Wahpeton, in the extreme S.E.; 903 ft. at Fargo; 836 ft. at Grand Forks; and 798 ft. at Pembina, in the extreme N.E., which is the lowest point within the state. To the W. of this valley lies a second plain, ranging in height from 1200 to 1600 ft. above sea level, and in width from 75 m. in the S. to 200 m. in the N. This plain is separated from the Red river valley in the N. by an abrupt slope rising to a height of from 300 to 500 ft. above the surrounding country, and called the Manitoba escarpment, because the greater part of it lies in the province of Manitoba. The Pembina Mountains, low hills near the international boundary and about 30 m. W. of the Red river, form a portion of this escarpment. From these hills southward the ridge gradually becomes less abrupt until in Walsh county it vanishes into prairie. The ascent to the upper plain then becomes very gentle, though there is a rise of 400 or 500 ft., until it reaches the south-eastern portion of Sargent county and changes into the more abrupt Coteau des Prairies, a plateau about 2000 ft. above the sea. The second plain, while not so level as the Red river valley, contains but one group of hills, the Turtle Mountains; these rise from 300 to 400 ft. above the general level, near the centre of the northern boundary. The prairies in this second table-land are gently rolling, and are covered with drift from the continental ice-sheet of the glacial period. They are bounded on the W. by a ridge from 300 to 400 ft. in height and from 20 to 50 m. in width, which roughly marks the dividing line between the farming lands of the E. and the grazing lands of the W. The northern portion of this ridge forms the water-parting between the streams that empty into Hudson Bay and those that flow into the Gulf of Mexico. To the W. of this ridge lies the third and highest plain within the state, the so-called Coteau du Missouri. It occupies nearly one half of the state, and rises gradually westward until it attains a general level of about 2700 ft. East of the Missouri river this region is covered with glacial drift, and is noticeably different from the more level lands of the lower plains. The ice-sheet wore down from the hills and filled the valleys with débris until the surface has a billowy appearance. As the Missouri river marks approximately the lower edge of the ice-sheet, the region W. of this stream is almost free from glacial deposits and presents a strong contrast to the rest of the state. The billowy plains still remain in places, but in the vicinity of streams the billows give way to deep ravines. The sands and clays found here are fine and soft, and as there is scant vegetation to protect the hillsides they are easily eroded by the rains. As a result, the surface has been carved into fantastic forms. The early French explorers called the region les terres mauvaises, on account of the difficulties that here met the traveller, and in its English equivalent, “the Bad Lands,” this appellation still remains. High winds and seams of burning lignite coal have aided the rains in giving the Bad Lands their peculiar configuration. Prairie fires or spontaneous combustion have ignited many coal seams. Some have already burnt out; others still emit smoke and sulphurous fumes from the crevices in the hillsides, and through the fissures may be seen the glowing coal and rock. The earth surface above these natural furnaces has been hardened, cracked and sometimes melted into a reddish slag, called scoria, which, on account of its resemblance to lava, has given rise to an incorrect impression that the region was once the centre of volcanic disturbances. The picturesque effect of this sculpturing by water, wind and fire is greatly enhanced by the brilliant colours along the faces of the hills and ravines—grey, yellow, black and every shade of red and brown. Here too are found petrified forests and other evidences of a vegetable growth that has long ago disappeared. The lands are bad for the traveller and the farmer, but not for the ranchman. A few miles from the streams the country is less broken, and there are deep grassy valleys, in which the animals may find shelter in winter. Cattle sometimes congregate in cold weather around a burning coal seam and enjoy the warmth. The lignite in this region also warms the ranchman’s cabin, being easily mined where a seam is exposed in the walls of a ravine or on the side of a hill.
North Dakota has a mean elevation of 1900 ft. The highest point in the state, about 3500 ft., is in the southern part of Bowman county, east of the Little Missouri river.
Rivers.—There are three drainage systems within the state: the Red river (of the North) and its tributaries, the Mouse, or Souris, river and its tributaries, and the Missouri river and its tributaries. The Red river flows in a winding channel along the eastern boundary and empties into Lake Winnipeg in Canada, thence reaching Hudson Bay through the Nelson river. Its tributaries are small, and are remarkable chiefly for the fact that they at first flow in a direction almost opposite to that of the main stream, and make a great bend to the N.E. before joining it.[1] The Sheyenne, the Goose, the Park and the Pembina rivers are the most important of these streams. The Mouse, or Souris, river rises in Canada, crosses the international boundary near the meridian of 102° W. long., flows S.E. for about 70 m., then turns to the N. and near the 101st meridian re-enters British territory, after receiving the waters of the Rivière des Lacs and other small streams. The Missouri river, the most important stream within the state, crosses the western boundary near the 48th parallel, and after pursuing a winding course in a general south-easterly direction, leaves the state near the centre of its southern boundary. The James river, flowing southward into South Dakota, is the Missouri’s only important eastern tributary within the state. From the W. the Missouri receives the waters of the Little Missouri, Cannon Ball, Heart and Knife rivers. All that portion of the state lying W. of the Pembina Mountains and E. of the Mouse river valley is practically without river drainage, and for its surface and sub-surface drainage, Devils Lake, an irregular body of water about 40 m. in length and with an area of 400 sq. m., forms a natural reservoir. The waters of this lake are strongly saline. The entire region W. of the Red river valley and E. of the valleys of the Mouse and Missouri rivers is dotted with small lakes. The morainic belts and other obstructions in the drift plains hem in the waters in the intervening basins and create what are called “glacial lakes,” varying in diameter from a few yards to several miles. All the lakes of the state are of this character, and many are strong with salt and alkali. The drift plains also contain numerous shallow hollows, locally termed “pots and kettles,” which receive the drainage of their vicinity and form sloughs.
Fauna and Flora.—Before the advent of the white man, herds of bison roamed the prairies, but these have disappeared,[2] and, with the exception of deer and bears, large game is to be found only in the Bad Lands. Here are found the lynx, the “mountain lion” or puma, the prairie and timber wolves, the jack rabbit, the prairie dog (gopher), the black, the brown and, occasionally, the grizzly bear. A few fur-bearing animals, the mink, beaver and raccoon, still remain. The prairie dog is found everywhere. Among the lakes, sloughs and stubble-fields of the prairies, teal, ducks, coots and geese are found in abundance. Other prairie birds are the prairie chicken, and there are a great many birds that sing while flying; among them are the horned lark, bobolink, Smith’s longspur and chestnut collared longspur, lark-sparrow, lark-bunting and Sprague’s pipit.
The flora of North Dakota is typical of a semi-arid country. The prevailing plant-colour is a greyish green, due to a hard dry outer covering which serves as a protection from desiccation. All plant life has a remarkably large proportion of subterranean growth, because of the necessity of getting moisture from the earth and not from the air; hence roots and tubers are unusually well developed. The Red river valley is a meeting ground for many species of plants whose principal habitat lies in some other quarter. Many trees of the eastern forest, such as basswood, sugar, river and red maple, red, white and black ash, red and rock elm, black and bur oak, white and red pine and red cedar find their western limit here. Some species characteristic of the more northerly regions—for example, the mountain ash, balsam fir, tamarack and black and white spruce—find here their southern or south-western limits. The same is true of shrubs and herbaceous plants. The prickly ash, Virginian creeper and staff-tree find here their northern limit; and the mountain maple, Canada blueberry, dwarf birch and ground hemlock their southern limit. Of 1500 species of herbaceous plants in the Red river basin, it is estimated that fully half reach here their geographical limit or limit of frequent occurrence. Trees are found
- ↑ The peculiar bow shape of these western tributaries of the Red river is due to the fact that these streams originally flowed S.E. into Lake Agassiz, now extinct. As the waters of the lake gradually receded, the rivers reached it by pushing their channels eastward through what was once its bed. The southern part of the lake bottom was finally uplifted by a movement of the earth crust, and the outlet was changed from the S. to the N.E. The waters continued to recede, and the tributaries, in cutting their way through the sediment, followed the slope of the land and gradually turned northward.
- ↑ The early settlers found the bones of the bison scattered over the prairies, and after the construction of railways the gathering and shipping of these for use in sugar refining and in the manufacture of super phosphate became temporarily a profitable industry. Between January and August 1889 a single dealer at Minot shipped 1200 tons, which sold at $8 the ton.
