Our first stop today was the North Dakota capital building in Bismarck. It is one of four capital buildings in the United States that has a large central tower. This design was chosen here because it was built during the depression. This style building was less expensive for the exterior. That left some extra funds for decorating the inside.
The main lobby of the capitol is very impressive. The ceiling is over forty feet high. The walls are lined with marble that has been carefully installed so that the patterns in the marble extend from floor to ceiling. The hallway for the Senate and House Chambers are decorated in fancy wood finishes that provide a dignified appearance. If you look closely, you will notice small meeting areas in the alcoves of the hallway. The layout and the wooden walls provide a natural sound break that gives each alcove a more private feel.
We were not able to enter the Senate and House Chambers today. We found these pictures of the two rooms when we traveled to the top floor of the capitol.
The elevator doors were also works of art. The various carvings in the doors depict different aspects of the history of North Dakota.
The top floor was an art gallery, a museum, and a treasury of artifacts about the state. There was a 360 degree view of the area that gave quite a long distance view.
There were several items about Theodore Roosevelt included in the displays. He spent several years living in the Dakota Territory. While he was born elsewhere, both North and South Dakota claim him as a president from their state. This is because he is quoted as saying he probably would not have become president if he had not spent time in North Dakota.
Outside of the capitol there were several statues representing part of North Dakota history. Below are two of the statues. The first is a pioneer family traveling west. It honors the bravery and the challenges that the families moving west faced. The second statue is a bison. Unlike many statues, the bison statue may be less than life sized. The bison is both a symbol of the wild western frontier and an acknowledgement of how important bison were as a source of food, clothing and many other things for people living in the Dakotas.
After the tour of the capitol, we headed toward Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The trip was a couple of hours longer than expected. Today we decided Google maps may not be as reliable as we had expected. The first part of our trip was on interstate highways. When we exited the interstate, there were signs that said there was a road closure ahead. Since Google was directing us to go ahead, we assumed that there was a detour. We drove about 50 miles before we confirmed that the assumption was wrong. There had been a very recent failure in the road that created a total road closure. We reported the road closure to Google.
We got to turn around and drive back the same fifty miles. We stopped on the way back to ask a local for directions to the park. Those directions turned out to be a better choice than what Google was now proposing.
The detour turned out to be about 120 miles of extra driving. It was not a total waste. We got to see some beautiful scenery only locals usually get to see. The national parks do not have a lock on all the cool sites in our country. Here are four examples of the truth of that statement.
We arrived, as the saying goes, better late than never. The North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park is on the Little Missouri River. This is the same river that flows through the South Unit. The North Unit is much more remote. The gorgeous scenery continued in the park as we headed to the Caprock Coulee Trail.
Once we arrived at the Caprock Coulee Trailhead, we were quickly introduced to the wild nature of the park. As we got out of the car, we heard a sudden noise followed by loud thundering footsteps. It was a single bison running by us about 75 feet away. He stopped running as quickly as he had started. His loud snorting made it clear he was not happy. We took a couple of quick pictures and backed away from him. If you look at the statue picture again, you will notice the live bison looks much bigger.
The trailhead actually has two trails. We hiked the shorter Riverbend Overlook first. Other people let us know that the one bison we saw was only one of several on the trail. So we walked carefully to avoid any more upset bison. We got to see a very nice overlook of the Little Missouri River.
Our next hike was scheduled to be a longer hike. Because of our two hour detour, we decided to shorten the hike a bit. The first picture shows the start of the Caprock Coulee Trail from its highest point. We walked about a half mile to see two views of the coulees (ravines) that drain the higher lands. We then returned to our car by a trail offshoot that followed the road.
Even in our short hike, we saw numerous flowers. Here is a sample of the variety that we observed.
Our next place to see amazing sites was the Bentonic Clay Overlook. According to the sign, we were supposed to notice the gray layers of deposits in the hills. These are deposits of Bentonic clay. It was hard to miss the bison though. We saw a lone bison standing on a small, almost flat area of ground. He was enjoying the small patch of green grass he had found there. What is hard to see in the picture is the steep climb he made to get there. If you look at the angle at which the grass climbs up behind him, you get a hint of the grade he climbed down to get there. After seeing just two bison, we already know that in addition to being huge, they are very quick and quite agile.
The two other pictures in this group were taken shortly after we drove away from the Bentonic Clay Overlook. There are a lot of bison in this park. They also have a huge prairie to graze on.
The last stop on today’s tour was at Oxbow Overlook. It is named for the loop the river has formed here. The river almost bends back on itself to form a loop. You can see it best in the first picture.
After we drove to the back of the park, our only way out was the way we came in. We decided to go more slowly on the way out so we could enjoy the beautiful vistas.
The two hour delay turned into a blessing of things we might never have seen. It also reminded us to enjoy what you have rather than to worry about what you might have missed. This was a great day.