North Dakota - Day 9 - historical forts and carousels

Lindenwood Campground, Fargo

Friday, 9 July 2021

As so often happens with injuries, mine felt worse today than they'd done last night.  And I didn't sleep very well because I couldn't find a pain-free position to lie in.  What a nuisance.  And the real nuisance was that I was effectively reduced to having just one arm, making driving this RV a bit of a problem.

today's route

On the road

As I was leaving the town of Fort Ransom, I got stuck in more highway construction ('tis the season).  Driving behind a pilot car, my "check engine" icon started flashing again and under these circumstances, I couldn't pull over.  Luckily, it stopped pretty quickly, but it still has me worried.  Why is it coming on, flashing a few times, and then going off?

Coming into Lisbon (we travel a lot in North Dakota) I passed a CHS plant that seemed very important, though I couldn't tell what it did.  I now know that it claims to be "one of the nation's leading cooperatives, owned by farmers, ranchers and co-ops . . . a diversified, global energy, grains and foods business."  Which seems to cover most of the bases.

As you can see from the map, I crossed the Sheyenne National Grasslands, possibly named for the Sheyenne River that runs through them.

At Colfax, I came to the Minn-Kota Ag Products facility.  That name is a little clearer than CHS, and their website says they offer a wide range of facilities and services to farmers in (surprise) Minnesota and North Dakota.  It's a family business, now into the 4th generation.

After going for days without finding a post office anywhere, now I'm seeing post offices in every single town I pass through.  Weird.

Fort Abercrombie

I guess I expected there'd be a little more here than there is.  This was the first permanent US military fort in what would become North Dakota (there were earlier ones in the South Dakota part of the Dakota Territory).  

It was established in 1858 on the banks of the Red River, because the commanding officer didn't know that the Red River is one of the few rivers in the US that flow northward.  And he didn't know that ice formed in the river during Canadian winters and would back up into the US portion.  So the camp got flooded out.  They moved it across the river to ND and farther away in 1860. 

This view of the Red River is a little farther
north of the view in the next photo.

This is just one of many bridges that cross
the Red River to connect North Dakota
and Minnesota.

 

During the Civil War, the regular army troops were sent south to battle, and the fort was protected by the Minnesota Volunteer Infantry.  Its purpose was to guard wagon trains and steamboat traffic on the Red River, and it served as a supply base for wagon trains heading into Montana.  It was abandoned in 1877.

This is the only building original to the fort.
And even it was bought by someone else, 
moved elsewhere, then later donated back to the site.
See explanation below right.

This explains what that building was used for.

This is the main building - modern built, of course.

There are many explanatory signs around the grounds, showing where various buildings were.  The dogs and I walked around for a while.  But it was an actual fort, so it covered a large piece of land.  It was by no means smooth walking, and with my arm hurting quite a lot, I got tired much faster than the dogs did.

I learned at the main building that the Red River of the North, as many here call it, flows north to Lake Winnipeg, and from there the Nelson River flows to Hudson Bay.  Those connections made this river important to the growing area here.

Back on the road

I passed a company called Cargill, and the first sign said only "Cargill - Main Gate," which didn't help me out.  But farther down the road I came to "Cargill - Corn Deliveries Only," which explained a lot.  Their website says it's 150 years old, and connects farmers to markets, which helps consumers find products they want.

I started noticing that most farm houses were surrounded - or nearly so - by thick layers of trees to act as a windbreak.  At first I thought maybe those folks just had a small tree farm going, but as I passed more and more of these I realized what they were.

Land in the Red River Valley is very flat, and is apparently wonderful for farming.

Wahpeton

One of the southernmost towns in North Dakota, at 7,800 residents, Wahpeton counts as pretty good-sized, by North Dakota standards.  Its twin city is Breckenridge, just across the river.  The Red River originates here - at the confluence of the Otter Tail River (which flows mostly southward) and the Bois de Sioux River (which flows northward, thus helping explain the Red River's flow).

I'm told Wahpeton's zoo is a pretty good one, but I was in town to visit the building next to the zoo: an old carousel.

It was a little tricky trying to hoist myself up on a horse
(let alone get back down) with a bum shoulder, but
we all have our priorities and carousels are definitely
high on my list.

At $2 a ride, this is an inexpensive way to find happiness.

Faithful readers may recall that I visited the Herschell Spillman Co.
in North Tonawanda, NY.  That's what made this carousel a must-see for me.
And I'm glad I did.

I'm so glad they brought it back to life.
Something that produces this much joy shouldn't be silenced.

Even though this was a weekday, school's out, so many families were out here.  Besides the zoo and the carousel, there were 3 baseball games going on, not counting families having picnics in the park.  I had a really hard time finding a parking place but finally decided to create a place nearby by noting there were no "no parking" signs there as there were in other places.  Other people followed my lead.

Back on the road

From Wahpeton, I was about 40 miles or so from Fargo, and I decided to avoid the interstate.  That meant my route was mostly county roads, but in North Dakota those are usually in pretty good shape, though narrow.

I had a reservation for several nights at the Lindenwood Campground, which is in Lindenwood Park, which is owned by the Fargo Parks District.  The campground is smack on the bank of the Red River, is well maintained, reasonably priced ($30/night) and fairly comfortable, though the campsites were a little close together.  It's right in town, on Roger Maris Dr., which was a clue to me that Roger Maris must be a hometown hero.