Points of Interest: Minot State Teachers College, Roosevelt Park and Zoo.
At 2nd St. and 4th Ave. SW. is the junction with US 2 (see Tour 6) and US 52 (see Tour 7).
South of Minot the route is over level drift prairie, gradually rising to a ridge of hills at 85 m. This is the HEIGHT OF LAND, the northern rim of the Plateau du Missouri, which is the watershed between the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay, and also marks the farthest advance of the last glacier. In addition to its geologic interest, the elevation commands a view northward almost to the Canadian border.
MAX, 96 m. (2,100 alt., 500 pop.), a Russo-German community, was named for the eldest son of an early settler.
At 109 m. is the junction with ND 37 (see Side Tour 3A).
COLEHARBOR, 118 m. (1,900 alt., 153 pop.), derives its name from the unsuccessful attempt to make this a river shipping point for lignite coal, which is mined in this vicinity.
UNDERWOOD, 126 m. (2,020 alt., 488 pop.), is the center of a large diversified farming area. The railway conductor for whom it was named, in appreciation of the honor, donated a bell to the school. The town has a circulating library, begun by a 72-year-old man, Edward Erickson, who bound newspaper and magazine stories into books. With these he began his collection, and by the time of his death in 1932 his work, together with donations, had resulted in a library of 8,000 volumes, most of them now available to the public at the office of the Underwood News.
WASHBURN, 143 m. (1,731 alt., 753 pop.), McLean County seat, on the eastern bank of the Missouri River, is named for Gen. W. D. Washburn of Minneapolis, who was instrumental in its development. One of the earliest Missouri boat landings was established at Washburn, and the town was an important trading post in pioneer days. Where the waterworks stand NW. of the city is the Site of a Sioux-Arikara Battle fought on May 22, 1869; it resulted in the death of Swift Runner, young Ree chieftain. On E. Main St. stands the Log Cabin of Joseph Henry Taylor (open by arrangement; inquire at Leader office), trapper, hunter, and author, who built the house near Painted Woods (see Side Tour 3B) in the early 1870's. He established a woodyard there, and also became the first postmaster of the settlement; the post office was a hole cut in the trunk of an oak tree. Taylor printed his books in his own shop, writing the stories as he set the type by hand. His books include Frontier and Indian Lives and Kaleidoscopic Lives, both reflecting the somewhat florid literary style of the time, but nevertheless giving a colorful and engrossing picture of the frontier of his day.
Right from W. Main St. in Washburn on a well-marked country road to FORT MANDAN STATE PARK, 14 m., site of Fort Mandan on the north bank of the big bend in the Missouri. Here the Lewis and Clark expedition spent the winter of 1804-5 with the friendly Mandan Indians. It was here that Sakakawea, or Bird Woman, a young Shoshone Indian girl, joined the expedition which she helped to guide to the Pacific (see Bismarck). Warring Sioux destroyed the buildings of the fort in 1805, and the ever changing river channel has altered the landscape so that it is impossible to identify the exact site (see Tour 10). Near the markers that have been erected are the trenches of unidentified expeditions.
At 150.5 m. is the junction with a county dirt road (see Side Tour 3B).