The Indians have many legends associated with the rock. The one most often heard is that told by Joe Lagweise and Tawiyaka, two old Sioux Indians of the Qu'Appelle Agency in Saskatchewan, Canada, who as young men visited Writing Rock and heard the story from an old man camped there. Many years ago a party of eight warriors stopped for the night near this rock, and just as they were falling asleep they heard a voice calling in the distance. Fearful of an enemy attack, they investigated but found nothing. The next morning they heard a woman's voice calling, but still they found no one. In their search, however, they saw this large rock with a picture on it, showing eight Indians--themselves--with their packs lying on the ground. Unable to understand this mystery, the warriors went on their way. On their return they again passed the rock, and noticed that the inscription had changed, and appeared to hold a picture of the future. When they reached home they told their people of the mysterious rock, and the entire village moved near it, only to find that the picture had again changed, this time showing the village with its tipis. From that time on the rock was believed to foretell the future until white men moved it; whereupon it lost its power. An old Indian chief once pointed out that the three lines on the rock indicated three graves near the stone, one of which he said was that of a white child. It has been suggested that the inscriptions may be the work of some race which lived in this region before the Indian known to history. Writing Rock is approximately 5 ft. high and 4 ft. thick, and weighs an estimated 10 tons. A smaller rock, weighing about a ton, which stood near a spring about a mile below Writing Rock, also contains inscriptions, and has been moved to New Merrifield Hall at the University of North Dakota for study. Ten acres of land surrounding Writing Rock were acquired in 1936 by the State Historical Society of North Dakota and will be developed as a State park. SIDE TOUR 4B Junction US 85--New England--Mott--Carson--Flasher--Junction ND 6. ND 21. Junction with US 85 to junction ND 6, 126.5 m. N. P. Ry. branch line roughly parallels route from Mott to Flasher; Milwaukee R. R. branch between New England and Elgin. Graveled roadbed except for 11 m. of graded dirt. Hotel and tourist camp facilities limited in most towns; many natural camping places along the Cannonball River.