Have you ever wondered how Native Americans, early explorers, and settlers got around the region without getting lost? These days, well-marked highways and GPS make modern travel easy. But historically, knowledge of the landscape and landmarks were key to traveling the region.
I was thinking about that recently when perusing the book “Military Life in Dakota: the journal of Philippe Regis De Trobriand.” De Trobriand was in command of Fort Stevenson in Dakota Territory from 1867-69. In his journal he mentions Dog Den Butte in what is now Mclean County. It was a well-known landmark that Native Americans knew as The Mountain Which Looks. This area of wooded hills and ravines provided unobstructed views in all directions and was known as an area of considerable risk to being ambushed. As such, he noted that trails on the prairie skirted the area at a considerable distance.
Explorer David Thompson set off for the Mandan villages from Manitoba in 1797. The group headed southwest until they saw Turtle Mountain, which he referred to as Turtle Hill, then proceeded southward along the Mouse River for a distance. He also mentioned Dog Den Butte, and that it was a landmark for travelers between the Mouse and Missouri Rivers.
That is just a couple of historical references illustrating how the knowledge of landscape features helped identify travel routes. Rivers were also important in identifying travel routes, as were other aspects of the landscape.
Among the many features of eastern North Dakota used as landmarks would likely have included the Red, Sheyenne, and James Rivers as well as the Pembina Hills, Devils Lake, and Devils Heart Butte.
Further west, rivers, such as the Missouri, Knife, Heart, and Cannonball would have been important for travelers. Turtle Mountain and the Killdeer Mountains would also have been important landmarks, as were the various buttes, such as Sentinel Butte, Bullion Butte, and White Butte.
So, as you travel about, make a point to try to identify landscape features and landmarks that would be helpful in navigating an area, and give some thought to how important the various landscape features were to early travelers.
