North Dakota: A Guide to the Northern Prairie StateFederal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of North Dakota
History
North Dakota: A Guide to the Northern Prairie State
Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of North Dakota
North Dakota; North Dakota -- Guidebooks
Left on ND 44 is BOWESMONT, =8.6 m.= (794 alt., 125 pop.), named for
William Bowes, the first storekeeper. It lies on the level land just W.
of the Red River, its treeless streets more like a western North Dakota
prairie town than the usual Red River Valley village. The story is told
that Bowes won the opportunity to name the town in a game of cards.
Bowesmont was first built on the banks of the river, but settlers
experienced great hardships when the stream overflowed its banks each
spring, and the buildings were moved.
Near Bowesmont in the spring of 1860 occurred an event illustrative of
the hardships suffered by the missionaries to this region. The Rev.
Joseph Goiffon, assistant at the Pembina Catholic Mission, returning
from a trip to St. Paul, left his party behind in an effort to reach
the mission in time to conduct a certain Mass. A driving rain had been
falling and this suddenly turned to a swirling snowstorm. In a short
time the ground was covered with six or seven inches of snow, and the
driving wind made it impossible for him to continue. The blizzard did
not abate, and in two days his horse had died from exposure and his
own legs had frozen so that he was unable to walk. For five days he
remained on the prairie, living on the flesh of his horse, until the
storm subsided and a passer-by heard his feeble cries for help. It was
found necessary to amputate parts of both legs, but in spite of this he
returned to the Pembina mission, and was later transferred to St. Paul
and Mendota, where he served until his death in 1910.
DRAYTON, =18.5 m.= (800 alt., 509 pop.), first known as Hastings
Landing, was given its present name by settlers who came west from
Drayton, Ont., Canada. In contrast with its neighbor Bowesmont, Drayton
is situated directly in the timber on the banks of the Red. Its 42-acre
city park is unusual in that it lies in another State, across the river
in Minnesota. The bridge leading to the park is also unusual; it is a
drawbridge, built in 1911, when the high stage of the Red aroused hope
of reviving steamboating. After the bridge had been completed the river
stage fell, and has never risen, so that the draw has not been lifted
since it was built.
Drayton is an active sports town, especially interested in curling, and
10 teams compete in the large enclosed rink each winter.
Left on ND 44 to ACTON HALL, =29.5 m.=, a community building.
On ND 44 to the junction (R) with a graveled road, =36.5 m.= In a
triangle formed by the junction is a CRUCIFIX. On a base of natural
boulders, in summer the clear, marble-like whiteness of the cross
and canopied figure stands out in contrast with the green of the
surrounding countryside.
At =50 m.= is the junction with US 81 (_see below_).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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