Day 82
We departed Bismarck and headed about an hour north to the Cross Ranch State Park which is located on the Missouri River. The drive was very isolated, nothing but prairie and farm land with several turns seeming in the middle of nowhere. The last turn to the park was a dirt road and near the end of it was a railroad overpass the approach of which is from a hill and it certainly appeared to be lower than we were as we approached it. The clearance was 14 feet and enough for us to fit under it. However, the underpass was one lane only and now we had to thread the needle to fit side to side. We arrived at the park’s campground office we were told we were the only ones there and go take our pick of the 35 rv campsites. And I thought the drive was isolated! After lunch we drove the car to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center about 25 minutes away which included a 6 mile dirt road. Along the way we came across a bison herd. The Center set forth the history of the Lewis & Clark Expedition (“LCE”) which took place in 1804 to 1806. The Center also includes a replica of Fort Mandan about a mile down the road by the Missouri River to which we had a guided tour. L&C arrived here in October, 1804, and found a village of the Mandan Indians whose population was about 5,000, even larger than St. Louis where LCE began their journey. The Mandans were friendly and shared foods and freely traded with LCE. LCE built the fort to serve as their winter home until spring. LCE departed in April, 1805, and continued their task of finding a route to the Pacific. When LCE finally arrived back in St. Louis in the fall of 1806, they learned that they had been given up for dead. Next we drove to the Garrison Dam which took over an hour round trip. Back at the campground, we took a very nice, and quiet, hike along the Missouri River before the mosquitoes forced us inside. Turned out we were one of three rver’s in the park that night.
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