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
At Fort Totten is the junction (L) with a graveled Indian Service road,
from this point the tour route.
Right from Fort Totten on ND 57 to the INDIAN RESETTLEMENT TRACT (R),
=0.5 m.=, where the Government has constructed 13 new homes for the
Indians.
At =2 m.= on ND 57 are the DEVIL'S EARS, two long hills through which
the highway runs. A man passing between these hills loses his mind,
according to Indian legend, but regains it as soon as he comes out
of the valley. The Indians are reluctant to discuss these hills with
strangers; for while their pre-Christian philosophy included no devils,
the hills were believed to have some connection with the Great Mystery
or Great Spirit.
On the graveled Indian Service road is the 800-acre SULLY'S HILL
NATIONAL GAME PRESERVE, =15.5 m.= (_no admission charge_; _picnic
shelters_, _playgrounds_, _pure water_, _camping facilities_; _vehicles
not allowed within fenced area_). Trees and shrubs cover the hills
of the park almost to their peaks, and tiny lakes dot the valleys,
making this a beautiful spot. The park and its highest point, Sully's
Hill, are named for Gen. Alfred H. Sully, to commemorate his Indian
expeditions into North Dakota. A high woven-wire fence encloses small
herds of buffalo, elk, and deer, also wild fowl. Some of the animals
are quite tame, and amuse visitors with their antics. More than 14,000
people visited the park in 1935.
The DEVIL'S TOOTH (L), =17 m.=, a boulder about 6 ft. high and 5
ft. square at the base, resembles a tooth with its roots extending
upward. This rock is greatly revered by the Indians, who tell that
an Indian mother wandered over the hill one day carrying her child,
and disappeared. Searchers, looking for her in vain, found this large
stone, which had not been here before, and concluded it was the
spirit of the woman and child. The stone has since had a reputation
of connection with evil spirits. Gifts are often left here by Indians
when a relative has died, but it is said that other Indians sometimes
appropriate these offerings. It is an old custom for an Indian to give
away part or even all of his possessions after the death of a loved one.
At =19 m.= L. on a graveled Indian Service road.
At =21 m.= (R) is small, attractive COURT LAKE (_charge of 10c per day
or 25c per wk. for use of bathing beach_), named for Ignatius Court,
the Indian who helped Father Hunt print a Siouan newspaper in the
early days of St. Michael's Mission, and who served for many years as
official interpreter at the Fort Totten Agency.
At =21.8 m.= is a junction with a graveled Indian Service road (L), now
the route.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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