Bismarck ND

23 -25 Aug 2023

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a blessed and happy holidays.

Sorry I got so far behind again in posting but life threw me a few curveballs I'll talk about later and I haven't been able to write. Let's continue our journey through North Dakota now...

I set up camp at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, just outside of Bismarck. Once again, the utilities were on the wrong side, and I had to run everything under the trailer. Maybe it's a North Dakota State Park thing???

Two Cougars in the campground

The campground was very nice but OMG the insects. So many flies, wasps, and mosquitoes! I had four wasps in my trailer just from going in and out while setting up. I asked the ranger why so many wasps and he had no explanation for it but agreed they were awful this year. I took Sage for a potty walk at dusk and had on mosquito spray, but they went right through my shirt and ate me alive! Sage looked like she had hives she got so chewed up. Needless to say, I learned quickly when we could and couldn't be outside. Other than the bugs we really enjoyed this area.

Fort McKeen was built in June 1872 by two companies of the 6th US Infantry. It was expanded in November 1872 and the name changed to Fort Abraham Lincoln. It was at one time, one of the largest and most important forts on the Northern Plains. In 1873, the 7th Cavalry moved to the fort to ensure the expansion on the Northern Pacific Railway. General George Armstrong Custer was the first commander of the expanded fort until his death in 1876 at the Battle of Little Bighorn. The railroad was completed in 1883, and by 1891, the fort was abandoned. Local residents disassembled the fort for its nails and wood.

Fort Abraham Lincoln was designated a state park in 1907 and is the oldest state park in North Dakota. In 1934, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) built roads, shelters, and a visitor center. They reconstructed Custer’s house, military blockhouses, and placed cornerstones to mark where fort buildings once stood. Five earthlodges of a native Mandan village called “On-a-Slant Village” were also built.

For a small fee you can get a guided tour of Custer House and the Mandan Village. It was well worth it.

Custer House with our tour guide

Our tour guide telling us about life in the 1870s. This is the parlor where they would've entertained guests.

This photo over the fireplace is of Custer (sitting), his younger brother Tom, and his wife Elizabeth. Interesting fact: Tom preferred to have only the left side of his face photographed. He was shot in the face during the war and had a pretty nasty scar on his right side.

Dining room. Can you guess what his favorite food was?

Onions! There were always onions on the table because Custer would eat 2 or 3 of them a day like apples. Could you imagine kissing him? Yuck! His wife would wear lavender perfume to counteract the smell.

Kitchen at the rear of the house. Usually the kitchen is detached but Custer wanted the kitchen attached to help heat the house.

The only original part of the house remaining in the basement. If you look in the top right side above the flour sack, you can barely make out the face of a bobcat. He kept a bobcat in the basement for about 3 months before sending it to a zoo in New York. He was a unique individual for sure.

This is a storage room. The buffalo skin coat on the left is Custer's original coat. The others are replicas of clothing he wore.

The game room. Gambling and drinking were strictly forbidden on the fort so the cards, dominos and billiards were for entertainment. That didn't stop it from happening though. They would swim across the river, go to the saloons in town and come back to the fort. Many drown swimming back across the river they were so inebriated.

Notice the boots had squared tips. There were no left and right boots, This is so if you were attacked, you could quickly put on your boots without having to worry about left or right ones. As you can imagine, they weren't very comfortable either.

Custer's bedroom. The clothes are replicas of the type of clothes they would wear.

This rocking chair belonged to Libby Custer. When the house was originally built, the chimney shifted without anyone noticing which caused a gap in the attic and a rogue spark started a fire. Everyone got out of the house safely but this chair was an heirloom given to Libby by her father. She demanded Custer go back and get it. Naturally, he sent one of his men in to save it.

After Custer was killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn, Libby moved back to New York where she became an author and lecturer for the university.

Next I did a tour of the On-a-Slant Mandan Indian Village.

It's sad that this sign has to exist.

Come on people, do better and

show some respect!

The original village had approximately 85 earth lodges, and one large public building. The Mandan village existed for over 200 years before a smallpox epidemic decimated the population in 1781.

Inside the earth lodge. Anywhere from 8-15 people lived in these. It wasn't just mom, dad and kids but grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins would share a home. Constructed of porous cottonwood trees, they would have to be rebuilt about every 10 years. The women were in charge of building the lodges and they could complete one in 3-8 weeks!

They would cook their meals in the center of the lodge over the fire. Here are examples of tools, weapons, toys and other items they used. When they started trading with the French Canadian traders they didn't hold onto items like guns and horses. They saw them as valuable trade sources instead. When moving to a new village site, they preferred to use dogs as pack animals and to pull the sleds. If dogs weren't available, the women would do it so the men would be available to defend them in case of attack. The Mandan were some buff, bad women!

The beds, lined around the perimeter of the lodge, were wood slats covered by buffalo pelts. A second pelt would be used as a cover. If you were lucky, you'd have a third pelt to use as a privacy curtain.

Medicine Lodge, Ceremonial Lodge, Council Lodge. These are the various names for this large building which is basically a community center and church. Everything of significance happening in the village, happened here. Interesting fact: the doorway would always face south and face the circular structure in the middle of the village known as "Ark of Lone Man".

Ark of Lone Man is a religious figure. There are several origin stories to Lone Man. One is he came from a cracked branch of a red cedar so the post in the middle of this circular structure is painted red. He is believed by the Mandan to be the first man on earth.

There are no bodies left in the cemetery, the grave markers are reproductions and interestingly, shows the cause of death. After Fort Abraham Lincoln was abandoned, the remains of soldiers were reburied in the Custer National Cemetery. The bodies of civilian workers and children who died at the fort whose remains were unclaimed by relatives were reinterred at Greenwood Cemetery in the town of Mandan.

Charles Page, a civilian worker at the fort, froze to death in 1873 and was the first recorded burial in this cemetery.

Its interesting to see what the died from. Diphtheria and being shot seemed to be the most popular way to go.

We saw these turkeys on our way back from the dog park in town. I've never seen a white turkey before.

We rode into downtown Bismarck one day to look around. This is the state capitol building. It's one of only 11 that do not have domes. The others are Alaska, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and Virginia. Coming from Georgia, it was really strange to me not seeing a "traditional" domed capitol.

Another place we went was Alley 5.5. It's an alley filled with murals from local artists. Each mural pays tribute to the state.

A dozen students from Bismarck High School created this one.

Sitting bull by artist Melissa Gordon.

NoDaK Star b Andrea Ficek Falcon

My favorite one is this map of the 53 counties of North Dakota. It was painted by Paul Noot, an art teacher at Bismarck High School.

That's all for Bismarck. Join me next time for the last stop in North Dakota. I saved the best for last - Theodore Roosevelt National Park!