OUR 1st GUIDE  Commonly spelled 3 different ways to the people around here Sakakawea is pronounced  Saw Kaw Kaw weea.

Sacajawea was twelve years old in 1800, when her people were camped along the three forks of the Missouri River in their buffalo hunting territory when a band of Minnetaree Indians attacked them. They killed men, women and children. They captured all the female that were living and four boys. Sacajawea's mother was killed, and Sacajawea was one of the children captured and made prisoner by the Minnetarees. Now we know them as the Hidatsas. Because of this atrocity in her life, she ended up in the annals of history.

It was in the Hidatsa village that Sacajawea was held a captive and eventually purchased by a French trapper trader, Toussaint Charbonneau. It was for four years that she was held a captive. And in the winter of 1804, she had the opportunity to come home. A group of white men were going to her country. They hired Toussaint Charbonneau as an interpreter and she had no choice but to go along. And now we know it was an opportunity for her to come home.

So it was on August 11 th, 1805, these four men encountered Agaidika warrior, who was on a horse and he was dressed differently from the prior tribes they encountered. He had buckskin, and what was unique was that he had hair locks on his breech cloth.

So it was in august of 1805 that Sacajawea returned to her people with the Lewis and Clark expedition. She shared her cultural knowledge with Meriwether Lewis and three men that were proceeding ahead. She gave them advice on how to approach our people, the protocol you approach our people.

T he first thing they did when they saw this warrior was to take a blanket and throw it up in the air three times. This meant “We're not here to harm you.” They started approaching him and showing him gifts, and all Native tribes do that gift giving.

During this time when Lewis and Clark were coming through, we were doing a transition to our buffalo hunting in present-day Montana we had to be very careful. Not only would we be there in that buffalo hunting territory. So would be the Blackfeet and the Hidatsas, other tribes, our traditional enemies. They were out there too, and they were willing to attack for our horses. And so during this time period, we would ally with the Flatheads, and sometimes the Nez Perces, to protect ourselves. And so that's why this scout, this Agaidika warrior, was sent ahead to do reconnaissance.

And eventually these four men proceeded on. They made contact with an elder woman and a young girl. They were on the ground digging. They were out getting roots. The young woman saw them and ran away.

And so what this elder did was, she got on her knees and bowed down. And then the young girl stayed with her and was willing to suffer the consequences with her grandma. So she bowed down, put her arms around her grandmother and was waiting for more likely their demise. And instead what Lewis did was take this elder by the hand, pick her up, and gave her gifts.

And then the next thing he did that was very important, very significant, was putting the sacred paint of our people on the elder's face. (l) it's a red, sacred red paint. It was put on her forehead, on the side of her face across her cheeks. I asked a elder what this meant and they told me it that it meant that person that was doing that was blessing that person. And so that was noted in the journals.

The chief, the leader of the people, with about sixty men, came riding up and the elder woman, the young woman, were able to tell them what happened, and most importantly was what they did to them, the sacred paint ceremony. You know, our people have never seen white men. Never.

Who were they? Spirit beings sent? Where are they from? So it was something unusual for them, for our people to encounter these people that were giving them items that they have never seen. And this prevented the demise of these four men. These guys would have been killed immediately had they not known what to do.

A nd so eventually, they had a pipe ceremony. And the pipe ceremony is also sacred. With pipe ceremonies you're determining if these people, you're testing their integrity. And they're committing their words to all the different beings of the mother earth. In the journals they mention a two feet circle they made on the floor of the lodge. And in the center they built a fire. And when they pray, our people pray to the four directions with the pipe. And then they put the pipe towards the mother earth and up to the heavens, praying to the creator.

What Lewis was doing when he was participating in the ceremony he was committing himself with a vow. They immediately put up a lodge when they encountered him. It is because they wanted to see this man's integrity, his heart, his trustworthiness, to see if he was a worthy man. He was committing himself not only to these people, but to all the spirit beings and to the higher creator, and then to mother earth. And we know Lewis didn't understand what he was getting himself into.

That ceremony was done and right afterwards on August 17 th, 1805, Sacajawea was reunited with her people. In Montana across from Lemhi pass, where present-day Clark's reservoir is, this is where Sacajawea encountered her people. And this is what Clark had to say when she saw her people. She danced for a joyful site.

She couldn't speak English. So how she communicated to him was through sign, Indian sign language. She said, “I am a Agaidika Shoshone.“ And she said, “This is my nation.” And she said, “These are my people.”

When she was walking on Mother Earth, she was able to identify who she was. And then she was reunited with a childhood friend that escaped from the Minnatarees, or the Hidatsas, and came back to her people.

And on that same day, she was reunited with her brother. And this was documented in the journals too. It was written by Lewis. And this is what he had to say:

“Shortly after Captain Clark arrived with interpreter Charbonneau and Indian woman, who proved to be the sister of the chief, proved to be the brother of Sacajawea.”

And that's the lineage that I come through.

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"Nothing could be more lonely and nothing more beautiful than the view at nightfall across the prairies to these huge hill masses, when the lengthening shadows had at last merged into one and the faint after-glow of the red sunset filled the west." Theodore Roosevelt.

 

From the fertile Red River Valley of the east, abundant with oceans of wheat, to the vast plains and rolling hills, to the Missouri plateau and Badlands of the west, there is majesty in the open land of North Dakota. There is majesty in the skies of the day, and there is majesty in the stars of the night.

North and South Dakota were one territory until 1889. Dakota was named for the Dakota, Sioux tribe which lived in the region. Dakota is the Sioux word for "friends" or "allies."

The Peace Garden State (Official)

This name commemorates the International Peace Garden on North Dakota's border with Manitoba, Canada. The International Peace Garden was dedicated on July 14, 1932. The nickname was made official by the North Dakota legislature in 1957.

Land of the Dakotas

This nickname recognizes the Dakota tribes of North Dakota. The Dakota are also referred to as Sioux.

The Sioux State

Similar to "The Land of the Dakotas," this name recognizes the Sioux or Dakota people of North Dakota.

 

The Roughrider State

This nickname was used to promote tourism in the state in the 1960s and the 1970s. It references Theodore Roosevelt's short-live excursion into the cattle ranching business in North Dakota. On a buffalo hunting trip to the North Dakota Badlands in 1883, he was moved to purchase an interest in the Chimney Butte Ranch, also known as the Maltese Cross Ranch. After the tragic deaths of his mother and wife on the same day in 1894 and after the 1894 Republican convention in June, Roosevelt headed back to North Dakota to seek some peace and solitude. He purchased another parcel of land, located about 35 miles north of Medora, and named it the Elkhorn Ranch. Roosevelt's ranches were run by others as he spent most of his time in the east. His last visit to the Elkhorn Ranch was in 1892 and by 1898 he had sold all his holdings.

The Flickertail State

This nickname references the Richardson Ground Squirrel (Spermophilus richardsonii) of North Dakota. This squirrel flicks, or jerks, its tail while running and just before entering its borrow. The Flickertail March, by James D. Ployhar is North Dakota's official state march.

The Great Central State

North Dakota is sometimes called "The Great Central State" because it of its location in the center of the great western Wheat Belt.

While the Marquis was in jail during his trial for the killing of Riley Luffsey (for which he was later acquitted), he wrote a letter to Roosevelt on September 3, 1885 that expressed concern that Roosevelt’s hunting guide and friend Joe Ferris had been “very active against me and has been instrumental in getting me indicted,” and asked “Is this done by your order?” Roosevelt had not acted against the Marquis, but the threat of violence implied in the Marquis’s letter must have been discomforting to Roosevelt. The disagreement being settled in a duel was a very real possibility. TR wrote back, “Most emphatically I am not your enemy; if I were you would know it, for I would be an open one…” The firmness and openness of the response cooled tensions between the two giants of Medora as the Marquis backed out of any direct confrontation with Roosevelt.

While the Marquis's influence on Medora has been lasting, his attitudes and actions, in many ways, serve to highlight how popular Theodore Roosevelt was by comparison. The Marquis tended to use his wealth to inflict his will on people whether or not they agreed with him. He founded his own rival town and was one of the first in the area to put up barbed wire fences. On the other hand, Theodore Roosevelt tended to reflect concern for the area and its people. He organized Medora’s first Stockmen’s Association and his commitment to justice was shown through his fair dealings with locals and his role as a deputy sheriff. The Marquis de Morès’s legacy is not that of a sinister antagonist to Roosevelt, but of a bold dreamer and a man who, despite his aristocratic and European background, in many ways encapsulated the spirit of the Wild West.

The State Historical Society of North Dakota operates the Chateau de Mores State Historic Site, located near the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt National Park’s South Unit in Medora. The site is composed of three separate parts: the Chateau de Mores, De Mores Memorial Park in downtown Medora, and Chimney Park.  The Chateau de Mores site includes a visitor center, museum, and guided tours of the Marquis's home. De Mores Memorial Park features a statue of the Marquis.  Chimney Park, where a picnic area and ruins of the abbatoir are located, stand as a quiet reminder of the Marquis's unfulfilled dreams.