By Andrea Winkjer Collin, Editor, North Dakota Horizons
Happy Independence Day, wherever it is that you are celebrating! Last year at this time, I was wrapping up my thoughts about our just-completed Lincoln Bicentennial "North Dakotans to Norway" trip, which helped all of us on the trip better understand the reasons why our ancestors immigrated to this country. If you didn't read them between June 20 and July 6 of last year, check out my blog posts on that trip. This year, I had the chance to get a taste of the experience of these immigrants settling in a new land.
Last year's summer issue of North Dakota Horizons featured the internationally acclaimed Fort Seward Wagon Train, written by Matt Holliday, editor of Pennsylvania magazine. I have always wanted to go on that wagon train, which originates in Jamestown, but could never work it into my schedule, so Matt and his family told the story I wish I could have done myself. But my big break came this year when one of the many centennial observances in North Dakota this year happened to be in Wildrose, the northwestern North Dakota town where my father was raised -- AND one of the events was a day-long trail ride around the area. This was my chance!
Fortunately my husband, Rick, was game to go along, and even though Friday was a very hot July day, we joined the other 60-some adventurers at the grounds of the one-room Upland School, seven and a half miles north of Wildrose. Not being experienced horse riders, and not having our own horses, we opted to go by covered wagon. The nine riders in our wagon were in good hands with the experience of our driver, Dale Sparks of Crosby, and Jack and Jim, his rare four-year-old Suffolk draft horses.
Our 10-mile trek took us down the century-old ruts of the Old Breed Trail, which ran on the north side of Willow Lake and was traveled by Native Americans between North Dakota's Turtle Mountain and the area around Poplar, Montana. Even though the ruts marked the trail, there were plenty of bumps along the way -- no close calls where we feared we would tip over, but there were a few moments when we got jostled around a bit. Once later in the afternoon, as our horses tried to maneuver up a bit of an incline, we all got out and let them climb it without what had to be 2,000 pounds of passengers in tow.
In my lifetime, I have never had much interest in having horses or riding, but this was one day when I wished I had. To see these riders mount their horses and freely galllop across the prairie was something I really envied. But it's not that our two-miles-an-hour pace in the wagon didn't have its own rewards! We passed Hunkpapa Lakota teepee rings, the area's famous Buffalo Rock, the first barn in the Wildrose area, the location of many Independence Day celebrations near Willow Lake, and the site of the Old Town of Paddington, which existed for nearly seven years and merged with the new town of Wildrose, which had sprung up a few miles west in 1910 when the railroad came through. A highlight was seeing the still-standing cottonwood tree, shown below, where the infamous horse thief "Rowdy Red Walker" was found hanging on a cold December morning in 1908. Another was our lunch break at the Heckman Ranch, which was established near Willow Lake in 1902, before the days of barbed wire fences. The Heckman Ranch cowboys bought and traded draft horses for area settlers from Miles City Montana. Now owned by Heckman ancestors and my second cousins, Bill and Kay Fortier, the charm of this area is still evident.
As we inhaled the sweet smell of alfalfa in bloom, we saw deer, hawks and other birds, and miles and miles of crops, including white-blossoming fields of peas. After about five hours on the trail, we saw the Wildrose water tower about two miles in the distance -- what a welcome sight that was! As we drew closer to town, the traffic along the roads picked up, which included several trucks coming from the nearby oil fields. We were brought closer to the hustle of the centennial celebration and the out-of-state license plates turning into town. But for seven hours on a very hot July afternoon, we got a taste of the experience and a renewed respect for our ancestors who traveled this vast prairie 100 years ago, going two-miles-an-hour to create a new life on the Northern Plains.
Andrea...sounded awesome and am happy to hear you experienced the whole "cowgirl" thing!
Posted by: Connie Sundby | July 10, 2010 at 12:06 PM