Two Rivers

Two rivers meander through Ransom County. The Maple makes a brief entrance on the northern side, passes through Enderlin, and quickly exits north. Its brief visit requires just three road bridges. Twenty-two bridges span the Sheyenne River’s considerably larger presence in the county. Less than a dozen cross creeks and other depressions. The total of thirty-five bridges most likely gives the county commissioners many challenges for upkeep and maintenance.

The spelling of Maple doesn’t present a problem, but Sheyenne has endured several iterations. A good representation of them has been found in history accounts and map listings : Chien - Shyan - Shienne - Shayenn - Shayenne - Chienne - Shayennoja - Cheyenne - Shayene - Shyenne - Sheyenne. One can appreciate the phonetic pronunciations of it. My North Dakota map dated 1889 spells Sheyenne as we know it today.

Various sources tell me the total length of the river is 591 miles. I asked several people how

many miles long is it in Ransom County and was met with “Are you kidding?” “I have no idea.” and “Perhaps you can google it.” My state atlas of topographic maps outlines the river in much better detail than a road map. You only need to glance at it to understand the river’s length since it curls, twists, and circles back on itself like an agitated snake. If it were a piece of string picked up and stretched taut, it’s easy to see how it becomes 591 miles.

We know early historical events occurred near the rivers. With the passage of the years they fade farther and farther back into the mist and soon disappear. Thanks to those few who have preserved some of it on paper. Ox cart traffic from the east heading to Fort Ransom had to ford the Sheyenne in a couple of places if they took the low water route. Another route avoided fords that swung southward around the big bend of the river but was much longer.

The name of one of the crossings lives today in Shenford Township. Simply replace “shen” and with “shin” and know how deep the water ran at that spot. On the Valley Road between Lisbon and Fort Ransom another crossing can be found where signage identifies it as the “Old Fort Trail Harris Ford.” From the lore of the time, it was said to be manned by a half-breed called “Black Tiger.”

The Sibley Expedition of 1863 stayed close to the river for a spell and identified a place called the Okiedan Buttes near Lisbon which had been the site of an Indian battle. The southern bank of the river does rise high in that spot and probably looked butte-like to Sibley’s men who had been marching on flat land for some time. I wanted to know more, but the fact that its history has faded into the past was demonstrated when we asked one fellow who lived nearby what he knew of it. He told us he hadn’t heard of it.

Gold! The rumor of gold brought trainloads of miners to the river. As A. H. Laughlin tells us

when the news broke of its discovery, meager as it was, “within a week every incoming train was crowded with gold seekers. I counted 130 men coming from one train. The whole Sheyenne valley was explored and mining claims were staked out on every cliff of rock, and all along the creeks and coulees and among the bluffs from the north county line to the lower bend of the river.” The rush soon died when they discovered that extraction cost more than the ore yielded. Driving from the west along Highway 46 we drop low in the Little Yellowstone Valley but soon rise to a height called the Standing Rock Hill. 

Here another of the county’s historians Dana Wright speaks of statewide prominences from which he’s stood and admired the view, among them Sentinel Butte in the western part of the state. But he adds, “I believe my second choice would be Standing Rock Hill in northern Ransom County.” From there he admires, “The valley of the timbered Sheyenne spread out to the south past Fort Ransom and the gorge of the Little Yellowstone and the Dog creek at Kathryn are eye filling. Then, far away in all directions, the rolling prairies of North Dakota.”

When my wife and I have stood atop that hill, we too have marveled at the view where one can see the effects of the sweeping glacier, look down into the Little Yellowstone, and ponder those who had come before. Enough said.