North Dakota - Day 15 - Pembina, state history

Icelandic State Park, Cavalier

Thursday, 15 July 2021

today's route

I saw a wild turkey almost on the road this morning.  First I've seen in a while.  Always nice to know they're still there.

Every now and then, the ND highway department warns drivers there's a BUMP ahead.  At first I slowed way down, because in other states those signs mean a serious change in pavement height.  But in ND I've never once had the BUMP be anywhere near as bad as a railroad track, let alone a serious pavement change.  I've stopped slowing down.

Cottonwood trees seem to be very common throughout the state, and this is the season for them to spread their seeds via the cotton.  It's everywhere.

There's still smoke/haze in the air from the fire in Canada.  I heard on the radio that northern MN is under an Air Quality Alert because of it.  I don't know if northern ND is too, though I figure I should keep it in mind.

I saw more signs showing a slippery road surface with MUD signs attached, and as before there's not the slightest sign that mud ever existed in the area.  Odd.

I got back on I-29, which showed a lot of faith considering all the road construction and closed exits I found the last time I was on it.  At one point I had a field of pale golden grain on one side and a field of bright yellow canola on the other side.  Really pretty.

canola

probably wheat

It was prettier in person than these photos make it out to be.

Pembina

The name of this town is pronounced PEM-bin-a, and I have a terrible time remembering that for some reason.

Its at Exit 215 from I-29, and there're signs saying it's the last exit before Canada.  So Pembina is truly a border town and is considered a port of entry.  There were both American and Canadian flags flying in many places around town.

I was here for 2 reasons.  One was to collect a shipment of mail my brother sent me c/o General Delivery.  Sadly, the very nice people at the post office told me they hadn't seen a general delivery letter for anybody all week, and they definitely didn't have one for me.  At their suggestion, I called David to see if there was a tracking number and, wouldn't you know it, this is the first time in 3½ years he just sent it first class mail.  No tracking number.  And of course, this is the only time anything's gotten lost.  There's a lesson in there somewhere, though I've never had any trouble using first class mail.  Just this time.

The other reason was to visit the Pembina State Museum.  It's a small museum and is primarily focused on topics for this region.  But I figured it was about time I had a better idea of some of that and the museum was free, so - easy decision.  (I promise I'll get the post done for the main state museum in Bismarck as soon as I can.  There've just been some setbacks.)

So here are some of the exhibits I saw.

Geology

Showing pre-glacial drainage
in ND - then, most rivers here
flowed north or northeast.

post-glaciers: Gulf of
Mexico comes almost
up to Devils Lake

Glacial Lake Agassiz

The Red River cuts a slow, winding path through the northward-sloping plain of former Lake Agassiz.  The lake left behind organic-rich deposits, and the resulting soil has made the Red River Valley "The Breadbasket of the World."

Human inhabitants

People then . . .

. . . and now

The fur trade

Agriculture

The Larry Austreng Farm, located 3 miles 
east of Reynolds, Grand Forks County, ND.

Other economic interests

The caption above reads:

Water can be scarce on the Northern Great Plains, which traditionally was considered part of the "Great American Desert."  Thus, various methods to locate water continue to be used today.  Gordon Vaagen is shown "divining" for water in rural Richardton, ND.

Crafts and pastimes

  *scrimshaw

elk antler with scrimshaw, sitting on a case of duck decoys

  *decoys

see examples in photo above

  *other carving

  *Easter eggs

  *cooking

The Lefse Lady
(recipe below right)

  *needlework

a decorated saddle

demonstrating the value of containing one's emotions

Winter recreation includes curling (above), snowmobiling, cross-country skiing and downhill skiing.  Summer recreation includes fishing, hiking and camping.

There were also exhibits with a local slant about military history, European settlement, and transportation methods including photos of dog sleds, cart trains, railroads, ox carts, and the stagecoaches that came here in 1859.

There were several exhibits about weather phenomena, such as the major floods of the Red River.

All in all, it was a nice little museum.  The woman working at the main desk gave me some additional information.  She said the low-growing leafy green crop I've been seeing in this area was undoubtedly sugar beets, because it was one of the main crops in this area.  She said many of them would be processed south of here in Hillsboro (Home of the Burros, remember?)

Back on the road

I was picking up a country radio station from Canada, which I only realized when they gave the temperature only in Celsius.

I passed a very tired-looking sign for No Place Bar & Grill.  What made this notable was that there wasn't anything there, and no indication that there had ever been anything there.  The sign was just in a large grassy margin by the road.  Wish I knew the story.

I'm not sure where Icelandic State Park got its name.  The park's literature does say it's home to the Gunlogson State Nature Preserve, the land having been donated by Mr. Gunlogson, whose family immigrated from Iceland, and whose family's 1880s house and 1920s barn are open there for touring.  It was a nice place to stay the night.