North Dakota: A Guide to the Northern Prairie State

by Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of North Dakota

TOUR 2

(Brandon, Man., Can.)—Hansboro—Cando—Minnewaukan—Jamestown—Edgeley—Ellendale—(Aberdeen, S. Dak.). ND 4 & US 281.

Canadian boundary to South Dakota Line, 253 m.

Branch of G. N. Ry. parallels route between Cando and Churchs Ferry, branch of N. P. Ry. between Brinsmade and Jamestown, Midland R. R. between Jamestown and Edgeley.

Graveled roadbed entire route except for 3 m. dirt grade from Canadian boundary to Hansboro.

Accommodations in principal towns.

South of the international boundary the route traverses an uneven terrain formed by mighty glaciers as they retreated across the region during the ice age. It passes Devils and Arrowood Lakes and crosses the pleasant wooded valleys of the Sheyenne and James Rivers. Between the groves and farmhouses along the way are thousands of acres of open fields and grasslands. Brown and black in spring, these soon turn green with the crops of wheat, oats, barley, corn, and cultivated grasses grown in this diversified farming area. The southern part of the route passes through some of the best pheasant-hunting country in the State, while grouse and duck are also plentiful.

ND 4 crosses the Canadian boundary, 0.0 m., 8 m. S. of Cartwright, Man., Canada.

HANSBORO, 3 m. (1,595 alt., 176 pop.), is named for Henry Clay Hansbrough, the first Representative (1889-91) sent to Congress from North Dakota, and later U. S. Senator (1891-1909). The town is a port of entry, and the U. S. customhouse is here.

At 15 m. is the junction with ND 5 (see Tour 5), a graveled highway, which between this point and 20 m. is identical with ND 4.

ROCK LAKE, 21 m. (1,548 alt., 279 pop.), is on the southern end of the long, narrow, fresh-water lake of the same name. The U. S. Biological Survey has created a migratory waterfowl sanctuary by constructing a large, earthfill dam on the lake just NE. of town. Overflow from the water impounded will be sufficient to raise the levels of a number of smaller lakes in the area. At Rock Lake is a junction (L) with ND 5 (see Tour 5).

At 35 m. is a junction with a county road.

Left on this road to SNYDER LAKE, 3 m., a recreational center (swimming and picnicking facilities).

CANDO, 44.5 m. (1,486 alt., 1,164 pop.), received its name at a county commissioners' meeting in 1884, when, during the heat of an argument over the selection of the Towner County seat, P. P. Parker, chairman of the board, called out above the confusion, "There has been much talk about our not having power to locate this county seat where we see fit. But we'll show you that we can do it. And furthermore, just to show you what we can do, we'll name this county seat 'Can-do.'"

Left from Cando on ND 17, a graveled highway, to a DUNKER (Dunkard) COLONY, 8 m. (about 100 members), the first settlement of this religious organization in the State. The sect, known officially as the German Baptist Brethren, originated in Germany in 1708. Shortly thereafter its members began to come to Pennsylvania, whence they spread westward. The group at Cando was brought in by the G. N. Ry. in 1894 to aid in colonizing the land along their route. The practices and tenets of the Dunkers (Ger., those who dip or immerse) are similar to those of the Baptists. Older members still retain many of the early customs of plain dress, no jewelry or other adornment, simple living, and no form of insurance; the women wear the small lace prayer cap for church attendance. A harvest festival in early October has become an outstanding holiday of the church life.

MAZA, 53.5 m. (1,463 alt., 70 pop.), is the center of a wheat-producing and stock-raising community. The derivation of the name of the town is not definitely known, but is believed to have been from maize, the Indian word for corn.

At 54 m. is the junction with a graveled county road.

Left on this road is LAC AUX MORTES (Fr., lake of the dead), 4.5 m., named by French trappers who visited the region in the early 1860's. Indian tradition says that one winter during a severe smallpox epidemic the dead were so numerous that the trees were filled with bodies. Fire destroyed the woods a few years later. At the present time (1938) the lake is nearly dry.

At 59 m. is the junction with US 2, which unites with US 81 between this point and 66 m.

Between BRINSMADE, 72 m. (1,560 alt., 199 pop.), named for a noted Congregational minister, the Rev. S. Brinsmade, of Beloit, Wis., and MINNEWAUKAN (Sioux, spirit water), 84 m. (1,458 alt., 480 pop.), the road makes several sharp, right-angle turns, necessitating cautious driving. Minnewaukan, the Benson County seat, during its early years stood on the western shore of Devils Lake, and there was a steamboat landing on the eastern edge of town, where the Benson County fairgrounds now stand. The shore line of the lake has receded, however, and for many years the water has not reached within several miles of this point.

South of Minnewaukan the road skirts land that was the bed of Devils Lake when that body of water was truly an inland sea, and crosses drift prairie, from which the chain of high morainic hills bordering Devils Lake is visible (L) in the distance, and reaches the pretty valley of the SHEYENNE RIVER, named for the Cheyenne (Sioux, people of alien speech) Indians. Early explorers misspelled the name, changing C to S—an error that aids in distinguishing this river from the Cheyenne of South Dakota. In crossing the stream here the route descends into the valley over terraces cut by glacial waters thousands of years ago.

SHEYENNE, 105.5 m. (1,476 alt., 417 pop.), on the river, originally was a mile and a half from its present site, and was moved when the survey for the N. P. Ry. was made.

NEW ROCKFORD, 116 m. (1,533 alt., 2,195 pop.), on the James River approximately 25 m. from its source, was first called Garrison, later Rockford, and still later, with the coming of the N. P. Ry., New Rockford. It is the Eddy County seat and the home of Ole H. Olson, a Governor of the State (1934).

LAW BUILDING, UNIVERSITY, GRAND FORKS

ROOSEVELT MONUMENT, MINOT

BARLOW, 124 m. (1,537 alt., 322 pop.), was named for its founder, F. G. Barlow, who as a member of the first North Dakota Legislature (1889) fought the Louisiana Lottery bill (see History).

CARRINGTON, 132.5 m. (1,579 alt., 1,717 pop.), is named for M. D. Carrington, who platted the city in 1882, and gave sites for the school, churches, and Foster County Courthouse. It has a 10,000-volume Municipal Library in the City Hall on Central Ave. and 1st St. N. On the western side of town is a landscaped and well-equipped tourist camp. Here is a junction with US 52 (see Tour 7), which unites with US 281 between this point and Jamestown.

MELVILLE, 142 m. (1,597 alt., 50 pop.), was originally laid out as New Port, but because of a disagreement over the price of the site the railway company moved the town one-half mile W. and called it Melville.

At EDMUNDS, 149 m. (1,594 alt., 100 pop.), is the junction with a graveled county road.

Left on this road to ARROWOOD LAKE, 6 m., the largest of the chain of three lakes through which the James River flows. Before white settlement the Indians came here from great distances to obtain Juneberry shoots for their arrow shafts. On the southeastern shore is a CCC Camp, and on the western shore the buildings of the Arrowood Migratory Refuge. This reserve is highly valued by the Biological Survey as a summer breeding ground, and is an important feeding place for pelicans.

PINGREE, 155 m. (1,547 alt., 266 pop.), was named for Hazen Senter Pingree, who, with a rack and wagon and a team of oxen, came to Dakota Territory in 1880 to start a potato plantation. His venture was a failure, so he went to Michigan, where he became an important shoe manufacturer, was made mayor of Detroit, and twice served as Governor of the State (1897-1900).

BUCHANAN, 163 m. (1,546 alt., 150 pop.), was named for its founder, James A. Buchanan, a prominent early settler.

South of Buchanan the route continues over rolling terrain toward the valley of the James River, a steep-sided, flat-bottomed trough, approximately a mile wide.

JAMESTOWN, 176 m. (1,405 alt., 8,187 pop.) (see Tour 8).

Points of Interest: Jamestown College, State Hospital for the Insane, Fort Seward State Park.

At 5th Ave. and 3rd St. is the junction with US 10 (see Tour 8).

The area L. of the route here was once the scene of one of those devastating prairie fires that terrorized and impoverished the early farmers of the Plains States. This blaze, which began Sept. 25, 1888, swept the entire region from near Jamestown to LaMoure.

"A heavy and smoke laden atmosphere and a sky streaked with a dull red reflection of burning grass proclaimed the fierce raging of prairie fires north, south and west of the city last night," reported the Jamestown Daily Alert.... "For at least 40 miles in width the fire burned off every vestige of grass unprotected by breaks. One could hardly recognize the charred land the next day. Thousands of bushels of grain were burned and many men lost all they had, grain, buildings and stock."

EDGELEY, 215 m. (1,565 alt., 821 pop.), was named by Richard Sykes, once owner of the site, for his former home in England. It is the meeting point of an N. P. Ry. branch line, a branch of the Milwaukee R. R., and the Midland main line.

From Edgeley to the South Dakota Line, the hills of the Missouri Plateau loom (R) in the distance.

At 237 m. is a junction with a graveled county road.

Left on this road to WHITESTONE HILL BATTLEFIELD STATE PARK, 16 m., where Gen. Alfred Sully and his command met a band of Sioux Indians on the evening of Sept. 3, 1863, in the most severe engagement fought on North Dakota soil since the coming of the white man. A granite monument 25 ft. in height, bearing the figure of a mounted cavalryman, has been erected about three-fourths of a mile NW. of the site of the battle. Reinterred about the base of the monument, each with an appropriate marker, are the remains of the soldiers who died here. Generals Sully and Sibley had been sent out from Minnesota to punish the Indians who had taken part in the Minnesota Massacre of 1862. Sully was to move up the Missouri, while Sibley marched W. across the country. When Sully, delayed by low water, arrived in the neighborhood of present Bismarck, where he was to meet Sibley, he found the latter had given up the idea of the proposed meeting and started on the return journey to Minnesota. He also discovered that the Sioux, who had fled over the Missouri upon Sibley's approach, had now recrossed to their old hunting grounds on the James River. He immediately set out in pursuit, and overtook them in a three-day march. The Indians retreated while the soldiers, on higher ground, poured in a murderous fire. Sully's casualties were 34 men wounded and 19 killed, while the Indian loss was estimated at 150. It is now believed that the Sioux encountered here did not take part in the Minnesota Massacre. The perpetrators of the massacre were known to have fled W., however, and it was natural for the soldiers to regard any Indians they met as enemies.

ELLENDALE, 248 m. (1,448 alt., 1,264 pop.), named for Ellen Dale Merrill, wife of a Milwaukee R. R. official, is the Dickey County seat. At the end of Main St. on the eastern edge of the trim little town, attractively arranged on a well-kept campus, are the six brick buildings of the State Normal and Industrial School, a teachers college and vocational institution. When it opened its doors in 1889 it offered the first free course in manual training in the United States.

At 253 m. US 281 crosses the South Dakota Line, 35 m. N. of Aberdeen, S. Dak. (see S. Dak. Tour 11).