Bismarck

As we arrived last night, it occurred to us that we never packed a camera!!  We have our cell phones, so, we will make it work (picture quality as best as we can do), but I can't believe we actually went on vacation without a camera!

We got up early this morning to hit the road before 8.  It was about 3 hours from Fargo to Bismarck, but with posted speeds at 75, at least we were moving!  We saw tractor-trailers with some unusual combinations.  The long (48 foot) trailers and 28 foot doubles are common in most places, but here we saw 28 foot triples, and 48 foot doubles, and "Rocky Mountain Doubles" (a 48 foot and 28 foot pair).  Must be straight roads!  (Yep, it was!)  Traffic was light but bugs were plenty, so I used a lot of fluid trying to keep the things clean.

North Dakota State Library-NOT the Archives.

Yes, it is a real book!

In Bismarck, we headed straight for the Capitol area.  We were amazed to find a parking space right in front of the State Library!!  It was perfect!!  It was also NOT the right building.  But they showed us where the State Archives were in the next building.  We were amazed at how friendly and helpful the staff there was.  They pulled a book about Gecks in North Dakota, and I perused it as quickly as possible.  Then they told us we could photograph the pages for free, so we got busy taking pictures of pages to be read later!

A real sign!  As depicted in a real book!

There it is!!  Wait...where is this?

A lot of Gecks on this page!

Theresa found other references for "Geck" stuff, and the staff pulled them out and let us pick through them.  When they platted the State, they marked off every square mile, and then grouped them in 6x6 mile square townships.  There was a ledger book for Geck Township (of course), with all of the business notes and records from 1930 to 1940.  In 1940, they seemed to have ceded all of the business dealings to either Glen Ullin (the nearby town) or to Morton County, so as of 1940, there was no official business for the Township.  But it was neat seeing who worked on the roads, and how much they were paid (by the Township).  Some "dragged" the road with "teams" (I presume of horses or oxen, to level the road surface?).  Some worked by hand.  A lot of the people in the township worked the roads.

Buckeye Tree 

After finishing in the Archives, we realized we happened to be in the State History Museum building, so we spent the rest of the morning touring the museum, before heading over to the Capitol Building.  On the way over, we found a Buckeye Tree.  No idea why they had that there, but I presume it must be for ME!!!

North Dakota State Capitol building

We got the grand tour of the Capitol Building, one of only 4 State Capitols that are NOT domed and in the "traditional" style.  It is a 19 story "skyscraper".  In 1930, the original building was destroyed by fire, so they built a new one with the latest trends and styles (art deco).  The tour ended on the top floor where we had some very nice views of the city.

The Lobby...with 40 foot ceilings!

View of Bismarck from the top floor of the Capitol.

We headed out for Glen Ullin.  It was about an hour or so drive.  Our first impression was...well...the gas station in town didn't seem to think pavement was needed.  So, a little rustic!  But we found the Cemetery,  and started exploring.  We found lots and lots of Gecks, including a certain William M Geck, Hmmm...  We also found the head stone for my Great Grandfather's brother (and wife), but we couldn't find the marker for my Great-Great-Grandparents Heinrich V, and Julianna.  It was a pretty little cemetery, though, and some nice overlooks.

Glen Ullin, ND from the top of the Cemetery hill

Another view from the cemetery.

We then drove around the area trying to "find" the Township.  The map we had did not have any "current" landmarks or even roads, so it was a little bit of guessing.  We covered a lot of rough ground (paving is a luxury, it seems), so I am SURE we were in Geck Township at SOME point.

Yes, this is "Main Street", on the north side of the RR Tracks!

North Dakota countryside.

Driving through Geck Township...probably.  Yeah.  Sure.

We continued on to Dickinson for the night.  On the way, we crossed into Mountain Time, so it's an hour earlier.  We checked in and went looking for dinner.  The top choice for Dickinson, ND...?  A Mexican Restaurant.  Ummmm...no.  So, we found a local place that had a mix of German and Russian specialties.  It was good.