Great Northern Route 1: North Dakota

Start your trip with an overview of North Dakota history from prehistoric times into the present. The museum features an especially good display of dinosaur bones. Just behind the museum stands a sculpture of Sacagawea and her little boy, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau (Pompy). The state capitol building is also nearby.

Discover Lewis & Clark Expedition era artifacts and displays. View the evocative artwork of Karl Bodmer, George Catlin, and Michael Haynes. Learn about the Expedition's stay at nearby Fort Mandan.

Visit a full-size replica of Fort Mandan, where the Expedition wintered in 1804-05. Paddling from here in April 1805, Lewis & Clark and the members of the Corps of Discovery were the first Euro-Americans to scientifically explore and map the Missouri River upriver. Thanks to information gathered from friendly tribes in the area, they had a good idea of what they would encounter.

Learn about the culture and traditions of the Native American tribes near whom Lewis & Clark and their men wintered. It was in this vicinity among the Hidatsa tribe where the captains hired Toussaint Charbonneau, gaining in the bargain his wife Sacagawea and their baby boy, Jean Baptiste.

See your first Great Northern monument. While Clark was the primary mapmaker on the Expedition, a cartographer in the employ of British fur trading interests was making maps of comparable quality of the northerly latitudes. David Thompson worked first for the Hudson's Bay Co. before joining the North West Co. He would travel some 50,000 miles in his pursuits, often accompanied by his metis wife Charlotte Small, with whom he shared thirteen children and a marriage lasting 57 years.

The David Thompson Monument was dedicated on July 17, 1925. The railway president, Ralph Budd, persuaded the local authorities to change the name of the nearest town, Falsen, to Verendrye, a French explorer and fur trader who first came through the area in 1738. Why not name it Thompson? Another town in North Dakota already claimed the name.

Budd donated the land on which the monument sat to the State of North Dakota, whose governor was on hand to accept it. Canadian historian Lawrence Burpee gave a talk about Verendrye and T. C. Elliott, a Walla Walla, Washington historian whose first name was Thompson, delivered a speech on his favorite subject. During interludes between talks, the Great Northern Songsters sang the North Dakota state song, Oh Canada, and America, while the Star Spangled Banner played by the Great Northern Employees' Band ended the festivities.

New Town, North Dakota is the modern-day home of the Three Affiliated Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes. Museum displays explain and preserve their heritage and culture. Stop by the nearby MHA Interpretive Center and unwind at the 4 Bears Casino and Lodge, also in the vicinity.

Relax along the shores of the Missouri River's Lake Sakakawea (the North Dakota spelling of the name of the young woman accompanying the Expedition). Lodging, camping and a marina with rental equipment are available.

Spend the night in Williston, which offers numerous opportunities for accommodations, food and drink, and entertainment.