Pierre to Bottineau
Sitting Bull's Grave, Garrison Dam & Minot Air Force Base
Day 36 — from the South Dakota plains into North Dakota, following the Missouri River north.
Day 36 took Ray north from Pierre, South Dakota into North Dakota — following the Missouri River through the Great Plains.
Sitting Bull's grave on the Missouri River was a stop. The great Hunkpapa Lakota leader — who defeated Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 — was killed by Indian police on the Standing Rock Reservation in 1890. His grave, marked by a granite bust, sits on a bluff above the Missouri River near Mobridge, South Dakota.
Bismarck, the North Dakota state capital, was next — then north along the Missouri to the Garrison Dam, one of the largest earthen dams in the world. The dam created Lake Sakakawea, named for the Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark.
Minot Air Force Base — home of B-52 bombers and Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles — was a stop before arriving in Bottineau for the night.
Photos from the Day
The Day's Route
Sitting Bull's Grave — Missouri River
Sitting Bull — the great Hunkpapa Lakota leader who defeated Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 — was killed by Indian police on December 15, 1890. His grave is marked by a granite bust on a bluff above the Missouri River.
Bismarck, ND — State Capitol
Bismarck — the North Dakota state capital, on the Missouri River. The North Dakota State Capitol is the tallest building in the state at 19 stories.
Garrison Dam & Lake Sakakawea
The Garrison Dam — one of the largest earthen dams in the world, completed in 1953. The dam created Lake Sakakawea, a 178-mile-long reservoir named for Sacagawea, the Shoshone woman who guided Lewis and Clark.
Minot Air Force Base
Minot Air Force Base — home of the 5th Bomb Wing (B-52 Stratofortress bombers) and the 91st Missile Wing (Minuteman III ICBMs). One of the most strategically important air bases in the United States.
Bottineau, ND
Bottineau — a small city in north-central North Dakota, near the Canadian border and the Turtle Mountains.