Hello North Dakota

I'd never been to North Dakota.  In fact, it was one of the last three states that I'd never stepped foot in.  So, one weekend Joe and I decided to drive into North Dakota and spend the night just so we can say we've eaten and spent the night in that great state.

To prove that I'd made it to North Dakota, I wanted my picture taken.  Since there was no one else around except Joe, I had no choice except him when it came to taking my picture.  (People ask me all the time why aren't there more pictures of me?  These pictures might explain why.  All I wanted was a simple picture of me with the North Dakota sign in the background).

I never got my picture.

I'm about to lose my patience here after several attempts by Joe.  I was about to start praying for some car to come along and maybe take my picture.  No one came.

This is where we had reservations to spend the night.  Population - 1,600+.  Claim to fame - nothing.

Ahh, our home away from home...

This is where we had to eat our dinner.  It used to be a Tastee Freeze and was the only restaurant that was open.  We arrived there at almost 6:30 p.m. and found out they were closing at 7:00 p.m.  Otherwise it would have been gas station/convenience food for us.

On the way home, all we seemed to see was miles and miles and miles of wheat fields.

This is a grave we saw way out in the middle of a field.  Yes, I did try to drive there, but had to turn around when the car started sitting really low and I was afraid we'd get stuck.

A church out in the middle of nowhere.

It appears the church may not have been used for awhile.

Gotta have a restroom for the church.

I loved the entrance to this ranch.

Heading back into South Dakota...

Human artifacts have been found on or near Bear Butte that date back 10,000 years, indicating a long and continuous interest in the mountain.The Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history.
Notable visitors like Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to the site. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills.
Violating a treaty of 1868, George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, and Bear Butte then served as an easily identifiable landmark for the rush of invading prospectors and settlers into the region. Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills and instead embarked on a program to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations.

This area, extending along Bear Butte Creek, was for centuries a select camp site for the Plains Indians, who found here mountain spring water, wood, protection from the bitter north winds, together with much game and wild fruit in season. Here, or nearly adjacent, was held the Grand Council of 1857 attended by many bands of Plains Indians. This council determined to resist white advance into their lands and most particularly the mountainous area, now known as the Black Hills.

Crazy Horse, an Oglalla, then a young man, was inspired by this plan of resistance and vowed to dedicate his life to this cause. While the participants did not strictly adhere to the principles then agreed upon, the hostility and discontent of the next two decades culminated in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.

Ft. Meade, adjacent hereto, first established as Camp Ruhlen in August 1878, was often obliged to house, feed and clothe Indian encampments here. For years Oglallas under Chief Lips claimed this as their abode but with the coming of settlers and the establishment of Reservation boundaries the site was abandoned. Today, mute testimony to the use and extent of this site by the Indians is to be seen in the numerous scars, made by sharpening tools, in the great rock walls to the north and on the huge floodplain boulders lying near the Creek.