The Day the Earth(lodge) Stood Still: Knife River Indian Villages Nat'l Historic Site 8/30/14

Of all the historical pairs to capture the public’s imagination over the centuries, few can match the grandeur, legend, and sheer magnificence of Lewis & Clark. It is, after all, impossible to imagine one without the other, and they are as inextricably linked as Washington to the founding, or Lincoln and the Civil War. Their status as an unbreakable tandem is so complete, in fact, that few today even bother with their first names, as if granting them individuality somehow spoils the romance of one of America’s great couplings. And while their astounding journey from St. Louis to the Oregon coast was a textbook example of teamwork and sacrifice, such details have faded with time, allowing the numerous companions and fellow adventurers to recede into the mist, leaving only that solitary pair before us, as if to stand evermore as the foremost example of the American character.

And while far too many begin (and end) their investigation into the Corps of Discovery with the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (forever and always “The Arch”) or perhaps Pompeys Pillar in Montana, there’s a bevy of beauty to be found in that unlikeliest of historical havens: North Dakota. In fact, the Peace Garden State contains what might be the pre-eminent site for Lewis & Clark enthusiasts, especially if one is willing to grant that if our duo has been eclipsed in popularity, it has been at the hands of the mysterious Sakakawea. You know the story - the Native American woman who saved the trip; the versatile proto-feminist who, by virtue of her bloodhound sense of direction, kept doom at bay; the sweet (yet strong) mother-to-be who handed a pack of bedeviled white men their collective asses. A mix of myth and half-truth that fits the driving narrative, but whose ambiguity gives the official record keepers several layers of hives.

 

But here, at Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, Sakakawea lives. Or lived, and also where she first encountered Lewis & Clark as they prepared to disembark for the winter. A Shoshone woman, Sakakawea was married to French-Canadian trader Toussaint Charbonneau (hired by Lewis & Clark as an interpreter), and both lived among the Hidatsa people before heading West. All waited out the cold months at nearby Fort Mandan, where Sakakawea gave birth to a son, Jean Baptiste, nicknamed “Pomp” by Clark. Corn, beans, and squash were also traded among the groups, and more than keeping everyone intact before the journey began anew on April 7, 1805, a legend was born. History, as such, would never be the same. Therefore, the initial meeting and subsequent hardships along and beyond the Missouri River (Sakakawea, along with her husband and child, would later return to Knife River in August of 1806) became “an event,” and would stand as one of the few times cooperation won out over bloodshed. 

 

So as one comes to Knife River, shame surrenders to admiration, and even a bit of celebration is allowed to peek through the clouds. The Mandan and Hidatsa people succumbed to the way of all Indian flesh, of course, but as the site stands, it is the anti-Washita, the counter-Sand Creek. No last stands or cheerless surrenders, but a way of life preserved, protected, and yes, even defended. The impressive earthlodges (picture an igloo of dirt and grass, with enough room inside for a football game) are long gone, leaving behind subtle craters in the landscape, but as one sees them from the air, they are the defiant, perpetual fingerprints of a people who inhabited the region for over 500 years. The stories of those seemingly silent centuries are no match for encounters with Jefferson’s journeymen, we arrogantly assume, but one can fairly imagine them here. For imagine one must, as the concrete yields to emptiness, and the literal becomes but a faint dream.

Knife River’s visitor center is one of the more uniquely shaped buildings in the NPS family, appearing as a mighty eagle, rather than the usual musty box overdue for an update. Inside, there are the usual exhibits (clothing, pottery, and the like), but also one of the system’s sternest rangers; a woman on the verge of retirement using her golden years not for leisure, but rather as a means to hound young children to the brink of madness with a sadistic orgy otherwise known as the Junior Ranger program. As she pushed a charming English boy through the paces, treating each requirement as a life-or-death struggle with nature itself, she was the eternal taskmaster; a woman so hell-bent on breaking the lad down that she would not have been out of place in Full Metal Jacket. Still, it’s a relief to know that Junior Ranger badges aren’t just given away these days, and only the best and brightest will do. It would not have surprised me to have seen a bunch of sweaty, moaning kids doing calisthenics down by the river.

The site’s film, a first-hand account from a woman named Buffalo Bird Woman, was introspective and sad, but her sense of loss quickly gave way to (our) excitement, as just beyond the exit stood a replica earthlodge. Authenticity is always preferred, but in lieu of the impossible, we’ll freely accept the kind of substitute that features an absurdly heavy buffalo hide that acts as a front door. Once inside – and it’s not so easy getting inside – the present-day takes a vacation, and for once, a genuine home stands before us. It’s roomy, comfortable, and reflective of a living, breathing culture, even if said culture vanished well over a century ago. There’s a wisdom to the presentation, and we know for certain that these tribes, unlike many that roamed from place to place in search of game, were here for the duration. Permanence is the order of the day (even if it’s always an illusion), and there’s no doubt these people did not give up easily.

Continuing on beyond the earthlodge, visitors will encounter the Lower Hidatsa Site (also known as the Awatixa Xi’e Village), which, to the naked eye, appears as little more than unending grass. Should the site have built more earthlodges to bring it all a bit more to life? It’s an interesting question, and not without a great deal of merit. Or is one lone example, set apart from sacred land itself, enough? It’s a similar argument related to the forts of the NPS system. Ruins or replicas? Dreary foundations or freshly painted walls? For every Fort Union Trading Post (North Dakota), there is a Fort Union (New Mexico), where the lonely, abandoned feel is unmistakably eerie, and unlike anything experienced at a full fabrication. One speaks to rot and decay, the other, a resurrection. Must our history be always “as is”, or a “what was”? Admittedly, when we drove the short distance to the Sakakawea Site, now pressed against the Knife River, we longed for the perspective a dash of housing would have provided. Their daily view, then, could have been our own.

Like so much in North Dakota, Knife River Indian Villages NHS constitutes much sturm and drang in service of a mere whimper, though it would be unfair to label the experience a disappointment. The historical value, given its ties to Lewis & Clark, is without debate, and few can damn a National Park site so removed from modern intrusions. If there’s not much to see, at least it’s quiet. Sure, the evils of energy exploration greeted us as we neared the entrance, but for a state now fully immersed in its own downfall, it could be far, far worse. And so it is, just a few hours west. The Upper Missouri River gets nowhere near the press as the mighty Mississippi, but as this site demonstrates, our American story is impossible without it. Trade, travel, and expansion had their roots (and ultimate future) on this beguiling lifeline, and as our distant past proves, those with sense sat at its side, often for centuries at a time.

FINAL RATING

5.5/10

Buckskin & Beaver: Fort Union Trading Post Nat'l Historic Site 8/31/14

It was the Wal-Mart of its day. A hub of commerce, communication, and frequent, often profound, cultural exchange. Most prominently, there was John Jacob Astor, whose internationally renowned American Fur Company (founded in 1808) came to dominate trade on the Upper Missouri River, quite literally blanketing the region with the latest and greatest in buffalo, beaver, fox, and otter accoutrements. Equally important, though perhaps less celebrated, were the numerous Native American tribes (including Blackfeet, Crow, Assiniboine, and Hidatsa), who supplied many of these valuable furs to white traders and businessmen alike in exchange for cups, knives, guns, pots, beads, and blankets.

Each side got what it wanted. In terms of value, more than enough to go around. Mutually beneficial, damn the odds, especially with so much hard currency at stake. But it was, by all measures, a rousing success. And here, nestled beneath the proud shield of the National Park Service, is a historical fort dedicated not to war and conquest, but rather its implied opposite: the peaceful, profitable exchange of goods and services under a bloodless moon. No savagery, no reservations, no talk of surrender. A brief honeymoon before the bitter divorce.

Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, tucked away in a region of North Dakota so absurdly remote that its parking lot couldn’t help but sneak across the border into Montana, is everything you’d want in a fort; that is, if you insist on leaving every trace of civilization behind. Sure, there are cars, cameras, and cell phones about, but given the location, this could just as easily be the mid-nineteenth century, with the obsessive, half-mad historical re-enactors who accompanied us on this day like ghosts from the mists of time. Upon entry, there they are, pulling their own weight, making coffee over an open flame, and mucking up the joint with a distinct smell unique to that period before running water.

I for one was glad to have them aboard, as their filthy attire and natty facial hair were a stark reminder that for a man of 1818, declaring war on physical beauty and cleanliness was as inevitable as leaving behind any and all manner of couth. These were hard men, yes, but fair ones. And Fort Union Trading Post was one of the few spots on the frontier where the guns went silent in favor of the till. But it was about more than money. Love, too, was to be had, with intermarriages and adoption often interrupting the packing of wagons. Moreover, there was respect. At the very least, a captive audience. You want a robe, you’ll have to stay for the show. Not into ceremonies and rituals? You can always try Oregon, white man.

While a nearby train track kept things defiantly modern, Fort Union Trading Post traffics largely in a bygone era, allowing for a contemplative journey interrupted occasionally by what might have been the forging of iron. Or maybe it was just a fistfight. I mean, these re-enactors had been out here for at least a week, prancing and dancing beneath the stars, with little to distract them but the daily ritual of ringing the fort’s bell. And that poor kid. While I admire any lad who can kiss away the video games for hardtack, he had to be ready to explode from boredom, especially given his insistence that we were good company. At least he tore us away from the site’s video(s), a grab bag of so-what and who-cares, though it’s doubtful we’ll ever forget the uniquely creepy ranger sidekick. The fort itself was less wooden.

Designated in 1966, the site is a full-scale reconstruction, but painstakingly accurate, thanks to numerous paintings and sketches from the time (those of Rudolph Friedrich Kurz, most extensively). After walking up the hill, the fort’s Southwest Bastion is there to greet you. Designed for defense, it is the twin of the Northeast Bastion on the fort’s far side. The Main and Inner Gates are an impressive welcome mat for visitors, as is the Buffalo Robe Press featured just outside. After passing beneath a painting by Jean Moncravie (a fort employee in the 1830s and 1840s) that acts as a universal symbol for friendship, visitors encounter the rooms of the Indian Trade House (it was dark and dreary and filled to the brim with roughnecks, so we passed on by). Back in the day, these were not only the “display tables” for frontier goods, but storage for ledgers and other business records.

While walking the short path to the main attraction, the Bourgeois House (also the site’s visitor center), one will eye the outlines of the Ice House, Storage Range, and family/employee housing. These were not rebuilt back in the 1960s, though no explanation is ever provided. It adds rustic charm to be sure, but the NPS likely just ran out of money. A teepee here, a wagon there, the massive flagpole dead center, and then the House, which walks a fine line between majestic and ridiculous, given its wilderness setting. That said, the bourgeois (field agent) had to be set apart from the rabble, as he was the man in charge of the purse. Without him, these were just some hastily built walls keeping out the bison. As it stands, it gives the site some hard-earned beauty, and it no doubt reminded our lonely merchants of a sweeter, less-desolate hearth and home.

At any rate, it was nice to get out of the crisp air for a time, even if the aforementioned video presentation had us begging for a sudden Indian attack. The artifacts and displays were an improvement, as I’m fairly certain I hadn’t stood face-to-face with an authentic beaver hat before. Not since college at least. There were heavy robes and pelts to try on, which is more important than you think, as few us can appreciate how insanely warm a buffalo hide truly is. Give me one of these things, I won’t turn on my heat all winter. Then that kid stopped by – damned if I can remember his name, though he took it from an actual boy who lived at Fort Union – and he reminded us why it’s always a pleasure to meet a smart, inquisitive young man on our travels. More so because we don’t have to take him with us.

More than just a warehouse, Fort Union was also the Studio 54 of its day, attracting celebrities and men of consequence from around the globe. In 1830, Prince Paul, Duke of Wurttemberg, paid a visit. Three years later, Prince Maximilian of Wied shacked up for a fortnight. Missionary Father Pierre DeSmet came in 1840; Jim Bridger in 1844; John Palliser in 1847. Yeah, me neither, but try dropping Ariana Grande’s name in Jacksonian North Dakota. But we’ve all heard of John James Audubon, and he was here in 1843 to study mammals. Not one to spend two months in vain, his journey resulted in The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, which may or may not be on your bookshelf right this very second. We kid the stars of Fort Union, but it cannot be overstated how the site impacted American life on the Upper Missouri River.

 

Sure, forts can often inspire all the passionate indifference of the umpteenth Indian ruin, but at Fort Union Trading Post, there remained a defiant sense of accomplishment. You have to want to come here, and there are no accidental tourists. Hearts won’t skip a beat and no one will be stopped in their tracks, but it’s an essential slice of the American story nonetheless; a symbol from a time gone by that doubles as the very essence of our character. We love to kill, yes, but we like making money more. Perhaps only slightly, but it’s just enough to bring a tear to the eye. A snapshot from the smoke and din of history, when our waterways brought us together, if only temporarily, to talk a little business by the fire.

FINAL RATING

6/10

Drilling Dakota: Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l Park 8/31/14

When Lt. John Dunbar requested a transfer to the vast Western frontier, his reasoning, simply enough, was to “see it before it’s gone.” For him, a man hardened by the brutality of war, the fleeting isolation of prairie life seemed the only reasonable option to an existence teeming with disease, conflict, and the rattling din of the city. What he saw (and what we saw, via Dances With Wolves) was a lonely landscape seemingly untouched, yes, but also a vanishing civilization amidst the inevitability of progress. And so it is again, this time in the inexplicably flourishing land of North Dakota. Too often reduced to a mere punchline, or seen as the least attractive destination for man and beast alike, the “forgotten Dakota” (unimaginably cold winters and no Mount Rushmore will do that to a state) is now leading the charge of unchecked, boom town prosperity; a libertarian paradise of deregulation, ad hoc communities, and the seemingly endless bounty of the Bakken Shale. In the blink of an eye, a frozen wasteland has been transformed into an Eden of full employment, sky-high rents, and cutthroat competition. And don’t get me started on the hookers. The rest of America is left standing agape.

But for every paycheck, there is a price. And while deli workers are witnessing never-before-seen wages ($14 an hour at a Minot Wal-Mart) and restaurants are actually turning away customers instead of begging for their business, the energy explosion is not without its critics. Work is good, yes, and workers spend what they earn. Entrepreneurs enter, set down their wares, and neighborhoods are born. But as with most success stories, this is but a one-sided love affair. Instead of permanence, we are left with an unshakeable insecurity. Most of the workers are rough-and-tumble young men, either unattached and carefree, or temporarily unburdened, saving just enough to ensure a well-received trip home. Crime is up. Trailers are inhabited as fast as they’re fastened to the hard earth. North Dakota, then, is less hearth and home than a way station; more lean-to than rock-solid foundation. As such, the oil boom has fostered a Potemkin village on the windswept grasslands. To many, the hammer and nail of coins in the till. In reality, a mere reprieve from the bust to come; a devastated land of rape, pillage, and broken dreams that will leave its victims in worse shape than before. And while the fire in the night warms the bottom line (the 24/7 burn of natural gas dots the terrain like sinister Tiki torches), there’s a sense that the future speaks more to the unborn Dunbars to come than any of the Horatio Algers of the present. 

Which brings us to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Once the only reason any red-blooded American set foot on the Western slab of North Dakota (since its establishment in 1947 as a Memorial Park), it is now a gasping, endangered oasis; a last stand of preservation to counter the tidal wave of commerce. If it survives the explosion – and that is very much in doubt, as we’re only a few years in – it will be left hollow and less vibrant, like a decaying zoo for endangered species on the very spot where they once roamed free. Existing as a North and South Unit (with the free-floating, undeveloped Elkhorn Ranch tucked in the middle), the park is the last, best hope to keep the barbarians from the gate, despite our full knowledge that air pollution fails to respect park boundaries. Even the roads to get from top to bottom (Highway 85, in past years a quiet country lane of sorts) have been compromised, as the endless convoy of trucks has necessitated a lane expansion that would have been ridiculed a mere decade ago. So as one enters and exits Watford City – not an easy task, given the congestion – one is now faced with a journey to the North Unit no longer serene and soothed by child-like anticipation. Instead, we endure; a raucous chore in lieu of quietude. We are pensive as we embark, unable to shake the spirit of the park’s namesake. He built for empire, yes, and revered the push forward. But his conscience allowed for pause; a steady hand of balance, lest we tip too far into chaos. 

Despite the shock and awe of watching the world stripped clean, TR National Park earns its distinction as an unpolished jewel of 70,466 magnificently pristine acres. Curiously, the North Unit, while less popular given its distance from a convenient interstate, is the superior experience, as it possesses more dramatic vistas and a greater sense of isolation. The driving tour is less of a haul (14 miles, one-way), but its stops seem more representative of the whole, as if TR himself scripted a highlight reel of what shaped him so many years ago. As one begins, the usual visitor center (closed on this day, and temporarily moved to a Juniper Campground ranger station a few miles up the road) is left behind, as is any reminder of an encroaching world. Always to one’s left (reverse as you leave) is the Little Missouri River, a grand, life-giving waterway that acts as the perfect complement to the dramatic, otherworldliness of the badlands. While not as uniform as South Dakota’s badlands, TR’s version is arguably more striking, given the color and wildlife that defy the canyon’s exposed barrenness. Whereas the former inspires feelings of detachment, the latter retains a lived-in appeal, a more inviting land for exploration and engagement.

Among the stops are: the Slump Block Pullout (“huge sections of bluff that gradually slid intact to the valley floor”), the utterly unique Cannonball Concretions Pullout, Riverbend Overlook, and the grand finale, the Oxbow Overlook. The drive is unhurried and contemplative, and not without its surprises, as when the landscape turns completely over to grassland before swooping back to the main event near the river. Admittedly, as one looks out over the vast, untamed park, it must be said that it would (in theory) be a genuine treat to leave it all behind at set forth on a long hike or camping excursion. I’d never do it, of course, because I hate bugs and dirt and would rather die than inhabit the same sleeping quarters as a snake, but its ultimate appeal is not lost on me. It is here, of course, where my contrast with a man like Theodore Roosevelt is most nakedly obvious, and if his ghost could come back and have a say, it’s quite likely he’d bar my entry into the park altogether. “My park is a refuge for men,” he’d huff, before returning to his wrestling match with the nearest grizzly bear. Sensing a softness inherent to his moneyed class, TR set out to meet any and all physical challenges denied him in the womanly city. And from that first visit in 1883, he emerged more rounded, more unapologetically himself. He never fully left his upper crust New York life behind, of course (he’s perhaps the only man in history who could get away with reading poetry on the same day he shot a buffalo), but if a man must always be in the arena, that arena cannot exist as concrete and glass alone.

Leaving the breathtaking North behind (and driving right by the Elkhorn site, as only the hearty dare such a venture), visitors drive about an hour to the busier South Unit, which has the good sense of being set right next to I-94. Before heading in (and catching a glimpse of the ultra-kitschy town of Medora), the Painted Canyon Visitor Center and Overlook beckons, offering what is perhaps the best view in the entire park. It’s set apart from the Little Missouri, but nowhere else do the colors of the topography pop and shine as they do here. With that, and all the oohs and ahhs out of your system, the full-tilt Southern experience awaits, although we had the unfortunate timing to begin ours as the storm clouds rolled in. No matter, as the visitor center holds a piece of history so supremely awesome that it would have been worth the drive alone just to see it. Park, schmark, people, I’m standing face-to-face with the very undershirt Roosevelt was wearing when he was shot in Milwaukee, WI on October 14, 1912! And yes, that’s the actual bullet hole. While the knives and firearms were thrilling, this was a real-time connection to the one event that defines the man more than any other: when, despite having a bullet lodged in his chest, Teddy Ballgame insisted he finish his entire speech. And if you know TR, that’s the better part of an afternoon. To call him a stud is to reduce the word’s previous usage to tatters. In fact, this might be the toughest man who ever lived. Screw a mere National Park, the whole country should be renamed in his honor. 

Also located at the South Unit is the restored Maltese Cross cabin, which is best viewed with a spirited ranger tour. While much of the interior is reproduction and approximation, there is the actual writing desk, as well as a monogrammed trunk. Sure, the cabin was never actually located here, but it’s an important piece to help flesh out the story of Roosevelt’s time in North Dakota. After all, he wasn’t just some passive observer, vacationing in “the wild” in order to tell stories back home. He lived as he preached, ranching and hunting alongside more seasoned veterans of the prairie. Most importantly, the experience fanned within him the flames of conservation, which were appropriately channeled during his spirited presidency. It is, after all, impossible to imagine the National Park Service without him. Yellowstone predated his time in office, but had President McKinley not been felled by that bullet in Buffalo (if I’m not allowed to cheer Mr. Czolgosz, don’t ask me to damn him), the Antiquities Act would have been all but a dead letter, if it had been passed at all. It took a vigorous, balls-out champion to give the whole thing an unquestioned legitimacy. And it is here, at the South’s visitor center, where one can feel the man most intently. And if you leave here not fully in love, I’m not entirely sure it’s blood that courses through your veins.

The 36-mile scenic loop drive through the South Unit is, needless to say, a wonderful experience, but with dark clouds and evening settling in, it cannot be said that our time was maximized to the fullest. It felt rushed, if we’re being honest, though it remains a fair assessment to say that overall, it lacked the full vitality of the North. There are some dynamic pullouts (Skyline Vista, Beef Corral, Boicourt, Scoria Point), but too much of the drive was spent cursing the vehicle in front of us, as it held a creepy autistic boy who stood ramrod straight through the car’s sunroof while pointing his camera at everything that wasn't picture-worthy. We glanced to our sides when it was appropriate, but what nature hath wrought paled next to the Rain Man-ramblings of our unfortunate guest. We did see some wild horses near the end of the drive, though we’re certain even they were more trainable than the nitwit we just couldn’t shake. Still, life is rarely as serene as an amble through a National Park, even if that park is surrounded by forces that would, if the political winds would have it, subject this hallowed ground to the sting of the energy lobby’s whip. It’s reassuring to know all is currently off-limits, but forever seems so impossibly idealistic, and it’s only a matter of time – hopefully not while I still draw breath – before perceived necessity will bring the whole enterprise to its knees. The future is more than uncertain, it’s downright perilous.

FINAL RATING

9/10