation Co.: Bismarck to Minot via US 83,
Minot to Williston via US 2, Minot to Portal via US 52, Minot to Bismarck via US 52, ND 41, and US 83. Northern
Transportation Co.: Minot to Rolla via US 83 and ND 5, Minot to Watford City via US 83 and ND 23. N. T. Co.:
Couteau to Northgate via ND 8 and US 52. Jack Rabbit Lines: Fargo to Watertown, S. Dak. Triangle Transportation
Co.: Fargo to Grand Forks via US 81. Interstate Transit Co.: Williston to Culbertson, Mont. via US 2.
Air Lines: Northwest Airlines: Chicago to Seattle (stop at Fargo and Bismarck); Fargo to Winnipeg (stop at
Pembina). Hanford Airlines: Bismarck to Tulsa (stop at Bismarck).
Airfields: Forty-six landing fields. Lighted fields: A-1, Fargo and Bismarck; intermediate, Valley City, Jamestown,
Dawson, Glen Ullin, Dickinson, Golva, Pembina.
Customs Regulations: Persons entering United States must report to U. S. Immigration Office and U. S. Customs
Office. Automobiles may be brought into United States for 90 days without formal customs entry, provided proper
report is made at port of entry. If cars are to be kept here more than 90 days, bond or deposit must be furnished,
together with guarantee of exportation of car within 6 months of importation.
Those entering Canada must report to Canadian immigration and customs officers at point of entry. United States
citizens should be prepared to prove citizenship. Persons not citizens should be able to establish that they are legally
resident in the United States and that they will be readmitted when returning to this country. Cars may be admitted
without charge to Canada for touring purposes and may be operated 60 days under State licenses; on request, period
can be extended to 90 days. For period of 90 days to 6 months, bond or cash deposit must be furnished. Cars
returning to United States should be checked out by Canadian customs officer at border.
Accommodations: Accommodations outside of cities and towns are limited. Nearly every small town has a tourist
camp. A few ranches in the Badlands area accommodate tourists and have horses available for riding trips.
Accommodations at lake resorts offered only during the summer months. Quarters at lake resorts crowded Fourth of
July week.
Sales and Cigarette Taxes: Two percent sales tax on all purchases, payable in cash. Tax of 3c per package of 20
cigarettes.
Climate and Equipment: Summer travelers should be prepared for extremely warm weather. It is advisable, however,
to have topcoats of medium weight as evenings are generally cool. In spring and fall the days are intermittently cool and
warm, and topcoats are a necessity. Persons unfamiliar with the Northwest should heed weather reports and bulletins of
the State highway department and dress as warmly as possible during winter travel. What appears as a light flurry of
snow may in a few moments become a blizzard, blocking highways and making travel impossible. Towns and farms are
far apart; temperatures may suddenly drop far below zero.
Recreational Areas: Turtle Mountain area (Tour 5): swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, hunting. Roosevelt Regional
State Parks: riding, motoring, hiking. Sheyenne River Park (Tour 1): picnicking, swimming, hiking; suitable in winter for
skiing. Killdeer Mountain area (Side Tour 8D): hiking, riding, picnicking. Turtle River State Park (Tour 6): swimming,
camping, picnicking. Large towns have ski and toboggan slides, skating rinks.
Fish and Game Laws: Game fish are defined as black bass, wall-eyed pike, northern pike, perch, sunfish, crappie,
trout, and landlocked salmon.

Open Season for Fishing (dates inclusive): Bass, crappie, and sunfish, June 16-Oct. 31; trout and landlocked salmon,
May 2-Sept. 30; pike, any species, and perch, May 16-Oct. 31. Governor has power to shorten or close season.
Licenses: Resident, 50c, nonresident, $3. No license required of persons under age of 12. Issued by game and fish
commissioner, State capitol, Bismarck, county auditors at county courthouses.
Limits: Bass, trout, and landlocked salmon, 5, nor more than 5 of all combined; wall-eyed pike and northern pike, 10,
nor more than 10 of both combined; crappie and sunfish, 15, nor more than 15 of both combined; perch, 25. No bass,
landlocked salmon, trout, or pike less than 10 in.; no crappie less than 6 in.; no sunfish less than 5 in. These limits daily;
no person to have in possession more than 2-day limit.
Prohibited: No use of drugs, lime, fish berries, or explosives. Unlawful to take fish in any manner except by angling
with hook and line held in hand or attached to rod. (Commercial fishing allowed in certain sections, under commercial
license.)
Open Season for Hunting: Dates of hunting season for deer and game birds vary from year to year as well as the
areas where hunting is allowed. Copy of hunting laws furnished with hunting license.
Licenses: Big game: resident, $5, nonresident, $50; hunting: resident, $1.50, nonresident, $25. Aliens not permitted to
hunt. Licenses issued by game and fish commissioner, deputies, or county auditors.
Limits: Bass, trout, and landlocked salmon, 5, nor more than 5 of breasted grouse, ruffed grouse (partridge), Chinese
pheasant, Hungarian partridge; 5 in the aggregate in a day, but number of each species composing aggregate varies in
certain counties; 10 ducks, 4 geese including brant, 12 coots, and 10 jacksnipe a day. Not more than 1-day bag of
migratory game birds may be possessed at one time. Deer may be possessed until 90 days after close of season.
Nonresident licensee may carry with him from State under license tag a 2-day limit of game, if carried openly and
labeled with his name, address, and number of license.
Camp Fires: Any person leaving a fire without thoroughly extinguishing it, so that it burns any wood or prairie, is guilty
of a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both.
Poisonous Snakes and Plants: Rattlesnakes are rare, but are sometimes found in the following areas: south of
Bismarck in Missouri River vicinity; western Emmons County, along Missouri; in valleys of Heart, Little Missouri, and
Cannonball Rivers; and in Badlands.
Anyone bitten by a rattlesnake should cut wound with a sharp knife and suck the blood to remove poison. A tourniquet
should be placed above wound, and medical assistance sought at once.
Poison-ivy common in wooded areas. In June it bears loose clusters of dull green-white blossoms, later in season
replaced by glossy opaque berries of similar color. Poison-ivy vines often are hidden in long grass and in foliage.
To prevent irritation from contact with poison-ivy, before going into woods bathe hands and face with a 5-percent
solution of ferric chloride in a half-and-half mixture of alcohol and water or glycerine and water. If skin should come in
contact with the plant, washing with one of above solutions, or with laundry soap and warm water, is an excellent
treatment. Avoid spreading poison through scratching or rubbing. Bathing affected areas in hot water will relieve
irritation. If there are open sores do not use sugar of lead or zinc oxide.
Tourist Information Service: General information about the State furnished on request by the secretary, Greater
North Dakota Association, Fargo, N. Dak.

CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS

Listed here are events of general interest which occur annually in North Dakota. Dates may vary from year to year, and
should be verified.

(n f d = no fixed date)

Jan.

1
Fargo
Ice Carnival

3rd wk
Fargo
Farmers and Homemakers Week, Agricultural College

4th wk
(usually)
Grand Forks
All-American Turkey Show

n f d
Valley City
Ski Tournament

n f d
Williston
Old Fiddlers Contest

n f d
Varies
State Poultry Show

Feb.

21
Grand Forks
Carney Song Contest, University

2nd wk
Grand Forks
Winter Sports Carnival

2nd wk
Grand Forks
Hobby Show

4th wk
Fort Totten Indian Agency
Midwinter Fair

n f d
Devils Lake
Lake Region Sports Carnival

n f d
Minot
Winter Sports Carnival

n f d
Varies
State Class B High School Basketball Tournament

Mch.

17
Fessenden
Alfalfa Festival

n f d
Bismarck
State Class A High School Basketball Tournament

n f d
Park River
Midwinter Fair

n f d
Park River
Ski Tournament

Apr.
4th Fri.
Grand Forks
Engineers' Day, University

May

17
State-wide
Norwegian Independence Day

17
Fargo
Northwest Norwegian Whist Tournament

30
Nishu (Old Fort Berthold)
Memorial Day Ceremony

1st wk
Fargo
May Festival, Agricultural College

2nd wk
Zap
Lignite Festival

4th wk
Grand Forks
Interfraternity Sing, University

n f d
Fargo
Lilac Festival, Agricultural College

n f d
Grand Forks
May Festival and High School Week, University

mid month Bismarck
State Art Exhibit, Capitol

June

24
St. John
St. John's Day

29
Strasburg
SS. Peter and Paul's Day

1st wk
Williston
Upper Missouri Band Tournament

n f d
Devils Lake
Rhythm Pageant, Deaf School

n f d
Devils Lake
Governor's Day, Camp Grafton

n f d
Fargo
North Dakota State Fair

n f d
Fargo
Valleyland Music Festival

n f d
Grand Forks
North Dakota State Fair

n f d
Grand Forks
State Peony Show

n f d
Hazelton
Emmons County Breeders Association Stock Show

n f d
Nishu
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Mother Corn Ceremonies

n f d
Nishu
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Sage Dance

n f d
Turtle Mountain Reservation Chippewa Indian Sun Dance

July
last wk
Belcourt
St. Ann's Day

Aug.

15
Elbowoods
Indian Congress

1st wk
Peace Garden
Rededication and Highlander's Frolic

n f d
Varies
Golden Grain Festival

Sept.

1st wk
Elbowoods
Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Fair

1st wk
Fort Totten
Indian Agency Fair

1st wk
Fort Yates
Standing Rock Indian Agency Fair

3rd wk
Grand Forks
Harvest Festival

4th wk
Valley City
Barnes County Corn and Lamb Show

Oct.

last wk
Bismarck
State Corn Show

n f d
Fargo
Harvest Festival, Agricultural Extension Division

n f d
Turtle Mountain Reservation Indian Fair

Dec.

n f d
Fargo
4-H Boys and Girls Club Achievement Institute, Agricultural College

n f d
Valley City
Ice Carnival

SURVEY OF THE STATE

CONTEMPORARY NORTH DAKOTA

Nothing, probably, arouses the indignation of a loyal North Dakotan or South Dakotan more than hearing his State
referred to as "Dakota." Just as an earnest Californian would display indignation at being disposed of as merely a
"Westerner", so the man from North Dakota resents having his identity fogged over by the blanket term "Dakotan." And
rightfully so; for, while he finds no fault with his neighbors, he is quite different from them, and quite within his rights in
insisting on the distinct character of his own State.
The person who asks, "What sort of place is North Dakota?" may get a variety of answers, all of them true, and still be
far from a complete picture of the State. He may be told vaguely, "It's out West somewhere," or more specifically,
"North Dakota is a wheat State," or "Isn't that where the farmers have this Nonpartisan League?" These answers are
only partly correct, for they barely touch on the two major problems, economics and politics, in regard to which North
Dakota is now coming of age.
This is a young State. Ruts left by the wagon trains of early explorers, military expeditions, and home seekers have not
yet been effaced from the prairies. Red men and white men, who hunted buffalo and fought at the Little Big Horn, who
saw the railroads push their gleaming paths across the Plains, who recall a puny young man named Theodore Roosevelt
hunting in the Badlands with his short-stocked rifle, still survive to tell their tales. In those fledgling days, the land was
rich with promise. Bonanza farms unfolded their ample acres of wheat, thousands of cattle roamed unchecked in the
gullies and over the plains of the western counties.
The word spread, and from Europe and the eastern States came men and women to break the new soil. Sod houses
and barns and frame homes and windmills set their seal on the prairies. Tons of wheat, thousands of cattle and sheep
and horses attested to the fertility of North Dakota.
For more than half a century the soil was exploited recklessly. Then suddenly exhaustion and drought drove home the
growing realization that this exploitation could not go on. Water conservation, diversified farming, and dams quickly
became part of the agricultural scheme, and are repairing the damage of unthinking abuse. Huge mineral resources have
been recognized and are being developed commercially, bringing a new aspect to North Dakota's economy.
Marketing of farm products has had reverberations in the economic life of the State, and has made its people alert to
changing social trends. Characteristically, in the eastern portion of the State, where soil is richer, and rainfall more
plentiful, the people are more conservative; while to the west, where the climate is more arid and the soil less
productive, the "isms" flourish, providing a stronghold for the leftist elements of the State's tumultuous political parties.
Because of antagonism to control of early agrarian activities by out-of-State business interests, the Nonpartisan League,
with its socialistic platform, was formed, and many of its enterprises have been established, some successfully, some
otherwise. Cooperative economy is prominent in the social consciousness of agricultural North Dakota, and such
groups as the Farmers' Union emphasize the trend toward cooperatives, strengthening their position by supplying
members with purely social activities, as well as with hard economic problems into which to get their teeth.
Freely admitted is the rural character of the State, and there is seldom an attempt to cover native crudities with a veneer
of eastern culture. The few writers in the State recognize and honor the possibilities of their native material; and each
year finds a scattered handful of books, usually verse, telling of the North Dakota known to them and to seven hundred
thousand other North Dakotans.
What is the North Dakota they know? A State of unbounded plains and hills and Badlands—elbowroom. Superb
sunsets. High winds and tumbleweed. Farms and plows and sweeping fields. Gophers flashing across the road. Little
towns crowded on Saturday night, and busy cities shipping out the products of North Dakota and supplying the needs
of the producers. Sudden blinding, isolating blizzards, and soft, fragrant spring days with tiny sprouts of grain peering
greenly through the topsoil. Pasque flower and cactus, flame lily, and fields of yellow mustard. The sad, slow wail of a
coyote on the still prairie. People—Norwegians, Germans, Russians, Poles, Czechs, Icelanders, but all Americans.
Square dances in barn lofts, and college "proms" with corsages and grand marches. Teachers building fires with numbed
hands in stoves of icy one-room schools. Men in unaccustomed "best clothes" sitting in majestic legislative halls of a
skyscraper statehouse. Political fires, sometimes smouldering, sometimes flaring, always burning.
Endless facets are apparent in the temper and tenor of life, thought, and action of the people of this State, still a new
people, pioneers—

"Brave spirits stirred with strange unrest,

They found broad waters and new lands,

And carved the empires of the west."

NORTH DAKOTA: ITS NATURAL SETTING

North Dakota is a rectangular area of 70,837 square miles, lying in what the United States Geological Survey has
designated the center of the North American Continent. It is approximately 1,500 miles from the Atlantic, the Pacific,
the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic Archipelago of North America. North to south it extends 210 miles, and east to
west an average of 335 miles. On the north are the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada; on the east, the
Red River of the North and the Bois de Sioux form the boundary between this State and Minnesota; on the south is
South Dakota and on the west, Montana.

THE SURFACE OF THE LAND

The land surface resembles three broad steps of prairie, rising a half-mile in altitude from the eastern to the western
boundary. The first two steps lie in the Central Lowlands of the Interior Plains, the third in the Great Plains area.
The lowest step is the fertile, floor-like Red River Valley, once the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz. Near the Canadian
boundary the valley is about 40 miles wide, but it gradually narrows until near the South Dakota line it is only 10 miles in
width. With its northward slope of only about one foot to the mile, an even more gradual eastward slope, and few
prominent surface features, the land offers no obstacles to a view across miles of level checkerboard fields. Natural
woods grow along the Red River and its winding sluggish tributaries, and farmyard groves dot the landscape.
The Pembina Escarpment, a rise of 300 to 400 feet along the western edge of the valley, defines the beginning of the
central surface-step, the Drift Prairie, or Drift Plain. At the northern end of the escarpment, which is a continuation of
the Manitoba Escarpment in Canada, lie the wooded Pembina Mountains, jutting sharply above the valley floor. South
of these hills the rise is less pronounced except at the southern end, where the hills again become prominent to merge
with the Coteau des Prairies, an escarpment lying chiefly in South Dakota.
Glacial deposits, or drift, of finely ground rock, sand, and gravel give the Drift Prairie its name. It is a rolling, fertile plain,
varying from 70 to 200 miles in width, and broken by low ridges of hills, shallow coulees, and numerous small lakes. To
the northwest lies the Souris River Valley, a small glacial lake bed resembling the Red River Valley. Devils Lake, largest
in the State, lies in the northern part of the Drift Prairie, and together with Stump Lake forms the basis of the interior
drainage system; near its southern end are the headwaters of the James and Sheyenne Rivers, both flowing southward,
the James into the Missouri and the Sheyenne into the Red.
The Missouri Escarpment, rising 300 to 400 feet above the Drift Prairie and cutting across the State diagonally in a
northwest-southeast direction, marks the rise of the third surface-step, the Missouri Plateau, which extends west to the
Rocky Mountains. Lying along the top of the plateau, in some places not far from the escarpment and at other points 50
miles west of it, is the Altamont Moraine, a belt of rough, stony hills, indicating the farthest advance of the Dakota lobe
of the Wisconsin ice sheet. In the north this moraine is a part of the Height of Land forming the watershed between the
north-and south-flowing streams of the continent.
Between the escarpment and the Missouri River the plateau is known as the Couteau du Missouri. West of the river it is
known locally as the Missouri Slope. The surface of the plateau, typical of the Great Plains, is irregular and rolling,
dotted with old lake beds—some of which contain large deposits of sodium sulphate—and underlain with vast lignite
beds and valuable clay and bentonite deposits.
In the Missouri Slope is the most unusual area in the State—the Badlands of the Little Missouri. Here erosion has
formed, and continues to form, a fantastic array of buttes in which layers of brick-red scoria and gray, blue, and yellow
clays are vividly exposed. Abrupt buttes and mesas characterize the landscape, increasing in size and number toward
the southwest corner of the State. Among them is Black Butte, 3,468 feet above sea level, the highest point in North
Dakota.

CLIMATE

Absence of great variation in physiography gives all portions of the State an almost uniform climate. North Dakota is
situated in a temperate region of moderate rainfall, and owing to its position in the center of the North American Interior
Plains it has a typically continental climate.
One of the characteristics of such a climate is a wide range of temperature, and to this the State can make good claim.
North Dakota has a recorded range from 124° F., registered September 3, 1912 at Medora, to -60° F., recorded
February 15, 1936 at Parshall. These temperatures are, of course, unusual, but the mercury often reaches 100° F.
during the summer, whereas 30° to 40° F. below zero is not uncommon in winter. The mean temperature for the months
of June, July, and August is 65.7° F., and for December, January, and February, 9.7° F. Relatively low humidity,
averaging 68 percent, makes these extremes less uncomfortable, however, than if the atmosphere contained more
moisture.
The sections of the State vary more in the matter of precipitation than in any other climatic phase. The average is about
18 inches annually, ranging from about 22 inches in the southeastern corner to about 14 inches in the southwestern
corner. Most of the precipitation occurs in the late spring and summer. During the period of 1925-34, three years had a
rainfall in excess of normal, and seven were deficient in precipitation.