Tom and I love meeting new rangers at every park we work. We work with full-time and seasonal rangers and like it best when we can find some time to hang out after work. At Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Park we enjoyed some after-work dinners and some fun-filled game nights. Ranger Lisa was …
Wonderful Visitors and Owie
During the summer, Tom and I enjoyed all the wonderful visitors to Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site. We averaged about 100 people a day from June through August, and then about 50 a day during September. Our highest numbers were during the special events of Rendezvous and Living History Weekend. 100 visitors a …
Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads
North Dakota’s history and development is inevitably tied to the Northern Pacific Railway. Although North Dakota is “midwestern,” it was one of the last places to become a state in the contiguous US. It only had enough population to become a state because of the Northern Pacific Railway. The Homestead Act of 1862 gave settlers …
North Dakota Skies and the Long View
Tom and I are back in Ohio. But, before I tell you about our journey home, I wanted to share some final thoughts about North Dakota and our time there. All this week, and perhaps some of next, I will still be talking about North Dakota even though I am sitting in my office in …
Writing Rock State Historic Site
Last week Tom and I drove north to see Writing Rock State Historic Site. We had planned on going to Canada, driving up to Regina, but we ran out of time and didn’t want to deal with the proof of vaccination thing. We are vaccinated but you have to register online and then Tom was …
Three Affiliated Tribes and Fort Berthold Reservation
I have been fascinated by the history of the Three Affiliated Tribes and the Fort Berthold Reservation ever since we came to North Dakota. Fort Berthold Reservation is the closest reservation to us in North Dakota and I have been reading about its history all summer. The Three Affiliated Tribes are the Mandan, Hidatsa and …
Library at Fort Union Trading Post
During my time at Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site I have been working in the Fort Union Trading Post library. Most National Park sites have a library full of books about the park or related subjects. Tom and I usually spend a lot of time in a park’s library. Fort Union has a …
Blessing for Our Travels from Zion
Last week Tom and I attended our last worship service at Zion Lutheran in Fairview, Montana. The Wednesday night services have been a great blessing for us. It is hard enough for us to find a place to worship when we can’t go on Sunday mornings. But this church, with Pastor Tim, has been a …
Enchanted Highway in North Dakota
South of I-94, beginning at exit 72 lies the Enchanted Highway. At the end of the highway is a castle. And living in that castle is a man with a dream, a big dream, an enchanted dream. Sounds kind of like a fairy tale, doesn’t it? But the Enchanted Highway is no fairy tale. Instead, …
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
The last place Tom and I visited when we went to Bismarck a few weeks ago was Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. Fort Abraham Lincoln is the oldest state park in North Dakota and one of the best, as far as we are concerned. Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park was established in 1907. Considering North …