DODGE, 91 m. (1,979 alt., 204 pop.), is in the valley of Spring Creek.
At 97 m. is a junction with ND 8 which unites with ND 25 to 99 m., where ND 25 branches L.
Right on ND 8 at the confluence of Alkaline and Spring Creek is HALLIDAY, 0.5 m. (2,048 alt., 305 pop.), named for one of its first settlers.
At 19 m. is FOUR BEARS BRIDGE (see Side Tour 3A)
DUNN CENTER, 113 m. (2,191 alt., 276 pop.), is so named because it is near the geographic center of Dunn County.
At 120 m. is the junction with ND 22, a graded dirt highway.
Right on this highway is KILLDEER, 1 m. (2,233 alt., 495 pop.), named for the nearby KILLDEER MOUNTAINS, which rise clearly into view as ND 22 proceeds NW. from the town. The Killdeers are not mountains, but rather two lofty hills, extending NE. to SW. more than 10 m., and at their highest points rising 600 ft. above the surrounding prairie. The Sioux called them Tah-kah-o-kuty (the place where they kill the deer). The upper 300 to 400 ft. of the hills belong to the geologic stratum known as the White River formation. This is the youngest of the various layers of bedrock underlying North Dakota, having been deposited by the last of the prehistoric seas which inundated this area. It is also the rarest stratum in the State, since, being at the surface, it has eroded until it is now found in only a few places. The White River formation is particularly rich in fossil remains ranging from fish and turtles to huge prehistoric mammals, although no specimens have been taken from the Killdeer Mountains.
At 4 m. to the junction with an unimproved county road; L. here to the junction with another dirt road, 7 m.
Directly ahead 2 m. on the dirt road to the junction with a prairie trail leading through a pasture gate. Right on this trail are the buildings of Diamond C RANCH, 4 m., the little white ranch house, the red cattle barns, and the gray weathered wooden poles of the corrals all situated along the timbered ravine formed by Falling Spring, near which took place the Battle of Killdeer Mountains. The spring drops from a sandstone formation in a hillside to the rear of the ranch house, providing a steady flow of cool, clear water as it did one July day in 1864 when 5,000 Sioux were encamped along it, hunting and preparing hides for clothing and food for the coming winter. Gen. Alfred H. Sully, sent out to punish the Sioux for the Minnesota Massacre of 1862, learned that they were in the mountains. Rapidly moving his force of 2,200 men he attacked the Indians on sight the morning of July 28. The Indians offered stubborn resistance despite the surprise of the attack and the confusion caused by the shelling of their camp, but were finally forced to make a hasty retreat over the mountain through Dead Man's Gulch, a steep-sided ravine leading through the mountains back of Falling Spring, into the Badlands along the Little Missouri River. In their retreat the Sioux were forced to leave almost all of their belongings, and when 5 companies of troops set about demolishing the camp it is said they worked 5 hours destroying tipis, travois poles, cooking utensils, robes, and foods. Dried and drying meat estimated at 200 tons was destroyed. The Sioux loss was reported as 27 dead on the field in addition to many carried off by their comrades. Sully's loss in the encounter was 5 killed and 10 wounded, 2 of whom were pickets slain the second night. Two white marble slabs enclosed in a steel wire fence, a short distance S. of the Diamond C ranch house, mark their graves.