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My Vacation Blog
7 forts in 5 days
by Frank Haynes
Posted on 6/29/2009
At the Fort McKeon Block houses overlooking Fort Abraham Lincoln and the Missouri River
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We just concluded our North Dakota vacation and want to share the highlights. Our goal was to visit as many forts as possible with a focus on relaxation, education and family fortification.
The great thing is we only needed to travel about 100 miles a day to discover something fun and interesting.
After Day One visiting Fort Abercrombie, Fort Ransom and the buffalo in Jamestown, day two was on to Mandan, ND (110 miles approx) where we spent a good part of the day between Fort McKeon Block Houses overlooking the Missouri River, On a slant Indian village and Fort Abraham Lincoln. Lots to see and do here as you walk in the path of Mandan Indians (1600s - 1700s) and frontier soldiers (1870s) with interpretive tours of the On a slant village, the George Custer House and cavalry buildings on Fort Abraham Lincoln grounds.
Day three was on to Dickinson (100 miles) with a stop at the Dinosaur Museum - lots of great bones and stones here, then on to Medora (40 miles appox.) Today was history with a splash of geology and archeology. Sites in and around Medora included a tour of the Chateau de Mora (a hunting lodge built in the late 1800s by a European Aristocrat), a drive through the south unit of Roosevelt National Park - lots of prairie dogs and wild horses up close, the breathtaking scenery of painted canyon the most scenic views between here and the Grand Canyon and topping off the night at the Medora Musical, American music and history under the stars.
Day four took in the north unit of Theodore Roosevelt Park, lots of buffalo right alongside the road, then up the road to Fort Union, a rebuilt trading fort from the early 1800s that provided a beautiful overlook of the Missouri River and some great interpretive information from the staff on site. From there it was four miles to Fort Buford, a military fort from the mid 1800s. We were greeted by "Arch" the historian interpreter who gave us a fantastic look into the life and times of Sitting Bull and life for a soldier at the fort. We overnighted in Williston. Total mileage for the day was about 130 miles.
Day five was our longest road trip of the tour, about 240 miles from Williston to Fort Totten. There is plenty to do in-between there, the zoo in Minot and Fort Mandan a little south near Washburn but we had visited both before. Fort Totten proved to be the most complete fort of all seven we visited. All the original buildings and lots of historic items to view. We completed the day with a drive through Sully Wildlife refuge where we were treated to elk, buffalo and prairie dogs along the road.
Our daughters really enjoyed the variety of this trip - history, music, horse-back rides, wild animals, hiking and kid-friendly food along the way. Plus we were never in the car for more than a few hours a day.
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