Page 441 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - USA

NOR TH D AK O T A  439

P North Dakota Heritage Center
Capitol Mall, Bismarck. Tel (701) 328-
2666. Open 8am–5pm Mon–Fri,
10am–5pm Sat & Sun. 7
P Fort Abraham Lincoln
State Park
4480 Fort Lincoln Rd. Tel (701) 667-
6340. Open Apr 1–Memorial Day:
9am–5pm daily; Memorial Day–Labor
Day: 9am–7pm; Labor Day–Sep 30:
9am–5pm. & 7
6 Fargo
* 216,000. ~ £ @ n 2001 44th
The Painted Canyon, Theodore Roosevelt National Park St S, (800) 235-7654.
4 Theodore 5 Bismarck & ∑ fargomoorhead.org
Roosevelt National Mandan The largest city in North Dakota,
Park * 120,000. ~ @ n 1600 Burnt Fargo lies directly across the
Boat Dr, Bismarck, (800) 767-3555. Red River from its sister city,
Medora. Tel (701) 623-4466. ∑ discoverbismarckmandan.com Moorhead, Minnesota. Fargo’s
Open 8am–4:30pm daily. historic downtown includes
Closed Jan 1, Thanksgiving, Dec 25. Riverboat traffic, railroads, the renovated 1926 Fargo
& 7 ∑ nps.gov/thro and the government were Theatre, an Art Moderne
instrumental in the develop- structure that still presents art
The tiny western North Dakota ment of the state capital of and period films as well as live
town of Medora is the gateway Bismarck, founded in 1872 on performances. Southwest of the
to the Theodore Roosevelt the east bank of the Missouri theater is the superb Plains Art
National Park and the ruggedly, River. The 19-story, Art Deco Museum, housed in a restored
beautiful North Dakota North Dakota State Capitol 1904 International Harvester
badlands. The bill that created dominates the city’s leafy, low- Company warehouse. This
this park as a memorial to slung skyline. Known as the museum has the state’s largest
Roosevelt was signed on April “Skyscraper of the Prairies,” the public art collection, with works
25, 1947, by President Truman. 1933 structure is visible for by the region’s Native American
On November 10, 1978, the area miles in every direction, mainly and folk artists. The Roger Maris
was given national park status because of its location on top of Baseball Museum, in the
by virtue of another bill signed a small rise in the center of the West Acres Shopping Center,
by President Carter. city. The State Museum at North celebrates the achievements
The Theodore Roosevelt Dakota Heritage Center, on the of Fargo’s native son, who hit
National Park covers a sprawling Capitol grounds, provides a 61 home runs in 1961, setting a
110 sq miles (280 sq km) of three fascinating introduction to the record for most home runs in
areas – the North and South state’s Native American heritage a season.
Units and Elkhorn Ranch. The and territorial settlement. It
butte-studded South Unit has also traces the story of the F Fargo Theatre
the phantasmagoric Painted state’s rich historical past to 314 Broadway. Tel (701) 239-8385.
Canyon and can be explored the present age. Open call for schedule. & 7
on horseback or seen from an Mandan, a gateway to
overlook from a 36-mile (58-km) the West, lies just across the
self-guided auto tour. Part of Missouri. To the south of
the landscape is dotted with downtown is Fort Abraham
mushroom-shaped stone Lincoln State Park, which
formations. The North Unit contains On-a-Slant Indian
features a dramatic, oxbow Village, the excavated remains
bend in the Little Missouri River, of a 17th-century Mandan
and windswept grasslands. Native American community,
Unlike the much-visited and several other
South Unit, this pocket lies reconstructed buildings. The
in very isolated country. fort was the last base for
However, a 14-mile (22-km) reckless George Armstrong
auto route through this rugged Custer, who led the 7th Cavalry
landscape provides access to from here to their disastrous
nature trails and numerous defeat at the Battle of Little
scenic overlooks. Bighorn (see p573) in 1876. Exterior of the historic Fargo Theatre, Fargo

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