Beginning in a field near Wing, Apple Creek meanders 65 miles before flowing into the Missouri River near the University of Mary in Bismarck. In 1885, residents considered the creek a recreational spot, although it could often be dangerous. Some declared that crossing the Apple Creek bridge after dark, or with a shy team of horses by daylight could be perilous. Others called the bridge “inadequate and insufficient” because it was too narrow for farm machinery.
Here’s a sampling of stories from 1885 that involve the creek. J. H. Rickerts discovered a “mammoth” snapping turtle weighing “sixty-three pounds.” It became a “rare and royal banquet.”
H. Fink and E. S. Beardsley, railway postal clerks, had been hunting in the creek bottoms when they came across some wild grapes. While picking and eating the fruit, Fink accidently shot himself and died.
On this date, four “society belles” from Bismarck and their chaperones completed “a week of rural and romantic bliss” while camping “in the shade of a gold-leafed thicket.” Travelers passing by the so-called “Camp Nute” were “hailed by a bright [bouquet] of Dakota’s fairest roses” and heard the belles’ laughter echoing across the murmuring creek.
Another event that year involved a wagon and a team of horses owned by Thomas Foster. The team and wagon had gone missing, but were later found in the creek. The horses had drowned, possibly “precipitated into the water by fright.”
And did you know that the government stocked bodies of water with fish back then? The Fish Car Era involved shipping live fish by rail, and in 1885 the fish train brought 60 carp for Apple Creek. This carp distribution was declared “one of the many wise and commendable movements inaugurated by the government,” but today, carp are considered an invasive species in most of the world.
Livestock still occasionally drown in the creek, but not with a wagon attached. One can camp at Menoken Grove nearby, but not on the banks of Apple Creek. The creek is now better known as a place for kayaking, fishing, hiking, and hunting. Its banks also feature the Apple Creek Country Club and Menoken Indian Village, a state historical site.
Dakota Datebook by Cody Goehring
Sources:
- AllTrails, “Apple Creek Bottoms Wildlife Management Area,” https://www.alltrails.com/ar/trail/us/north-dakota/apple-creek-bottoms-wildlife-management-area
- Apple Creek Country Club, https://applecreekcountryclub.com/
- Bismarck Daily Tribune, August 22, 1885, p3, “A Sad Accident”
- Bismarck Daily Tribune, September 27, 1885, p4, “Roses of the Prairie”
- Bismarck Daily Tribune, November 7, 1885, p3, “The Playful Carp”
- Bismarck Weekly Tribune, June 26, 1885, p5, “A Mammoth Turtle”
- Bismarck Weekly Tribune, July 31, 1885, p5, “Improve the Bridge”
- Bismarck Weekly Tribune, October 30, 1885, p3, “The Team Found Dead”
- Bismarck Weekly Tribune, November 6, 1885, p4, “Carp for the Brooks”
- Emmons County Record, January 1, 1885, p1, “Highway to the Capital”
- The First Scout, “The Origin of Apple Creek,” https://thefirstscout.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-origin-of-apple-creek.html
- Geography Tool Shed, “Apple Creek,” https://geography.brucemyers.com/river/6328
- Griggs Courier, August 28, 1885, p2, “Henry Fink...”
- Menoken Grove 4-H Picnic Park, https://menokengrove.com/
- ND Game and Fish, “Common Carp,” https://gf.nd.gov/ans/species/common-carp#:~:text=This%20fish%20tends%20to%20uproot,is%20no%20good%20control%20method
- Paddling.com, “Apple Creek in ND,” https://paddling.com/paddle/trips/apple-creek-north-dakota
- State Historical Society of ND, “Menoken Indian Village,” https://www.history.nd.gov/historicsites/menoken/index.html
- Trout Unlimited, “Apple Creek Fishery,” https://cfrtu.org/apple-creek-fishery/#:~:text=The%20section%20of%20Apple%20Creek,excellent%20habitat%20for%20game%20fish.
