SIDE TOUR 4B
Junction US 85—New England—Mott—Carson—Flasher—Junction ND 6.
ND 21. Junction with US 85 to junction ND 6, 126.5 m.
N. P. Ry. branch line roughly parallels route from Mott to Flasher; Milwaukee R. R. branch between New England and Elgin.
Graveled roadbed except for 11 m. of graded dirt.
Hotel and tourist camp facilities limited in most towns; many natural camping places along the Cannonball River.
Traversing the northern part of the Missouri Slope, this route passes through what was ranch land, now used for diversified farming. Most of the land adjacent to the route is underlain with deposits of lignite, and on many farms the winter's fuel is easily obtained by a little digging. Dominating the general rolling terrain are jagged, mesa-like hills capped with brown sandstone formations. Gentle, grass-covered slopes, whose rich spring green turns to amber in the fall, rise to steeper hillsides, above which jumbled, broken, weathered rocks lead to the steep cliffs crowning the flat mesas.
Trees are few along this route, except for the tiny groves on occasional farms, and the woods and bushes that edge the Cannonball River and its tributary creeks.
ND 21 branches E. from US 85 (see Tour 4), 23.5 m. S. of Belfield (see Tour 8). Dominating the landscape immediately E. of the junction are the two high, flat-topped, coffin-shaped RAINY BUTTES (R). At 6 m. the highway passes 2 m. N. of West Rainy Butte, and at 8 m. passes East Rainy Butte, which appears to be only a short distance from the route, but actually is 6 m. S. The tops of these twin heights are sometimes clouded in a faint gray mist, and according to Indian lore they get rain at least once a day, despite the weather. Although this is an exaggeration, it is nearly true, for at times when warm currents of air strike the cold surface of the sides of the buttes the moisture in the air is condensed, resulting in fogs or mists that usually veil the heights. This phenomenon is also common to other buttes in this area. There are evidences of Indian burials on the Rainy Buttes.
NEW ENGLAND, 14 m. (2,593 alt., 911 pop.), its seven grain elevators standing like sentinels overlooking its level site N. of the Cannonball River, was founded in 1887. It was named and first settled by the New England Colony Association, an organization from the New England States headed by Thomas W. Bicknell (1834-1925), who was the author of several histories dealing with Rhode Island. Streets of the new town were laid out by plowing furrows in the prairie. Before the end of the first summer 50 families had arrived, but from 1888 to 1911, when the Milwaukee R. R. came in, New England was little more than a trading post. Although originally founded by New Englanders, today it is predominantly Scandinavian.
ND 22 forms the main street, at the southern end of which, in St. Mary's Catholic schoolyard, is a Shrine to the Virgin Mary, made of huge slabs of petrified woods, scoria, odd rock formations from the Badlands, and "cannonballs" (see Side Tour 8C) from the river. The shrine was built by school children. Midway between the two schools on Main St. is a modern, stuccoed Memorial Building, a community center completed under the Works Progress Administration in 1936.
Between New England and 23 m. ND 21 unites with ND 22.
At 18 m. is the junction with a graveled county road.
Left on this road along the north bank of the Cannonball River is HAVELOCK, 6 m. (2,566 alt., 118 pop.), named for an English stockholder in the Milwaukee R.R. In 1915 a small group of Moravians settled here and erected a church, but by 1924 the colony had dwindled, and the church was sold to the Congregationalists. The Moravians held their immersion baptismal ceremonies in the Cannonball. Right from Havelock (inquire directions at post office), 1 m., to a BURNING COAL MINE, operated until 1934, when it was discovered to be afire. At times smoke, accompanied by an unpleasant odor of sulphur, is emitted from the mine.
At 23 m. is the eastern junction of ND 21 and ND 22; L. here on ND 21. Rising ahead (R) is a series of conical hills, the TEPEE BUTTES, resembling a giant Indian encampment. The highway parallels them their entire length between 25 m. and 28 m.
At 36 m. is the junction with a graveled county road.
Left on this road is REGENT, 0.8 m. (2,461 alt., 308 pop.), named by the railroad company when it was believed that its situation in the center of the county would make it the county seat. The town is on the south bank of the Cannonball. Richard Tooker (1902-), one of the State's successful fiction writers, attended high school in Regent, and had his first story published when only 15. He wrote more than 150 stories before his first novel, Day of the Brown Horde, appeared.
North of Regent at 1.3 m. is the junction with a county road; R. on this road to REGENT LAKE, 2.8 m. (camping, picnicking, swimming).
East of Regent on ND 21 the route proceeds for a few miles over a level plain lying S. of the almost treeless Cannonball River valley.
MOTT, 51 m. (2,399 alt., 1,036 pop.), is in the valley of the Cannonball. On an elevation to the NW. the strikingly modern Hettinger County Courthouse overlooks the river valley. The town is the terminal of an N. P. Ry. branch, and is also on the Milwaukee. Central Park (tourist camp, tennis courts), is between 3rd and 4th Sts. Its recreation facilities were built as an FERA project.
BURT, 58 m. (2,358 alt., 125 pop.), originally known as Alton Post Office, was named by the N. P. Ry. to honor A. M. Burt, superintendent of the Dakota division. More than 500 poplars and Chinese elms are planted in the town schoolyard.
At 63 m. the highway crosses THIRTY MILE CREEK, one of the larger tributaries of the north fork of the Cannonball.
At 68 m. is the junction with a side road.
Left on this 0.1 m. to a LIGNITE STRIP MINE, the largest of several in this vicinity. It produces 8,000 tons annually, and rough hummocks of earth are thrown up in the stripping process.
NEW LEIPZIG, 69 m. (2,311 alt., 433 pop.), is a Russo-German community, named for Leipzig in Germany, and is on both the Milwaukee and N. P. branch lines where the two roads run parallel only 200 ft. apart.
Several years before the establishment of New Leipzig the territory to the S. was settled by a large group of Finns, of whom about a dozen families now remain. Because the settlement has dwindled in recent years, many native customs have disappeared, although a few of the older people retain a superstitious belief in witchcraft, and there are five or six saunas, or steam baths, in which water is poured on hot stones in a tightly closed shelter. At butchering time each autumn, rye and wheat flour are hulled, ground oats are mixed with the blood of beeves, and baked in round, thin rings similar to doughnuts. These rings are placed on long sticks, 30 or 40 at a time, thoroughly hardened near a fire, then stored in barrels, with lime as a preservative, for use throughout the winter and coming summer.
ELGIN, 74.5 m. (2,330 alt., 505 pop.), with its many trees, is a pleasant Russo-German town. Its first name, Shanley, was discarded when the N. P. came through because of its similarity to Stanley. A new name was being discussed by a group waiting for a train one day when a member of the group, having looked at his watch, suggested the trade name, Elgin, as a good town site name. His suggestion met with approval of the railroad company.
Right from Elgin on an unimproved county road to the north fork of the Cannonball River, 2 m., where are several suitable camping places under the trees of the narrow river valley.
The road continues S. of the river. Sloping up from the stream, MEDICINE BUTTE (L), 3 m., is a high hill topped with a large, almost cubical block of sandstone used for many years as a Prayer Rock by Indian tribes, and carved with picture symbols of human hands, buffalo heads, bear paws, and other figures. It was the practice of the Indians to leave offerings at the rock and return the following day, when, the older Indians still relate, the pictures on the rock would tell them whether their prayers were to be answered. Beads, pieces of pottery, and other traces of votive offerings are still found near the stone. At the foot of the hill to the W. is a circular area, approximately 80 yd. in diameter, where it is believed that native worshipers danced while encamped near the sacred hill. Little vegetation grows on the plot, indicating that years of dancing packed the earth firmly.
At 76.5 m. is the junction with ND 49, a graveled highway.
Left on this highway to HEART BUTTE (L), 17 m., known to the Sioux as Ta canta wakpa Paha (Heart River Butte). From this elevation the surrounding country is visible for 20 m. in all directions, and in early days ranchers used the hill as a lookout when searching for strayed cattle or horses. The wooded valley of the Heart River is 4 m. to the S., although it appears much nearer. In the sandstone formation atop the butte is a cave formed by wind and water erosion.
East of Elgin on ND 21 is the junction with a graveled county road, 85.5 m.
Right on this road is LEITH, 4 m. (2,353 alt., 174 pop.), named for Leith, Scotland. It is on the Milwaukee R. R.
South of Leith on an unimproved county road to the junction with another dirt road, 6 m.; R. on this road to another junction at 7 m., where a vast deposit of small sea shells covers approximately one square mile to a depth of 4 ft., visible evidence that ages ago this region was the bed of a large sea. Only a thin layer of rich black soil covers the deposit, and in plowed fields the shells are easily seen. The practical-minded farmers of this region have found a good use for this gift of the prehistoric sea; they pulverize the shells and feed them to their poultry to provide the calcium in their diet.
CARSON, 90.5 m. (2,289 alt., 356 pop.), is a compact little town on the slope of a hill, dominated by the large, white frame courthouse at the high end of the main street. It is named for two early settlers, Frank Carter and Simon Pederson.
Left from Carson an unimproved county road leads to the HEART RIVER, 12 m.
Right on the south bank of the stream to a good camping place, 1 m. The river, free from rocks at this point, is deep enough for swimming.
Across the river (L) to the G. A. Johnson home. On a slight rise in the pasture back of the house is a row of evenly spaced piles of four or five stones, about one-fourth mile long, placed at a right angle to the brink of the hill. This is believed to have been an Indian BUFFALO RUN, in which the Indians placed banners of red cloth or buckskin between the piles, then drove the hunted buffalo toward them. The animals, frightened by the banners, would swerve toward the crest of the hill where in their rush they would stumble down the incline and fall easy prey to the arrows and spears of the hunters.
At 103.5 m. is the junction with ND 31, a graveled highway.
Right on this highway to the DOG TOOTH BUTTES (R), 2 m. From a distance their outlines indicate that they are well named. These buttes were a landmark on the Bismarck-Deadwood trail during the Black Hills gold rush from 1876 to 1884. The stagecoaches with their four-horse teams, and the lumbering ox teams pulling heavily loaded freight wagons, passed just SE. of here, leaving deep ruts which are still visible where ND 31 crosses them immediately S. of the buttes.
At 6 m. on ND 31 is RALEIGH (2,038 alt., 202 pop.), a German community, originated as Dog Tooth Post Office on the Bismarck-Deadwood trail. Purebred livestock is raised on many of the farms in this vicinity.
Left at 8 m. are THREE BUTTES. From the tallest of these peaks a far-reaching view is presented. On a clear day Mandan, 50 m. to the NE., is visible.
FLASHER, 108.5 m. (1,905 alt., 346 pop.), its residence district scattered over the south slope of a hill and its business street at the foot, is a Russo-German community named for Mabel Flasher, niece and secretary of William H. Brown, head of the land company that owned many of the town sites along the N. P. Ry. branch.
At 126.5 m. is the junction with ND 6 (see Side Tour 8C), 26 m. S. of Mandan (see Tour 8).