The Oasis Motel where we stayed in Dickinson is a great place. It is constructed of concrete block, so it's very quiet, the building is well kept, the woman who runs the place is right on top of things, and the continental breakfast rivals those we had at small hotels in Europe. We said goodbye to Paul and Joe, who are heading west to Oregon in their car, and we went east on I-94 towards Bismark, exiting at State Road 31 to Stanton, where there is a reconstruction of an Hidatsa Indian village on the Knife River. There were few people there in the morning, and the ranger on duty answered questions and gave us a lot of information - all during the trip we've found the park and monument rangers to be knowledgeable and helpful. There's a nice museum inside, and outside is a reconstruction of an earth lodge similar to what the Hidatsa built for hundreds of years.
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| Interior of the earth lodge |
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| Geo and Rich walking out of the lodge |
We took a short walk down to the Knife River, which is near the Missouri River and Fort Mandan where Lewis and Clark wintered in 1804/1805 and where Sacagawea joined the party as the wife of trapper and translator, Toussaint Charbonneau. She was a Shoshoni who had been captured and enslaved by the Hidatsa until Charbonneau purchased her from them. The Hidatsa had lived off the land in the the same way for thousands of years; trapping, hunting buffalo, trading, and living in their sturdy earth lodges, and in a few generations after the European expansion westward it was all over. Yesterday we noticed new, insect-like oil pumps along the Interstate leading to Dickenson, and in town at the railyard we saw lines of new tanker cars. The contrast between that scene and the earth lodge couldn't be more striking. For the rest of the day Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" was playing in my head, and I wondered if an Indian songwriter ever wrote a song to that tune that started out, "This land was our land..."
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| View of the Knife River |
We said our farewell in the parking lot, Geo, Rich, and Dan got in the truck and I followed them to State Road 200 where they turned east to Fort Mandan and I went west. It was great riding with them for the last week, and the lunch breaks and evening meals were always lively. I had a strong feeling of melancholy for a couple of hours after the parting.
After a short distance I turned south on State Road 49, which I followed to Elgin, where I had lunch at the town restaurant, bowling alley, and Lions Club meeting hall.
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| Our Place in Elgin, ND |
The day was sunny and a pleasant 75 degrees, then warmed up to 85 or so by mid-afternoon - more perfect riding weather. The rolling hills and rocky outcroppings gradually smoothed and there were more hay bales, more cows, and more farms, although there was almost no traffic. The fresh smell of newly cut hay provided more sensory input. Somewhere along the way I ran into several miles of large and juicy insects, which made a large and sticky spot on my face shield, gloves, helmet, boots, and gas tank when they hit.
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| Stop. Take Turns. - a sensible way to deal with a one-lane bridge |
I crossed into South Dakota and followed US 12 west for a few miles before turning south on State Road 73, which took me all the way to Kadoka, where I'm spending the night at a rather tired Rodeway Inn. I had strawberry rhubarb pie at the H & H Restaurant, which is part of the motel, but to tell the truth it wasn't that great. Still - rhubarb pie!
Tomorrow I'll visit Wounded Knee, and then figure out a route and where to spend the night.
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