Jul 28, 2021 – North Dakota’s Biggest and Tallest

Among the many things you can see in North Dakota are the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world, the largest land mammal in North America, and the tallest habitable building in North Dakota. I have already devoted at least one blog to the largest land mammal, which is the American Bison, so this one will focus on the other two attractions located in North Dakota “where possibility is as endless as the horizon”. Ranked #1 for the hardest working state (what else are you going to do when it’s biting cold), North Dakota was worthy of the 10 days we spent within its borders.

Somewhere in the southwestern quadrant of North Dakota is a town called Regent, population 157. Saaalute! To Vivian and me, Regent seemed to be another example of the many boom-to-bust prairie towns we have seen on our travels through rural America. But interestingly, Regent, which is surrounded by miles of rolling farmland never experienced a boom. In fact, the greatest census number I could find for Regent was 405 in 1950.

But then came Regent resident Gary Greff. Greff is quoted as saying the following, “I came home one day and was looking at my town and said, ‘you know, this town has gone from 500 people to a hundred’. I thought if someone doesn’t do something, it’s only a matter of time before we’re gone. We don’t have a railroad, we don’t have the population, we don’t have the infrastructure. Why would a major corporation come to Regent? Rather than sit around waiting for someone from the outside to come in and save my town, I need to do something.” And do something he did.

“Nobody’s going to drive 30 miles off the interstate for normal sculptures, but they might drive for the world’s largest”, was Greff’s logic behind his sculptures that are placed along side a 32-mile stretch of highway. Indeed, the most observed sculpture located on the northwest corner of exit 72 where I-94 and 102^nd Ave SW meet is “Geese in Flight” which is listed in the Guinness World Book of Records as the largest scrap metal sculpture in the world. In 1991, Greff completed the first sculpture (The Tin Family) along the unnamed highway that became known as ‘The Enchanted Highway’. Enjoy the slideshow, pictures of Greff’s sculptures along the highway.

In 1861, President James Buchanan signed into bill the creation of the Dakota Territory, which included both Dakotas. In 1883-84, the first capitol building of the territorial government was constructed in Bismarck located in the northern region of the territory. Attempts to admit the Dakota Territory into the Union over several years eventually resulted in the formation of two states in 1889, North Dakota and South Dakota. President Benjamin Harrison hid the order in which each state’s proclamation was signed, so the exact order remains unknown. But, because North comes before South in the alphabet, North Dakota became the 39^th state, followed by South Dakota.

One of the many travel goals we have is to visit state capitols. Unfortunately, until recently in Salt Lake City, this has proven to be impossible in the era of COVID. At last, we visited our first capitol building in Utah where we were impressed by the magnificent neoclassical revival architectural style and exquisite artwork. It’s a hard act to follow, but follow we did to Bismarck, North Dakota. Despite North Dakota’s capitol being only one of two on our travel itinerary, we could not have chosen more dichotomous buildings to visit. If the 50 state capitols were placed on a spectrum according to the ornate qualities of the architectural design, then Utah and North Dakota are on the far opposite ends of the spectrum.

On December 30, 1930, North Dakota’s capitol was destroyed by fire. During the fire, North Dakota Secretary of State Robert Byrne broke a window to get to the original copy of the state’s constitution. Suffering from cuts and burns on his hands, he saved the document. Other state employees also risked their lives to save documents. The Governor George F Shafer organized a team and directed the use of 40 state prison inmates to scour the still smoldering building and salvage the vaults and other items that remained.

The disaster meant a new building would need to be constructed during the Great Depression. Designed by North Dakota architects, the rebuilt capitol became the tallest building in North Dakota and became known as the ‘Skyscraper on the Prairie’. Just under 250 feet and 21 stories, its Art Deco design is anything but ornate. The capitol campus expanded over time with the addition of a State Office Building, the North Dakota Heritage Center and the North Dakota Dept of Transportation, and a Judicial Wing was added to the base of the capitol tower. While the state capitol campus and park were expanding over the decades, North Dakota’s population was decreasing. Today, North Dakota’s state capitol is a popular tourist attraction with its garden-style park, museum and monuments. Enjoy this slideshow of North Dakota’s classy state capitol and following that, a slideshow from its impressive Heritage Center Museum where we learned some history of North Dakota.

One last tidbit about our visit to North Dakota. After leaving our campground in Dickinson, we came to Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in Mandan, which is on the outskirts of Bismarck. Just a few days past the halfway point of our 216-day trip, we camped on the western bank of the Missouri River for a few days, thus marking the end of our tour of the American West. On July 31, we packed and hitched up and drove the RV east across the Missouri one last time. Soon, we would cross the Mississippi River near its headwaters and enter the great lake states for a totally different experience. Stayed tuned. Enjoy the slideshow below of the Ft Abraham Lincoln State Park.

I invite you to check out a few more of my blogs that relate to this one in some way or another.

About a quirky roadside attraction by a South Dakotan artist.

About our visit to Utah’s State Capitol and other things about Salt Lake City.