Tuesday, September 24, 2019

NPS in ND - Theodore Roosevelt & Knife River Indian Villages

Good morning, Little Missouri River

Good morning, prairie dog town

Good morning, bison and turkey on the road
 It was a gorgeous morning in Theodore Roosevelt National Park!
Good morning, Sportsmobile

We did sightseeing along the South Unit Loop Drive, but due to a collapsed section of road, it was 24 miles in and 24 miles out again. We were able to see different things as the morning light and clouds created varied views.


Hoodoos are created by soft clays eroding below sandstone cap stones. Geological features observed include fossilized tree moulds, anthracite (coal) veins, concretions, and more. Animals were out and about - a pronghorn pranced through a prairie dog town, and we thought we might be late for our ranger walk when a herd of bison blocked the road. Although it was a little cloudy, the weather was very temperate, in fact it was warm for the season. Autumn colors were starting in the ash and cottonwood trees.
hoodoos

Sandstone tree moulds surrounded by bison tracks
 In the Peaceful Valley Ranch area, we joined a ranger-led birding hike. Regrettably, we only saw one kestrel, but we had a good time walking through the forest and along the river. We found out that yes indeed we had seen seagulls yesterday, as they are birds of the Dakotas, as well as ferruginous hawks.


Pronghorn in a prairie dog town
Birding by the river.
Ready for the hike.
Staff have been busy sweeping the forest for fire prevention.
Farewell, TR National Park
 We left TR and drove east on I-94. Interestingly, the landscape is thus: off the edge of the highway, there is a mowed section with rolls of hay, then either a marshy area or a pond with cattails, and then cornfields beyond this. This pattern was followed for nearly 200 miles. We followed another construction area that lasted for 11 miles; as mentioned yesterday, road construction is odd in the Dakotas!


Our next stop was another National Park Service Unit, the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. It includes the archaeological remains of three Hidatsa and Mandan village sites. Importantly, this is where Lewis and Clark spent the winter of 1805, and where they met their guide Sakakawea. Sakakawea is North Dakota's official spelling of Sacagawea (Tsakaka-wea). There is a nice museum here with comprehensive displays plus a lot of hands-on replica objects . Outside there is a recreated earth lodge, a garden (we were allowed to take a squash with us), and walks to the village sites.
Earthlodge exterior; village sites off in the distance.

Earthlodge interior

Knife River Villages Visitor Center

We continued our drive north to the evening's destination, Jamestown. Unfortunately we found out that the National Museum of the Buffalo was closed. Luckily, however, we were able to visit the World's Largest Buffalo, a statue named "Dakota Thunder."  For size comparison, see the little park bench to the right of the figure. At 26' tall and 60' long, this is one big bison!

Bevan zarva.

Dakota Thunder, World's Biggest Buffalo, is 26 feet tall.

North Dakota is a friendly place!

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