Bismarck, ND: What to Do, What to See, Where to Eat!

When most people plan vacation trips, they don't consider visiting North Dakota, much less Bismarck, but they should. The state, and its capitol, are full of history, fun things to see and do, great restaurants, and some of the friendliest people in the world. In case you can't get here, and in hopes that you can, let me give you a taste of my home.

History

Bismarck was founded when North Dakota was still part of the Louisiana Purchase, even before the Dakota Territory was established in 1861. A small settlement on the Missouri in 1837, called at that time Crossing on the Missouri for its position as one of the best spots to ford the river, was founded by the American Fur Company as a trading post with the river village Indians (Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras). It was also a port for steamboats carrying military supplies and troops to forts and Indian Agencies in points west. By that year the Mandan Indians had been mostly wiped out by smallpox, introduced by Europeans, and their villages in the Bismarck area were abandoned when the few remaining Mandan joined the Hidatsas farther north.

In 1871 - 72, squatters from the eastern states joined the community, anticipating the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1872, Camp Greeley, later call Camp Hancock, was built as a military post at the settlement to protect crews building the railroad. The railroad arrived at Crossing on the Missouri in 1873, bringing printing presses for the Bismarck Tribune, the oldest newspaper still publishing in the state. (The biggest scoop in the Tribune's history was the story of Custer's Last Stand on the Little Bighorn; a Tribune writer named Mark Kellogg had accompanied the troops, sent back articles along the journey, then died with the 7th Cavalry in June of 1876; the 7th Cavalry had departed from Fort Abraham Lincoln, across the river from Bismarck.) In 1873 the growing community changed its name to Bismarck, in honor of German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, in hopes that he would invest money in the floundering Northern Pacific Railroad. He didn't, but the name stuck.

What To See