https://goo.gl/photos/RYXGGyvLYGk7uHhQ9
Thursday,
August 10th – Sunday, August 13th
Ft.
Abraham Lincoln State Park, Bismarck, North Dakota
We left Roosevelt N.P. and headed east in a straight line on
I-94 to Bismarck, the capital city of North Dakota. Ft. Abraham Lincoln State
Park was our destination. This park is located along the Missouri River, where the
Heart River converges. The first known inhabitants of this place were the Mandan
Indians that had built a village of earth lodges on the river bank slope, inhabited
from years 1575 to 1781. They were skilled farmers, hunters and traders with
other Indians in the territory. Lewis & Clark stopped here in 1804 and
found the long abandoned Indian village, which they noted in their journals. Many years later in 1872, after the Northern
Pacific Railroad was built through this land, Fort McKeen was established on
the bluffs. A year later, the land became Ft. Abraham Lincoln and was the base
of Colonel George Custer and his 7th Cavalry. This was where they
rode out to the ill-fated campaign against the Plains Indians, at the Battle of
Little Bighorn. We all know this was his last stand; they were defeated, he and
most of the men died in this battle. In 1907, the land was donated to the state
by President Theodore Roosevelt and became a State Park. Due to the military
Fort being abandoned for decades, the State restored or rebuilt many of the buildings
for historical purposes. The surrounding area is mostly agricultural lands on
the rolling hills.
The campground was one of the nicest we have ever been in.
The grounds along the river were heavily treed with green grass everywhere. The
hills throughout the park had several miles of single track mountain biking
trails. We did enjoy riding the trails, they were a lot of fun and not too technical.
The views from the trails of the Missouri River valley were great. It was interesting
to tour the historical buildings and learn more history of the area. Such a
beautiful park, we truly enjoyed our time spent there. It was much more than we
expected in N. Dakota.
Monday,
August 14th – Wednesday, August 16th
Buffalo
River State Park, Moorhead, Minnesota
On our way east, we had planned to stay in the Fargo, N.D.
area. However, I found a great State Park just inside the Minnesota border. The
weather forecast called for rain a couple of days, so we decided it would be
good time to relax a little and also get some chores done on the camper. The
park was very nice; large shady camp sites with a prairie view out the back
window. It was in a remote area and was very quiet. We were able to hike some
trails around the park, when it wasn’t raining. The small Buffalo River wound its
way through the park. There was also a very nice “swimming hole” pool area.
This was man-made and spring fed, very clean water and lifeguards. It looked
like a lot of locals brought their children here for day use. It looked like a
lot of fun, but was too cold for us.
This was a decompression stop for us, so there was not a lot
of activities outdoors, thanks to the rain. After this respite, we were ready
to head into northern Minnesota. We were then ready to move forward and head
into North Minnesota.
