Going West 2013

Tuesday July 30

We left our oil country dusty field campground just before the rain began, a good thing, because the campground “road” will be a quagmire when wet. The North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park was more or less on our route, so we stopped in for a few hours. The park road winds through North Dakota badlands and overlooks the Yellowstone River. Seeing it in the rain was a contrast to seeing other badlands formations on clear occasions. It looks much like the badlands in the Southern Unit except more rugged. The park was developed by the CCC in the 30’s and not much has changed. Another off the beaten path park.

We picked up Rt 200 again to our camp for the night, Hazen, ND. This is not oil country, so it was a nice change. Hazen has two gas stations, two grocery stores, two bars, several businesses, and a school. That’s about as big as it gets. We’re camped in the county park, full hookups $20. We picked this area because there is another Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, Fort Mandan, and The Knife River Indian Village National Monument. We of course went to all. The Interpretive Center has a museum with many artifacts from the period as well as many Indian artifacts. We didn’t have much time, I wish we could have stayed longer. At Fort Mandan, where the Corps of Discovery spent the winter, we were fortunate to have an interpreter give us a tour. The fort is quite nice by frontier standards, with quite a few rooms. From there we went to the Indian Village. Here there is a recreation of a Mandan mound house and evidence of where the village stood. The Mandan were farmers, so returned to the same winter dwellings every year. The houses are round with a wooden frame, walls, and roof and the whole thing is covered with dirt for insulation. The interpretive trail to the Knife River goes past the village site and down to the shore where the Indians grew their crops.