Thoroughfare of early exploration of western North Dakota and Montana, the Missouri is still known to the Sioux Indians native to this region as Wakpa Hehanka (elk river). According to Sioux legend, once, during the great spring break-up, a large herd of elk were crossing the stream when the ice broke beneath them, precipitating them into quicksand. They perished, and when the ice had floated down the river the antlers of the elk were left protruding like branches from the sand bar.
The time changes from central to mountain standard W. of the river; watches and clocks of west-bound travelers should be turned back one hour, those of east-bound travelers should be set an hour ahead.
Along the highway on the flat lowlands between Bismarck and Mandan are several tourist camps and night clubs.
MANDAN, 203.4 m. (1,642 alt., 5,037 pop.), its business section stretched along one side of its long main street, lies crowded between the N. P. railroad yards and the hills bordering the Heart River valley near the confluence of the Heart and the Missouri.
Named for the agricultural Mandan Indian tribe, this western, overgrown small town is in the area they once occupied, and near two of their ancient village sites. One, Crying Hill Village, is on the bluffs along the Missouri, NE. of the city; the other, known as the Motsiff Site, 2 m. S. on the banks of the Heart. The town itself is so young that many of the original false-front frame or ornate red-brick buildings are still standing. A village grew up here quickly when the railroad crossed the Missouri in 1881, and incorporation as a city followed in 1883. With the settling of the adjoining territory, which began within two years after the founding of the town, development was rapid. Early ranching in the region has given way to grain raising, dairying, and diversified dry farming, and the city has become a wholesale and retail distribution center serving a large agricultural area.
One of the chief economic supports of the city is the N. P. Ry., which maintains a division point here. The Railway Depot is a red brick copy of Washington's Mount Vernon home, and the flagpole in the park surrounding it was used at Fort Abraham Lincoln when Gen. George A. Custer was in command (see Fort Lincoln State Park). In the railroad park, in an ellipse formed by the driveway, stands a small bronze Statue of Theodore Roosevelt as a Rough Rider, a reproduction of a large monument in a Minot park (see Minot). On the depot platform, during the summer months, Yanktonai Sioux perform bits of native dances for the benefit of tourists on the fast trains. On this platform Nov. 1, 1926, Queen Marie of Rumania, making a transcontinental tour, was adopted by the Sioux.
The Railroad Yards are unusual in that their accommodations facilitate handling and housing of the large Pacific type locomotives known as Five Thousands, so called because they are numbered above 5,000. Because of their great length, 125 ft., and their weight, 550 tons, they cannot be used on the sharp curves of the Rocky Mountains; they are therefore employed exclusively on the steep Mandan-Billings, Mont., run. Five Thousands are used only for heavy freight traffic. The largest turntable on the N. P. system, 126 ft. long, handles these giants of the rails.
At 1st St. and 2nd Ave. NW. is the Memorial Building, which has the largest indoor swimming pool in the State. The building was constructed under a Federal project.
The J. D. Allen Taxidermist Shop, 302 5th Ave. NW., contains a rare collection of Indian relics, original paintings, and a variety of mounted specimens of animals, birds, and fish found in the State. In the hodgepodge of his workshop, Allen, who came to Mandan as a youth in 1881, has mounted thousands of specimens, and has done work for Theodore Roosevelt and for members of European nobility. His hobby has been painting, and, although self-taught in his avocation, he has captured the spirit of early North Dakota scenes as have few trained artists. Several of his canvases hang in the museum of the State historical society (see Bismarck).