Two Mighty Rivers

We crossed the 4 Bears Bridge and headed down the Lewis & Clark 1804 Trail and into New Town where we stopped for breakfast. We stopped at the Super Value grocery. Every little town grocery is a new adventure and we never know what we'll be able to get. We put together a grocery list and it's fun to see how much of it we can get. This morning was cloudy and we followed Lake Sakakawea through a varying landscapes of fields, rolling hills of grass and sage, and strange looking buttes. Our end point today is Williston, ND which from the brochure looks like it has a lot to do.

We got into Williston and found the Buffalo Trails Campground. There is a municipal park down the street and we checked it out. There were picnic areas but no place to launch the boat or canoe. We were going to stay at the Lewis & Clark State Park but it was so far out of town we decided on something closer to the attractions. The campground is awful, but we are here for 2 nights. We'll use it for a base camp to see some of the attractions in the area. It was disappointing as there was no canoeing nearby and the golf courses are way overpriced!

After getting set up we drove down the 1804 Trail to the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Center. The center overlooks where the 2 rivers merge. The confluence is an area Meriwether Lewis referred to in his journals as "this long wished for spot." It is an area with magnificent views. In the center we watched a video "Splendid Isolation:Ft Buford. Ft Buford was one of a number of military posts established to protect overland and river routes used by immigrants settling the West. It served as the sentinel on the northern plains for 29 years, but is best rememberd as the place where the famous Hunkpapa Sioux leader, Sitting Bull, turned over his rifle in 1881. The center had a patio with a bunch of birdfeeders and we watched for a while. We saw a Black Headed Grosbeak and a Spotted Towhee which we don't have at home. The Goldfinches were every where. The rain stopped and we took a walk along the river. You can see the water from these two mighty rivers converging from different directions and then they swirl together and continue on as the Missouri. We went down to the boat ramp to see if we could launch the fold cat but the water was really fast due to the rain.

We drove up the road to the Fort Union Trading Post. The trading post was built near the confluence in 1828 by John Jacob Astor's American fur Company. It dominated the fur trade on the upper Missouri River until 1867. It was the headquarters for trading with the Cree, Crow, Blackfeet, Ojibwa, Hidatsa, Mandan and Arikara Indians. The fort is set up with indian tepees around the outside of the fort walls and you can really get a feel for what it was like back in the 1800's.

We did a lot of driving today and decided to try the Italian restaurant just down the street from camp at the Eagle Ridge Golf course. Food was ok, but we miss our good Italian food. We thought we might play golf in the morning if the weather clears. The sky is pretty black and it's really hot and humid. We had a thunderstorm and small hale tonight. We are trying to decide what to do tomorrow..