| Summary: | 18 NORTH DAKOTA—RESOURCES AND OPPORTUNITIES historic interest around Devils Lake. It was an historic battle grounds of the Indians in their tribal wars and also was the scene of conflicts between the whites and Indians. The name Devils Lake is a misnomer. It is probably a crude early-day translation of the Indian name Minnewaukan or "Spirit Water." Pembina Mountains. One of the most beautiful sections of the northwest is the Pembina Mountain country of North Dakota. This mountain is really an enormous gorge or gash cut across the earth at this point. The gorge of the Pembina River is exceedingly deep and precipitous, and these precipitous ravines along most o fthe length of the Pembina River, being covered with forsts, the result is a spot of unusual scenic beauty. The Pembina Mountain Country can be reached easily from the Meridian Highway, which cuts across the extreme eastern portion of North Dakota, running fram Fairmount north to Pembina, paralleling the Red River the entire distance through the state. This Meridian Highway bisects the Red Trail at Fargo and the Theodore Roosevelt Highway at Grand Forks. There is an excellent road leading west from the Meridian Highway through Bathgate to Walhalla. The towns of Pembina and Walhalla are two of the oldest settlements in the central part of the United States. The first settlement there being established, it is said, in 1767. At Walhalla, in addition to the beautiful scenery, the tourist will find many points of historic interest. This town was originally a fur trading post in the days of the old Hudson Bay Company, and long before there was any city of St. Paul or Minneapolis both Walhalla and Pembina were large and important settlements containing sometimes as high as 2,000 population each. Another most beautiful section of country in North Dakota is the Mouse River Loop District, or the Mouse River Valley. The section of country around Ft. Ransom, North Dakota, has been described as a "Little Alps." It is in the Sheyenne River Valley and there is much of historic interest here as well as natural beauty. The Historic Trade Route The entire Missouri River Valley is also of great historic interest. It was the highway over which all of the early exploration expeditions came into the great northwest, and the Missouri River Valley furnishes not only historic interest but there are sections where there is unusual scenic beauty. The drives along the Missouri River in the vicinity of Bismarck and Mandan open up vistas of woods, hills and reaches of water, which make them well worthy of the attention of the tourist. The entire Red River Valley of North Dakota is one of the geographic wonders of the world. This great valley, which is hundreds of miles in length and from sixty to one hundred miles, wide, is not equalled in the geographic formations of the Western Hemisphere, at least, and it is doubtful if there is another spot of equal size in the world, where the level of the land is so uniform.
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