SPIRITWOOD, 82.5 m. (1,475 alt., 267 pop.), is named for the lake 16 m. NW.
At 93.5 m. is the junction with ND 20, a graveled highway.
Right on this highway to the junction with a county graveled road, 10 m.; R. here to SPIRITWOOD LAKE (bathing beaches, boathouses, cottages, golf course, and two pavilions on the southern shore), 16 m., an attractive resort in a wooded valley. It is known to the Sioux as Minneskaya (water with white foam on top). According to an Indian legend, a grief-stricken girl plunged into its waters to join her drowned lover, and her spirit still resides in the lake.
On the northern shore of the lake the State Game and Fish Commission maintains an Aviary where Mongolian pheasants are confined for breeding purposes. Eggs are hatched on nearby farms and the poults are then returned to the aviary for distribution throughout the State.
In the vicinity of Spiritwood Lake have been found several heart-shaped stones marked with a small cross, probably representing a star. This is the only locality in the State where these stone hearts have been found, and archeologists believe they are the product of the early Indians. Specimens are on display at the State historical society museum (see Bismarck) and in the Vernon Gale Collection (see Valley City above).
JAMESTOWN, 95.5 m. (1,405 alt., 8,187 pop.), Stutsman County seat, lies in the fertile valley of the winding James River, described as the longest unnavigable river in the world. The story is told that the stream received its name from a French-Indian hunter-trapper who, having lost his way, was overcome with joy upon discovering the little river and gave it his own name—Rivière de Jacques.
The first settlement at Jamestown was made in the fall of 1871, when a corps of five or six N. P. Ry. engineers spent the winter here in order to be in readiness for work in the spring. Soldiers from Fort Ransom (see Side Tour 8A) acted as a guard for the engineers, and in June a military post, Fort Cross (later Fort Seward), was established. During the summer settlers and businessmen came to the community, and a brisk trade was carried on with the 500 railroad workers and the 3 companies of soldiers stationed at the fort.
On Sept. 13, 1872, the first train to enter Jamestown crossed the river into the city. Less than a month later construction crews, incensed because of unpaid wages, stopped work, and even began tearing up the newly laid tracks. Soldiers from the fort quickly quelled North Dakota's first strike.
Railroads played an important role in Jamestown's inception and growth. At one time there were prospects that two other railroads besides the N. P. would come into the city, and hope was high that the place would become an important railroad center. Although these plans did not fully materialize, one of the new roads, the Midland Continental, did make the city its home office. Financed by English capital, the Midland began to build in 1913, with plans for a line connecting Winnipeg, Man., with the Gulf of Mexico. The World War intervened, foreign support was withdrawn, and operations ceased after completion of only 70 m. of road, from Edgeley to Wimbledon.