Crossing Lake Sakakawea

At the North Dakota State Fair

StoryCorps advance coordinator Eliza and facilitator Anna drove to the State Fair in Minot, ND, after work yesterday. We saw the finest cows, goats, pigs, eggs, watermelons, and quilts in the whole state.

We rode a few of the rides in the midway and discovered that there comes a point in one’s life when getting whirled around upside down isn’t as fun as it used to be — we had reached that point.

As we stumbled off a ride called “the Zipper,” we had the happy surprise to run into a recent StoryCorps participant, Angeline, who had just finished riding the Zipper for the fifteenth time.

Trail ride

Marilyn Hudson, who works at the Three Tribes Museum in New Town, has been a wonderful host to StoryCorps while we’ve been here on the Fort Berthold Reservation. After work this evening, she took us for a horseback trail ride and picnic in the Little Missouri State Park. Thank you, Marilyn!

Day off

Today we explored an old freight train in Powers Lake, North Dakota.

Little mosque on the prairie

This mosque, in Ross, North Dakota, was the first to be built on American soil. The original building (which burned down recently) was erected in the late 1800s by immigrants from Syria/Lebanon.

New Town

We arrived in New Town, ND today. It’s a small town on the Ft. Berthold Reservation, home of the Three-Affiliated Tribes, which are the Mandan, the Hidatsa, and the Arikara.