Feasibility Study for the
Northern Plains
National Heritage Area
Prepared by the
Northern Plains Heritage Foundation
March 2007
Northern Plains National Heritage Area
Feasibility Study
This special resource study report was initiated to identify and evaluate alternatives for managing,
preserving, and interpreting nationally important cultural and historic landscapes, sites, and structures
existing along a portion of the free-flowing segment of the Missouri River in North Dakota to provide
Congress and the public with information about the resources in the study area and how they relat to
criteria for designation of a national heritage area.
This study report was prepared by the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation. Completion of this study
was officially endorsed by the Boards of Commissioners for the Counties of Burleigh, Mercer, Morton,
McLean, and Oliver in the State of North Dakota and the Boards of Directors for the Northern Plains
Heritage Foundation, the Fort Lincoln Foundation, the Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, and
the Knife River Indian Heritage Foundation.
This national heritage area feasibility study documents and analyzes the cultural, historic, recreational
and scenic resources along the Missouri River located within the five counties of Burleigh, Morton,
Mercer, McLean and Oliver which front the free flowing segment of the Missouri River in North
Dakota.
This study evaluates the ten interim criteria established and recommended by the National Park Services
to determine if the proposed Northern Plains National Heritage area is indeed a unique and nationally
important landscape “where natural, cultural, historic, and scenic resources combine to form a cohesive
nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography.”
Based on information collected throughout this study process, the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation
concludes that the Northern Plains National Heritage Area meets all criteria recommended for heritage
area designation by the National Park Service. An inventory and description of all resources studies are
contained herein.
www.northernplainsheritage.org
Northern Plains National Heritage Area
Table of Contents
Page
Illustrations
Executive Summary
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
1
Introduction and Background
2
Proposed Concept
Interpretive Themes and Related Resources
6
Introduction: Interpretive Themes
11
Biological Corridors
11
Waters and Streams
12
Bird Habitats and Wildlife Corridors
13
Native American Lifeways (11,000 BP to Present)
20
Commerce, Fur Trade, and Pioneers
23
Missouri Farming (Prehistory to Present)
32
Horse Culture on the Northern Plains (1707 to Present)
35
U.S. Frontier Military (1863 to Present)
38
World Famous Legends of the Northern Plains
Resource Development: Tourism and Energy join Agriculture 39
40
Potentials for Developing Heritage and Nature Tourism
47
Plan for Management Entity
53
Evaluation According to Federal Criteria
56
Summary of Public Involvement
59
Mission Statement
Appendices
A.
Cultural, Natural, and Recreational Resource Inventory
B.
Endorsements
C.
Newspaper Clippings
D.
Northern Plains National Heritage Area Legislation
E.
Socioeconomic and Demographic Information
F.
Northern Plains Heritage Foundation
60
66
76
82
90
92
Credits
94
www.northernplainsheritage.org
Northern Plains National Heritage Area
List of Illustrations and Maps
Front Cover
13.Fort Abraham Lincoln Overview
-
14.Children with Hay Bales
Missouri River at Sunrise
Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center
Earthlodge at On-A-Slant Village
7th Cavalry
Children at Zoo
Lewis and Clark River boat
15.Child on Horse
16.Custer House
17.National Guard
Document Contents
18.Cranes
1. River
Back Cover
2. Discovery Trail
On-A-Slant Indian Village
3. Heritage Area Map
4. Counties Affected Map
5. Bend in River
6. Huff Indian Village Site
7. Blockhouse at Fort Lincoln
8. Blockhouse at Dusk
9. Hunting
10.Big Hidatsa Indian Village Site
11.Fort Mandan Aerial View
12.Knife River Indian Village Site
www.northernplainsheritage.org
Northern Plains National Heritage Area
Executive Summary
The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation received funding from Congress through the National Park
Service to undertake a study to identify and evaluate a range of alternatives for managing, preserving,
and interpreting the assemblage of nationally important historic sites, structures, stories, legends, and
landscapes existing within the free flowing segment of the Missouri River in central North Dakota. This
study includes an evaluation of the collective natural, cultural, scenic and recreational resources within
the fertile Missouri River Valley that shaped centuries of human activity. A thriving agricultural
economy created a destination for multitudes of people who came to the area to live, to farm, to trade,
to visit, and to explore.
The Mandan and Hidatsa Indians were the first farmers of the Northern Plains and their agricultural
traditions in the study area date back several hundred years. The agricultural lifestyle of the Mandan
people led to the creation of an international trade network which became a confluence of culture,
attracting traders, travelers, and tourists from great distances. Nationally important leaders, legends, and
legacies were shaped and forever impacted by their Northern Plains experience.
Beyond the era of Mandan and Hidatsa occupation of the study Area, their agricultural skills continued
to influence the region. Immigrants from other ethnic backgrounds found that native-developed corn
and beans were hardy and contributed to making the Area a successful modern agricultural region.
Throughout the 19th Century, from beginning to end, some of the world's most famous individuals left
their marks on the study Area. From Lewis and Clark and Sacagawea to George Custer and Sitting Bull,
the stories left behind within the Area are of interest to heritage tourists from Europe and Asia, as well
as North America.
The study illustrates the rich heritage of the study Area, evaluates the Area's suitability in regard to the
Federal criteria for National Heritage Areas, and concludes that the Northern Plains Heritage Area
qualifies for National Heritage Area designation. The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, a 501(C)(3)
organization is identified as the management entity for the National Heritage Area.
The proposed east/west boundary of the study area encompasses a distance of ten miles across or
approximately five miles from the banks of the free flowing segment the Missouri River. The
north/south boundary encompasses an approximate eighty mile distance from the Huff Mandan Village
south of Mandan to the Big Hidatsa Village north of Stanton ND.
The early Indian villages which serve as the north and south anchors of the proposed study are
designated as National Historic Landmarks. Huff Mandan Village which is located twenty miles south
of Mandan North Dakota on N.D. Highway 1806 is a state historic site. The site, which dates to about
A.D 1450, is open to the public, preserved, managed and interpreted by the State Historical Society of
North Dakota. Big Hidatsa Village is located north of the Knife River within the boundaries of the
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site approximately three miles north of Stanton ND. The
town of Stanton lies just north of ND Highway 200A near the confluence of the Knife and Missouri
Rivers.
www.northernplainsheritage.org
Chapter 1
Introduction and Background
Purpose of the Study
The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation received funding from Congress through the National
Park Service to undertake a study to identity and evaluate a range of alternatives for managing,
preserving, and interpreting the assemblage of nationally important historic sites, structures, storied,
legends, and landscapes existing within the remaining free-flowing segment of the Missouri River in
central North Dakota. This study includes an evaluation of the collective natural, cultural, scenic and
recreational shaped, by centuries of human activity.
The study focuses on the feasibility of designating a National Heritage Area in the region; the
possible boundaries of such a National Heritage Area; the themes which would justify national
designation; and, the potential management alternatives.
A National Heritage Area is “a place designated by Congress where natural, cultural, historic and
recreational resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns
of human activity shaped by geography.” This study concludes that the Missouri River region of North
Dakota from the Huff National Landmark (and State Historic Site) on the south to the Knife River
Indian Villages National Historic Site on the north, is such a place.
In the pages following is the proposed concept and philosophy for the area; an analysis of the
proposed area's natural, cultural and historic resources; the interpretive themes which might be
employed in telling the story of the area; the potential for developing and improving heritage and
nature-based tourism in the area; and the plan for how the National Heritage Area could be managed.
Missouri River
with Square
Buttes in the
distance
Photograph
courtesy of Lewis
& Clark Fort
Mandan
Foundation
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Chapter 2
Proposed Concepts
Detailing the concept of the proposed Northern
Plains National Heritage Area requires answering
fundamental questions including: The common
thread that weaves the area together; short and
long-term goals; the conceptual boundaries of
the NHA. This section of the report answers
these questions by demonstrating 1) the concept
follows the principles and requirements of
National Heritage Areas; 2) goals are well
thought-out and visionary; 3) the appropriateness
of NHA designation and 4) the interests and
needs of the region are well served. The
boundaries of the proposed area are also defined
in this section.
Washburn Discovery Trail
Photograph courtesy of Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan
Foundation
NHA PHILOSOPHY
Congress and the National Park Service have made clear the differences between National Heritage
Areas and other traditional types of federal land designations, which include resource conservation. A
local, grass-roots-driven approach will meet the goals of NHA designation in the key areas of:
·
·
·
·
Heritage Education
Voluntary Preservation
Property Rights
Local Management
Heritage Education
The corridor that comprises the proposed Northern Plains National Heritage Area is filled with a rich
multi-cultural history that its residents celebrate today. The recently-concluded bicentennial
commemoration of the Lewis & Clark Expedition helped open up the depths of the region's heritage to
the local population and to visitors from across America and around the world. The stories of the
Native Peoples who first inhabited this Area; the homesteaders who arrived toward the end of the 19th
century; and today's residents all have been impacted by the Missouri River and the land that is nurtured
by it. By better understanding our cultural and natural heritage, those who live here will be more likely to
engage in efforts to preserve the stories and resources of the Northern Plains Heritage Area.
Voluntary Preservation
National Heritage Areas are not driven by top-down management approaches, but rather are successful
with local participation and oversight. Those who live within the boundaries of the Area are best-suited
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Proposed Concepts
to determine the most appropriate means of cultural and resource preservation. Any preservation
activities will be strictly voluntary, with assistance provided by the National Heritage Area. Indeed, it is
the NHA's primary responsibility to provide assistance to communities, landowners, associations and
others to help them achieve the goals of resource preservation, promotion and interpretation. The
public will be engaged throughout this process.
Property Rights
The National Heritage Area concept fundamentally accepts the importance of private lands, with
property owners the planners of land use. This designation does not affect property rights, taxes, landuse zoning or the right of landowners to change or remove buildings. It will be included in the
designation bill and ensuing management plan that the Northern Plains National Heritage Area will have
no regulatory authority, and will be precluded from using federal funds to acquire real property or an
interest in real property. It should be noted that:
- National Heritage Areas are not national parks and have no federal regulatory authority
- No zoning changes or changes in property taxes result from designation of a National Heritage
Area
- The federal funding available to a National Heritage Area cannot be spent to acquire property
- Property owners within a National Heritage Area are not required to permit public or
government access to their lands
- Property owners within National Heritage Areas are not restricted from demolishing old
buildings on their properties, from selling or subdividing their properties, or from developing
their properties
Local Management
The Northern Plains National Heritage Area will abide by the National Park Service mandate that it be
managed by a local entity with broad representation of the stakeholders. Indeed, the presentlyconstituted Northern Plains Heritage Foundation board of directors is comprised of just such a crosssection of the region, with representation from communities, counties, tribes and associations. The
board of directors has an equitable distribution of membership from the communities and counties
within the proposed NHA boundaries, with special emphasis on the variety of cultures in the region.
Local governments and tribes, ranching, agriculture, energy, nature conservation, historic preservation,
arts, education, tourism, lodging and other business interests will be represented. State and federal
agencies are currently represented by ex-officio non-voting directors.
GOALS
Increased Recognition of Unique Resources
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Chapter 2
Proposed Concepts
Development of a Stronger Sense of Place
Linking of Resources to Improve Management
New Opportunities for Funding and Partnerships
Sustainable, Place-based Economic Development
Balanced Preservation and Promotion
PROPOSED BOUNDARIES
The Missouri River flows through
the western half of the state of
North Dakota. Eleven of North
Dakota's fifty-three counties front
the Missouri River and are therefore
significantly impacted by the
impounded waters of Lake
Sakakawea or Lake Oahe or by the
waters within the free-flowing
stretch of the Missouri River. The
study area for the Northern Plains
National Heritage Area comprises
portions of the five south-central
North Dakota counties of Burleigh,
McLean, Mercer, Morton and Oliver
which front the free-flowing
segment of the Missouri River
The proposed North/South
boundaries of the Northern Plains
National Heritage Area begin south
of Lake Sakakawea and the
Garrison Dam near Riverdale,
North Dakota, and extend down
river for approximately eighty miles
along the free-flowing segment of
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Proposed Concepts
the Missouri River past the cities of Stanton, Washburn, Mandan, and Bismarck and continue south to
the headwaters of Lake Oahe. The proposed East/West boundaries of the heritage area extend
approximately 12 miles
east and west of the
Missouri River.
The heritage area is
anchored at each end
by early Mandan and
Hidatsa settlements
which are now both
designated and
managed as state and
national cultural
historic sites. At the
south end is Huff
Mandan Indian Village
which is registered as a
National Historic
Landmark. Huff
Affected Counties in the Northern Plains Heritage Area
Indian village is also a
designated and
interpreted state historic site. The northern cultural anchor of the heritage area is the Big Hidatsa early
Indian village which is also a National Historic Landmark. Big Hidatsa village is part of the Knife River
Indian Village National Historic Site, which is managed by the National Park Service.
The Knife River Indian Village National Historic Site is a 1,758 acre park unit administered by the
National Park Service, Department of the Interior.. The site features a visitor center with exhibits, a
theater, and bookstore; a reconstructed and furnished Hidatsa earthlodge with a nearby traditional
Hidatsa garden. The site also features historic and nature trails through the major Indian village sites
and along the Knife and Missouri Rivers.
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Chapter 3
Interpretive Themes and Related Resources
Interpretive Themes
Historical Context Statment
The line of the Missouri River is a general approximation of the line of the
Ice Age glaciations. Southwest of the Missouri humans were active as the
glaciers receded. More than one hundred centuries ago, Knife River Flint
was being removed from quarries dotting the prairie near what has become
Dunn Center, North Dakota. Knife River Flint was a favored resource for
millennia. It was mined by nomadic people and no permanent villages have
been found near or at the quarries. Some of the nomadic movement was
along the Knife River to its confluence with the Missouri River. Continual
cultural occupation of the confluence area by flint users dates to at least as
early as 6,000 BP (Before Present). Knife River Flint in the Clovis culture,
found all over North America, (14,000 BP to 12,000 BP) is evidence of this
flint's high trade value and spread of the Clovis culture using Knife River
Flint. For thousands of years the Knife River area was the center of North
America by native nomadic peoples.
Bend in Missouri River
Photograph courtesy of
Lewis & Clark Fort
Mandan Foundation
By what is known as the Woodland Era, (3,000 BP to 1,000AD), occupation
took on a more sedentary nature. Burial mounds began to line the high
ground above the flood plain, an indication of an increasing territorial sense
by the residents. Woodland Era cultures lived by hunting and gathering, similar to their most ancient
ancestors, but they found places where they could intensify their exploitation of local resources and
these became places they settled.
The line blurs between the Late Woodland Era and the Plains Village cultural expression associated with
the nations known today as Mandan and Hidatsa in North Dakota. Some, but not all, of the Woodland
Era peoples transitioned from gathering to gardening at around the beginning of the previous
millennium. The moment, some eight hundred or a thousand years ago, when a woman from the
Awatixa Hidatsa or Nu'eta Mandan purposely stuck a seed into the fertile soil of the Missouri River
bottomlands, Northern Plains agriculture was born.
The agricultural pioneers developed several varieties of crops specifically adapted to the climate of the
Upper Missouri. They favored quick-ripening crops suited to the short growing season of the region.
Eventually, the Mandan and Hidatsa engineered thirteen variants of corn, nine variants of beans, five
variants of squash, domesticated the sunflower and grew tobacco.
The addition of purposeful agriculture, work done by women, to the successful hunting done by the
men, led to the development of permanent villages on the benches above the floodplain along the
Missouri. Having food surpluses stored in cache pits around and under their lodges meant that the
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Interpretive Themes and Related Resources
population could remain stationary year-round. Surpluses fueled population growth and those villages
grew into cities of a few thousand. Having agricultural surpluses also meant having a ready product for
trade. Other American Indian tribes could depend on the consistent locations of the earth lodge
peoples year after year. The entire trade network of North America centered on the Knife and Heart
Rivers earth lodge cultural occupation, and stayed the center until European contact.
Villages exhibited great variety of culture and construction over space and time. Collections of some
elliptical earth lodges mark the transition from rectangular “Republican” earth lodges to more modern,
round earth lodges in the 1400s. Earlier village sites were temporary, occupation lasting only a few
decades.
At the turn of 1400, Mandan villages Huff, Shermer, and
Double Ditch were permanent and self-sustaining citystates. Double Ditch may have held as many as 3,000
residents, the village lasting more than 300 years. Huff,
the archetype of Mandan villages of that era, filled with
about 100 rectangular lodges, was protected by
fortifications including ten bastions surrounded by a deep
dry trench. Within Huff's trench, archaeological evidence
substantiates lances placed at angles to discourage attack
on the village. It bristled with defenses. Over three
hundred years later, in 1738, the French explorer and fur
trader Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Verendrye,
would declare that even the less imposing 18th century
defenses of the people he named Mantannes were
impenetrable by attack from other Indians.
Huff Village Site
Photograph courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation
Double Ditch made a transition that apparently was not made at Huff and Shermer, both of which
ceased to exist past 1450. The key to living permanently in one location, it would seem, was the
evolution of the circular earth lodges which required less wood for construction and was easier to heat
in the winter. With the advent of the round earth lodge model, the Mandan entered into the Heart
River phase, a golden age for the Mandan which found villages lasting centuries with no sign of
desertion, but an expansion from nine to thirteen permanent villages, until smallpox entered their lives.
Beginning in the 1500s, the Heart River Phase was at its peak when La Verendrye visited in the 1730s.
By his visit there may have been as many as 25,000 Mandan and Hidatsa living along the Missouri River
between the Knife and Heart Rivers. The Mandan and Hidatsa were the most powerful economic and
military force on the Northern Plains in that era equaled only by the Arikara , a Caddoan-speaking earth
lodge people living in tens of villages, with a population of perhaps 30,000, living in present-day South
Dakota.
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Interpretive Themes and Related Resources
The horse came to the Northern Great Plains at the turn of 1700, with the first recorded horse stealing
event taking place in 1706. The horse and the coming of the gun altered the dynamic of trade and the
balance of military power on the plains. Gradually, the economic power of the Mandan and Hidatsa
shifted to the nomadic tribes who controlled both the gun and the horse.
Verendrye's visit ushered in an era of direct trade relations with Canada. European trade items filtered
into the Missouri valley by way of other tribal middle-men traders as early as the 1640s. With the
establishment of York Fort on Hudson Bay in 1685, and the penetration of the Great Lakes by
Montreal based French traders shortly thereafter, more guns, iron tools, and clothing made its way to the
Mandan and Hidatsa. After 1738, the French had direct contact with the villages within the proposed
National Heritage Area.
The smallpox epidemic of 1781 caused a reordering of the geo-political, and military state of affairs on
the Northern Great Plains. The earth lodge peoples suffered extensive profound losses, and also
suddenly weakened to the point that nomadic tribes such as the Cheyenne and Dakota/Lakota Sioux
became the dominant power of the plains. The Mandan abandoned their Heart River villages and
moved north to consolidate strength with their neighbors, the Hidatsa, in five villages along the Knife
River present-day Stanton, ND, and Knife River Indian Villages, NHS.
In the summer of 1803, the Battle of Heart River took place near present-day Fort Abraham Lincoln
State Park. This time period saw the Lakota pushing the Arikara north from their traditional homes in
South Dakota, but the summer hunting camps of the Mandan were located near the Heart River, and it
is quite possible that the Lakota fought both the Mandan and Arikara. No matter who lost to the Lakota,
the outcome of the battle saw Lakota territory expand from the Heart River west to the Powder River.
In the late fall of 1804, the Corps of Discovery received a hospitable welcome, and wintered nearest to
Mandan Chief Sheheke's village of the five Knife River Indian Villages. Captains Lewis and Clark met
Charbonneau and Sacagawea, at the Hidatsa village Awatixa. Later visitors include John Bradbury and
Henry Marie Brackenridge in 1811, George Catlin, Prince Maximilian of Wied, Karl Bodmer, and John
Jacob Audubon in the 1830's.
In 1811, Bradbury and Brackenridge brought with them more American politics that were introduced by
the Corps of Discovery, only this time the tensions between the Americans and the British spread
westward and brought the pro-American Mandan into conflict with the pro-British Hidatsa. In the fall
of 1812, Mandan Chief Sheheke became a casualty of the War of 1812, defending American policy.
Trappers and traders coming up the Missouri River by the 1830's came up by steamboat. This new
method of traveling upriver fueled a rapid expansion of the fur trade, and established a permanent nonnative presence in the form of trade posts. Fort Clark became one of those trade posts.
Fort Clark was a site visited by both Catlin and Bodmer when they met with Mandan and Hidatsa
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Chapter 3
Interpretive Themes and Related Resources
tribesmen and women. Both these artists preserved the image of the image of the material culture of
the Mandan and Hidatsa with their portraits of individuals and scenes of everyday life. Catlin and
Bodmer each captured Four Bear's likeness, ensuring forever the Mandan Chief's name and image.
Smallpox once again paid a deadly visit to the Mandan and Hidatsa in 1837. The two tribes once more
made a painful exodus, this time further upriver about forty miles from Knife River and established
Like-A-Fishhook Village. The Arikara moved into one of the abandoned Mandan villages near Fort
Clark. Their stay there lasted until 1862, when they in turn abandoned their village at that fort and
moved north to join their ancient enemy, allies now, the Mandan and Hidatsa, at Like-A-Fishhook
Village.
In 1862, fallout and broken treaties from the Civil War led to disgruntled Dakota Sioux in Minnesota
mounting what is today called “The Sioux Uprising.” The following year, General Sully led a punitive
campaign against the Sioux up the Missouri River from Fort Pierre, Dakota Territory (South Dakota),
near present-day Bismarck, ND. That same year, 1863, saw General Sibley also leading a punitive
expedition from Camp Pope, Minnesota, to what is now south-east Bismarck, North Dakota. A
skirmish ensued there between Sibley's Mounted Minnesota Rangers (a force of 1500) and the
Yanktonai Dakota, Yankton Dakota, and Teton Lakota (a force estimated at about 2500 warriors strong).
Sibley prudently decided that pursuing the Sioux wasn't practical. The skirmish site presently makes two
sites, General Sibley Park in south Bismarck, and nearby Sibley Island, a summer recreation area.
The Northern Pacific Railroad reached the Missouri River in 1872, and a town sprang up. First named
Edwinton, the town renamed itself Bismarck about a year later in an effort to attract German
immigrants. Bismarck was the end of the Northern Pacific Railroad line until a bridge was completed in
1882. In a hurry to lay track, before the bridge was even complete, railroad crews moved track across
the ice in the winter and ferried track across the
river in summer.
Northern Pacific Railroad survey crews were
harassed by Lakota Sioux Indians as the railroad
workers moved further westward into Dakota
Territory. In 1872, as Edwinton sprang up, the 6th
Infantry established Fort McKeen on the crown of
the bluff overlooking the abandoned Mandan
Indian village, On-A-Slant.
As Fort McKeen was constructed, the Dakota and
Lakota on the west bank of the Missouri River
Reconstructed Fort McKeen Blockhouse, Fort Abraham
mounted an attack on the northernmost side of
Lincoln State Park, Photograph courtesy of North Dakota
the fort's palisade wall. This skirmish is referred to Tourism/Rebecca Pedersen
as “the Woodcutter Fight,” which didn't last any
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Interpretive Themes and Related Resources
longer than a mutual exchange of fire.
In November, 1872, Fort McKeen was renamed
Fort Abraham Lincoln, in honor of our fallen
president. In March, 1873, Congress authorized the
establishment of a six company cavalry post and
construction of bigger fort located near the flood
plain of the Missouri River. Lt. Col. George A.
Custer in command of the 7th Cavalry was ordered
to Dakota Territory to protect the Northern Pacific
Railway survey crews. “General” Custer and the
7th Cavalry encountered the Lakota in eastern
Montana under command of Chief Gall and the
medicine man Sitting Bull, before taking up
residence in the newly finished Fort Abraham
Lincoln in September, 1873
Infantry Blockhouse, Fort Abraham Lincoln State park
Photograph courtesy of Fort Abraham Lincoln
Foundation/Matt Schanandore
The Panic of 1873 slowed immigration to Dakota Territory, but could not stop it. Lt. Col. G. A. Custer
and the 7th Cavalry famously met their defeat in June, 1876, at the Little Big Horn, but the tide of
America's “Manifest Destiny” continued its exponential pace. The pattern of life in the Missouri River
valley became that of continual immigration, establishment of homestead farms, land turned from
traditional native methods of production to wheat farming, and development of townships. It all
happened in a few decades, perhaps too rapidly.
North Dakota pre-eminent historian Elwyn Robinson, referred to this rapid development as the “too
much mistake.” Robinson's critique was that North Dakota boosters misjudged the carrying capacity of
the land and built too many farms, too many towns, too many schools, and too many banks. The outmigration experienced after the farm depression of the 1920's, the drought following, and worldwide
depression of the “Dirty Thirties” provided Robinson with his evidence.
As white settlers took up the land along the bottomlands once farmed by the natives, they encountered
the same problem with short growing seasons that had been faced and surmounted by the early Indian
farmers. Corn varieties that grew well in the east, southeast, or lower Great Plains did not fare well on
the Northern Great Plains. The Oscar H. Will Seed Company acknowledged the challenge of farming
on the Northern Great Plains, collected and recorded seed from regional native stocks, and released
their first catalog in 1884. Will experimented with native seed corn and squash, and in his catalog,
presented Mandan summer squash seeds and several varieties of early corn taken directly from his native
colleagues. The centuries-old Mandan adaptations helped their successors find success in farming along
the Missouri and far beyond.
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Biological Corridors
The once vast and free-flowing Missouri River has been inalterably changed as a result of numerous
channelization and impoundment projects (six dams were constructed beginning in the 1930s). Dam
construction and channelization have collectively and dramatically modified fish and wildlife habitat
throughout the entire Missouri River. These dams have eliminated migration movements of fish,
transformed the configuration of the river channel and associated backwaters, and caused colder
summer water temperatures.
Although significant changes have occurred in and along the stretch of Missouri River within the
proposed Heritage Area, there have been some benefits associated with the transformed habitat. A
world class walleye fishery has been established in Lake Oahe and the Missouri River. The cold, clear
waters of some portions of the river are ideal for trout and salmon. Abundant Canada geese use the
river for nesting and brood rearing and staging during fall migration. Least terns and piping plovers, two
federally listed endangered species, use sandbars in this reach. The bald eagle uses the Missouri River
within the proposed Heritage Area as nesting grounds, which provided for a revitalization of the local
population, helping to elevate the species from “endangered” to “threatened.”
Waters and Streams
The Missouri River and its tributaries contain valuable and diverse ecosystems that provide habitats to a
variety of fish, birds, and animals, including four endangered species that, without the continued
preservation of the last free-flowing stretch of river, are at risk of becoming extinct. The pallid
sturgeon, for example, can no longer naturally maintain its population within the Missouri River because
of the disruption caused to its ecosystem by the building of Garrison Dam. Only through intervention
on the part of the North Dakota Game and Fish Department is it able to survive and reproduce in the
Missouri. Without this part of the river, or the interventions of ND Game and Fish, the pallid sturgeon
would become extinct.
The length of the Missouri River within the proposed Heritage Area contains several major tributaries,
including: the Knife River, Turtle Creek, Painted Woods Creek, Square Butte Creek, Burnt Creek, Heart
River, and Apple Creek. These tributaries provide unrestricted movement of fish to spawning and
rearing areas along the Missouri. These tributaries also maintain links between backwater wetlands and
these spawning areas. These areas are essential in preserving the dozens of species of fish found within
the Missouri River for both ecological and recreational purposes.
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Bird Habitats and Wildlife Corridors
The stretch of Missouri River within the proposed Heritage Area is also the home to dozens, if not
hundreds, of species of birds and animals. Waterfowl, such as Canadian Geese and ducks, are abundant
along the river, as are pheasants and grouse, all of which contribute not only to the ecosystem of the
river, but also the extensive hunting seasons within the state of North Dakota. The bald eagle also
counts the Missouri River within the proposed Heritage Area as home. In 2006, seven of the sixteen
reported bald eagle sightings were near Riverdale, ND, giving Riverdale the largest number of recorded
sighting in a single area within the state. The Missouri River is also home to dozens of animals,
including big game like elk and deer. Within the proposed Heritage Area the endangered black-footed
ferret can also be found, mainly on the western banks of the river.
The diversity of species and number of the inhabitants of the Missouri River area have led to the
formation of eight Wildlife Management Areas within the proposed Heritage Area, totaling a coverage
of over 17,000 acres. The area has also seen efforts at conservation and preservation with the
designation of the Lost Lake National Wildlife Refuge in McLean County, and the Cross Ranch State
Nature Preserve in Oliver County. It is the Missouri River and its tributaries that allow for such diversity
of ecosystems necessary to preserve and promote the natural features within the proposed Heritage
Area.
Hunting Recreation, Photograph courtesy of North
Dakota Tourism/Jason Berger
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Native American Lifeways
(12,000 BP to Present)
Summary
The Missouri River Valley, specifically the Knife River tributary, presents evidence of one the longest
continual cultural occupation in North American history. The proposed National Heritage Area, from
Huff, ND, to Stanton, ND, played host to least six different tribes in the past three hundred years: the
Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow, Arikara, Teton Lakota, and Yanktonai Dakota. Archaeological traces indicate a
series of prehistoric cultures flourished in this region between the end of the last Ice Age and the arrival
of the horse, the gun, and a host of other trade items at the turn of the eighteenth century. The cultural
achievements of these prehistoric cultures include the first agriculture, pottery, large scale sedentary selfsustaining villages, mounds and other earth effigies, and pre-European contact metal work. This
proposed National Heritage Area has been part of the territory of the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians
since prehistoric times; various other bands of the Hidatsa-Crow Indians moved in as early as 1200,
their cultural presence affirmed by trace archaeological evidence by 1400; groups of Sioux Indians as
they arrived here in several waves, the first recorded contact in the Missouri River Basin in 1692 with the
arrival of the horse to the Northern Great Plains, the Lakota Sioux came to gain, hold and control more
territory, they established of a seasonal rendezvous site for trade with the Mandan, Hidatsa, and other
tribes along the Apple Creek, southeast Bismarck, ND; and later the Arikara who were pushed north
from their ancestral villages in South Dakota after the smallpox epidemic of 1781. Today, the cultural
traditions of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, and Dakota, and even other tribes are celebrated at
several annual festivals and craft fairs, and the artifacts of their collective ancestors are displayed and
interpreted with the utmost care towards cultural and historical integrity to the native peoples, in
numerous museums, parks and sites.
Prehistoric Cultures
Toward the end of the last Ice Age, the PaleoIndians of the Clovis Culture traveled and traded all over
the North American continent, searching for mammoths, and other large now-extinct animals. Many
Clovis points found all over North America are characterized by an inner knapped, or fluted, groove.
What ties many Clovis points back to North Dakota is the fact that some are made from Knife River
flint. The quality and strength of this flint was recognized for thousands of years across the continent,
and continues to be recognized by modern flint knappers. This dark, caramel-colored, glass-like stone
was formed 50-60 million years ago.
Late in the Clovis Era, drought struck the Northern Plains. The heavily forested southwest corner of
North Dakota saw the decline of conifer trees, and extinctions of mammoths, horses, and giant bison,
among other large Ice Age animals whose existence correlates with the end chapter of the Clovis
culture. The vanishing forests, along with other geological and biological evidence supports the
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argument that if the large game animals had little or no food, they either became smaller or died off
altogether. It is possible that over hunting by the early PaleoIndians contributed to the extinction of Ice
Age animals.
One response during the Folsom period (10,800-10,200 years ago), was the formation of small,
multifamily groups that hunted throughout the huge expanses of grassland. These groups probably
moved camps 12 to 36 times a year. In order to survive, these groups also had to plan frequent visits to
flint, chert, and obsidian deposits to acquire tool stone. Archeologists working at Lake Ilo NWR
discovered discarded stone tools made from nearby Knife River flint, petrified wood from Rainy buttes
(80 miles southwest of Lake Ilo), porcellanite from the Little Missouri Badlands, moss agate from the
Yellowstone River, and obsidian from Idaho.
Archeological work from Lake Ilo National Wildlife Preserve, ND to Knife River Indian Villages, NHS,
ND studied past climate and environments, hunting technology, "overwintering" behavior, and the
economic role of Knife River flint in this region. Much attention focused on Paleoindian technology specifically hunting weapon design, tool-making methods, and Knife River flint exchange and trade.
Hunting weapons needed to be very portable and durable. Stone flakes and tools found at sites along
Spring Creek exemplify the various stages of tool manufacture, repair, and recycling. Archeological
deposits have been dated using a variety of methods including projectile point type, geological context,
ultraviolet fluorescence of stone tools, and radiocarbon dating. Archeological remains reflect the
continuous use of the area for 11,000 years.
Middle Prehistoric Culture
The Indians who lived in North Dakota during this period, the Archaic people, were also hunters. Their
game, however, was smaller. In the thousands of years since the glaciers retreated, the prairie animals
had changed. The giant buffalo had been replaced by smaller buffalo, and then by the even smaller
modern buffalo. The animals of this time period were much like those of today.
Archaic people lived in small groups or bands. They were hunter/gatherers and traveled year-round to
follow herds of game and find plants to eat.
To live on the move, the Archaic people had to have homes that could be put up or taken down quickly.
They probably solved this problem by using conical, hide-covered tents, or tipis.
Much evidence of Archaic Indians can be found in North Dakota, but it is often buried. Archaeologists
have located places where these people lived, killed game animals, and worked. At these sites are found
tools made from stone or from animal bones which included dart points, scrapers, knives, and grooved
hammers.
A new weapon used during this period was the atlatl (at-lat-tul). This device was a short stick with a
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hook on one end. A short, light spear or dart was placed in the hook and slung much the same as an
athlete might throw a javelin. With this device, a spear could be thrown further and harder, thus helping
the hunters bring down more game. Atlatl darts were tipped with smaller, triangular points of stone.
They were usually notched at the base for attachment to the dart.
About the time of Christ, a third kind of culture appeared in what is now North Dakota. Their houses
were usually built of wooden oval frames that were covered with hides or grasses. Each house was about
ten feet wide and twenty feet long. Remains of villages of these woodland houses are found throughout
North Dakota.
The Woodland people hunted, just as earlier groups had done. However, they also began to plant and
grow crops for food. Another difference between Woodland and earlier people was pottery. Woodland
people used clay to make pots for cooking and other purposes. These pots were shaped, dried and then
hardened by placing them in fires. Each pot was about two feet tall, one foot across and had a pointed
bottom.
Characteristics of the mound building cultures are: they buried their dead in mounds, they often placed
goods that the departed person was thought to need in an after-life such as weapons, tools, jewelry, and
pots. The pots placed in burial mounds were usually much smaller and more highly decorated than
those used for daily activities. Burial mounds are usually located on high points overlooking river valleys.
Effigy mounds (undisclosed locations) dot the landscape along the Missouri River and Highways 1804,
1806, and 25. If one looked for patterns in the landscape, one would see snakes, turtles, and other linear
mounds, though most mounds don't readily appear to the casual observer. Located within the Fort
Abraham Lincoln State Park, at the old Fort McKeen site, there lies a linear mound.
Woodland people also traded often with other groups. At places where Woodland people lived,
archaeologists find sea shells or parts of such shells made into beads, masks and pendants. This
probably indicated that the Woodland people were part of a trade network that reached very far from
the northern plains. Another thing found at Woodland period sites is copper, probably from Minnesota,
or Wisconsin. The copper is made into beads, knives and axes. It is the first evidence of use of metals
by Indians in this area.
Late Prehistoric Culture
The Late Woodland culture was very similar to the Early and Middle Woodland. These people still raised
crops, gathered food such as wild rice, roots, berries and hunted deer and buffalo. However, they spent
more time fishing and ate more fish than the Early and Middle Woodland cultures. Some burial mounds
and buffalo jump sites in North Dakota may be evidence of the Late Woodland peoples.
The Late Woodland people used pots with rounded bottoms and made small triangular arrow points.
The pots with rounded bottoms may have been hung over fires, not placed on the coals as was done
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earlier. The small points were probably used with the bow and arrow. Although archaeologists don't
know for sure, the Late Woodland people probably were the ancestors of the Assiniboine and Chippewa
tribes. Later, other groups of Late Woodland peoples moved into North Dakota. These people were
Sioux or Dakota Indians who were pushed west onto the plains and later became nomads.
The Plains Nomadic people were also living in North Dakota during the Late Prehistoric period and the
early part of the Historic Period. These people moved often, following massive herds of bison. They
may have developed from some Woodland people who moved onto the plains from the east and
changed their way of living to fit their new homeland.
Nomadic people lived in tipis. To obtain food, they hunted animals, and gathered berries, roots and
seeds. Sometimes the small groups joined together to hunt, but usually they stayed in very small bands
and followed the bison herds. Because they traveled almost constantly they came into contact with other
groups with whom they traded. As a result, they obtained things from people who lived far from the
plains. During these centuries, more people lived on the plains than before. As a result, archaeologists
find evidence that Plains Nomadic people lived all over North Dakota. Some of this evidence includes
tipi rings, or circles of large stones that were used to hold down the edges of the tents. They also find
buffalo jumps, places where the people mined flint for arrow points, and places connected with daily life.
The Plains Nomads usually "buried" their dead on scaffolds.
Since these people were constantly moving, they did not carry or waste many material goods. The sites
where they lived or camped usually have very few artifacts. As a result, archaeologists must search these
sites with great care to be sure that all the material is recovered for investigation. Special sites, such as
flint quarries or buffalo jumps, may contain large amounts of material, but the artifacts found at these
places tell us little about daily life. Because artifacts are scarce, tribal identifications are difficult. Most
likely, the people who we call Plains Nomads were ancestors of the Sioux or Dakota, Assiniboine, Crow,
Cheyenne, and perhaps the Arapaho and Blackfeet.
Some groups living in North Dakota during the Late Prehistoric Period were called Plains Village
people. These people are the ones who lived at Knife River Indian Villages and are the ones
archaeologists know the most about. One reason why so much more is known about the Plains Village
people than about the Late Woodland and Plains Nomadic culture. Is that village sites were located
along the Missouri River; when these sites were to be flooded by the Garrison and Oahe reservoirs
during the 1950's and 1960's, special efforts were made to excavate the locations before they were
destroyed. The villages along the Knife River were also investigated at this time. Because they would not
be destroyed by the construction of the Garrison dam they were left intact, later to be protected as the
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. These sites provided much evidence of how the
Plains Village people lived. The sites were also large and easy to find.
Plains Village people originally lived in the woodlands to the east. They may have left their original
homelands to escape other Indian groups. For example, the group which became the Mandan moved
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from the area of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa to the plains river valleys in South Dakota
about 1,000 AD; they then moved slowly north along the Missouri River until they reached North
Dakota. The Hidatsa appear to have moved from central Minnesota to the area of Devils Lake in
northeastern North Dakota. About 1600 they started moving to the Missouri River valley and
eventually settled near the Mandan. The Arikara moved into South Dakota in the 1400's, but did not
move into North Dakota until much later.
Another group, the Cheyenne, may have moved from Minnesota to southeastern North Dakota and
lived in Ransom County as a Plains Village people about 1700. They later moved west; when they did,
their culture changed, and they became nomads.
Contemporary Cultural History (abbreviated)
One reason for the difficulty in tracing the origins of the Hidatsa is that they have been identified by a
variety of names. One such name, Minitaree, was given to them by the Mandan. Minitaree means
"People-Across-the-Water.” Hidatsa, which they call themselves, may mean "People of the Willows," or
may refer to the villages at the mouth of the Knife River. A third name, applied by French trappers, was
Gros Ventre, which translates to "big bellies.” At some time following the meeting and settlement of the
Hidatsa with the Mandan on the Heart River, there was an argument between some of the Hidatsa
women over the stomach or "paunch" of a white buffalo. Another oral tradition recounts the infidelity
of a woman to her husband. While the details are lost in antiquity, it is believed that an argument caused
one segment to leave the tribe and move further west. This 'splinter' group formed the Crow tribe and
settled in what is now Montana.
The Hidatsa remained along the Missouri,
becoming closely associated with the Mandan,
who probably taught them many of the
agricultural practices associated with the river
tribes. The Hidatsa maintained a stronger
hunting tradition than either the Mandan or
the Arikara.
The reasons for the migrations of the Hidatsa
sub-groups are rather vague. Perhaps the
resources in their home areas had been
exhausted, or pressure from other groups
forced them to move on.
Big Hidatsa Village, Knife River National Historic Site,
Tribal migration was difficult. The dog was the Photograph courtesy of Bureau of Reclamation
only beast of burden until about the turn of
1700 in this area. The arrival of the horse allowed loads to be larger and distances covered to be farther.
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The earliest recorded meeting, and earliest record of the Mandan Indians, happened in 1715 between
the Mandan and Dakota Sioux, when they held a council over the winter between the two tribes. The
council was likely a peaceful trade where the Mandan and Sioux Indians carefully estimated the strengths
of the other tribe.
The first confirmed horse stealing incident involving the Hidstsa Indians took place in the winter of
1728-29. That winter, a band of Lakota Sioux Indians stole Hidatsa ponies. For the greater part of the
1700's through the 1780's, involved a tug-of-war between the tribes who relied on the Missouri River for
water, trade, and as a landmark. This tug-of-war between the earth lodge cultures and the nomadic
cultures found the military and economic strength of the Northern Great Plains eventually in the hands
of the nomads who controlled the horse and the gun.
The smallpox reached the Missouri River as a result of the ancient trade routes to the Mandan and
Hidatsa villages in 1781, as mentioned previously
The proposed study area, for the most part, remained used generally for hunting by the Mandan,
Hidatsa, and Arikara, after the smallpox epidemic of 1837. The Cheyenne left from this region entirely,
having moved into eastern Montana and half of them moving south to Okalahoma after 1800.
The Battle of Heart River occurred near the mouth of the Heart River, with the outcome leaving the
territory lines of Sioux Territory from the mouth of the Heart River westward to the Powder and
Yellowstone rivers.
Following the Sioux Uprising of 1862, General Sibley led a punitive expedition into Dakota Territory
against the Sioux. Sibley was led by a company of Santee Sioux who brought him into the proposed
study area. In 1872, when Fort McKeen was constructed within present-day Fort Abraham Lincoln
State Park, a company of scouts was formed to deliver U.S. Mail from Fort Rice (22 miles south of
Mandan, ND) to Fort Buford (at the confluence of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers near the North
Dakota and Montana borders). The Fort McKeen Detachment of Scouts were made up of Arikara at
first, later joined by members of the Standing Rock Sioux when Fort McKeen was renamed Fort
Abraham Lincoln.
The North Dakota State Fair was held in earlier years at the city of Mandan and included native
performers from the Standing Rock Sioux. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux were employed by the
Northern Pacific Railway to provide entertainment to visitors during their layover at the Mandan train
depot. They provided entertainment to the public through the 1940's.
United Tribes Technical College was first founded in 1969 by an intertribal organization, the United
Tribes of North Dakota Development Corporation. It is owned and operated by the five tribes wholly
or in part in North Dakota. Those tribes are the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation, the Spirit Lake Tribe,
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the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Turtle Mountain Band of
Chippewa.
United Tribes Technical College serves the native people, once traditional enemies, who lived in the
region, and has extended an open hand to serve and educate over 88 tribal nations across the nation and
continent. UTTC serves as an unofficial “Indian Center.” An annual fall celebration, the world's largest
outdoor pow-wow, is held every September.
For additional information about the Indian people who once lived, and live again, in the proposed
study area, please read the following:
The History and Culture of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Sahnish (Arikara), put out by the North Dakota
Department of Public Instruction.
The History and Culture of the Standing Rock Oyate, put out by the North Dakota Department of
Public Instruction.
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Commerce, the Fur Trade, and Pioneers
In 1738, the French trapper and trader, Pierre Gaulitier de Varennes Sieur de la Verendrye, made first
recorded European contact with the Mandan Indians in the last years of the Heart River Phase, the
golden age of the Mandan. La Verendrye came seeking the legendary western sea. The Frenchman also
came with an exclusive patent by the king of France; he also came so that he could bypass various
middlemen traders and deal with the Missouri River Indians personally to maximize his profit.
Expeditions led by La Verendrye’s sons maintained contact with the people he called Mantannes for
several years, using the villages as a jumping off point for a long expedition into Wyoming to the
Rockies
Over the next four decades, various coureur du bois, “Wood Runners,” or unlicensed independent
traders, would make their way to the Missouri River to conduct their business at the Mandan and
Hidatsa Indian villages. The French-Canadian traders from Montreal received competition from their
Spanish counterparts coming up the Missouri River from Saint Louis.
The explorer Mackintosh, who had ties to the French Trading Company, left Montreal in high summer
of 1773, made a cross country trek to the Missouri River, and arrived at the Mandan villages on
Christmas Day that year. Mackintosh's journey, however, cannot be correlated with any other source.
The explorer Peter Pond is recorded to have made his way to the Mandan between the years 1775-1778,
when he recorded a meeting with a French deserter from Illinois living there. Pond produced a map of
his journey which recounts the location of the Mandan villages. Pond's map is the first to differentiate
the Mandan from the Hidatsa.
Life was good. Trade was good. Then the
smallpox came in 1781, courtesy of trade with
the Europeans. Mortality rates of 75-80% are
estimated. From perhaps 25,000 Mandan and
Hidatsa living in ten or more villages, less than
5,000 survived. The 5,000 clustered together in
five villages near the Knife River.
Other early explorers and traders to pay visits
to the Mandan and Hidatsa include: Donald
McKay in 1781; James McKay in 1787 (six
years after the smallpox scourge) who carefully
drew his own map based on his recollections
ten years later; Jacques D'Eglise made his own
Reconstructed Fort Mandan, near Washburn, ND,
Photograph courtesy of Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan
Foundation
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Reconstructed Hidatsa earthlodge, Knife River Indian Villages
National Historic Site, Near Stanton, ND
Photograph courtesy of Knife River Indian VillagesNational
Historic Site
pilgrimage from Saint Louis in 1792; in 1796,
John Evans and James McKay made their own
journey to the Mandans providing extensive
geographical information about the Upper
Missouri River years before the Corps of
Discovery; 1796 saw the arrival of Toussaint
Charbonneau to the Knife River Indian
Villages; David Thompson winters with the
Mandan 1797-1798; and the Corps of
Discovery in 1804 and again in 1806, though
this military expedition strictly meant to bring
peace between all the tribes within the newly
expanded U.S.A., and to bring State recognition
to all tribes encountered. Alexander Henry of
the Northwest Company resided with the
Mandan and Hidatsa for several weeks after the
Corps of Discovery left.
The Corps of Discovery affirmed an American presence on the Missouri River and led to the Mandan
abandoning their older Canadian trade ties. The presence of the Manuel Lisa Fur Company in 1807,
following Ensign Pryor's mission to return Sheheke to the Mandan, made it as far as the Yellowstone
where they constructed Fort Raymond. Lisa again ascended the Missouri in 1809 and built another fort
just upriver of the Hidatsa. Trade from the Canadian North West Company continued through 1812.
The Hidatsa maintained a casual trade relationship with the Hudson's Bay Company, but with Lisa's fort
within six miles of their villages, the immediacy of trade with the Americans was an enticement to trade
poorer quality furs with the British than the Americans.
The politics and economics of the British and Americans reached the Missouri River and the tensions
between those two nations bled into the trade relations each had with the Indian tribes they traded with.
Le Borgne, a Hidatsa Chief, was a supporter of British trade as Sheheke, the Mandan Chief, was a
supporter of American trade. Politics and trade interests clashed on the Northern Great Plains and the
Hidatsa met the Mandan in battle at the Knife River Indian Villages in the fall of 1812. John C. Luttig, a
clerk for the Missouri Fur Company, kept a journal with him at Fort Manuel Lisa, where he recorded the
battle between the Mandan and Hidatsa, and Sheheke's death.
Fort Clark, a fur trade post, was built in 1831.
Karl Bodmer and George Catlin recorded the life of the Mandan and Hidatsa in their sketches and
paintings on their visits following the first steamboat to ascend the Missouri River to the Knife River in
1832. Charles MacKenzie, Prince Maximilian, and Francis Chardon among others, chronicled life in the
Knife River Indian Villages.
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The 1837 smallpox epidemic nearly eliminated the Mandan and Hidatsa Indians, leaving their collective
population at about 2,000 souls. The survivors united, moved upriver, and established Like-A-Fishhook
Village.
The proposed study area became disputed territory between the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Sioux.
Control of the horse and gun gave the Lakota the upper hand in territorial control.
White settlement of the proposed study area began after the Civil War, led in earnest by the extension
of the Northern Pacific Railway and the Homestead Act of 1862. Where the railway met the Missouri
River, the town of Edwinton sprang up. Later changing its name to Bismarck, it attracted immigrants
from Germany and all backgrounds.
Fort McKeen was built on the bluff overlooking the On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village in 1872. It was
renamed a year later to Fort Abraham Lincoln and altered to include a six company cavalry post. Fort
Abraham Lincoln was the home of Gen. George Custer and the Seventh Cavalry. General Custer led
the Yellowstone Expedition of 1873, the Black Hills Expedition of 1874, and the famous trek to the
Little Big Horn in 1876.
The military made settlement safe and immigrant population grew through the 1880's and 1890's. North
Dakota entered the Union in 1889 after permanent Indian reservations were held aside for the Mandan,
Hidatsa, Arikara, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, Spirit Lake Sioux, Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux, and the
Standing Rock Sioux.
Reconstructed
military buildings
at Fort Abraham
Lincoln State Park,
Mandan, ND
Photograph
courtesy of Fort
Abraham Lincoln
Foundation/ Matt
Schanandore
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Missouri Farming
(Prehistoric to Present)
The Study Area is found to contain substantial historic values lending themselves to interpretive themes.
Following are presented in more-or-less chronological order.
a. Mandan and Hidatsa Pioneer Northern Plains Agriculture
Agriculture did not evolve on the Northern Plains, it was imported. The nation's breadbasket was
instead a meat market for thousands of years.
More-or-less nomadic bands of early Americans relied primarily on hunting and gathering to sustain
themselves. More than ten thousand years, one hundred centuries, before the present, men hunted wooly
mammoths and the other great northern elephant, the mastodon, along the edge of a receding glacier in
what became North Dakota. Along with turning the Missouri River from its north-flowing course and
bending it to flow southeast to meet the Mississippi and discharge into the Gulf of Mexico instead of
Hudson Bay, the glacier left behind rich grasslands favored by mega-fauna. The elephants shared the
land with giant bison, bisonis antiquas, cameloids and horses. Climate change, over-hunting or a
combination of circumstances led to mass extinctions of all those creatures.
Fortunately for the people who lived by hunting, a smaller bison filled the grassland niche. Tens of
millions of bison bisonis roamed the plains and bands of hunter-gatherers followed their movements.
So-called Archaic Indians devised successful methods of hunting, including surrounds and buffalo
jumps. They gathered fruit and vegetable resources, such as prairie turnips, chokecherries and buffalo
berries to supplement diets.
By 2,000 years ago, signs of at least seasonal residential permanence were appearing on the Northern
Plains. Along the Missouri River and other watercourses, on the bench lands above the floodplain, large
burial mounds were constructed. Woodland era peoples were becoming less nomadic and setting the
stage for the Plains Village cultures that would follow. One additional element was needed: agriculture.
Agriculture in the Americas began in the Valley of Mexico 7500 years ago, when small grasses were
selectively bred to create corn. The first corn is thought to have been a kind of popcorn that puffed
when heated. Generations of farmers shaped the course of the grain's evolution over centuries, creating
many varieties of corn Whether through the work of corn “missionaries” or simply trade and
commerce, corn spread. By 200 A.D., it was in what has become the United States.
Squash was another early American crop. It has been found in archeological deposits in Kentucky, dated
to 3000 years ago. Beans, in multiple varieties, joined the other two crops to make up the traditional
American Indians’ “Three Sisters.”
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The Mandan first moved to the Missouri in what is now eastern South Dakota around 650, according to
prevailing archeological theory. They migrated from northwestern Iowa or southwestern Minnesota
where their characteristic culture had evolved. When they did emigrate to the Missouri valley, they were
not in a competition for agricultural land. They were regional pioneers in making a transition from a
woodland era hunting and gathering tradition to one that relied more heavily on cultivated products of
the garden.
Before 1100, there were groups of Mandan populating the Missouri from central South Dakota to
central North Dakota. The Awatixa Hidatsa were slightly north of the Mandan in North Dakota.
A shift in climate at the beginning of the thirteenth century, the Pacific I climate episode, characterized
by archeologist Donald Lehmer as an increased flow of dry westerlies into the Northern Plains, seems
to have driven most of the Mandan to the somewhat cooler summers of North Dakota. They
established villages in the country above the Grand River and below the Square Buttes, the boundary of
Hidatsa territory. Then, around 1450, Pacific I blew itself out. .
Around that time, the Mandan established the largest villages in their entire history, like the heavily
fortified site of Huff, the Shermer site on the east bank, and Double Ditch, north of Bismarck. Recent
archeological research appears to indicate that two new bands of Hidatsa came to the Missouri at that
time, settling near the Awatixa by the Knife River.
By 1600, the Mandan had consolidated into the area between the Heart River and the Square Buttes.
That was about the time they shifted from long, rectangular lodges to more lumber-efficient round
construction. The people in the two villages on the east side of the Missouri were of the Nuptadi band.
Traditional Mandan origin stories have the people coming from under the earth. One group places that
entry on the west bank of the mighty Mississippi River near its delta on the Gulf of Mexico. Others
believe that they emerged along the banks of the Missouri, just a little ways south of On-a-Slant.
Those that believed the place of origin was far to the south had an epic migration story to go with the
belief. It was a steady, measured odyssey that brought them to the north. Led by three brothers and
their sister the Mandan people left their point of origin and began a long, slow journey to the north.
They were farmers, even then, and they would stop along the journey to plant and harvest corn crops.
They did not live in earthlodges during the migration, but were content to build temporary homes like
those used by later generations on eagle-trapping expeditions to the Bad Lands.
When the Mandan reached the place where the Missouri meets the Mississippi, their journey could
continue in three directions. They could head northwest along the Missouri, cross the Missouri, or cross
the Mississippi. They chose to cross over to the east bank of the Mississippi. The tribe marched north
along the Mississippi, the legend continues, until it was no longer so mighty and the deciduous forests
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gave way to conifers. Placing that tree change on a map, the prairie of southern Minnesota gives way to
a deciduous forest in a transitional zone closely related to the line of I-94 through the state. The
deciduous forest is a pretty narrow band, yielding to the boreal forest on a line parallel to the prairieforest transition, say from Itasca State Park in the northwest toward Mille Lacs the St. Croix River.
The northern forests were not good for corn farming, so the Mandan turned south and west, eventually
settling for a time by the pipestone quarries. While at Pipestone forty lodges of the Awigaxa band
separated from the rest of the nation and drifted north to the region of the Red River and its tributary,
the Sheyenne. They were above the Sheyenne to the north of Devils Lake when a flood encouraged
them to move southwest, where they found the Missouri and settled in the Heart River region.
Two great culture heroes, Lone Man and First Creator, convinced most of the people in South Dakota
to go north and join their Awigaxa cousins by the Heart. The bottomlands by the mouth of the Heart
were rich and better suited for farming, they said. Winter buffalo herds sheltered there, too.
The Nuptadi and Nuitadi began another northern migration, this one in small increments, building
villages and planting gardens all along the way. Eventually they reached the region north of the
Cannonball River up to the Heart, where they were reunited with their long-lost relations. They
established some very large villages. Shermer, on the east bank, was a place where certain remembrances
and ceremonies took place even four hundred years or more after its abandonment. Even after the
centuries had passed and the walls around the village had fallen, it was still possible to find the central
plaza and see the way the streets had been laid out in very straight lines. Shermer was known as the
Village Where Turtle Went Back. A sacred turtle who lived in the Missouri near there was the central
figure in some of the ceremonies. Across the river from Shermer, the Huff village was another example
of the large cities of the 1400s.
The remaining bands of the Awigaxa, tradition said, tried life to the west of the Missouri, settling on
small tributary streams running out of the Black Hills. After a tragic event where many lodges of the
Awigaxa disappeared while hunting buffalo for sinew on the south side of the Black Hills, the remainder
of the band established fortified villages back on the Missouri south of the Cannonball, near the mouth
of the Grand River. When the Great Flood came, the reunited northern Mandan gathered by the Heart
and were protected there by Lone Man and the sacred cedar. The people at the Grand did not have the
sacred cedar. Some villagers stayed and drowned. Others, fleeing the flood, escaped to the Rocky
Mountains. The survivors attempted to raise corn in mountain valleys, but seasons there were too short.
When they returned to the Grand, they found the Arikara had claimed the area, so the last element of
the Mandan people headed north to the Heart River region, settling between the other Mandan bands
and their Hidatsa neighbors to the north.
Once there, however that might have happened, the Mandan of the Heart River Phase were lords of a
productive and thriving domain from the southernmost village, On-a-Slant, to the northernmost,
Larson. Two bands of Hidatsa had followed their own migration from eastern North Dakota to the
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Knife River - Missouri River confluence. A third, the Awatixa, say they have lived nowhere else on earth.
The hunting range of the Mandan-Hidatsa stretched far beyond their towns, reaching out across the
buffalo-filled plains to the east of the Missouri and west to the North Dakota Bad Lands. Along the
Missouri riverside, the land was turned over to intensive agriculture. Family garden plots averaging
about two acres in size produced more than sufficient amounts of corn, squash and beans.
The increasing power of the Lakota, and also the Cheyenne, who left their gardens and earthlodges
along the James River to take up life in the Black Hills region, was not so great as to bring sieges and
destruction of earthlodge villages before 1781. The villages were still islands of security, where
hospitality and trade reigned. The more immediate effects were felt in hunting, where long excursions to
the Bad Lands or the prairies became more dangerous. Trade was also affected. As John Jackson put it,
“The great threat to the river people was a large population of Sioux pressing from the east and
Assiniboine warriors attacking the supply route from the west and north. After horses improved
mobility, the danger increased.”
As 1781 dawned, the Mandan lived in seven villages, five on the west side of the Missouri and two on
the east. There had been a total of seven villages on the west and three on the east in the Heart River
Phase: The temporary village at Eagle Nose Butte, On-a-Slant, Motsiff, Large and Scattered, Boley,
Square Buttte Creek and Otter Creek. It was suspected by Stan Ahler, who dug a site under the city of
Mandan in 1999, that Large and Scattered was abandoned early in the eighteenth. On the east side of
the river were Yellow Earth, now known as Double Ditch, a state historic site which recent digging
indicates dates back to the Huff era of the fifteenth century, and Larson. The Looking Village in the
city of Bismarck was inhabited during the Heart River Phase, but abandoned sometime before 1781. To
the north of the Mandan, the Hidatsa held territory running from the Painted Woods area to the north
bank of the Knife River, where the only semi-sedentary Hidatsa Proper had established Big Hidatsa
village, known to them as Menetarra. The Awaxawi Hidatsa, often referred to as the Wattasoons or
Amahaways, who had come to the Missouri earlier than the Hidatsa Proper and who had been more
thoroughly acculturated into a Mandan-type lifestyle, lived in the Painted Woods area. The Awatixa,
neighbors of the Mandan for six hundred years or more, are harder to place. They likely occupied one
or more villages between the Awaxawi and the Hidatsa Proper. The population of the ten or more
villages was probably between 20,000 and 25,000 persons.
The Heart River Phase of the Mandan is one of the sub-themes of Interpretation in the Study Area. It
is the focus of the On-a-Slant Village interpretation managed by the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation.
It was a prosperous time for the earthlodge people. Their gardens were healthy and regularly produced
nutritious grains and vegetables, more than could be eaten, and so surpluses protected against famine
and fueled trade. Game was plentiful. Refined hunting techniques brought protein, clothing and tools to
the earthlodges. Wood was a scarce resource, but that was a fact of life to which the Mandan and
Hidatsa had long since adapted. A balance with nature had been found that allowed their cities to
prosper for two hundred years on the same ground. Their trade networks stretched overland to the
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north and northeast, and west and southwest. It brought the traditional luxury items from far away, and
a wonderful, diverse flow of ever more useful manufactured items of the Canadians. They had healthy
horse herds and were well-armed in relation to their neighbors.
The national and international significance of Mandan and Hidatsa cultures is intrinsic. Their cultures
are part of the heritage of America, part of the great tapestry that makes a multi-ethnic nation. But
beyond their own value as peoples, the Mandan and Hidatsa were important as pioneers of agriculture in
the north. They developed varieties of corn which matured quickly to suit the shorter growing seasons
of the Northern Plains. They were successful colonizers of the middle to upper Missouri region. Tens
of thousands of them settled in perhaps a dozen permanent villages by the 16th Century.
In that period, 1500-1781, the Mandan and their Hidatsa allies were undisputed rivers of a rich and
productive domain, stretching from On-a-Slant Village south of Mandan, North Dakota, to the mouth
of the Knife River, and perhaps beyond.
Within that stretch of river, thousands of acres were intensively gardened, providing consistent food
surplus which fueled both population growth and trade. The cities of the Mandan and Hidatsa grew in
size and number.
Something else took place during the Heart River Phase, as well. Whereas villages had formerly lasted
half a century or so, Mandan towns of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries lasted two hundred years and
showed no signs of impending collapse until the devastating smallpox epidemic of 1781.
Not only had the Mandan shown their ability to exploit the resources, they had found a way to live
permanently in harmony with a semi-arid region with short growing seasons. Their skills in gardening
and crop development, and labor-intensive use of the fertile soil naturally re-fertilized by periodic
flooding made them a prominent people. With the allied Hidatsa similarly successful to the north, the
Study Area was, in 1781, a rich and productive country.
b. Mandan and Hidatsa Villages Pioneer Commerce on the Northern Plains
Surplus food led to population growth, and coupled with the geographic stability of permanent villages,
trade blossomed. Nomadic peoples brought products of the hunt to exchange for corn and beans.
Exotic luxury items: shells from distant oceans, obsidian from the Rocky Mountains, catlinite pipestone
from Minnesota found their way to the earthlodge villages.
Trade deepened with specialization. The Mandan were reputed to work leather more finely than other
nations. Their villages became cosmopolitan trading centers of an international trade. With Assiniboine,
Cree, Cheyenne and other tribes coming to trade, the Mandan and Hidatsa, of necessity, developed
language skills and diplomatic experience.
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Long before the first white man walked or paddled into what became North Dakota, his products were
available at the trading centers of the Mandan Indians. Beads made it to the Missouri by 1600, or so.
Pre-formed glass beads made pretty decorations, and they were a lot easier to deal with than quills.
Small, light and easy to transport, beads led the way in bringing the world of the colonial powers to the
world of the continent's interior.
The canoes of northern tribes worked an interconnected waterway that reached to Hudson Bay. When,
in the late 1600s, European ships appeared on the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay, the trade at the
southern end of that series of rivers and lakes began to include iron tools, guns and powder.
Another trade network stretched back east from Portage la Prairie, through the woods and lakes of
Manitoba and along the north shore of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River all the way to Montreal.
The route was different, but the goods were the same.
In the creation of wearable art, adding decorations like beads takes third place to hide preparation and
sewing. Knives for cutting, arrowheads for hunting small and big game, lance points, antler rakes and
scapula hoes, scrapers for cleaning, and awls for punching holes in buffalo hides and buckskins were all
available for use in the Mandan toolkit for hundreds of years. They were made, from ancient times,
from stones and bones. The favored stone for tools all over the Northern Plains for thousands of years
was Knife River Flint, a light brown, translucent stone, easy to work into a variety of tools. Flintknapping was a skill learned early in the earthlodges and tepees. But as skillfully as they could be worked
and as sharp and useful as they were, stone tools were no match for iron tools when it came to durability
and strength. Trade metal began replacing stone tools in the 1600s, and its march into the Mandan
toolkit was inexorable.
The nature and importance of trade changed in the 1700s. An arms race began. Guns, gunpowder, and
shot began to be important in deciding intertribal conflicts. Nations with buns dominated nations
without. The Mandan and Hidatsa got their guns from the north, brought by Assiniboine middlemen.
Pierre Gaultier, Sieur de la Verendrye, witnessed trading in 1738. He concluded:
“The Mantannes are cunning traders, cheating the Assiniboine of all they may possess, such as muskets,
powder, balls, kettle, axes, knives and awls.”
Another new element, as important as guns, came to the earthlodges in the early 1700s. Horses lost by
the Spanish in the Southwest in the 1600s, were bred and traded by Indian peoples in a steadily widening
circle. The frontier of the horse met the frontier of the gun along the Missouri River within the Study
Area. The ancient trade centers benefited.
The era between 1740-1780 could be considered the height of Mandan and Hidatsa culture and power.
Horses, particularly, made life better. Hunters were more mobile. Burdens could be carried more easily.
Goods of European manufacture enhanced daily living. But one thing brought from Europe would end
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that era.
A smallpox epidemic in 1781 swept across the
Great Plains cutting a swath of devastation.
Virtually every American Indian nation of the
Plains and Mountain West was affected, but
none so seriously as urban people like the
Mandan-Hidatsa.
Photo Courtesy of North Dakota Tourism
Mortality rates of 75-80% are estimated. From
perhaps 25,000 Mandan and Hidatsa living in
ten or more villages, less than 5,000 survived.
The survivors clustered together in five villages
near the Knife River. These are commemorated
as the Knife River Indian Villages National
Historic Site.
The story of the Knife River villages is better known than previous eras. David Thompson, James
McKay, John Evans, Lewis and Clark, Charles Mackenzie, George Catlin, Karl Bodmer, Prince
Maximilian of Wied and Francis Chardon, among others chronicled life in the villages. Bodmer and
Catlin recorded it in canvas.
The villages hosted permanent residents of European descent, too. Old Menard (first name unknown)
married into a Mandan family and lived among them for more than 16 years. Rene Jessaume and
Toussaint Charboneau, Sacagawea's husband, were also long-time residents. These early fur traders
blended easily into the communities. Frequent visits from steamboats brought a wider world to the
villages, but the culture remained traditional.
Another smallpox epidemic in 1837, which came upriver on the steamboat, St. Peter, brought an end to
the Knife River villages. As devastating as the 1781 disaster, only a few hundred Mandan and somewhat
more Hidatsa survived. The survivors united and moved farther up the river, out of the Study Area to
create Like-a-Fishhook Village.
c. Agriculture Develops, Ancient Seeds and Modern Technology
The earliest white settlers found the semi-arid landscape best suited to dry-land wheat farming and
livestock. Those fortunate enough to acquire land within the fertile Missouri River Valley of the study
area found their productivity superior to those breaking the Coteau prairie farther away from the river.
In 1881, a young man from New York, drawn to the northern prairies like many others by the advancing
railroad and the promise of employment in the bustling community of Bismarck, arrived and joined a
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seed house business. His name was Oscar H. Will and he would have a profound effect on agriculture in
the region and across the United States.
Eventually managing and owning his own firm, Will's trees and shrubs became popular across the
country and were even exported outside the United States. Shelterbelts became a common feature on
farms throughout the study area and across the Plains, promoted by the government as an effective
defense against soil erosion brought on by the region's incessant winds.
But it was corn that would turn Oscar Will into an agricultural giant. Understanding the hardiness of the
Mandan, Arikara and Hidatsa varieties of corn, beans, squash and sunflower, he acquired foundation
seed from tribal members and took years propagating them into seeds that could be advertised as
northern hearty, “Pioneer Brand.”
Will's colorful seed catalogs, featuring trees, shrubs, flowers, garden produce and field crops often
featured American Indian themes, including dramatic paintings produced for him by local or regional
artists. Among them was Clell Gannon of Bismarck. The important connection between agriculture and
its beginnings among the Native Peoples was reinforced through Will's marketing.
Today, it is estimated that five percent of all the corn grown in America can still be traced to Mandan
varieties, thanks to the work of Oscar H. Will.
Through World Wars, economic booms and the despair of the Great Depression, agriculture thrived,
survived and grew as technology and seed hybrids created higher and higher yields, particularly of grains
such as wheat and barley, which became the staples for farmers in the study area.
Irrigation from the Missouri River and its tributaries enhanced farmers' yields dramatically. Today,
center-pivot systems and flood irrigation are prevalent in the river valleys.
Wheat, barley, oats and rye were the primary field crops through the 1960's in the study area. In the
1970's sunflower, which had been another staple of the Native cultures, re-emerged on the prairie,
becoming one of the region's highest-acreage crops. Later, another primary food of tribal agriculture,
beans, would emerge as major cash crops, primarily pinto and soybeans.
Today's modern agriculture, tracing its roots to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara, is a technology-driven
business. Farmers must be savvy traders, working the markets carefully to be profitable, while they
continue to seek out the most efficient production practices, utilizing equipment costing hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
Corn, which has been grown almost exclusively in irrigated river valley fields of the study area, is now
on then verge of an acreage explosion, due to the construction of ethanol facilities, including one near
Washburn. The same crop that was a staple for the “First Farmers” of this region, which helped sustain
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the Lewis & Clark Expedition through a long cold winter, is now being used to create fuel for an energyhungry nation.
The story of agriculture in the study area is revealed to visitors at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
in Washburn, with its “Our First Farmers” exhibit, as well as at the North Dakota Heritage Center, Ona-Slant Indian Village south of Mandan, and the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site at
Stanton.
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Horse Culture on the Northern Plains
(1707 to Present)
No reliable resource exists which accurately dates the horse's arrival to the Northern Great Plains, but
native pictograph charts called “winter counts” narrow down a year when the first horse-stealing raid
took place.
The first horse stealing raid took place the winter of 1708-09 according to the Batiste Good winter
count, a Sicangu Lakota winter count. The following winter, 1709-10, as recorded in the same winter
count, sees the Sicangu Lakota stealing horses from the Assiniboine Sioux, who dwelled north of the
Mandan and Hidatsa. It was the Assiniboine Sioux who brought La Verendrye to the Mandan and
Hidatsa in 1738. While neither of these two dates tells us that the Mandan and Hidatsa actually had
horses, the horse was in the region, and if they didn't have horses, they surely heard of them that first
quarter of the 18th Century.
The Mandan maintain the oral tradition of a friendly trade visit from the Cheyenne. The Cheyenne
lived in earth lodge villages of their own, and planted gardens similar in most respect to the Mandan and
Hidatsa gardens, where present-day Fort Yates, ND, is today. The Cheyenne brought with them a
pregnant mare that was unable to make the fifty mile journey back south and winter was coming. A
Cheyenne grandmother was selected to stay behind with the horse and watch over it when the foal
arrived. The Mandan were amazed at the horse, having never seen one before.
No date or record exists that tells when the Cheyenne visited the Mandan, however the entry for 1707
of the John K. Bear winter count, Yanktonai Dakota, reads, “A metal knife was traded for a horse.” The
Yanktonai at the time of this year's entry were living along the James River in North and South Dakota.
Accompanying narrative to the Bear winter count concludes that the trade of a knife for a horse likely
happened when the Yanktonai traded with a
tribe west of them. The tribes living to the
west of the Yankonai at that time were the
Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, and Cheyenne.
Conclusive evidence that that Mandan and
Hidatsa actually had horses is recorded in the
Good winter count's entry for the winter of
1828-29 which reads as, “Brought home Gros
Ventre horses that winter.” The accompanying
pictograph shows a horse with the head of
the enemy tribe beside. The hair style of the
Photograph courtesy North Dakota Tourism
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pictographed head indicates that the horse was stolen from the Hidatsa.
No matter when the horse arrived to the proposed study area, its impact to the native peoples was
significant. Suddenly, greater distances could be overcome in weeks instead of months. Hunting went
from careful and quiet tracking on foot to rushing alongside herds of bison. Warfare changed as well,
and enemies could just as easily attack an unsuspecting village from miles away with little worry about
instant retaliation. Warfare patterns changed from long distance planning and execution to sudden
inspiration to form horse raiding parties. Trade patterns changed from hunting beavers, wolves, foxes,
and other smaller game animals to hunting almost exclusively bison, elk, deer, and antelope.
The horse itself was generally regarded as sacred and treated as such, but it was also a thing to be
controlled. Horses meant a tribe had the upper hand in travel, news, and trade. Horse stealing became
an accepted part of daily life. Horse stealing became a recognized minor war honor and many young
men in any tribe wanted to be the one to bring horses home. Horse racing and trick riding became
favorite sights both daily and at native trade rendezvous.
During the early 1800s, Dakota Territory was a crossroads of commerce and colonialism. The Mandan,
Hidatsa and Arikara villages along the Missouri River were centers in a vast intertribal exchange network
that linked communities across the continent. French and English fur traders based in Canada joined
this system in the late 1700s, and were completely replaced by American traders by the 1830s.
With the smallpox epidemic of 1781, control of the horse and gun trade shifted to the hands of the
now more powerful nomadic tribes. Another smallpox epidemic followed the first strike in 1837.
Though the political and military power of the Mandan and Hidatsa was crippled, trade goods from
distant parts of North America and from unseen parts of the world flowed in and out of these riverside
villages and horses were still among the most important commodities.
The horse may have symbolized military might for the native people, but it was equally as important to
the non-native as well. Amongst the first permanent military outposts in Dakota Territory were cavalry
posts.
Within the proposed study area are the remains and reconstructions of the 7th Cavalry at Fort Abraham
Lincoln State Park. Fort Abraham Lincoln remained in operation from 1873 to 1882, when the
headquarters of the 7th Cavalry moved to Fort Meade, South Dakota.
The Mandan rodeo began in 1881 as a Fourth of July celebration. In 1895, the Morton County Fair
Association was established, and money was dedicated to building a fence and oval race track in south
Mandan.
The following is taken from the City of Mandan's website about the Mandan Rodeo:
As vice-president of the State Fair Association and a prominent horse rancher from Flasher, Stephen P. Weekes was
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instrumental in the event's development, along with his sons, Steve and Charlie, and his son-in-law, Max Theil, who
created the Heart River Roundup, and “Badlands Bill” McCarty joined the effort to create the Mandan Roundup in
1923.
In 1938-39, the rodeo grounds were rebuilt in south Mandan. During the 1940s, the Mandan Rodeo Association,
headed by Frank Wetzstein, organized a high-class production where top cowboys like Toots Mansfield, Gene Ross and
Casey Tibbs competed and celebrities like Gene Autry and Rex Allen performed. The Mandan Rodeo became famous as
part of the “big loop”that included the Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Calgary Stampede allowing cowboys to go from
rodeo to rodeo winning money in what's referred to as “Cowboy Christmas” around the 4th of July.
In 1951, an estimated 11,000 people attended the Mandan Rodeo on July 4.
The Mandan American Legion took over the rodeo in 1954. Stock was provided by Buetler-Morgan of Elk City,
Oklahoma, and the prize money was increased to $4,500.
After two years, the Legion turned the event over to the Mandan Jaycees. It became a Rodeo Cowboys Association (now the
Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association) sanctioned event until 1969. Stock producers included Buetler-Morgan, Harry
Vold and Mike Cervi, and contestants came from all over the country.
In 1969, the Jaycees decided to sanction the event with the North Dakota Rodeo Association. In the 1970s, stock was
provided by Figure Four Rodeo Company of Watford City and by Joe Berger, George Bruington and Jim Mosbrucker, all
of Mandan. Prize money by 1980 was more than $20,000.
By the mid-1980s, an aging grandstand needed repair. In 1989, the Mandan Rodeo was the highlight of North Dakota's
centennial festivities. It also marked the last performance at the old rodeo grounds.
Today, at Dacotah Centennial Park, the Mandan Rodeo continues to touch the lives and hearts of many over the 4th of
July. The rodeo is coordinated by a subcommittee of the Mandan Progress Organization and it is once again a Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association event attracting top cowboys and cowgirls with $38,500 in added prize money made possible
with the generous support of local sponsors. The rodeo features chuckwagon racing and a Miss Rodeo Mandan queen and
princess pageant.
Perhaps the greatest impression the horse left on the Indians is reflected in some the traditional and
surnames of the native peoples.
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US. Frontier Military
(1804 to Present)
Active Frontier Posts along the Missouri River from 1804-1891 within the proposed study area are:
Fort Mandan, 1804-05
Fort McKeen, 1872-1891
Camp Hancock, 1872-1945
Fort Abraham Lincoln, 1873-1891
1804: The Corps of Discovery ascended the Missouri River, intentionally seeking out the Mandan
Indians for trade throughout the coming winter. They camped for one night, Oct. 20th, 1804, about a
mile north of the remains of the On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village. They continued up river finally
making contact with the Mandan Indians on Oct. 24th, 1804, on a sandbar island approximately two
miles downriver of present-day Washburn, ND. They constructed Fort Mandan a few miles downriver
of the Mandan Chief Sheheke's village and spent the winter making friends with them.
1806: The Corps of Discovery descended the Missouri River on their return journey back to Saint
Louis. The month of August saw the Corps of Discovery reuniting their own split party and parting
ways with Sacagawea and her husband Charbonneau at the Knife River Indian Villages. Mandan Chief
Sheheke accompanied the Corps of Discovery back to Saint Louis.
1809: Ensign Nathaniel Pryor escorts Mandan Chief Sheheke back to the Knife River Indian Villages,
successful in a second attempt coming upriver. It was September 22nd, 1809, a three-year odyssey of
his own before he returned to his people.
1863: General Alfred Sully and General Henry Sibley, led two punitive expeditions into Dakota
Territory to subdue the Santee Sioux, arrived on July 28t, 1863, and established Camp Slaughter,
present-day General Sibley Park. Sibley park is located near the mouth of Apple Creek, south
Bismarck, ND.
1864: US Army begins gaining control and occupation of Missouri River areas to further the
advancement of military posts.
1872: Camp Hancock, formerly Camp Greely, was built by the 17th US Infantry Regiment in Bismarck,
D.T. It became the first weather reporting station in the territory.
1872: The Fort McKeen Infantry post was put in place to protect mail routes and the citizens of
Bismarck.
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1873: The 7th Cavalry arrived, under command of Lt. Col. George A. Custer. The new army post, Fort
Abraham Lincoln, was tasked with protecting the Northern Pacific Railroad.
1874: US Army at Fort Abraham Lincoln and Camp Hancock received the first commercial telegraph
line.
1874: US Army left Fort Lincoln for Black Hills to locate suitable fort location and to substantiate
rumors of gold. The campaign was led by Lt. Col.
George A. Custer.
1876: The US Army, under Lt. Col. George A.
Custer, left from Fort Abraham Lincoln to meet with
the Sioux at the Little Big Horn in an effort to force
the Sioux and Cheyenne back onto reservations.
1881: The US Army at Fort Lincoln helped create
the new city of Mandan.
Custer House, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park,
Photograph courtesy of Fort Abraham Lincoln
1898: Elements of the North Dakota National
Guard from Bismarck, Mandan, and surrounding
communities shipped out to the Phillipines during
the Spanish-American War. A Company of Indians
referred to as the Dakota Territorials makes up part
of the Rough Riders in Cuba.
1903: The US Army established a base in Bismarck called Ft. Lincoln, which would become an
internment/detention camp during World War II for Japanese and German individuals. The buildings
were later utilized for the United Tribes Technical College in 1994 through the Equity in Educational
Land Grant Act.
1933: North Dakota National Guard called out by Gov. William Langer to prevent a strike during
construction of North Dakota’s new Capitol.
1940: The North Dakota National Guard was ordered into Federal Service with the advent of World
War II looming over the United States.
1969: The former US Army post, Ft. Lincoln, in Bismarck, ND, is officially opened as The United
Tribes Employment Center.
1989: The North Dakota Army National Guard took over construction and custody of the North
Dakota Veteran's Cemetery in Mandan, ND by an act of the Legislative Assembly. It opened in 1992
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and is operated by the Adjutant General of North Dakota.
1989: The Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation dedicates General Custer's reconstructed quarters at Fort
Abraham Lincoln State Park. North Dakota's Adjutant General is present for the dedication.
2004: The 141st Engineering Battalion, North Dakota Army National Guard reconstruct a stable at
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.
North Dakota National Guard building 7th Cavalry Stable, Fort
Abraham Lincoln State Park, Photograph courtesy of Fort
Abraham Lincoln Foundation
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World Famous Legends of the
Northern Plains
Some of the most famous people of the 19th Century made history in the proposed study area. The
visit of Lewis and Clark in 1804 focused attention on themselves, naturally, but also on residents of the
area, Mandan and Hidatsa leaders like Le Borgne, Black Cat and White Coyote. The one person from
the Study Area who gets the most attention isn't a chief or war leader, it's the young woman Sacagawea.
The stories of Lewis and Clark are told at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and the precise
replica of Fort Mandan at Washburn, within the Study Area. Fort Mandan guides explain the expedition
and its winter living conditions. Their winter of 1804-05 and the relationship they developed with the
Mandan and Hidatsa is an essential part of the epic American story of exploration and diplomacy. The
Interpretive Center includes exhibits on the Mandan-Hidatsa “First Farmers,” and trade at Fort Clark in
the 1830s.
Sacagawea is a story in her self. The young American Indian woman who traveled with Lewis and Clark
while caring for an infant son has become legend. Statues of her dot the country, including in the
Capitol Gallery. She has been recognized on a dollar coin. Her home is in the Study Area, one of the
villages protected within Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site.
Sitting Bull, while ubiquitous, has no specific site within the Study Area, but his opponent George
Custer did. Custer's Last Stand is a world-famous battle and Custer, even more than Sacagawea and
Lewis and Clark, has inspired an incredible body of literature. His last home at Fort Abraham Lincoln
has been reconstructed along with seven other buildings of the fort. Living history guided tours of the
home have hosted more than half a million guests since its opening in 1989. Fort Lincoln is also home
to the On-a-Slant Village reconstructions of five earth lodges with guided tours describing Mandan life
in the Heart River Phase.
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Resource Development
Tourism and Energy Join Agriculture
The economic backbone that was agriculture still is the
leader in North Dakota generally, and within the Study Area.
But energy development, in the Study Area characterized by
the lignite coal industry, and tourism have become important
to the economy. Coal is mined near the coal-fired electrical
generation facilities in Oliver and Mercer Counties within or
adjacent to the Study Area. Coal is also converted to
methane gas at the Great Plains Synfuels Plant by Beulah.
The lignite industry employs 4,000 people with the highest
average wages of any industry in North Dakota.
The heritage of lignite goes back to its American Indian
characterization as “the rock that burns.” Mining is older
than the state. It was always surface mining and some of the Coal drag line
older mines can still be recognized, furrowed land turned
Photograph courtesy of North American Coal
over and now grown over with habitat for wildlife. As stripmining expanded in the early 1970s, North Dakota placed
strict strip-mine reclamation regulations, requiring land to be returned to its original contours after the
coal is removed.
The importance of the industry continues to grow. Plants are modernizing and researchers are
investigating the possibility of producing jet fuels from coal. Research is also continuing on carbon
sequestration.
Farmers used windmills to power wells and batteries before rural electrification in the 1930s. Wind
machines are returning to farms today with the idea of turning electricity into a cash crop. Wind farms
are making their appearance in the Study Area. Energy production from agriculture is another part of
the emerging energy sector. Ethanol and biodiesel production are relieving some of the pressure on oil
imports. The story of energy from pre-history to the future is one of the potential Interpretive Themes
for a National Heritage Area.
Tourism has emerged as a major part of the North Dakota economy and within the Study Area, heritage
tourism is the key component. Major developed sites like Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Fort
Mandan and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, the Dakota Zoo, Cross Ranch State Park and
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site are enhanced by entrepreneurial activity, like the Lewis
and Clark Riverboat; historically-themed canoe experiences; bed and breakfasts, lodges and retreats and
riverside restaurants with menus evoking the legendary characters who populated the region in history.
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The State of North Dakota and local economic development offices have pursued strategies of
economic development focused on growth in manufacturing and call centers. There has been some
success in recruitment and job growth in these areas, but with a few notable exceptions, the job growth
has been in the more urban settings of the state.
Tourism is often touted as North Dakota's fastest-growing economic sector. This isn't exactly true, but it
is clearly one of the state's most reliable economic engines. According to NDSU, Tourism has grown
1000% from a $350 million sector in 1990 to a $3.358 billion sector in 2004. While that degree must be
reflective of some change in methodology between 1990 and 2000, within the NDSU data are
indications of real and substantial growth. From 2000 to 2004, for instance, the tourism sector
experienced 8.8% growth in constant dollars over a four-year period. Over the same period, agriculture
grew by a comparable 9.6%; manufacturing by 12.3%; oil by 24.0% and coal mining and conversion was
flat, decreasing by a negligible amount.
Heritage tourism has been recognized as North Dakota's premier tourism niche for decades. Even
before statehood, the region's earliest tourists were motivated to travel to the area by their interest in
heritage and culture. It would be a stretch to call Lewis and Clark tourists, though their instructions from
President Thomas Jefferson included a long list of ethnographic questions to answer. Less than five
years after Lewis and Clark left North Dakota, however, the English naturalist John Bradbury came to
the Knife River Indian Villages on a learning vacation - he was a heritage tourist. Prince Maximilian of
Wied was one of the most famous of the region's early tourists. The German prince made the Upper
Missouri his destination. In an era pre-dating photography, Maximilian brought along his own artist,
Karl Bodmer, to record what he saw on his visit. John Jacob Audubon, George Catlin, and Theodore
Roosevelt were others who traveled to find an authentic Old West experience in what became North
Dakota.
From the beginning of a state tourism office in the 1960s, the focus was on creating an Old West
identity for North Dakota. “Go West to Dakota,” was the earliest refrain, based on seat-of-the-pants
marketing ideas. “Roughrider Country” followed, suggesting that tourism promoters felt the state's
leading attraction was in the Badlands country of western North Dakota. Roughrider Country
recognized something else, too - the relationship between North Dakota and a world-famous individual,
in this case, Theodore Roosevelt.
Roosevelt and his Badlands adventures inspired development of the state's leading tourism attraction in
the 1960s. In the tiny village of Medora, a cowtown of the 1880s-era, entrepreneur and philanthropist
Harold Schafer began building a tourism destination. His signature piece of the tourism package was an
outdoor musical show featuring entertaining and sometimes actual scenes from the life of Theodore
Roosevelt. Identification with famous individuals continued with creation of an overly-active state
tourism logo, featuring some of the most prominent people who ever set foot in North Dakota:
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Theodore Roosevelt, George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull and others peopled the logo. Individuals
were the focus of a 1970s-era creation: the Great Plains Chautauqua. North Dakota Humanities Council
executive director Everett Albers created a traveling troupe of scholar-performers who reenacted
characters from history in free public tent shows. The program spread and is still conducted annually,
bringing history and culture to small towns all over the Great Plains.
A tourism master plan study, released in 1989, confirmed that tourism promoters had been somewhat
on the right track in their analysis of North Dakota's tourism product. The INTRA study concluded
that North Dakota's best chance for attracting tourists lay in development of its rich heritage resources.
In 1989, North Dakota was undergoing a cultural revival of sorts. It was the Centennial of statehood
and it was treated as a very big deal by the state, communities and organizations. Most events focused on
heritage, reminding North Dakotans of their roots.
The Custer House was restored within Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in 1989, a non-profit sector
Centennial project. More historical restorations followed at Fort Lincoln, located in Morton County
seven miles south of Mandan. The fever of rediscovery of heritage included new developments at Fort
Union National Historic Site, southwest of Williston, and the Knife River Indian Villages National
Historic Site near Stanton.
Not long after the Centennial banners came down, the drum started beating for the coming Lewis and
Clark Bicentennial. Preparations were made. The Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn was
built and Fort Mandan re-restored by the private non-profit North Dakota Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
Foundation. The state built the Yellowstone-Missouri River Confluence Center where the Yellowstone
River meets the Missouri, and spruced up nearby Fort Buford State Historic Site. Federal investments
and the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation restored On-a-Slant Village by Mandan in anticipation of the
Bicentennial.
The state's marketing arm, the Tourism Division of the North Dakota Department of Commerce, has
chosen heritage as its main promotional theme. Six prominent individuals from North Dakota's 19th
Century illustrate the one word marketing brand: Legendary. The legendary names were Meriwether
Lewis, William Clark, Sakakawea (Sacagawea), Sitting Bull, George Armstrong Custer and Theodore
Roosevelt.
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Heritage is at the heart of one of North Dakota's most important economic sector - tourism.
Number of hotel-motel rooms in region: 2370
Bismarck
Mandan
Washburn
= 2086
= 260
= 24
There are a number of guest lodges and bed and breakfasts in the area, as well. Near Stanton at the
north end of the proposed Heritage Area, the Missouri Lodge may provide a model for future smallscale development. Seven rooms are available in a secluded ranch location along the Missouri. Hiking
and biking trails are featured along with golf cart rental for visiting historic sites and wildlife viewing.
Across the Missouri another model of heritage tourism entrepreneurship is the Flaming Arrow Guest
Ranch, a working 800 acre ranch named for the archeological site presumed to be one of the earliest
Awatixa Hidatsa villages. Guests at Flaming Arrow can stay in cabins or tepees, and are accorded guided
tours of area historic and archeological sites.
Visitor Spending
Using national data for similar sized communities, the Bismarck-Mandan Convention and Visitors
Bureau estimates spending at $211 per night for convention delegates. Traveling families are presumed
to spend less per person, but more per traveling party.
Occupancy rates in Bismarck-Mandan have been solid in recent years and room revenue has seen
substantial gains.
2004 hotel-motel occupancy in Bismarck-Mandan
2005 hotel-motel occupancy in Bismarck-Mandan
2006 hotel-motel occupancy in Bismarck-Mandan through July
= 66.4%
= 69.6%
= 66.2%
The average daily room rate in Bismarck-Mandan has increased dramatically in that same period.
2004 average daily hotel-motel room rate in Bismarck-Mandan = $54.15
2005 average daily hotel-motel room rate in Bismarck-Mandan = $56.55
2006 average daily hotel-motel room rate in Bismarck-Mandan = $ 59.56
That makes total room revenue in Bismarck-Mandan:
2004 = $29,714,043
2005 = $33,128,378
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Growth Potential
There are three sources of potential growth for heritage tourism entrepreneurs within the proposed
Heritage Area: local market; travelers already visiting other heritage sites in the area; and increasing the
number of travelers into the area.
Local Market Growth: While visits by residents of Bismarck to a lodge by Stanton may provide the
essential base on which to build a business plan and to build the critical mass to sustain a business, no
new wealth is brought into the area by locals traveling.
Extending Length of Stay: When visitors to Fort Abraham Lincoln, for instance, choose to visit another
historic site or guest lodge in the area, they are extending their length of stay. This activity does produce
new wealth for the region. Leading tourism enterprises in the region already practice extensive crossselling. Brochure racks at one attraction contain information on the others. Staff at the major attractions
are made familiar with the other sites and trained in promoting their events and attractions.
Increased Visitation to the Area: This is the opportunity for the greatest potential growth in tourism
visitation at sites in the proposed area. It is also the area wherein National Heritage Area designation
would have the greatest impact. Individual entities within the proposed Heritage Area lack sufficient
marketing resources to reach major markets, even proximity markets such as Winnipeg or Minneapolis,
let alone national or international markets. The Tourism Division of the State of North Dakota
Commerce Department does have the ability to reach proximity markets and niche affinity markets,
however, and would be eager to be able to promote a National Heritage Area within the state.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Geology, Topography, and Soils
Floodplains and Wetlands
Agricultural Lands
Vegetation
Threatened and Endangered Species
Climate and Air Quality
Water Resources and Water Quality
Wildlife Management Areas (See Appendix E)
State Parks
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
Cross Ranch State Park
Missouri River Recreational Access Points
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Public Fishing Waters (See Appendix F)
Boat Ramps & Reservoirs (See Appendix F)
Trail Systems
Missouri River Legacy Trail
Scenic Byways
Sakakawea Scenic Byway
CULTURAL RESOURCES
See Appendix A. for detailed description of the following sites
National Park Unit (1)
Knife River Indian Village National Historic Site
The Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is a 1,700 acre archeological park created
by Congress in 1974 for the purpose of preserving, studying and interpreting the archeological remains
of the people of the plains who occupied these villages over time near the mouth of the Knife and
Missouri Rivers. Three historically important settlements remain as evidence of the centuries of
occupation of the ancestors of the modern Hidatsa people of North Dakota. The National Park
Service maintains a year round interpretive center with a bookstore and theater. During summer
months, visitor can tour the interior of a re-constructed and furnished Hidatsa earthlodge, a traditional
garden and hiking and nature trails through the major village sites and along the Knife River
National Historic Landmarks (2)
Huff Indian Village National Historic Landmark
Huff Indian Village is an early Mandan Indian village settled on the west side of the Missouri
River around AD 1450. This village was a relatively large, well-planned community where a thousand or
more people are estimated to have lived in permanent earthlodge homes. The depressions that remain
within this site provide evidence of the layout of a large settlement where over one hundred rectangular
lodges are arranged roughly in rows along the west side of the Missouri River. Archeologists estimate
that Huff Indian Village was occupied for only ten to thirty years which is a relatively short period of
time as compared to occupations of Double Ditch, On-A-Slant and other upriver earthlodge villages.
Big Hidatsa Village National Historic Landmark
Big Hidatsa Village was established around 1600 by the Willow People, one band of ancestors of
today's Hidatsa people of North Dakota. Big Hidatsa Village reflects the largest settlement which now
lies within the boundaries of the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site on the north side of
the Knife River near Stanton ND. The remains of over 100 earthlodges can be seen as well as trails and
linear ridges or mound that emanate from the village. Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark
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visited this village as well as the two other Hidatsa villages along the Knife River during their 1804-1805
winter stay on the Northern Plains. Other non-Indian visitors following Lewis and Clark to this village
include George Catlin, Prince Maximilian, Karl Bodmer and others.
Early Indian Village Sites
Huff Indian Village State Historic Site
Big Hidatsa Indian Village
Awatixa (Sakakawea) Village
Lower Hidatsa
On-A-Slant Mandan Village
Scattered Village (Mandan Public Library)
Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site
Looking's (Ward) Indian Village
Mittutanka (Fort Clark) Indian Village State Historic Site
Molander Indian Village State Historic Site
Other State Historic Sites related to heritage area theme
Fort Clark State Historic Site
Fort Mandan Overlook State Historic Site
Camp Hancock State Historic Site
North Dakota State Capitol Complex
Former ND Governor's Mansion
Steamboat Warehouse State Historic Marker
Educational/Interpretive Centers/Museums and related Exhibits
North Dakota Heritage Center
State Capitol Complex
ND Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
Fort Mandan & Cottonwoods Visitor Center
Knife River Indian Villages Visitor Center
United Tribes Cultural Center
Mandan Public Library
Cultural Heritage Events/Celebrations
Lewis & Clark Days, Washburn, McLean County
Fort Lincoln Festival, Mandan, Morton County
Northern Plains Culture Fest, Stanton, Mercer County
United Tribes International Pow Wow, Bismarck, Burleigh County
Heritage Outbound, Bismarck/Washburn/Stanton/Missouri River
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Missouri River Music Festival, Cross Ranch, Oliver County
Mandan Arts in the ParkMandan, Morton County
Mandan Annual Rodeo Days, Mandan, Morton County
Custer Christmas, Mandan, Morton County
Folkfest, Bismarck, Burleigh County
Fort Lincoln History Symposium, Mandan, Morton County
Commemorative Resources (and related attractions)
Veteran's Memorial Cemetery
Old Scout's Cemetery
Sakakawea Statue
Keelboat Park
Steamboat Park
Buckstop Junction
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Chapter 5
Plan for Management Entity
Throughout the various chapters of this document, information is provided to substantiate that the
resources within the free-flowing segment of the Missouri River in North Dakota are worthy of
preservation and integrated interpretation. This chapter describes the management alternatives which
may be considered as appropriate for the purposes of protecting and interpreting the nationally
significant resources in the areas. Four primary management alternatives have been considered:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Continuation of Current Practice/No Action
National Heritage Area Designation
Private Non-Profit Corporate Management
State Heritage Area Management
Alternative 1: Continuation of Current Practices/No Action
The National Environment Policy Act requires that a “no action” alternative be described to serve as a
reference against which all other actions may be evaluated. No federal designation or additional
authority for federal involvement would be pursued under this management alternative.
Given available funding, existing entities would continue their individual efforts to preserve, enhance,
and interpret heritage resources. The resources currently owned and operated by the incorporated
organizations; and local, state, and federal governments would continue to be maintained and
interpreted for public use under existing policies; and, in most cases, in their current status. As with
every management alternative, existing land use regulations and policies would remain under the
authority of existing governmental agencies. This status would continue for all proposed management
alternatives.
The existing National Park Service (NPS) site in the region would continue their operations. There are
three national park units in North Dakota the North and South Units of Theodore Roosevelt National
Park, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, and Fort Union Trading Post National Historic
Site. North Dakota also has one NPS affiliated area the International Peace Gardens. The Knife River
Indian Village National Historic Site which is located one half mile north of Stanton, ND is the only
national park unit located within the proposed Northern Plains Heritage Area.
There are no federally designated heritage areas within the state of North Dakota. There would be no
new NPS program dedicated exclusively to providing technical assistance and no additional federal
funding. State and local government, private non-profit organizations, and for-profit corporations
would continue to be the primary sources for the protection and interpretation of heritage resources.
Although various interpretive opportunities and infrastructure is currently provided to the visiting public
by federal, state, local, and private entities, there is no coordinated plan that would formalize the
interpretive plan through a sustained regionalized basis. Under this alternative, visitors experience a
fragment of a larger story making it difficult to recognize and celebrate our regional identity or share the
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stories that collectively illustrate important heritage themes within the entire area. A general lack of
connectedness between thematically related sites and the lack of a distinctive overall sense of place in
the region would continue.
Current activities would proceed, as they do now, without an overall framework that could guide the
efforts as they relate to the cultural and historic themes of the Northern Plains Heritage Area. This
management alternative would be unlikely to improve
a) the development of new and existing attractions, the enhancement and
maintenance of existing resources,
b) the protection of distinctive places and the heritage landscape,
c) rural economic and infrastructure development,
d) regional economic development related to cultural heritage preservation.
Alternative 2: National Heritage Area Designation
This management alternative requires federal designation of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area
through an act of Congress. The National Park Service defines a National Heritage Area (NHA) as a
place “where natural, cultural, historic, and scenic resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally
distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography. These patterns make
NHAs representative of the national experience through the physical features that remain and the have
evolved in them.” As a strategy, NHAs focus on the protection and conservation of distinct and
important natural, cultural, historic, and scenic resources.
Designation of a NHA would recognize the important of centuries-old agricultural traditions and
lifeways of individuals and cultural groups who settled and farmed the fertile Missouri River Valley
region in North Dakota, creating a viable agricultural economy which contributed to the creation of an
internationally renowned trade network that attracted explorers, adventurers, naturalists, traders, and
settlers from far and wide; some came to trade, some to see, and others came to stay.
National Heritage Area designation would acknowledge our distinctive cultural and geographic region as
a series of landscapes unique enough to attract and keep the hardiest of souls; the strongest and most
determined to succeed in their attempts to settle and farm the land, in spite of the risks and extreme
conditions the landscape held in store for them.
A NHA managed by the residents themselves would strengthen a greater sense of place and identity
both for stakeholders from within the region, and for outside visitors. Such a regional approach would
encourage the protection and management of cultural, historic, and natural resources within a complex
landscape. It would also provide incentive for a greater community-building capacity through regional
planning and coordination.
Heritage area goals include:
a) increasing public awareness of local history, associated landscapes, and the
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need for preservation,
b) encouraging research on local history in order to incorporate relevant local
culture into the educational curriculum, and
c) enhancing the quality of community character, promoting greater sense of
place, and strengthening the region's identity.
By coordinating the management of cultural, historic, and natural resources, the NHA will address the
economic viability of smaller towns in the region: rural communities, prairies, open spaces, farms,
ranches, and business that make up the region's landscape.
The formal organization of a NHA followed by the preparation of a comprehensive management plan
will ensure that participating governments and organizations, with their varied missions, goals, and
objectives, have an institutionalized process for coordination. The NHA would provide the stability and
regionalized coordination to achieve long range goals.
The National Park Service would provide technical assistance to the NHA management entity and its
associated partners. A partnership would exist between the National Park Service and the NHA's
management entity to allow ongoing development of high quality heritage area interpretation and
successful regional identity programs.
The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation (NPHF), a state-chartered non-profit organization, is the
primary candidate to be designated as the management entity for the proposed heritage area. Working
with technical assistance from the National Park Service, the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation has
been garnering grass roots support and developing management expertise in preparation for
management of a federally designated heritage area.
As the federally designated management entity, the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation would include
a cross-section of public and private interests, including representatives of state and local governments,
municipalities, historic, cultural, and environmental organizations, educational institutions, economic
development organizations, and private citizens. Active members on the Board of Directors for the
NPHF include the state tourism director, director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, the
director of the North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department, as well as other tourism industry
leaders.
The management entity would be responsible for receiving and disbursing federal funds, and would have
the authority to enter into agreements with the federal government. The entity would also be
responsible for raising funds to match the federal financial assistance. Federal, state, local, and private
historical, cultural, and natural sites within the NHA would operate their own authority and voluntarily
work in partnership with the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation.
When national designation is approved, the NPHF will develop a work program. The policies and plans
formulated by the board will be implemented by a staff of three to five people, including at a minimum,
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an executive director, a finance and office manager, and a marketing and research assistant. An alliance
of key partners would be recruited to advise the board and staff, help promote additional partnerships,
and assist in heritage area coordination and plan implementation.
Much of the work of development within the Northern Plains National Heritage Area will be
accomplished through key committees designated from within the management entity. Committees
might include management, finance, and marketing, with specific responsibilities. For example, the
management committee would prepare guidelines to advise local communities, organizations, and
heritage attractions in developing the resources within the NHA. The management committee would
also oversee the development of an annual work plan for the heritage area. Some of the components of
the annual work program would include, but not be limited to, supporting the enhancement of existing
heritage sites, events, and related heritage experiences; developing a plan for new facilities, infrastructure,
or attractions; identifying a network of sites and developing a marketing strategy to increase visitation to
all key sites in order that the larger story can be experienced and the national importance of the area
understood; and building the capacity of communities, organizations, heritage attractions, and local
businesses, to become viable and active partners in the regionalized effort.
The finance committee would oversee the preparation and implementation of the financial plan for the
initial three year operation as a NHA. The finance committee would also oversee the development of
fund raising capacity. It would have budget review responsibilities.
In order to carry out the annual work plan, the NPHF will first identify strategic investment areas where
the heritage resources, organized leadership, and cooperative actions are concentrated. Within the
Northern Plains National Heritage Area, the strategic investment areas could be identified as the
cities/towns of Bismarck, Mandan, Washburn, and Stanton, with the key investment partners being the
Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, the Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, the Knife River Indian
Villages National Historic Site, the State Historical Society of North Dakota, North Dakota Parks and
Recreation, and United Tribes Technical College.
In developing partnerships and alliances, the NPHF will assess the evidence of the area's heritage,
economic, and community development through tourism, interpretive programs and events,
geographical linkages, local commitment, leaderships, and public policy.
The NPHF would oversee the development of a heritage area management plan, prioritize projects, and
conduct public meetings regarding implementation of the plan. The comprehensive management plan
includes strategies for natural and cultural resource protection, plans for interpretation of resources
based on the heritage area themes, and a methodology for active and ongoing participation from public
organizations, private individuals, and municipalities, federal, state, and local agencies.
It is important to emphasize that the NHA management alternative imposes no new land use regulation
on properties located within the area. Willing partnerships and public support are critical and key
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elements to the success of a NHA.
The National Park Service could provide the communities as well as cultural, historical, and natural
resource organizations within the heritage area with technical assistance and grants for education,
interpretation, historic preservation, planning, recreational trail development, and open space
conservation.
In consultation with the National Park Service, the management entity would develop an accessible and
comprehensive interpretive program to identify, preserve, and interpret the NHA's resources. Projects
under this program could include, but are not limited to:
a) a signage program including logo-based directional and interpretive signage
which could interpret the major themes of heritage area,
b) heritage area publications including maps, brochures, and comprehensive
guides that would enhance the visitor experience and promote greater
understanding of the nationally important story of the people who settled this
landscape,
c) interpretive training provided by the National Park Service to ensure a
consistent standard for interpretive programming in the NHA and to enhance
the interpretation of existing stories and sites within the area,
d) development of education materials to supplement the interpretation and
encourage interactive participation and positive learning experiences of
students visiting the area, and
e) support for research, inventories, and documentation of heritage resources.
The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation would be eligible to provide grants to local heritage
organizations from a designated pool of funds. Grants would be awarded to eligible organizations
which meet the criteria for participation and are engaged in projects identified within the heritage area.
The financial relationship between a NHA and the National Park Service is usually authorized for no
longer than 15 years. Federal funding administered through the Heritage Partnership Program for
NHAs requires that the management entity provide a fifty percent match for the federal heritage area
appropriation.
Alternative 3: Private Non-Profit Management Alternative
This alternative would require the establishment of a non-profit corporation which would promote
heritage activities in the Northern Plains Missouri River region. This management alternative would
require less forma organization. Since congressional approval is not required for this model, the
organization would not be required to undertake the potentially lengthy process for meeting the
generally more stringent federal standards. The organization would not seek federal funding through the
annual congressional funding cycles, and under this alternative the heritage area organization would not
be required to obtain a fifty percent match for federal funding.
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A private non-profit heritage organization would not be able to develop a regional signage program,
visitors, and exhibits, nor extensive research or interpretation of heritage themes. A private non-profit
heritage organization would have substantially less prestige that a NHA. A private non-profit
organization may not be as likely as a nationally recognized entity to attract financial support, participate
in special initiatives, and draw new visitors to region.
Under this management alternative, the area would not be able to request technical assistance from the
National Park Service for planning and interpretation in the manner, or to the extent, that technical
assistance is being provided by the National Park Service to NHAs around the country. A locally
established private non-profit heritage program might lack the resources to adequately interpret the
major and nationally important themes identified in this study.
Alternative 4: State Heritage Area Management
The Northern Plains Heritage Area could possibly be managed by an existing state-chartered entity or
institution, however, the state of North Dakota does not currently have a heritage area program.
Although the state of North Dakota celebrates the rich cultural heritage of this region, and is certainly
aware of the nationally important historic legends that have been contributed by this state to American
history, it is unlikely that the state will create a heritage area along a portion of the free flowing stretch
of the Missouri River, or along any other portion of the Missouri River in North Dakota.
Conclusion
National Heritage Areas have been successful in protecting and restoring historic sites, creating
greenways and trails, enhancing public understanding and appreciation of regional history and associated
resources and in creating a uniquely important and distinct identity for communities within the
designated area. Many organizations can participate in and contribute to the creation of a common
vision that is based on unique cultural traditions and a shared heritage.
National designation of a heritage area can result in compatible economic development initiatives,
particularly tourism and commercial services related to the preservation and rehabilitation of historic
structures, visitor services, recreation, cultural interpretation, and education.
Congressional designation of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area would provide a crucial
strategy for future protection, appreciation, and interpretation of nationally important natural, cultural,
historic, recreational, and scenic resources along a portion of free flowing stretch of the Missouri River
in North Dakota. National designation would provide for a cohesive framework within which to
preserve and celebrate the important stories and centuries old agricultural traditions which attracted
people to the area for millennia, and ultimately impacted the settlement of the American West.
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Evaluation according to federal criteria
1.
The area has an assemblage of natural, historic and cultural, and scenic or resources that together represent
distinctive aspects of American heritage worthy of recognition, conservation, interpretation and continuing use and are best
managed as such assemblage through partnerships among public and private entities and by combining diverse and some
times noncontiguous resources and active communities.
The proposed Northern Plains Heritage Area contains a collection of significant resources: natural,
historical, and cultural which illustrate a cohesive and distinctive story. The Northern Plains Heritage
Area, as proposed within this feasibility study, provides a unique look into a remarkably scenic place that
is distinctively American. The Missouri River in central North Dakota provided a confluence of tides in
American history which inspires worldwide interest and significance. Its local representatives include
some of the most famous people of the 19th Century, including Meriwether Lewis, William Clark,
Sacagawea, Sitting Bull and George Custer. The proposed Area is a scenic natural area which includes
virtually the last stretch of free-flowing Missouri River in North Dakota between the Pick-Sloan Project
reservoirs, Lake Oahe and Lake Sakakawea. It is the farthest reach of native agriculture on the Northern
Plains, a significant achievement of the Mandan and Hidatsa Indian nations who can legitimately lay
claim to the area as their traditional homelands. Native agriculture influenced the development of more
modern agriculture in a region that still retains a solid agricultural base.
Heritage development in the proposed Area has resulted in a series of separately managed sites which
are individually significant and which, combined, create a critical mass of heritage tourism opportunities
to the extent that it could help drive the regional economy. A unifying force, the National Heritage Area,
would help bring together the separate partners who all contribute to the preservation of heritage in the
Area: National Park Service; State Historical Society of North Dakota; North Dakota Department of
Parks and Recreation; North Dakota Department of Commerce, Tourism Division; Fort Abraham
Lincoln Foundation; Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation, and more.
2..
Reflects traditions, customs, believes, and folk life that are a valuable part of the national story.
As the homeland of the Mandan and Hidatsa, two rich cultures defying the stereotype of the nomadic
Plains Indian. They were matrilineal nations in which the women held the important roles of gardeners
and home builders, and consequently, home owners. Their permanent villages and their comfortable
earthlodges were distinctive cultural adaptations telling a story to help illustrate the great variety of
American Indian lifeways.
3.
Provides outstanding opportunities to conserve natural, cultural, historic and/or scenic features.
3. Within the proposed Area are significant sites offering an opportunity for improved preservation.
Three unstaffed State Historic Sites: Double Ditch State Historic Site, Huff National Landmark (State
Historic Site), and Molander State Historic Site are currently isolated sites within the Area, but near
locations seeing considerable residential development. Housing is spreading north and south of
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Evaluation according to federal criteria
Bismarck and Mandan, particularly along the river where these historic sites, actually prehistoric villages,
are located. Actively managed sites like Dakota Zoo, Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, and Fort
Mandan are also natural scenic areas that always offer opportunity for improved preservation.
4.
Provides outstanding recreational and educational opportunities
The North Dakota Heritage Center and the rest of the Capitol complex in Bismarck is the center of the
region. The Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site anchors the north end. Both provide
outstanding educational opportunities as do Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park's attractions On-a-Slant
Mandan Indian Village and Fort Abraham Lincoln and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and Fort
Mandan; Dakota Zoo and other sites.
Many of these sites provide out-of-doors recreational opportunities, such as riverside camping and
picnicking, hiking and biking trails. Scenic and historic highways ND 1804 and ND 1806 parallel the
Missouri throughout the proposed Area and provide motorists with scenic drives with views of the river,
woody draws, buttes and thriving agriculture.
5.
The resources important to the identified theme or themes of the area retain a degree of integrity capable of
supporting interpretation
The key existing resources, many supported by non-profit private sector organizations, are wellprotected and already have exhibited a degree of historical and cultural integrity in interpretation of the
main themes of the proposed Area. The Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Lewis &
Clark Interpretive Center, Fort Mandan, Fort Abraham Lincoln, North Dakota Heritage Center and
more are all examples of cultural and historical integrity applied to cultural and historical interpretation.
6.
Residents, business interests, non-profit organizations and governments within the proposed area are involved in
the planning and have developed a conceptual financial plan that outlines the roles for all participants including the federal
government and have demonstrated support for designation of the area.
6. Support for the feasibility study from the governmental units, private sector business leaders, and nonprofit foundations has been enthusiastic. Personal meetings with the Mayors of the cities in the
proposed Area and with the Governor have been the same. The director of the Bismarck-Mandan
Chamber of Commerce sits on the board of Northern Plains Heritage Foundation helping to plan the
business community's role in the implementation of the National Heritage Area. Each governmental
entity in the proposed area, representing each of the counties and cities, has been informed and involved
in discussing the feasibility study.
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7.
The proposed management entity and units of government supporting designation are willing to commit to
working in partnership to develop the heritage area.
The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation includes membership from the cities and from state
government agencies. The Foundation has brought together the top executives of three state agencies as
active members of the board, personally attending board meetings. There is a demonstrated willingness
to commit to working in partnership to develop the heritage area.
8.
The proposal is consistent with continued economic activity in the area.
The designation of the Northern Plains Heritage Area will assist in the growth of the heritage tourism
sector in within the Area, adding to the entire hospitality sector. There is nothing inconsistent with
current economic activity that should result from increased tourism activity.
Notably, the development of increased tourism opportunities will not displace, but will enhance the
ability of rural landowners to strengthen their economic position through diversification: adding bed
and breakfasts and nature-based tourism resorts to farming and ranching operations.
9.
A conceptual boundary is supported by the public
The proposed boundaries of the proposed Area have been discussed at each public meeting and public
information forum of the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation executive director. No individual or
group has suggested a smaller Area. Some have inquired if it shouldn't be larger, stretching to the South
Dakota and/or Montana borders. A consensus on focusing on the free-flowing stretch of the Missouri,
fairly coinciding with the homelands of the Mandan and Hidatsa, agrees with the boundaries presented
in this study.
10.
The management entity proposed to plan and implement the project is described.
10. The Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation registered in North
Dakota, will be the management entity for the Northern Plains Heritage Area. The Foundation will
partner with the National Park Service, the North Dakota Department of Parks and Recreation, the
State Historical Society of North Dakota, the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation and the Lewis and
Clark Fort Mandan Foundation.
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Summary of Public Involvement
Public Meetings
Burleigh County Board of Commissioners (2)
Morton County Board of Commissioners (2)
Mercer County Board of Commissioners
McLean County Board of Commissioners
Oliver County Board of Commissioners
Burleigh County Township Officers Association
City of Stanton
City of Washburn
Public meetings with these units of local government were each preceded by public announcements that
the potential Northern Plains Heritage Area would be discussed on the agenda.
Agencies
City of Bismarck Parks and Recreation Department
North Dakota Game and Fish
Civic Groups
Kiwanis of Mandan
Bismarck Rotary Club
Mandan Rotary Club
Burleigh County Homemakers Assn.
Non-Profit Organizations
Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation
Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation
Knife River Indian Heritage Foundation
Morton County Historical Society
The Dakota Zoo
North Dakota League of Cities
Media Coverage
Television News
Radio News
Local newspapers and AP coverage
Community Access Television live and repeat broadcasts
of Burleigh County Commission Meetings
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Summary of Public Involvement
Northern Plains Heritage Foundation
Tracy Potter, NPHF President,
Executive Director
Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation
401 West Main
Mandan ND 58554
701 663-4758 phone
701 663-4751 fax
[email protected]
Dr. Kermit Lidstrom
North Dakota Education Fact Finding Comm.
Retired, President Bismarck State College
630 Remington Ave
Bismarck ND 58503
701 258-0191
[email protected]
Keith Ulmer, NPHF Vice President
Vice President US Bank
403 Birchwood Drive
Bismarck ND 58504
701 258-9481
[email protected]
David Borlaug, President
Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation
National Council of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial
Past President
PO Box 607
Washburn ND 58577-0607
701 462-8535 phone
701 462-3316 fax
[email protected]
Sarah Vogel, NPHF Secretary
SarahVogel Law Firm, P.C.
1022 E Divide Ave, Suite B
Bismarck ND 58501-1902
701 221-2911 phone
701 221-5842 fax
[email protected]
Kelvin Hullet, President
Bismarck Mandan Chamber of Commerce
2000 Schafer St PO Box 1675
Bismarck ND 58502-1675
701 223-5660 phone
701 223-6125 fax
[email protected]
Paul Trauger , NPHF Treasurer
Morton County Auditor
2395 Hwy 10
Mandan ND 58554
701 667-3300 work
701 667-3453 fax
[email protected]
Signe Snortland, Environmental Specialist
Dept of InteriorBureau of Reclamation
PO Box 1017
Bismarck ND 58502
701 250-4242 x 3619 office
701 258-5033 home
[email protected]
Wallace Joersz,
Retired Business Owner/Grocer
200 Pirates Loop SE
Mandan ND 58554
701 663-8963 phone
[email protected]
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Summary of Public Involvement
NPHF Ex Officio Members
Sara Otte-Coleman, Director
ND Division of TourismDept of Commerce
1600 East Century Ave, Suite 2
PO Box 2057
Bismarck ND 58202-2057
701 328-2525 office
701 328-4878 fax
[email protected]
Merl Paaverud, Director
State Historical Society of North Dakota
612 East Boulevard Ave
Bismarck ND 58505-0830
701 328-2666 office
701 328-3710 fax
[email protected]
Al Christianson, Mayor
City of Washburn
907 Main Street
Washburn, ND 58577
701-462-8558 office
701 462-3200 home
John Warford, Mayor
City of Bismarck
221 N 5th St
Bismarck ND 58501
701 222-6570
Doug Prchal, Director
North Dakota Parks & Recreation
1600 East Century Ave, Ste 3
Bismarck ND 58503
701 328-5357 office
[email protected]
Terry O'Halloran,
KRIV National Historic Site
PO Box 9
Stanton ND 58571
701 745-3309 phone
701 745-3708 fax
Terrence_L_O'[email protected]
Ken Lamont, Mayor
City of Mandan
205 2nd Ave NW
Mandan ND 58554
701 667-3215
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Chapter 8
Vision Statement
With the mission of the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation and the proposed National Heritage Area to
“preserve, promote and develop the culture, natural and scenic resources of the Northern Plains region of
central North Dakota along the Missouri River,” the vision 15 years out is a grand one.
Visionary people of this region have laid the groundwork that will make the work of the National Heritage
Area popular and successful. The recently-concluded national commemoration of the Lewis & Clark
Bicentennial helped increase public awareness of the uniqueness of the cultures and the special sense of
place along the Missouri River Valley.
The National Heritage Area designation will amplify this awareness, and draw additional people into the
dialogue of how best to enhance and promote the cultural resources of the area. Critical to meeting the
ambitious goals that will be set out are two historical non-profit organizations, the Fort Abraham Lincoln
Foundation of Mandan and the Lewis & Clark Fort Mandan Foundation of Washburn. These two
“bookends” of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area will provide a valuable infrastructure of support
for the work of the Area.
Fifteen years from now, the work of the Northern Plains NHA will have elevated the status of the many
historic and cultural sites in the corridor, among local residents and visitors from around the world. A new
generation of North Dakotans will come to appreciate their special sense of place through enhancements to
the sites along with the communities and organizations which support them.
Bismarck/Mandan and the smaller, rural communities along the NHA corridor will benefit from economic
development opportunities presented by pass-through grants provided by the NHA. Businesses will be able
to remodel their storefronts to match the cultural aspects of their setting. For example, Washburn, which was
established as a riverboat town 125 years ago, may choose to follow a Missouri River steamboat theme
throughout its historic downtown district. Bismarck and Mandan have started this trend in various areas,
particular through their Parks and Recreation Departments, and the NHA will be able to augment and
enhance those efforts.
World-class interpretive centers and historic sites will be able to offer new facilities and services to their
visitors, woven together by the thread of the NHA. Greater insights into the depths of the many cultures
that have inhabited this corridor will be available to those centers and sites, enhancing their interpretive
component.
It is anticipated that old, historic buildings will find new lives with matching grants that will entice their
owners into dramatic improvements to benefit residents and visitors. Formerly neglected areas will be
revitalized by this surge of opportunity.
As the work of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area takes root, the results will be noticeable and
dramatic. The end result will be a stronger sense of place appreciated by those who choose to make the
Missouri River Valley their home and also the visitors who are attracted to come. The world will know that
this is a very special place, with cultures that date back thousands of years, and a thriving, vibrant culture
today with an exciting future.
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National Heritage Area Cultural, Natural, and Resource
Appendix A
Cultural Resources
National Park Units
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
2006 Visitation
27,704
Location
Mercer County
National Historic Landmarks
Big Hidatsa Village National Historic Landmark
Huff Indian Village National Historic Landmark
NA
NA
Mercer County
Morton County
National Register of Historic Places
Bismarck Cathedral District
Bismarck Civic Auditorium
Bismarck Tribune Building
Brandt House (Dr. Albert & Evelyn M. Brandt)
Burleigh County Courthouse
Camp Hancock State Historic Site
Chief Looking's Indian Village Site
Double Ditch Indian Village Site
Downtown Bismarck Historic District
Former North Dakota Governor's Mansion
Liberty Memorial Bridge
Northern Pacific Railway Depot
Patterson Hotel
Patterson, E.G. Building
Soo Hotel
Towne-Williams Building
US Post Office and Courthouse
Van Horn Hotel
Webb Brothers Block
Yegen House and Pioneer Grocery
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Former McLean County Courthouse
McLean County Courthouse
NA
NA
McLean County
McLean County
Big Hidatsa Village Site
Fort Clark Archaeological District
NA
NA
Mercer County
Mercer County
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Knife River Bridge (near Stanton, ND)
Knife River Indian Villages Archaeological District
NA
NA
Mercer County
Mercer County
Dunlap, Stuart, House
German Evangelical St. John's Church
Huff State Historic Site
Lewis and Clark Hotel
Mandan Commercial Historic District
State Training School Historic District
Sunnyside Farm Barn
Welsh House
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Cross Ranch Archaeological District
NA
Oliver County
State Park Units
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
Cross Ranch State Park
2006 Visitation
123,587
17,062
Location
Morton County
Oliver County
State Historic Sites
Camp Hancock State Historic Site
Chief Looking's Village State Historic Site
Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site
Former Governor's Mansion State Historic Site
Steamboat Warehouse State Historic Site
1,104
NA
NA
2,508
NA
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Fort Mandan Overlook State Historic Site
NA
McLean County
Fort Clark State Historic Site
Molander Indian Village State Historic Site
Pulver Mounds State Historic Site
7,126 approx.
NA
NA
Oliver County
Oliver County
Oliver County
Other Sites & Attractions
Bismarck/Mandan Convention and Visitor's Bureau
Buckstop Junction
Dakota Zoo
Keelboat Park
Lewis & Clark Riverboat
North Dakota Game & Fish Wildlife Museum
NA
NA
99,036
NA
NA
NA
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
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North Dakota Heritage Center
North Dakota State Capitol Complex
Old Fort Lincoln (UTTC)
St. Mary's Cemetery
Sakakawea Statue (located on Capitol grounds)
United Tribes Cultural Art Center
90,267
11,815
NA
NA
NA
NA
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Fort Mandan Visitor Center
Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center
30,000
30,000
McLean County
McLean County
Crying Hill
Five Nations Gallery & Gifts
Huff Mandan Indian Village State Historic Site
North Dakota State Railroad Museum
North Dakota State Veteran's Cemetery
On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village
Scattered Village Exhibit
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton COunty
Annual Events & Celebration
Capital A'Fair
Folkfest
Midwinter Pow Wow
United Tribes International Pow Wow
10-15,000 approx.
NA
NA
12-15,000 approx.
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Fahlgren Pioneer Days
Lewis & Clark Days
NA
NA
McLean County
McLean County
Northern Plains Culture Fest
NA
Mercer County
Fort Lincoln Festival
Mandan Art in the Park Festival
Mandan Rodeo Days
Sheheke Returns to On-A-Slant Village
NA
4,000 approx.
NA
NA
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Morton County
Missouri River Music Festival
NA
Oliver County
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National Heritage Area Cultural, Natural, and Resource
Natural Resources
National Wildlife Refuges
Lost Lake National Wildlife Refuge
Size
960 acres
Location
McLean County
Wildlife Management Areas
Oahe Wildlife Management Area
7,188 acres
Burleigh County
Painted Woods Wildlife Management Area
Riverdale Wildlife Management Area
586 acres
2,252 acres
McLean County
McLean County
Missouri Breaks Wildlife Management Area
480 acres
Mercer County
Morton County Wildlife Management Area
Oahe Wildlife Management Area
642 acres
5,586 acres
Morton County
Morton County
Arroda Wildlife Management Area
Lewis and Clark Wildlife Management Area
Smith Grove Wildlife Management Area
Square Butte Wildlife Management Area
384 acres
121 acres
24 acres
38 acres
Oliver County
Oliver County
Oliver County
Oliver County
State Nature Preserve
Cross Ranch State Nature Preserve
6,000 acres
Oliver County
Natural Features
Missouri River
Missouri River Valley
Wind Energy
Fossil Fuels
Scenic Byways
Sacagawea Scenic Byway
McLean/Mercer
23 Miles
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Recreational Resources
Missouri River Boat Access/Launch Areas
Fox Island Park
General Sibley Park
Grant Marsh Bridge
Kimball Bottoms
Kniefel Landing
MacLean Bottoms
Steckel Landing
Location
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Washburn Boat Landing
McLean County
Great River Energy Station
Sanger (Cross Ranch)
Mercer County
Mercer County
Graner Bottoms
Little Heart Bottoms
Morton County
Morton County
Fishing Waters (Other than the Missouri River)
Cottonwood Park Pond
Burleigh County
Camp Loop Pond
Painted Woods Creek
Riverdale City Pond
Riverdale Spillway Lake
McLean County
McLean County
McLean County
McLean County
West Arroda Dam
Oliver County
Frisbee Golf Courses
General Sibley Park
Lions Hillside Park
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Riverside Park
McLean County
Sunset Disc Golf Course
Morton County
Golf Courses
Apple Creek County Club Golf Course
Pebble Creek Municipal Golf Course
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
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Riverwood Golf Course
Hawktree Golf Course
Burleigh County
Burleigh County
Painted Woods Golf Club
McLean County
Mandan Municipal Golf Course
Prairie West Golf Course
Morton County
Morton County
Skiing
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
Mercer County
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
Huff Hills
Morton County
Morton County
Cross Ranch State Park
Oliver County
Trails
City of Bismarck Trail System
Roughrider Trail
Burleigh County
Burleigh County (see McLean County)
Fort Mandan History and Nature Trail
Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail
Roughrider Trail
Washburn Discovery Trail
McLean County
McLean County
McLean County (see Burleigh County)
McLean County
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site
Mercer County
City of Mandan Trail System
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
Morton County
Morton County
Cross Ranch State Park
Oliver County
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
Appendix B
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Endorsements
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National Heritage Area Newspaper Clippings
Appendix C
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National Heritage Area Newspaper Clippings
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National Heritage Area Newspaper Clippings
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National Heritage Area Newspaper Clippings
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National Heritage Area Newspaper Clippings
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National Heritage Area Newspaper Clippings
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National Heritage Area Legislation
Appendix D
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1544
To establish the Northern Plains National Heritage Area in the State of North Dakota, and for other
purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 28, 2005
Mr. DORGAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources
A BILL
To establish the Northern Plains National Heritage Area in the State of North Dakota, and for other
purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Northern Plains National Heritage Area Act'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) Findings- Congress finds that-(1) the scenic breaks of North Dakota's Missouri valley overlook a rich agricultural tradition
stretching back 1,000 years;
(2) along the length of the remaining free-flowing Missouri River in the State of North Dakota,
from Huff National Landmark to the south to the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic
Site to the north, the area encompasses the ancient homeland of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes;
(3) while farming methods have changed, the agricultural traditions and the scenic, cultural, and
historic values of the area remain;
(4) the same attributes of geography and climate that attracted the Mandan and Hidatsa to the
area later appealed to homesteading farmers and ranchers and the energy industry, all of whom
benefitted from the natural resources of the land;
(5) in addition to agriculture, Mandan-Hidatsa culture depended on fishing and wildlife;
(6) the Missouri Valley remains a haven for geese, walleyes, turkeys, and white-tails;
(7) endangered species like the piping plover and the least tern, rarities for birdwatchers' lifetime
lists, depend on the free-flowing sandbars of the Missouri River;
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(8) pallid sturgeon swim below the surface of the Missouri River, while once-endangered species
like the bald eagle, a symbol of significance to Native Americans and other people in the United
States, have made a recovery along the Missouri River;
(9) in addition to being the home of the rich and ancient cultures of Indian tribes, the Missouri
Valley was part of the expedition commanded by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark,
commonly known as `The Corps of Discovery', which was one of the most remarkable and
productive scientific and military exploring expeditions in the history of the United States;
(10) President Thomas Jefferson gave Lewis and Clark the mission to `. . . explore the Missouri
River and such principal stream of it, as, by its course and communication with the waters of the
Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most
direct and practicable water communication across this continent for the purposes of commerce
...';
(11) the Lewis and Clark expedition, in response to the directive of President Jefferson, greatly
advanced our geographical knowledge of the continent and prepared the way for the extension
of the American fur trade with Indian tribes throughout the area;
(12) while Lewis and Clark and their companions began the historic journey to explore the
uncharted wilderness west of the Mississippi River on May 14, 1804, the expedition spent the
first winter at Fort Mandan, North Dakota;
(13) the Lewis and Clark expedition significantly enhanced amicable relations between the
United States and the autonomous Indian tribes;
(14) the friendship and respect fostered between the Indian tribes and the Lewis and Clark
expedition represents the best of diplomacy and relationships between divergent nations and
cultures;
(15) with the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the
preservation of properties nationally significant in the history of westward expansion is an
important goal for the future education of the people of the United States;
(16) the cultural heritage of the Missouri River area in the State of North Dakota includes the
social history and living cultural traditions of several generations;
(17) the Department of the Interior is responsible for protecting and interpreting the cultural
and historic resources of the United States;
(18) there are enough significant examples of cultural and historic resources within the State of
North Dakota to merit the involvement of the Federal Government in developing programs and
projects in cooperation with the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation, the State, and other local
and governmental entities to adequately conserve, protect, and interpret the heritage of the area
for the educational and recreational benefit of present and future generations, while providing
opportunities for education and revitalization;
(19) a western expansion, native cultures heritage area centered in western North Dakota is a
suitable and feasible management option to-(A) increase collaboration;
(B) promote heritage tourism; and
(C) build on the established partnerships among historic preservation organizations in
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the State of North Dakota;
(20) a congressionally established heritage area and the support of the National Park Service and
other Federal agencies is critical to the preservation of the historic resources in western North
Dakota;
(21) the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation would be an appropriate management entity to
oversee the development of the Northern Plains National Heritage Area;
(22) the State, local governments, and private sector interests-(A) have embraced the heritage area concept; and
(B) desire to enter into a partnership with the Federal Government to preserve, protect,
and develop the Heritage Area for public benefit; and
(23) the Heritage Area would complement and enhance the Lewis and Clark-related resources
within the National Park Service, especially the Knife River Indian Villages National Historical
Site.
(b) Purpose- The purpose of this Act is to establish the Heritage Area–
(1) to encourage and facilitate collaboration among the facilities, sites, organizations,
governmental entities, and educational institutions within the Heritage Area to-(A) promote heritage tourism; and
(B) develop educational and cultural programs for the public;
(2) to preserve and interpret for the educational and inspirational benefit of present and future
generations the unique and significant contributions to the heritage of the United States of
certain historic and cultural land, structures, facilities, and sites within the Heritage Area;
(3) to encourage within the Heritage Area a broad range of economic opportunities enhancing
the quality of life for present and future generations;
(4) to provide a management framework to assist the State, political subdivisions of the State,
other areas, and private organizations in-(A) preparing and implementing an integrated management plan to conserve the
Heritage Area; and
(B) developing policies and programs that will preserve, enhance, and interpret the
cultural, historical, natural, recreation, and scenic resources of the Heritage Area; and
(5) to authorize the Secretary to provide financial and technical assistance to the State, political
subdivisions of the State, and private organizations in preparing and implementing the
management plan.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) BOARD- The term `Board' means the Board of Directors of the Northern Plains Heritage
Foundation.
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(2) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE- The term `financial assistance' means amounts appropriated
by Congress and made available to the management entity for the purpose of preparing and
implementing the management plan.
(3) HERITAGE AREA- The term `Heritage Area' means the Northern Plains National Heritage
Area established by section 4(a).
(4) MANAGEMENT ENTITY- The term `management entity' means the management entity
for the Heritage Area designated by section 4(d).
(5) MANAGEMENT PLAN- The term `management plan' means the management plan for the
Heritage Area developed under section 6.
(6) PARTNER- The term `partner' means a Federal, State, or local governmental entity,
organization, private industry, educational institution, or individual involved in promoting the
conservation and preservation of the cultural and natural resources of the Heritage Area.
(7) SECRETARY- The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior.
(8) STATE- The term `State' means the State of North Dakota.
(9) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE- The term `technical assistance' means any guidance, advice,
help, or aid, other than financial assistance, provided by the Secretary.
SEC. 4. NORTHERN PLAINS NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA.
(a) Establishment- There is established in the State the Northern Plains National Heritage Area.
(b) Boundaries- The Heritage Area shall consist of-(1) a core area consisting of resources in Burleigh, Morton, Oliver, Mercer, and McLean
Counties in North Dakota; and
(2) any sites, buildings, and districts within the core area recommended for inclusion in the
Heritage Area by the management plan.
(c) Map- A map of the Heritage Area shall be-(1) included in the management plan; and
(2) on file in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service.
(d) Management Entity- The management entity for the Heritage Area shall be the Northern Plains
Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit corporation established under the laws of the State.
SEC. 5. AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES OF THE MANAGEMENT ENTITY.
(a) Authorities- For purposes of implementing the management plan, the management entity may use
amounts made available under this Act to-(1) make grants to, and enter into cooperative agreements with, the State, political subdivisions
of the State, private organizations, or any person;
(2) hire and compensate staff; and
(3) contract for goods and services.
(b) Duties- The management entity shall-(1) in accordance with section 6, develop and submit to the Secretary for approval the proposed
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management plan;
(2) give priority to implementing actions covered by the management plan, including assisting
units of government and nonprofit organizations in preserving resources within the Heritage
Area;
(3) in developing and implementing the management plan, consider the interests of diverse
governmental, business, and nonprofit groups within the Heritage Area;
(4) maintain a collaboration among the partners to-(A) promote heritage tourism; and
(B) assist partners in developing educational and cultural programs for the public;
(5) encourage economic viability in the Heritage Area that is consistent with the goals of the
management plan;
(6) assist units of government and nonprofit organizations in-(A) establishing and maintaining interpretive exhibits in the Heritage Area;
(B) developing recreational resources in the Heritage Area;
(C) increasing public awareness of and appreciation for the historical, natural, and
architectural resources and sites in the Heritage Area; and
(D) restoring historic buildings that relate to the purposes of the Heritage Area;
(7) conduct public meetings at least quarterly regarding the implementation of the management
plan;
(8) submit to the Secretary substantial amendments to the management plan for approval; and
(9) for any year in which Federal funds have been received under this Act-(A) submit an annual report to the Secretary that describes the accomplishments,
expenses, and income of the management entity;
(B) make available to the Secretary for audit all records relating to the expenditure of the
funds and any matching funds; and
(C) require, with respect to all agreements authorizing expenditure of Federal funds by
other organizations, that the organizations receiving the funds make available to the
Secretary for audit all records concerning the expenditure of the funds.
(c) Use of Federal Funds(1) IN GENERAL- The management entity shall not use Federal funds made available to the
management entity under this Act to acquire real property or an interest in real property.
(2) OTHER SOURCES- Nothing in this Act precludes the management entity from using
Federal funds from other sources for authorized purposes.
SEC. 6. MANAGEMENT PLAN.
(a) In General- Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the management entity
shall submit to the Secretary for approval a proposed management plan for the Heritage Area.
(b) Requirements- The management plan shall-(1) incorporate an integrated and cooperative approach for the protection, enhancement, and
interpretation of the natural, cultural, historic, scenic, and recreational resources of the Heritage
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Area;
(2) take into consideration State and local plans;
(3) involve residents, public agencies, and private organizations in the Heritage Area; and
(4) include-(A) an inventory of-(i) the resources located the in core area described in section 4(b)(1); and
(ii) any other property in the core area that-(I) is related to the themes of the Heritage Area; and
(II) should be preserved, restored, managed, or maintained because of
the significance of the property;
(B) an assessment of cultural landscapes within the Heritage Area;
(C) provisions for the protection, interpretation, and enjoyment of the resources of the
Heritage Area consistent with the purposes of this Act;
(D) an interpretation plan for the Heritage Area;
(E) a program for the implementation of the management plan by the management
entity that includes a description of-(i) actions to facilitate ongoing collaboration among the partners to-(I) promote heritage tourism; and
(II) develop educational and cultural programs for the public;
(ii) actions to assist partners with planning for restoration and construction; and
(iii) specific commitments of the partners for the first 5 years of operation;
(F) the identification of sources of funding for implementing the management plan; and
(G) a description and evaluation of the management entity, including the membership
and organizational structure of the management entity.
(c) Deadline- If a proposed management plan is not submitted to the Secretary by the date that is 3
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the management entity shall be ineligible to receive
additional funding under this Act until the date on which the Secretary receives the proposed
management plan.
(d) Approval or Disapproval of Management Plan(1) IN GENERAL- Not later than 90 days after the date of receipt of the management plan
under subsection (a), the Secretary, in consultation with the State, shall approve or disapprove
the management plan.
(2) ACTION FOLLOWING DISAPPROVAL- If the Secretary disapproves the management
plan under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall-(A) advise the management entity in writing of the reasons for the disapproval;
(B) make recommendations for revisions to the management plan; and
(C) not later than 90 days after the receipt of any proposed revision of the management
plan from the management entity, approve or disapprove the proposed revision.
(e) Amendments(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall approve or disapprove each amendment to the
management plan that the Secretary determines may make a substantial change to the
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management plan.
(2) USE OF FUNDS- Funds made available under this Act shall not be expended by the
management entity to implement an amendment described in paragraph (1) until the Secretary
approves the amendment.
SEC. 7. TECHNICAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE; OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES.
(a) Technical and Financial Assistance(1) IN GENERAL- On request of the management entity, the Secretary may provide technical
assistance, on a reimbursable or nonreimbursable basis, and financial assistance, to the Heritage
Area for the development and implementation of the management plan.
(2) PRIORITY FOR ASSISTANCE- In providing assistance under paragraph (1), the Secretary
shall give priority to actions that assist in-(A) conserving the significant cultural, historic, natural, and scenic resources of the
Heritage Area; and
(B) providing educational, interpretive, and recreational opportunities consistent with the
purposes of the Heritage Area.
(3) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS- The Secretary may enter into cooperative agreements
with the management entity and other public or private entities to provide assistance under
paragraph (1).
(b) Other Federal Agencies- Any Federal agency conducting or supporting an activity that directly affects
the Heritage Area shall-(1) consult with the Secretary and the management entity regarding the activity;
(2)(A) cooperate with the Secretary and the management entity in carrying out the duties of the
Federal agency under this Act; and
(B) to the maximum extent practicable, coordinate the activity with the carrying out of those
duties; and
(3) to the maximum extent practicable, conduct the activity in a manner that the management
entity determines will not have an adverse effect on the Heritage Area.
SEC. 8. REQUIREMENTS FOR INCLUSION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.
(a) Notification and Consent of Property Owners Required- No privately owned property shall be
preserved, conserved, or promoted by the management plan for the Heritage Area until-(1) the management entity notifies the owner of the private property in writing; and
(2) the owner of the private property provides to the management entity written consent for the
preservation, conservation, or promotion.
(b) Landowner Withdrawal- Private property included within the boundary of the Heritage Area shall
immediately be withdrawn from the Heritage Area if the owner of the property submits a written
request to the management entity.
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SEC. 9. PRIVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION.
(a) Access to Private Property- Nothing in this Act-(1) requires any private property owner to allow public access (including Federal, State, or local
government access) to the private property; or
(2) modifies any provision of Federal, State, or local law with regard to public access to or use of
private property.
(b) Liability- Designation of the Heritage Area shall not impose any liability on, or to have any effect on
any liability under any other law of, any private property owner with respect to any persons injured on
the private property.
(c) Recognition of Authority To Control Land Use- Nothing in this Act modifies the authority of the
Federal Government or State or local governments to regulate land use.
(d) Participation of Private Property Owners in Heritage Area- Nothing in this Act requires the owner
of any private property located within the boundaries of the Heritage Area to participate in or be
associated with the Heritage Area.
(e) Effect of Establishment(1) IN GENERAL- The boundaries designated for the Heritage Area represent the area within
which Federal funds made available to carry out this Act may be expended.
(2) REGULATORY AUTHORITY- The establishment of the Heritage Area and the boundaries
of the Heritage Area do not provide any regulatory authority that would not otherwise exist to
govern land use within the Heritage Area or the viewshed of the Heritage Area by the Secretary,
the National Park Service, or the management entity.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) In General- There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000, of which not
more than $1,000,000 may be appropriated for any fiscal year.
(b) Cost-Sharing Requirement- The Federal share of the cost of any activity carried out using any
assistance made available under this Act shall be not more than 50 percent.
SEC. 11. TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.
The authority of the Secretary to provide assistance under this Act terminates on the date that is 15
years after the date on which funds are first made available to carry out this Act.
END
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Appendix E
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, North Dakota had a total of 642,200 comprised of 257,152
households. Of the states total population, 50.1 percent or 321,676 are females and 49.9 percent or
320,524 are males. A total of 634,802 or 98.8 percent of the population were identified as belonging to
one race with 92.4 percent or 593,181 reporting their ethnic ancestry as White. The next highest
population identified by one race was American Indian or Alaska Native at 4.9 percent or 31,329.
When identified under race alone or in combination with one or more other races, the amounts varied
only slightly with 93.4 percent or 599,918 identified as White and 5.5 percent or 35,228 identified as
Native American or Alaska Native. Non-Indian ancestries reported in the 2000 North Dakota census
indicate that 43.9 percent of the total population in North Dakota or 282,058 are of German ancestry
while 30.1 percent or 193,158 are of Norwegian ancestry.
The study area encompasses portions of the counties of Burleigh, McLean, Mercer, Morton, and Oliver.
The 2000 census indicates that the five counties in the study area had an aggregate population of
114,739 representing approximately 18 percent of the state's total population. Gender statistics within
the study area vary slightly from the state totals with 51% or 58,184 females and 49% or 56,555 males.
Approximately 95 percent of the five county study area were reported as being White or Caucasian
while just over three percent or a total of 3,622 were reported as American Indian.
According to July 1 2004 population estimates, North Dakota experienced a decline in total population
from 642,200 to 634,366 but the 2004 estimate reflects an increase of 0.2 percent from 2003 to 2004.
The North Dakota State Data Center reported that Burleigh County led all North Dakota counties in
population growth between 2004 and 2005 with a 1.7 percent increase while Oliver County experienced
the greatest decrease (-3.2 percent) during the same period. The Data Center reported that the majority
of North Dakotans or 55.3 percent reside in five counties which include the counties of Burleigh and
Morton. The cities of Bismarck and Mandan which are located respectively in the counties of Burleigh
and Morton clearly dominate the economy of the five county study area.
The sister cities of Bismarck and Mandan, quite obviously, dominate the proposed Heritage Area in
terms of population. Their economic activity, too, is dominant in the region. The rural parts of the five
counties are in agricultural production. According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, the five-county
area is comprised of 3,482 farms and 4,176,400 acres of land is in farms in these counties. Average farm
size is 1,200 acres. The agricultural production is a mix of livestock (mainly beef and dairy cows) and
crop production. The main crops grown in the area would include spring wheat, durum wheat, oats,
flaxseed, sunflowers, corn, canola, dry beans, edible peas and lentils. There is also significant production
of corn for silage, alfalfa and other hay.
Other than in the sister cities of Bismarck and Mandan, the proposed Heritage Area has experienced
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population decreases similar to those experienced all over North Dakota for 75 years. North Dakota's
population peaked at 680,000 in 1930. It was estimated to be 634,366 in 2004. At the same time that the
total state population has dropped, major cities in North Dakota have increased population dramatically.
Rural areas have been depopulated and that trend has not eased. The trend is reflected in the proposed
Heritage Area. Morton County, for instance, gained 36 residents between 2000 and 2004. However,
Mandan, the major city in Morton County, gained 251 residents in that period. So, the rural parts of
Morton County actually lost 3.0% of its population in that time. Mercer County lost 2.5% of its
population; McLean lost 5.4%, and Oliver lost 9.5% of its population, almost 1 person in 10, in just four
years. Only Burleigh County gained population outside of its major city, Bismarck. That growth is not in
rural areas, but is the result of urban sprawl. New subdivisions pop up outside the city limits.
In addition to the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, the proposed heritage area also includes the following
towns and municipalities listed with 2004 population estimates:
Washburn, 1302 in McLean County;
Wilton, 807 in Burleigh County;
Stanton, 330 in Mercer County;
Hensler; Price; Sanger and Fort Clark in Oliver County, all too small to be reported; and
Huff, too small to be reported, in Morton County.
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Appendix F
Northern Plains Heritage Foundation
By-Laws
Approved December 22, 2004
Mission: The mission of the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation ( NPHF ) is to preserve, promote and
develop the cultural, natural, and scenic resources of the Northern Plains region of central North Dakota
along the Missouri River.
Methods of Operation: The NPHF is organized as a non-profit corporation licensed in the State of North
Dakota. The NPHF shall conduct fund raising solicitations and seek to marshal support from federal, state,
county, and municipal governments to secure financial resources with which to carry it's mission. It may also
own and/or operate businesses and services either to provide financial support for NPHF or directly in
support of it's mission.
The NPHF may grant or re-grant funds in support of it's mission to other non-profit organizations.
Board of Directors: The Board of Directors ( Board ) is the governing board of the NPHF and may
consist of between seven and twenty-one voting Members of the Board ( Member). Terms on the Board are
for three years ( though in the initial organization of the Board, some terms will be for one or two years).
There is no limit on the number of terms a Member may serve.
New Members may join the Board upon nomination by the President of NPHF, agreed to by majority vote
of Members present at a regular or special meeting of the Board. Members may be removed from the Board
during a term of service by resignation, or by a vote of Members requiring a two-thirds majority of
Members present at a regular or special meeting of the Board.
Initial organization of the Board is the responsibility of the six incorporators who will elect officers on
December 22, 2004.
Ex-officio Members of the Board ( ex-officio ) are non-voting positions. The Mayors of Bismarck, Mandan,
and Washburn; the Superintendent of the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site; the Director of
the State Historical Society of North Dakota; the Director of the North Dakota Parks and Recreation
Department and the Director of the North Dakota Tourism Division of the North Dakota Department of
Commerce or their representatives are Ex-Officio Members.
The Board shall meet quarterly in regular meetings. Special meetings may be called by the President of the
Board or three other Officers.
The Board shall approve, at it's Winter Quarter meeting, an annual budget for revenue and expense for
NPHF, employ and supervise an Executive Director, approve accounting and auditing procedures and
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establish general corporate policies.
Officers: The Members shall elect annually from their numbers, at the Winter Quarter meeting, a President,
Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The immediate past president of NPHF is also an officer and
voting Member of the Board of Directors.
Executive Committee: The Executive Committee is made up of the Officers of NPHF. The Executive
Committee may be called into meeting by the president or any three officers, to deal with issues between
regilar meetings or in lieu of special meetings of the Board.
Executive Director: The Board shall employ an Executive Director who will be responsible to the Board
for implementing the mission of the NPHF and the policies of the Board. The Executive Director may
employ other staff as required.
By-Laws: By-laws, with one exception, may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the Members attending a
regular scheduled quarterly meeting of the Board. A vote on an amndment to the By-Laws may take place
only after the amendment has been submitted, discussed, and approved for submission for final passage at a
previous regular meeting of the Board. Under no circumstance may the Dissolution section of these ByLaws be amended.
Quorum: A quorum of Members at a meeting is necessary for any official action to be taken. A quorum is
declared when at least half the Members ) not including Ex-Officio) are present.
Dissolution: Should the NPHF dissolve or for any reason cease to exist as an organization, all assets must
be distributed for an exempt purpose recognized under this section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue
Service Code, or to the federal government or government of North Dakota for a public purpose.
Northern Plains Heritage Foundation
By-Laws
Proposed Amendments 1-19-07
Nominations for new Board Members ( voting):
Rose Laning, Knife River Heritage Foundation President, ND Cowboy Hall of Fame
Designated Representative- Missouri River Adjacent Landowners Assn. ( extend invite )
Designated Representative- United Tribes Technical College ( extend invite )
Additional Ex-Officio Members ( non voting members)
Director, North Dakota Game & Fish
Director, North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission
Designated Representative, North Dakota State Water Commission
Separate and describe the processes for adding and removing members from the Board.
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Credits
Amy Mossett, M.S.
Tracy Potter, M.A.
David Borlaug
Matt Schanandore, M.B.A.
Dakota W. Goodhouse
Al Johnson
Scott Larkin
The Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation
The Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan Foundation
North Dakota State Parks and Recreation Department
State Historical Society of North Dakota
North Dakota Department of Commerce, Tourism Division
Richard Rathge, Ph.D.
North Dakota State University
Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics
And the inspiration for the Northern Plains Heritage Area,
U. S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan
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