Custer Mine, owned and operated by the Truax Traer Coal Company, was a
working surface mine from 1947-1964. The surface or strip mining method of coal
mining is used when the coal seam is near the surface of the ground. The
lignite coal was mined . . . — — Map (db m164410) HM
People have lived in the area now called North Dakota for over 12,000 years. The people of prehistoric
times were nomadic hunters and gatherers. More recent Native American tribes of this area include the Mandan, Arikara and Hidatsa. These . . . — — Map (db m164407) HM
The transition from a working coal mine to today's
Custer Mine Wildlife Management Area took place over
many years. While the coal mine was still in operation,
local residents started planting trees on the mine spoil
banks. The trees were . . . — — Map (db m164412) HM
In December of 1804 the temperature dipped and snow began to fall. Despite waking to an unrelenting cold the Corps of Discovery continued to work on the finishing touches of Fort Mandan, went hunting and preformed the never-ending job of gathering . . . — — Map (db m162597) HM
From this site, North Dakota Wagon Train, that took our message to Valley Forge, left on September 26, 1975.
Outriders presented scrolls from their various bicentennial communities to Wagon Master Jerry Nelson and Governor Arthur Link. These . . . — — Map (db m162594) HM
One of the earliest forms of Missouri River transportation was the bull boat. Used primarily by the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes, bull boats served as the main watercraft for natives living along the river banks. These boats were both built . . . — — Map (db m235041) HM
To attract shoppers to Washburn from west of the Missouri River, the Washburn Road installed a cable ferry in May 1902, known unofficially as the General Washburn. Cable ferries were small, unpowered boats attached to steel cables stretched between . . . — — Map (db m235089) HM
Winter 1804-1805
Named for the nearby Indians, Fort Mandan was winter quarters for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Sited by Captain Clark on November 2, 1804, the fort was built in a triangular shape from cottonwood logs cut in . . . — — Map (db m162536) HM
Fort Mandan, 1804-05 Winter Quarters of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, also was the birthplace of the son born to Sakakawea and her French husband Charbonneau, interpreter for the explorers. The "Bird Woman" helped guide Lewis and Clark to their . . . — — Map (db m162595) HM
The Mandan Winter
"If we eat you Shall eat, if we Starve, you must Starve also."
Mandan Chief Sheheka-shote, to Captains Lewis and Clark, November 1, 1804
With those words, Chief Sheheke-shote (White Coyote), . . . — — Map (db m162953) HM
Privates John Shields, William Bratton and Alexander Willard manned the blacksmith shop at Fort Mandan. These men provided repair work to native tools, such as sharpening iron hoes and knives and fixing trade kettles.
The Mandan and Hidatsa who . . . — — Map (db m162950) HM
Nettle Creek School was the first school in McLean County, opening on November 6, 1883. Originally located seven miles east of Washburn, the one-room country school was first constructed as a log cabin, with clapboard siding added to it later. In . . . — — Map (db m235060) HM
The first steamboat to reach the upper Missouri was the American Fur Company's Yellow Stone, which arrived at Fort Union in 1832. Nearly 30 years later, steamers began reaching Fort Benton, Montana, the head of navigation on the Missouri. From then . . . — — Map (db m235097) HM
While preparing for the expedition to the Pacific, Meriwether Lewis visited Philadelphia for instructions in natural sciences, astronomical navigation and field medicine. It is believed that it was during this period that Lewis purchased Seaman, his . . . — — Map (db m36352) HM
The last stern wheel ferry on the Missouri. Built by Oscar Anderson in 1951 and operated by him on the Missouri River at Washburn from 1952 to 1962. Restored by the Washburn Bi-centennial Committee in 1976. American Revolution Bicentennial . . . — — Map (db m235096) HM
In 1898, William Drew Washburn, a wealthy Minneapolis flour miller, railroad man, and U.S. Senator from Minnesota, purchased 115,000 acres of land along the line between McLean and Burleigh counties. He formed the Bismarck, Washburn & Great Falls . . . — — Map (db m235098) HM
Pioneer home of Joseph Henry Taylor, soldier, trapper, hunter, author and printer by trade. Born in 1843 of Quaker parents in Chester County, PA., he drifted west, locating in the Painted Woods area, twelve miles south of here in 1869, where he led . . . — — Map (db m235199) HM
In 1950 Oscar Anderson, a native of Washburn who had traveled the world since 1917 as an officer in the merchant marine, returned home to spend his retirement years. He found a community that missed its ferryboat connection with the west bank of . . . — — Map (db m235095) HM
In the early 1920s, most North Dakota towns were served by small local power plants producing direct current (DC) electric power. In 1926, Otter Tail Power Company of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, was one of several companies building a series of power . . . — — Map (db m235057) HM
The bridging of the Missouri River at Washburn had been a longtime goal for residents of the community. As early as 1908, a party of local residents traveled to Washington, D.C., unsuccessfully, in the interests of such a project. During the 1920s . . . — — Map (db m235047) HM
