Cut to two nights ago. Mom was looking to see what was available to do in Bismarck and found the North Dakota Cultural Center. And guess what was there! The First Folio! Yes! She didn’t get to see it in Omaha, either, so this morning we headed to the Cultural Center to see a piece of literary history. I know, my nerd is showing. But it was cool. The docent at the door was a little over-the-top, though. He didn’t let us just enjoy the moment. He kept talking. Oh well. I was a little surprised there weren’t more people there, but I guess Shakespeare isn’t for everyone.
We even got to take a picture with the Bard himself. :)
We walked around the Cultural Center after that, and we got to see dinosaur skeletons. Ah, dinosaurs. They’re so strange and inspire such speculation. No one knows what they really looked like or sounded like or moved like. All we know is their general size and shape. But looking at them is reminder of God’s creative genius.
And while we were looking at the mastodon skeleton, the docent (from the First Folio) wandered past and tried to set up pictures for us. Thank you, sir, but that’s really not necessary.
The state capitol was on the same grounds, so off we went. I never would’ve pegged the building for the state capitol. It looks like an office building, which is what a capitol is, I guess. The original capitol burned down in the 1930s, so they had to build a new one. At 18 stories, it’s an imposing structure, but it doesn’t have the aura of a capitol. It did have some interesting architectural features, though, which we found on the tour we took. We got to see the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court chambers. The representatives and senators don’t have offices - they do all their work at their desks in their respective chambers. Sure saves on staffing and costs.
Our next stop was Fort Abraham Lincoln. Gen. George Custer left this fort to march to Little Big Horn where he and his men were completely wiped out. We didn’t take the tour here, mainly in the interest of time. We’ve also both seen barracks and storage buildings - the main thing would’ve been the Custers’ house. We did walk through the Mandan Indian village behind the visitors’ center. It’s earth lodges and, although it doesn’t include as many now (5) as it did then (more than 80), it’s still interesting.
On the west side of the parade ground, where Custer’s house is, you can see stacks of rocks that indicate the corners of the other homes where the officers lived.
We headed to Jamestown then to see what we could see. When I was looking online to see what there was to do, I found a place I felt I needed to see - Fort Seward. I didn’t even know such a place existed. The fort was in service from 1872-1877 and really wasn’t necessary. There aren’t any buildings left, although there were rock piles to indicate officers’ quarters.
As we drove through Jamestown looking for this fort, I saw a huge flag flying on top of a hill. And that was the place. It was quiet - a nice place just to reflect if you wanted to.
On the other side of town is the other side of tourism - Dakota Thunder. A frontier town provides the lead-up. The town includes everything - a jail, a fire house, a law office. This town featured a place called “Louis L’Amour Writers’ Shack.” L’Amour was born in Jamestown and lived there until he was 15. I don’t know if I knew that or not, but this “shack” was dedicated to him. It included a pretty complete collection of his books, which was cool to see.
And then there was Dakota Thunder. This creation is 26 feet tall, 46 feet long, 14 feet wide and weighs 60 tons. It is the world’s largest buffalo. And it was not small.
From books to bones to buffalo. It was a good day.
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