Originally Bottineau was situated a mile farther N. When the G. N. Ry. survey was made, it became evident that the permanent site would be farther S. Business houses were soon moved, but the Bottineau County Courthouse could not be legally moved without recourse to legislation. Accordingly, one morning the building was found reposing in the new settlement. As no one was supposed to know how the transfer had been effected, no one could be prosecuted, and the expense of returning the building to its former site provided a convenient and practical argument against that action. A catastrophe long remembered by the early residents of Bottineau was a huge prairie fire in 1886 that swept 500 sq. m. of territory NW. of town, destroying hay and buildings. The Indians of the region were not hostile to the white settlers, but there were Indian scares now and then, and the white men were inclined to be cautious. An old French settler living near Bottineau tells the story of being lost with two companions. They asked some Indians for directions, and were invited to a meal, which they accepted to avoid giving offense. They were almost enjoying the meal, when an old squaw, who had been stirring the stew which they had been eating, urged hospitably, "Dig down deep; pup in bottom." The STATE SCHOOL OF FORESTRY, in the northeastern part of Bottineau on Oak Creek, offers a two-year junior college course in forestry. In the botanical garden or arboretum are about 30 varieties of foreign trees, obtained on a reciprocal basis from other countries, to be tried out in this climate. Plantings established under direction of the school are found on farms in every county in the State. The annual output of the nursery at the present time (1938) is about 500,000 seedlings. At Bottineau is the junction with a graveled highway called the Lake Road, which leads NE. into the hills to Lake Metigoshe, one of the State's best-known summer resorts. Right on this road, at the southern approach to the bridge over Oak Creek, to the junction with a trail, =1 m.=