The Project Gutenberg EBook of North Dakota, by Various This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. Title: North Dakota A Guide to the Northern Prairie State Author: Various Release Date: August 23, 2014 [EBook #46661] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NORTH DAKOTA *** Produced by Richard Tonsing, K Nordquist and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) KEY TO NORTH DAKOTA TOURS NORTH DAKOTA A GUIDE TO THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE STATE AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES NORTH DAKOTA A GUIDE TO THE NORTHERN PRAIRIE STATE Written by Workers of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of North Dakota Sponsored by the State Historical Society of North Dakota Illustrated KNIGHT PRINTING COMPANY Fargo, North Dakota 1938 WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION Harry L. Hopkins, Administrator Ellen S. Woodward, Assistant Administrator Henry G. Alsberg, Director, Federal Writers' Project FOREWORD As Governor of the State of North Dakota, I am happy to write the foreword to the first comprehensive guidebook that has ever been written for this State. Compiled by North Dakota writers, the publication of this book has been made possible by means of Federal and State funds. The importance of this book lies, not only in calling the attention of tourists and other outsiders to the picturesque scenery and the places of historical significance in North Dakota; but in awakening the consciousness of North Dakota people to the historical, sociological, and cultural heritage which is theirs. (Signed) William Langer, Governor of North Dakota. PREFACE North Dakota: a Guide to the Northern Prairie State is something new in this part of the country. For the first time North Dakotans and their guests have a concise but comprehensive survey of the State, which tells them what should be seen, and why, and how. Our aim has been a book not only to be used in touring the State, but to be enjoyed by fireside travellers and all who would deepen their understanding of North Dakota. As one of the volumes in the American Guide Series, written by the members of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, the North Dakota guide has more than State significance, wide as this is. The National project was designed primarily to give useful employment to needy writers and research workers; it has developed into a more ambitious undertaking. The American Guide Series, covering the forty-eight States, Puerto Rico, Alaska, and numerous cities and towns, is unrolling a unique and inspiring panorama of these United States with their lively background and their vibrant present. The North Dakota guide adds its contribution to the whole, giving the reader a picture of the State, its land and resources, its history, people, the cities and towns they have built, and the principal points of interest. New chapters in North Dakota's story and other phases of its life and works are still to be told. This volume—a pioneer enterprise in a State where the records of the past and the varied life of today had not heretofore been assembled—may well serve as an incentive and a foundation for further books. Not ten or fifty or a hundred, but actually hundreds of North Dakotans helped in the making of the guide, from the many who contributed information about their own communities or fields of work down to the handful of editors and writers who brought that information within the covers of this book. In expressing the Project's appreciation of this friendly and cooperative help, so generously given, I wish particularly to thank Mr. Russell Reid, superintendent of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and his staff, especially Mrs. Florence H. Davis and Mr. Arnold Goplen; Mr. George Will and Mr. Robert A. Ritterbush, of Bismarck; Dr. Irvin Lavine, of the University of North Dakota; Mr. E. A. Milligan, of Michigan City; Mr. J. A. Patterson, of Minot; Dr. E. C. Stucke, of Garrison; and Mr. Henry Williams, of Appam. Ethel Schlasinger State Director CONTENTS FOREWORD v By William Langer, Governor of North Dakota PREFACE vii By Ethel Schlasinger, State Director, Federal Writers' Project ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS xiii GENERAL INFORMATION xv ANNUAL EVENTS xix I. SURVEY OF THE STATE CONTEMPORARY NORTH DAKOTA 3 NORTH DAKOTA: ITS NATURAL SETTING 5 INDIANS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS 16 HISTORY 35 AGRICULTURE AND FARM LIFE 59 INDUSTRY AND LABOR 72 RACIAL GROUPS AND FOLKWAYS 78 SCHOOLS, CHURCHES, AND SOCIAL CURRENTS 88 TRANSPORTATION 95 PRESS AND RADIO 99 ARCHITECTURE 102 RECREATION 106 II. CITY NEIGHBORS (City Descriptions and Points of Interest) Bismarck 111 Fargo 126 Grand Forks 145 Minot 158 III. PLAYGROUNDS Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park 169 Roosevelt Regional State Parks 173 IV. HIGHWAYS AND TRAILS TOUR 1 Canadian Line (Winnipeg) to South Dakota Line (Watertown). US 81 185 1A Mayville to Hatton. ND 7 & 18 200 2 Canadian Line (Brandon) to South Dakota Line (Aberdeen). ND 4 & US 281 202 3 Canadian Line (Virden) to South Dakota Line (Pierre). US 83 207 3A Garrison to Stanley. ND 37 & 8, unnumbered roads 211 3B Junction US 83 to Junction US 10. Unnumbered roads 215 4 Canadian Line (Moosejaw) to South Dakota Line (Belle Fourche). US 85 218 4A Hanks to Writing Rock State Park. ND 50 and unnumbered roads 225 4B New England to Flasher. ND 21 228 5 Hamilton to Montana Line (Scobey). ND 5 232 5A Junction ND 5 to Leroy. ND 32 & 55, unnumbered road 243 6 Minnesota Line (Duluth) to Montana Line (Glasgow). US 2 247 6A Circular tour from Devils Lake. ND 20 & 27, Indian Service Roads 263 6B Junction US 2 to Fort Buford State Park. Unnumbered road 269 7 Carrington to Canadian Line (Estevan). US 52 272 8 Minnesota Line (Minneapolis) to Montana Line (Glendive). US 10 277 8A Valley City to South Dakota Line (Aberdeen). ND 1 303 8B Dazey to Junction US 2. ND 1 & 7 308 8C Mandan to South Dakota Line (McLaughlin). ND 6, 21, & 24 312 8D Junction US 10 to Junction US 85. ND 25 318 9 South Dakota Line (McIntosh) to Montana Line (Miles City). US 12 323 10 Medora to Bismarck. Little Missouri and Missouri Rivers 328 CHRONOLOGY 339 BIBLIOGRAPHY 345 INDEX 361 ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS Ring-billed Gulls Pasques Flickertail A Modern Indian Scaffold Burial, Formerly Used by Some Indian Tribes between pages 44 and 45 Ancient Indian Turtle Effigy Sioux Sun Dance as Originally Performed A Modern Sioux Sun Dance Ceremonial North Dakota In 1879, From an Old Map of Dakota Territory between pages 76 and 77 Gen. George A. Custer Sitting Bull Battle of the Badlands A "Little Old Sod Shanty" of Early Days State Capitol, Bismarck Reviving a Norwegian Folkdance, Esmond, N. Dak. between pages 108 and 109 An Early School (Oliver County, 1885) Administration Building, Agricultural College, Fargo Threshing Sakakawea, Bismarck between pages 140 and 141 A Red River Valley Wheatfield Oats between pages 172 and 173 Law Building, University, Grand Forks Roosevelt Monument, Minot between pages 204 and 205 Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Blockhouse of Fort McKeen Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, Slant Indian Village Lodge Marquis de Mores Badlands between pages 236 and 237 Rabbit's Ears Near Amidon Grand Canyon of the Little Missouri between pages 268 and 269 Lignite Strip Mining, Velva Arikara Woman Pounding Cherries Writing Rock Near Grenora Lake Upsilon, Turtle Mountains Buffalo, Sully's Hill National Game Preserve between pages 332 and 333 Barnes County Courthouse, Valley City Sioux Camp Gathering, Fort Yates Agency Sioux Tipis Sioux Hoop Dance Magpie Rock, Killdeer Mountains between pages 340 and 341 MAPS North Dakota State Map Inside back cover North Dakota Key Map to Tours Inside front cover Bismarck 112 Fargo 127 Grand Forks 146 Minot 159 GENERAL INFORMATION (See State map for routes of highways, railroads, and air lines.) Railroads: Chicago & North Western Ry. (Northwestern); Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific R. R. (Milwaukee); Farmers' Grain & Shipping Company (Farmers' Line); Great Northern Ry. (G. N.); Midland Continental R. R. (Midland); Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Ry. (Soo); Northern Pacific Ry. (N. P.). Main line of N. P. runs almost directly E. to W. across the State. Main line of G. N. runs N., then W., while cut-off runs in northwesterly direction. Soo line runs SE. to NW. Highways: Eight Federal highways, seven of them transcontinental or with international connections. Inspection at international border. State highway patrol checks violations of State highway laws and enforces regulations. Gasoline tax, 3c. Motor Vehicle Laws (digest): Maximum speed, 50 m.; on curves and at intersections, 20 m.; approaching within 50 ft. of grade crossing where view obstructed, 20 m.; on any highway in business or residence district, 25 m.; passing school during recess or while children are going to or leaving school, 20 m. Time limit for operation of car in State by nonresident, 90 days. Hand signals must be used for a turn or stop. Spotlights permitted. Personal injury or property damage ($50 or over) must be reported to civil authorities. Prohibited: Parking on highways; use of stickers, except those required by law, on windshield or windows. Bus Lines: Northland Greyhound Lines: Fargo via US 10 to Glendive, Mont., Fargo via US 81 to Winnipeg. Minot- Crosby Bus Line: Minot to Crosby via US 52 and ND 5. Checker Greyhound Lines: Noonan via ND 40 to Regina, Saskatchewan. Studebaker Bus Line: Devils Lake to Jamestown via US 281 and ND 19. Swanson Bus Line: Jamestown via US 281 to Aberdeen, S. Dak. Carpenter Bus Line: Williston to Bowman and Hettinger via US 85, ND 25, ND 22, and US 12. Checker Transportation Co.: Fargo to Minot via US 10, ND 18, ND 7, and US 52; also Fargo to Minot via US 10, ND 18, US 81, and US 2. Interstate Transportation Co.: Bismarck to Minot via US 83, Minot to Williston via US 2, Minot to Portal via US 52, Minot to Bismarck via US 52, ND 41, and US 83. Northern Transportation Co.: Minot to Rolla via US 83 and ND 5, Minot to Watford City via US 83 and ND 23. N. T. Co.: Couteau to Northgate via ND 8 and US 52. Jack Rabbit Lines: Fargo to Watertown, S. Dak. Triangle Transportation Co.: Fargo to Grand Forks via US 81. Interstate Transit Co.: Williston to Culbertson, Mont. via US 2. Air Lines: Northwest Airlines: Chicago to Seattle (stop at Fargo and Bismarck); Fargo to Winnipeg (stop at Pembina). Hanford Airlines: Bismarck to Tulsa (stop at Bismarck). Airfields: Forty-six landing fields. Lighted fields: A-1, Fargo and Bismarck; intermediate, Valley City, Jamestown, Dawson, Glen Ullin, Dickinson, Golva, Pembina. Customs Regulations: Persons entering United States must report to U. S. Immigration Office and U. S. Customs Office. Automobiles may be brought into United States for 90 days without formal customs entry, provided proper report is made at port of entry. If cars are to be kept here more than 90 days, bond or deposit must be furnished, together with guarantee of exportation of car within 6 months of importation. Those entering Canada must report to Canadian immigration and customs officers at point of entry. United States citizens should be prepared to prove citizenship. Persons not citizens should be able to establish that they are legally resident in the United States and that they will be readmitted when returning to this country. Cars may be admitted without charge to Canada for touring purposes and may be operated 60 days under State licenses; on request, period can be extended to 90 days. For period of 90 days to 6 months, bond or cash deposit must be furnished. Cars returning to United States should be checked out by Canadian customs officer at border. Accommodations: Accommodations outside of cities and towns are limited. Nearly every small town has a tourist camp. A few ranches in the Badlands area accommodate tourists and have horses available for riding trips. Accommodations at lake resorts offered only during the summer months. Quarters at lake resorts crowded Fourth of July week. Sales and Cigarette Taxes: Two percent sales tax on all purchases, payable in cash. Tax of 3c per package of 20 cigarettes. Climate and Equipment: Summer travelers should be prepared for extremely warm weather. It is advisable, however, to have topcoats of medium weight as evenings are generally cool. In spring and fall the days are intermittently cool and warm, and topcoats are a necessity. Persons unfamiliar with the Northwest should heed weather reports and bulletins of the State highway department and dress as warmly as possible during winter travel. What appears as a light flurry of snow may in a few moments become a blizzard, blocking highways and making travel impossible. Towns and farms are far apart; temperatures may suddenly drop far below zero. Recreational Areas: Turtle Mountain area (Tour 5): swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, hunting. Roosevelt Regional State Parks: riding, motoring, hiking. Sheyenne River Park (Tour 1): picnicking, swimming, hiking; suitable in winter for skiing. Killdeer Mountain area (Side Tour 8D): hiking, riding, picnicking. Turtle River State Park (Tour 6): swimming, camping, picnicking. Large towns have ski and toboggan slides, skating rinks. Fish and Game Laws: Game fish are defined as black bass, wall-eyed pike, northern pike, perch, sunfish, crappie, trout, and landlocked salmon. Open Season for Fishing (dates inclusive): Bass, crappie, and sunfish, June 16-Oct. 31; trout and landlocked salmon, May 2-Sept. 30; pike, any species, and perch, May 16-Oct. 31. Governor has power to shorten or close season. Licenses: Resident, 50c, nonresident, $3. No license required of persons under age of 12. Issued by game and fish commissioner, State capitol, Bismarck, county auditors at county courthouses. Limits: Bass, trout, and landlocked salmon, 5, nor more than 5 of all combined; wall-eyed pike and northern pike, 10, nor more than 10 of both combined; crappie and sunfish, 15, nor more than 15 of both combined; perch, 25. No bass, landlocked salmon, trout, or pike less than 10 in.; no crappie less than 6 in.; no sunfish less than 5 in. These limits daily; no person to have in possession more than 2-day limit. Prohibited: No use of drugs, lime, fish berries, or explosives. Unlawful to take fish in any manner except by angling with hook and line held in hand or attached to rod. (Commercial fishing allowed in certain sections, under commercial license.) Open Season for Hunting: Dates of hunting season for deer and game birds vary from year to year as well as the areas where hunting is allowed. Copy of hunting laws furnished with hunting license. Licenses: Big game: resident, $5, nonresident, $50; hunting: resident, $1.50, nonresident, $25. Aliens not permitted to hunt. Licenses issued by game and fish commissioner, deputies, or county auditors. Limits: Bass, trout, and landlocked salmon, 5, nor more than 5 of breasted grouse, ruffed grouse (partridge), Chinese pheasant, Hungarian partridge; 5 in the aggregate in a day, but number of each species composing aggregate varies in certain counties; 10 ducks, 4 geese including brant, 12 coots, and 10 jacksnipe a day. Not more than 1-day bag of migratory game birds may be possessed at one time. Deer may be possessed until 90 days after close of season. Nonresident licensee may carry with him from State under license tag a 2-day limit of game, if carried openly and labeled with his name, address, and number of license. Camp Fires: Any person leaving a fire without thoroughly extinguishing it, so that it burns any wood or prairie, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both. Poisonous Snakes and Plants: Rattlesnakes are rare, but are sometimes found in the following areas: south of Bismarck in Missouri River vicinity; western Emmons County, along Missouri; in valleys of Heart, Little Missouri, and Cannonball Rivers; and in Badlands. Anyone bitten by a rattlesnake should cut wound with a sharp knife and suck the blood to remove poison. A tourniquet should be placed above wound, and medical assistance sought at once. Poison-ivy common in wooded areas. In June it bears loose clusters of dull green-white blossoms, later in season replaced by glossy opaque berries of similar color. Poison-ivy vines often are hidden in long grass and in foliage. To prevent irritation from contact with poison-ivy, before going into woods bathe hands and face with a 5-percent solution of ferric chloride in a half-and-half mixture of alcohol and water or glycerine and water. If skin should come in contact with the plant, washing with one of above solutions, or with laundry soap and warm water, is an excellent treatment. Avoid spreading poison through scratching or rubbing. Bathing affected areas in hot water will relieve irritation. If there are open sores do not use sugar of lead or zinc oxide. Tourist Information Service: General information about the State furnished on request by the secretary, Greater North Dakota Association, Fargo, N. Dak. CALENDAR OF ANNUAL EVENTS Listed here are events of general interest which occur annually in North Dakota. Dates may vary from year to year, and should be verified. (n f d = no fixed date) Jan. 1 Fargo Ice Carnival 3rd wk Fargo Farmers and Homemakers Week, Agricultural College 4th wk (usually) Grand Forks All-American Turkey Show n f d Valley City Ski Tournament n f d Williston Old Fiddlers Contest n f d Varies State Poultry Show Feb. 21 Grand Forks Carney Song Contest, University 2nd wk Grand Forks Winter Sports Carnival 2nd wk Grand Forks Hobby Show 4th wk Fort Totten Indian Agency Midwinter Fair n f d Devils Lake Lake Region Sports Carnival n f d Minot Winter Sports Carnival n f d Varies State Class B High School Basketball Tournament Mch. 17 Fessenden Alfalfa Festival n f d Bismarck State Class A High School Basketball Tournament n f d Park River Midwinter Fair n f d Park River Ski Tournament Apr. 4th Fri. Grand Forks Engineers' Day, University May 17 State-wide Norwegian Independence Day 17 Fargo Northwest Norwegian Whist Tournament 30 Nishu (Old Fort Berthold) Memorial Day Ceremony 1st wk Fargo May Festival, Agricultural College 2nd wk Zap Lignite Festival 4th wk Grand Forks Interfraternity Sing, University n f d Fargo Lilac Festival, Agricultural College n f d Grand Forks May Festival and High School Week, University mid month Bismarck State Art Exhibit, Capitol June 24 St. John St. John's Day 29 Strasburg SS. Peter and Paul's Day 1st wk Williston Upper Missouri Band Tournament n f d Devils Lake Rhythm Pageant, Deaf School n f d Devils Lake Governor's Day, Camp Grafton n f d Fargo North Dakota State Fair n f d Fargo Valleyland Music Festival n f d Grand Forks North Dakota State Fair n f d Grand Forks State Peony Show n f d Hazelton Emmons County Breeders Association Stock Show n f d Nishu Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Mother Corn Ceremonies n f d Nishu Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Sage Dance n f d Turtle Mountain Reservation Chippewa Indian Sun Dance July last wk Belcourt St. Ann's Day Aug. 15 Elbowoods Indian Congress 1st wk Peace Garden Rededication and Highlander's Frolic n f d Varies Golden Grain Festival Sept. 1st wk Elbowoods Fort Berthold Indian Reservation Fair 1st wk Fort Totten Indian Agency Fair 1st wk Fort Yates Standing Rock Indian Agency Fair 3rd wk Grand Forks Harvest Festival 4th wk Valley City Barnes County Corn and Lamb Show Oct. last wk Bismarck State Corn Show n f d Fargo Harvest Festival, Agricultural Extension Division n f d Turtle Mountain Reservation Indian Fair Dec. n f d Fargo 4-H Boys and Girls Club Achievement Institute, Agricultural College n f d Valley City Ice Carnival SURVEY OF THE STATE CONTEMPORARY NORTH DAKOTA Nothing, probably, arouses the indignation of a loyal North Dakotan or South Dakotan more than hearing his State referred to as "Dakota." Just as an earnest Californian would display indignation at being disposed of as merely a "Westerner", so the man from North Dakota resents having his identity fogged over by the blanket term "Dakotan." And rightfully so; for, while he finds no fault with his neighbors, he is quite different from them, and quite within his rights in insisting on the distinct character of his own State. The person who asks, "What sort of place is North Dakota?" may get a variety of answers, all of them true, and still be far from a complete picture of the State. He may be told vaguely, "It's out West somewhere," or more specifically, "North Dakota is a wheat State," or "Isn't that where the farmers have this Nonpartisan League?" These answers are only partly correct, for they barely touch on the two major problems, economics and politics, in regard to which North Dakota is now coming of age. This is a young State. Ruts left by the wagon trains of early explorers, military expeditions, and home seekers have not yet been effaced from the prairies. Red men and white men, who hunted buffalo and fought at the Little Big Horn, who saw the railroads push their gleaming paths across the Plains, who recall a puny young man named Theodore Roosevelt hunting in the Badlands with his short-stocked rifle, still survive to tell their tales. In those fledgling days, the land was rich with promise. Bonanza farms unfolded their ample acres of wheat, thousands of cattle roamed unchecked in the gullies and over the plains of the western counties. The word spread, and from Europe and the eastern States came men and women to break the new soil. Sod houses and barns and frame homes and windmills set their seal on the prairies. Tons of wheat, thousands of cattle and sheep and horses attested to the fertility of North Dakota. For more than half a century the soil was exploited recklessly. Then suddenly exhaustion and drought drove home the growing realization that this exploitation could not go on. Water conservation, diversified farming, and dams quickly became part of the agricultural scheme, and are repairing the damage of unthinking abuse. Huge mineral resources have been recognized and are being developed commercially, bringing a new aspect to North Dakota's economy. Marketing of farm products has had reverberations in the economic life of the State, and has made its people alert to changing social trends. Characteristically, in the eastern portion of the State, where soil is richer, and rainfall more plentiful, the people are more conservative; while to the west, where the climate is more arid and the soil less productive, the "isms" flourish, providing a stronghold for the leftist elements of the State's tumultuous political parties. Because of antagonism to control of early agrarian activities by out-of-State business interests, the Nonpartisan League, with its socialistic platform, was formed, and many of its enterprises have been established, some successfully, some otherwise. Cooperative economy is prominent in the social consciousness of agricultural North Dakota, and such groups as the Farmers' Union emphasize the trend toward cooperatives, strengthening their position by supplying members with purely social activities, as well as with hard economic problems into which to get their teeth. Freely admitted is the rural character of the State, and there is seldom an attempt to cover native crudities with a veneer of eastern culture. The few writers in the State recognize and honor the possibilities of their native material; and each year finds a scattered handful of books, usually verse, telling of the North Dakota known to them and to seven hundred thousand other North Dakotans. What is the North Dakota they know? A State of unbounded plains and hills and Badlands—elbowroom. Superb sunsets. High winds and tumbleweed. Farms and plows and sweeping fields. Gophers flashing across the road. Little towns crowded on Saturday night, and busy cities shipping out the products of North Dakota and supplying the needs of the producers. Sudden blinding, isolating blizzards, and soft, fragrant spring days with tiny sprouts of grain peering greenly through the topsoil. Pasque flower and cactus, flame lily, and fields of yellow mustard. The sad, slow wail of a coyote on the still prairie. People—Norwegians, Germans, Russians, Poles, Czechs, Icelanders, but all Americans. Square dances in barn lofts, and college "proms" with corsages and grand marches. Teachers building fires with numbed hands in stoves of icy one-room schools. Men in unaccustomed "best clothes" sitting in majestic legislative halls of a skyscraper statehouse. Political fires, sometimes smouldering, sometimes flaring, always burning. Endless facets are apparent in the temper and tenor of life, thought, and action of the people of this State, still a new people, pioneers— "Brave spirits stirred with strange unrest, They found broad waters and new lands, And carved the empires of the west." NORTH DAKOTA: ITS NATURAL SETTING North Dakota is a rectangular area of 70,837 square miles, lying in what the United States Geological Survey has designated the center of the North American Continent. It is approximately 1,500 miles from the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic Archipelago of North America. North to south it extends 210 miles, and east to west an average of 335 miles. On the north are the Provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada; on the east, the Red River of the North and the Bois de Sioux form the boundary between this State and Minnesota; on the south is South Dakota and on the west, Montana. THE SURFACE OF THE LAND The land surface resembles three broad steps of prairie, rising a half-mile in altitude from the eastern to the western boundary. The first two steps lie in the Central Lowlands of the Interior Plains, the third in the Great Plains area. The lowest step is the fertile, floor-like Red River Valley, once the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz. Near the Canadian boundary the valley is about 40 miles wide, but it gradually narrows until near the South Dakota line it is only 10 miles in width. With its northward slope of only about one foot to the mile, an even more gradual eastward slope, and few prominent surface features, the land offers no obstacles to a view across miles of level checkerboard fields. Natural woods grow along the Red River and its winding sluggish tributaries, and farmyard groves dot the landscape. The Pembina Escarpment, a rise of 300 to 400 feet along the western edge of the valley, defines the beginning of the central surface-step, the Drift Prairie, or Drift Plain. At the northern end of the escarpment, which is a continuation of the Manitoba Escarpment in Canada, lie the wooded Pembina Mountains, jutting sharply above the valley floor. South of these hills the rise is less pronounced except at the southern end, where the hills again become prominent to merge with the Coteau des Prairies, an escarpment lying chiefly in South Dakota. Glacial deposits, or drift, of finely ground rock, sand, and gravel give the Drift Prairie its name. It is a rolling, fertile plain, varying from 70 to 200 miles in width, and broken by low ridges of hills, shallow coulees, and numerous small lakes. To the northwest lies the Souris River Valley, a small glacial lake bed resembling the Red River Valley. Devils Lake, largest in the State, lies in the northern part of the Drift Prairie, and together with Stump Lake forms the basis of the interior drainage system; near its southern end are the headwaters of the James and Sheyenne Rivers, both flowing southward, the James into the Missouri and the Sheyenne into the Red. The Missouri Escarpment, rising 300 to 400 feet above the Drift Prairie and cutting across the State diagonally in a northwest-southeast direction, marks the rise of the third surface-step, the Missouri Plateau, which extends west to the Rocky Mountains. Lying along the top of the plateau, in some places not far from the escarpment and at other points 50 miles west of it, is the Altamont Moraine, a belt of rough, stony hills, indicating the farthest advance of the Dakota lobe of the Wisconsin ice sheet. In the north this moraine is a part of the Height of Land forming the watershed between the north-and south-flowing streams of the continent. Between the escarpment and the Missouri River the plateau is known as the Couteau du Missouri. West of the river it is known locally as the Missouri Slope. The surface of the plateau, typical of the Great Plains, is irregular and rolling, dotted with old lake beds—some of which contain large deposits of sodium sulphate—and underlain with vast lignite beds and valuable clay and bentonite deposits. In the Missouri Slope is the most unusual area in the State—the Badlands of the Little Missouri. Here erosion has formed, and continues to form, a fantastic array of buttes in which layers of brick-red scoria and gray, blue, and yellow clays are vividly exposed. Abrupt buttes and mesas characterize the landscape, increasing in size and number toward the southwest corner of the State. Among them is Black Butte, 3,468 feet above sea level, the highest point in North Dakota. CLIMATE Absence of great variation in physiography gives all portions of the State an almost uniform climate. North Dakota is situated in a temperate region of moderate rainfall, and owing to its position in the center of the North American Interior Plains it has a typically continental climate. One of the characteristics of such a climate is a wide range of temperature, and to this the State can make good claim. North Dakota has a recorded range from 124° F., registered September 3, 1912 at Medora, to -60° F., recorded February 15, 1936 at Parshall. These temperatures are, of course, unusual, but the mercury often reaches 100° F. during the summer, whereas 30° to 40° F. below zero is not uncommon in winter. The mean temperature for the months of June, July, and August is 65.7° F., and for December, January, and February, 9.7° F. Relatively low humidity, averaging 68 percent, makes these extremes less uncomfortable, however, than if the atmosphere contained more moisture. The sections of the State vary more in the matter of precipitation than in any other climatic phase. The average is about 18 inches annually, ranging from about 22 inches in the southeastern corner to about 14 inches in the southwestern corner. Most of the precipitation occurs in the late spring and summer. During the period of 1925-34, three years had a rainfall in excess of normal, and seven were deficient in precipitation.