This trip must have been Craig’s idea since it was, by North Dakota standards, in his old backyard. Our plan was to canoe the last free flowing section of the Missouri River from below Garrison Dam downstream to Bismarck, where Like Oahe begins. Total distance would be about 65 miles. Somehow, this didn’t seem too far for us, but I had little experience paddling on a river as huge as the Missouri.
I
drove up from Lead on Friday after work making two stops along the way. The first
was at the “Center of the Nation” monument outside of Bell Fourche, SD. There
are actually several of these “Centers.” This one is for the 50 US states,
including Alaska and Hawaii. It turned out the marker alongside US 85 is still ten
miles east of the center, which is on private land. From the pullout, I hiked
to the top of an adjacent butte topped with rock cairns. A sign on top
explained that the cairns had been built by shepherds.
Center of the Nation near Bell Fourche 1991.
In
2007, a much fancier monument was installed along with a museum and visitors
center.
Current Center of the Nation Monument from SD Tourism.
My
second stop was at “Radio Tower Butte”, also on US 85, and 16.6 miles north of
Bowman, ND. I’m not sure why I’d picked the route, I had already climbed the ND
Highpoint of White Butte twice on my previous trips to Theodore Roosevelt National
Park. Perhaps my inspiration arose from Craig’s stories of a confusing sign
along the road for the Highpoint that seemed to indicate that the nearby Radio
Tower was the highpoint, rather than the more distant White Butte.
White Butte from US 85.
I
parked at a pullout being used for road construction. There was a faint road
leading east from the highway along a fence line, and I decided to run on up.
It took me 18:43 to reach the top, I assume I followed the old two track all
the way. The highest point on the butte (3,472’) was on the east side by some
old towers. Once on top I could see over another butte to the north (though my
notes say south) that was higher at 3,484’. I ran along the crest of the butte
to 3,484’, then descended almost due west back to my truck for a total of 4
miles in 43:48. There was no sign of any foot traffic on either butte. 
Lake Sakakawea and Garrison Dam from Lake Sakakawea SP, 2023
I
reached the US Army Corp’s Downstream Campground, near Pick City and below Garrison
Dam, after midnight. The drive had taken seven hours including a dinner stop. The
next morning Craig and his father drove down from their home in Minot and
arrived at 7AM. By 8AM we had the canoe loaded and launched. We had a clear
cool, and very windy day. Because of the potential for tipping the canoe, I did
not take a camera along.
By
lunch time we realized that we were not making good enough progress because of
the wind. Though we were paddling downstream, the force of the wind rushing
upriver was as strong or stronger than the river current, even on this undammed
section. I’m not sure how we kept track of our progress, Craig likely had a
map, but for a long while there were few landmarks useful to a rookie like me.
A few miles in we passed the Knife River National Historical Site, but I was
not aware of it at that time.
Earth Lodge at Knife River, 2019.
We
ate lunch before reaching the large power plant south of Stanton, where the
river turns east. We thought the plant was about 13 miles downriver (my Topo! software
shows it at 16). For the next two hours we struggled against the wind, but made
little progress. The wind was strong enough that we couldn’t rest without being
blown backward. Much of this south trending section had white caps with foot
high waves coming over the bow of the canoe. When we took a moment to look back,
the power plant was still only about two miles away. We would have exhausted
ourselves, but finally came to a calmer section where the river bent east
(probably near Fort Clark).
We
stopped for dinner around 5 PM and decided to push on toward Washburn. Luckily
the highway bridge, the first we’d seen all day, was not too much further. We immediately
pulled over and made camp, probably on the south side on some game lands.
My
notes for the trip mostly concern our struggles paddling against the wind, but
the trip was worth the effort. The scenery was great, and the river seemed wild
and empty. Its wide path was far beyond any other river I had travelled. There
was essentially no development right along the river, if you overlooked the
power plant, and very little trash. We saw rock jetties and slopes built for erosion
control. There were a few power boats on the river, but those were mostly idle
while people fished. Other than the fishermen we saw no other people along the
river. There was not much wildlife, but we did see an abundance of birds including
pelicans, cormorants, ducks, geese, and one heron. I wish I remembered more
observations, but mostly this was a heads down, keep paddling day. At Washburn
we were about 32 miles down river from Garrison Dam and just shy of Cross Ranch
State Park.
The Missouri River at Cross Ranch SP 2022.
We
knew by then we were not going to be able to make it to Bismarck the next day
in time to get back to work, and that Washburn was the best, and maybe only,
place available for a takeout. So, we decided to end the trip in Washburn. The
next morning, we “zipped” into town.
The Missouri River from Cross Ranch Preserve 2022.
Craig called his
Dad before he had left for Bismarck, and let him know to pick us up in Washburn.
We then walked all over town trying to stay warm before he met us. It turns out
there was a beautiful campground down stream of the bridge, and a nice
restaurant in town.
After
Craig’s Dad arrived and we got the canoe packed up. I then tucked my tail
between my legs and headed back to Lead.
