Loop Trip: North Dakota

We knew we were having a different sort of trip when we drove up to the state capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, on June 16, 2020, a Tuesday, and it was closed to visitors.  We planned to spend a day visiting sites in Wisconsin and Minnesota, but virtually everything was closed, due to the coronavirus.  When in doubt, eat.  We found a Venezuelan mom'n'pop restaurant, La Taguaro, open in Madison, and we had a great lunch of garlic shrimp, sugar cane lemonade, and a slice of passion fruit cheesecake.  As we ate, we planned a new strategy, in light of those setbacks.

 

Since Wisconsin and Minnesota were virtually shut down, we drove on and on to Fargo, North Dakota, to spend the night.  It was a "red" state, very conservative, and so less worried about the pandemic.  President Trump had effectively played down the danger of disease, and more tourist sites were open than in Wisconsin and Minnesota.   David loves airplanes, and we spent a happy hour visiting the Fargo Air Museum.  

"What does North Dakota have to do with airplanes?" we asked.  We learned that there are two Air Force bases in the state, a former missile site, and the University of North Dakota has one of the most prominent aviation departments in the country.  The state also exports airplane parts.

We saw the Mitchell 24 (or 25), which was the model of plane the Dolittle Raiders flew over Tokyo in 1942.

We drove in a straight line across North Dakota, as I-94 followed the old railroad track all the way from Fargo, on the border of Minnesota, to Dickinson, near the border with Montana.  We stopped in Jamestown, 90 minutes from Fargo, to visit three sites there--the National Buffalo Museum, the Frontier Village, and the Stutzman County Courthouse.  At the National Buffalo Museum, we watched a film showing footage of hunters decimating many of the 4 million buffalo that used to roam the plains.

The museum included intricately embroidered Native American clothes.

It also included a rare stuffed white buffalo.  

The Frontier Village included a collection of old buildings, furnished with artifacts from the Old West days of the 1800s.

Louis L'Amour, the writer of Western novels, came from North Dakota and is venerated there.  

We enjoyed seeing such antiques as this vintage piano.

The Stutzman County Courthouse was particularly interesting to me, as a lawyer.  It had been built in the 1800s and renovated again and again.  It was now an historic site.

Our masked guide took us from room to room, showing us the courtroom, land records, and decorations like the embossed wallpaper in some of the rooms.

I remember doing "stand-up title searches" in Uintah and Duchesne County courthouses, in Utah, in the 1980s.  Their records rooms with their old books filled with court decisions and land records looked just like this one.

In the old days, land records were entered by hand in huge bound volumes.  Now they are all digitized.

This courtroom also brought back memories of the times I have handled foreclosures or court cases in rural Utah counties.

We spent the night of June 17, 2020, in Bismark, the capital of North Dakota.  Early the next morning, we visited the capitol building.  I have always thought of North Dakota as remote and isolated, but it had an impressive capitol building--a skyscraper with huge brass columns at its base.  We looked out the windows on a green park.

We spent half an hour or more poring over the display of winners of the "Theodore Roosevelt Rough Riders Award."  Theodore Roosevelt spent time on a ranch in North Dakota as a young man, and he is a hero of North Dakota.  The award is given in his name to other North Dakotans who have "made good" in the world.

Louis L'Amour is, of course, in that group.

The founder of Ebony Magazine also came from North Dakota.

The award was also give to prominent businessmen, such as this founder of the "R.D. Offutt Company."

Other awardees were news anchor Eric Severaid, singer Peggy Lee, TV show host Lawrence Welk, andnovelist Louise Erdich.

And, of course, Teddy himself was honored, as well.

We made a detour to the Scandinavian Heritage Center in Minot, North Dakota.  I love all things Scandinavian, particularly after learning that I am 10% Norwegian.  

We spent a happy hour walking past the beautiful stave church, carved store house, Norwegian log cabin, Danish windmill, and statues of ski legends and other prominent Scandinavians.

I told Jonny's boys they are part Viking.

The father of skiing was, of course, Scandinavian.

Many Scandinavians settled the US, and lived in log cabins like this one. 

We enjoyed picturesque signs like this one.

And we enjoyed the gift shop, with its collection of trolls and Christmas ornaments.

The area of North Dakota in which Teddy Roosevelt ranched has now become the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  It straddles the western border of North Dakota and Montana.  We were amazed at how lush and green the landscape in North Dakota is, so far west.  It must be that the area is also so far north, near the border of Canada.  Dave and I are spoiled for beauty, with Utah's five national parks.  We didn't think the landscape of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park measured up to Zions or Bryce, but we appreciate the protection of any beautiful stretches of land.

Buffalo grazed near the roads in the park.

On June 19, 2020, we headed north, through the northern section of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  The scenery was more dramatic, with high buttes and lazy rivers.