The superiority of railway transportation to that of the river boat led to the abandonment of Fort Yates in 1895 and the establishment of the new Fort Lincoln at Bismarck (see Tour 8).
It was at the Standing Rock Reservation that Rain-in-the-Face, a young Hunkpapa Sioux, was arrested by Tom Custer, brother of Gen. George A. Custer, for the alleged slaying of two white men. Rain-in-the-Face was imprisoned at Fort Abraham Lincoln but made his escape and joined the band of Sitting Bull, who lived without benefit of agency. He gained his revenge by participating in the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
The town today retains much of the appearance and spirit of its frontier days when it played an important part in the early Indian history of the State. On a flat plain overlooking the Missouri, its log huts and contrasting white frame buildings are scattered in a lazy fashion over a wide area, with the agency offices, schools, and the hospital as the core of the town.
Across the street from the agency office, overlooking the Missouri, is the famed Standing Rock (Sioux, Inyan Woslata), for which the agency was named. Originally sacred to the Arikara, it came into the possession of the Sioux. When the reservation was established the rock was on Proposal Hill, but it was later brought into town and mounted on a brick pedestal. It is of gray metamorphic composition entirely foreign to this area. If viewed from the correct angle, and with a discreet degree of imagination, the stone resembles the seated figure of a small, shawled woman. According to Dakota legend, a young Indian woman became jealous of her husband's second wife and refused to leave camp when the village moved. Thinking she would soon follow, the people of the village left her sitting before the fire with her child on her back. When she did not appear her husband sent his brothers-in-law to look for her. They returned to the deserted camp and found her and the child still seated before the fire—both transformed into stone. From that time the rock was carried with the tribe and occupied a position in the center of each village in which they lived. This rock is one of two revered by the Sioux. The other, Inyan Bosdata (erect rock), is on the Sheyenne River (see Side Tour 8A).
The population of Fort Yates is both white and Indian. The two great events of the year are the annual fair (see above), and the Fourth of July, when Indians from miles around come in to celebrate. On these occasions the fairgrounds present an unusual sight. Tall, graceful tipis rise above the squat, modern wall tents of the numerous camps that dot the level area around the race track, and back and forth is a bustling flow of dilapidated autos, sleek saddle ponies, running children, hobbling old warriors, and women dressed in bright colors. Except for their braided hair and their moccasins, the older men wear modern attire. The younger men, in keeping with the occasion, adopt western costume, high-heeled riding boots, blue denim trousers topped with wide, flashy belts, brightly colored shirts, and the ever present "ten gallon" hat. Cotton dresses and large bright shawls form the costume of the women, and moccasins are also worn by the older women. The highly colored Sioux costumes are seen only during the native dances.
Memorial Day and Armistice Day are also holidays. On Memorial Day graves are decorated with crepe paper flowers which have been made by the women during the winter. The Indians are intensely patriotic, and it would be hard to find a fair, tribal council, or any other meeting over which the flag of the United States does not fly.
A trail runs NW. of the town past the Roman Catholic church to a Golf Course, all nine holes laid out on the mesa-like top of Proposal Hill, where Standing Rock once stood. The hill in bygone days was a popular rendezvous for Indian sweethearts, hence its name.
Across the river from Fort Yates, in the heyday of the military post, there sprang up a little town called WINONA, a natural corollary of the restrictions of military life on an Indian reservation. By ferryboat in summer and over the ice by bobsled in winter went the soldier, trader, bullwhacker, Indian, and cowboy, to taste the "night life" offered in the gaming houses with their expansive bars and amiable hostesses. In Territorial days no less than nine saloons were operating, and an excellent race track was the scene of many financial exchanges.
Like other western towns, Winona attracted a wide variety of inhabitants. One of the most colorful was "Mustache Maude" Black. She came to the vicinity as a young school teacher, but, finding a more lucrative scope for her talents, entered the entertainment field. Tall, large, and angular, she was masculine in appearance, but wore women's clothing with the exception of her boots, which she had made to order, reputedly at $20 a pair. Because of her occupation the women of Winona ostracized her, but the men found her well educated, an astute business woman, a good poker player, and an excellent cook. By one of those quirks which make human beings as interesting as they are, Mustache Maude, the proprietor of many of Winona's most scarlet institutions, owned a good library and was an expert needlewoman. She married Ott Black, a rancher, and after the decline of her own business interests managed his ranch. She lived near Winona until her death.
There was another side of life in Winona, too. It was an enterprising business town, in the center of a growing ranching country. A Literary Society and Dramatic Club functioned for years. The Sunday school was organized by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Spicer, who in 1897, together with four other members of their family, were killed by five drunken Indians, three of whom were subsequently lynched for the crime at nearby Williamsport.