On July 1, ND250 Road Trip: Our American Story, celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday, will open at the ND Heritage Center & State Museum. The product of a four-year effort by staff, the exhibit covers North Dakota’s history from 1776 to the present, with a peek at what may lie ahead.

It has been a monumental effort for many of us in the agency. I have served as project manager in addition to contributing to the research and writing of interpretive content and designing the gallery layout. My efforts would have been impossible without my colleagues. Their talents and skills have made the exhibition a reality.

Postcard, 1940. SHSND SA B0716-00039 

Much of the interpretation is supported by images and objects from our collections. The postcard above with its bold graphics and Technicolor palette set the tone for the project early on. The image appears in the exhibition and is joined by a myriad of similarly impactful content.

I can’t help but play favorites when working on an exhibition, so as I introduce you to the exhibition’s various sections, I want to share some of the images and objects that really appeal to me.

An Indian Map of the Different Tribes that Inhabit the East & West Side of the Rocky Mountains with Rivers and other Remarkable Places, Paul Fidler, 1801. Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba

The Introduction situates the exhibition as part of the national America250 celebration. It also explores how the physical landscape of the Louisiana Territory, which included the region now known as North Dakota, was perceived in 1776, and how those details were expanded and clarified through additional exploration.

Among the maps in this section is one outside the traditional realm of cartography. This visual representation of the Missouri River is interpreted based on an oral explanation and a hand-drawn diagram provided to an employee of the Hudson’s Bay Company, rather than from a surveyor’s field measurements.

The map’s contents were conveyed by Blackfoot chief Ac ko mok ki (Feathers) to Paul Fidler. The overall drawing looks like a folding fan or a triangular rake. The Missouri River is depicted as a central column with its tributary rivers forming radiating spines. The river is accurately shown as coming from the Rocky Mountains and is notated with lists of tribal communities, populations, landmarks, and travel times between locations. It provides a novel and non-Western way to consider space and dimension. I find that appealing.

Detail of Dakota War Record (Lakota/Sioux), 1880-1889. SHSND 11935 

Who Was Here in 1776? looks at the vibrant Indigenous cultures existing in the region and the area’s importance as a hub of Native trade and commerce. This portion of the exhibition includes extensive artwork and photographs documenting the region’s tribal people. During the project development phase, our curators strongly recommended incorporating original artworks by Native artists. Toward this goal, we photographed several of the winter counts in our collection, including details of scenes and individuals, for inclusion.

My favorite winter count detail is a representation of a women’s dance line that is part of a Dakota image from the late 19th century. The large drawing is composed on cotton muslin in graphite and ink. The events being documented happened in colder weather, as the women are wrapped in colorful wool trade blankets and the two men providing the rhythmic accompaniment to their dance with hand drums wear hooded wool coats (capotes). Throughout the larger, episodic artwork other individuals are also dressed in warm clothes and some are shown near campfires. Three men are even wearing gloves with exaggerated splayed fingers.

I love the energy of this image, especially that the women are dancing on their toes. They are arranged in a dance line and rendered in the context of the tipi encampment. I have seen this same configuration of women elders in an early motion picture of a powwow made during the 1920s. This image adds both color and gravitas to the dance.

Norwegian spinning wheel, late 1700s. SHSND 11643 

European Immigration explores the circumstances that encouraged the mass immigration of Europeans in the 19th and early 20th centuries and how it defined the character of North Dakota. It also explores the impact of immigrants on the region’s Native tribes, including the loss of traditional lands and the imposition of the reservation system.

One particular delight is a small Saxony spinning wheel. It traveled from near Oslo, Norway, in 1881 to a new home in Milnor. The device belonged to the Anderson family and is one of the oldest objects in the exhibition. Originally handcrafted around 1750, it is made almost entirely of beautifully turned and shaped wood. The spinning wheel looks a bit like an overgrown stool. Though compact in form, it remains an excellent example of the combining of the decorative and the practical. The drive wheel is missing one hand-turned spoke, and a few of the carved white “buttons” are cracked but otherwise the piece is intact and even retains its original paint colors.

This spinning wheel speaks to the importance of textile production in rural households, both in the Old World and here. An early form of mechanization, the spinning wheel was a major part of everyday domestic life in rural North Dakota. At the time, most household textiles and clothing were made from home-grown fibers. Commodities such as wool, flax/linen, and cotton required processing to turn into spun yarns for weaving and this device served that purpose. Members of the household were constantly harvesting, processing fibers, spinning, knitting, and weaving materials.

Northern Pacific Railway train carrying steam engines and threshers, 1883. SHSND SA 2019-096-00002

Mechanization is also represented in a photograph of a Northern Pacific freight train in the Red River Valley. The Red River Valley consists of the richest and most productive soil in the region. This dynamic photograph captures the importance of the latest technology in North Dakota’s rise as an agricultural powerhouse. In the image, a steam locomotive pulls a string of flatcars carrying steam engines and a fleet of threshers. Steam engines, such as these, would eventually power threshers in the field during the all-important harvest season.

Another pertinent theme conveyed in this section is the survival of horse culture among tribal groups under the reservation system. I chose this image for the exhibition because it shows two Lakota men interacting with horses but also playfully interacting with one another. I like its humor, but I love the title.

A Good Horse on the Rope, Frank Fiske, circa 1910. SHSND SA 1952-00541

Destination North Dakota: Promoting the State features the range of promotional campaigns created to entice early immigrants and eventually tourists to come to Dakota Territory and North Dakota. The section also provides an overview of how the various campaigns have impacted perceptions of North Dakota’s contributions within the region, the nation, and the world.

North Dakota early on tapped into its importance as an agricultural center. Many of the earliest promotional campaigns championed the bounty and resources of the region. One such promotional event was a display at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Franciso (the 1915 World’s Fair). The centerpiece of the North Dakota Building was a towering structure mimicking the Eiffel Tower made entirely of corn and corn stalks and proclaiming the slogan “North Dakota Enlightening the World.” The image is very much of the era and represents a healthy dose of unchecked boosterism. North Dakota was making its importance known.

A corn towner display at the North Dakota Building, Panama-Pacific International Exhibition, 1915. SHSND SA E0409-00001

Explore Your Roots introduces visitors to genealogy and family history research techniques and resources by posing the question “Where were your people in 1776? It also provides details of resources available through the State Archives to investigate your family history. Period photographs of people engaging in various activities represent the “Faces of North Dakota” and show the continuity and resilience in North Dakotans’ traditions over time.

A favorite image is this photograph of an indoor curling rink in Pembina County around 1913. In an era before mechanical refrigeration, the photo hides the fact that it had to be below freezing indoors to maintain the curling sheet, the house (target), and its familiar circular markings. Curling was only possible in colder climates. The men in the photo are all wearing wool coats and hats, many with brooms in hand. Today, curling is North Dakota’s official state sport.

Indoor curling rink, Pembina County, circa 1913. SNSND SA 107-00230

New Frontiers: The Road Ahead focuses on North Dakota’s current role as a leading agricultural and energy producer within the nation’s economy, exploring the surprising range of technological research and advances happening within the state and asking what the next 250 years might bring. The section celebrates some of the unique and defining features that make North Dakota what it is, including our fun assortment of “world’s largest” roadside art.

Vending machine, circa 1960. SHSND 1993.133.55

Included in this section is a prototype spacesuit created at the University of North Dakota for use on the Martian surface. There’s also a bubble gum dispenser shaped like a spaceship that truly endeared itself to me. It reminded me of the Space Race obsession that permeated our culture during my youth in the 1960s. I was jealous of a friend’s toy Gemini space capsule for his G.I. Joe and then felt superior when I received a Maj. Matt Mason space station and lunar walker. In those heady days accompanied by the theme music to the original “Star Trek” series, the world seemed unlimited.

I truly hope that visitors to ND250 Road Trip: Our American Story, which runs through October 2028, will find similar moments of connection and inspiration. The exhibition provides so many stories and opportunities to engage. I invite you to visit the ND Heritage Center in Bismarck and experience this exhibition for yourself.

We’ve had a late spring here in Pembina, and I’ve been eager to get back outside. One of my passions is gardening and with the ground thawed and the air warm I’m finally getting my hands dirty again—literally! Spring cleanup in our interpretive garden, which features many plants native to the Red River Valley, is well underway.

The first sprouts of spring!

The Pembina State Museum garden is an ongoing project that started in 2021. We’ve arranged different native species as a decorative and informative addition to the front of the museum. Layered from back to front are red osier dogwoods, smooth sumacs, junipers, wild onions, columbine, bluebell, highbush cranberry, and purple prairie clover.

The garden acts as a great source of food for local pollinators and other wildlife.

This year I hope to make even more additions to the garden and the wider museum grounds. Now that the sumac is well-established and under control, I intend to add lady ferns underneath where they will have plenty of shade. (Woe to anyone who plants sumac without doing their research—they spread fast!)

Smooth sumac with berries. These berries stay around all winter and are a great food for birds.

Beyond the garden, we have two old tree rows that flank the museum. Many of the trees are old and the north side is wildly overgrown. Cleanup of the tree rows has been slow, but as we clear away deadfall and tangles of Virginia creeper (a native climbing vine that’s a nuisance to other plants), areas of opportunity open.

In the southern tree row, a large bald area has appeared where a fallen tree was removed. In its place, I plan to eventually add native flower beds to complement the nearby picnic area. In the north row, there is open space between the rows that I think will be perfect for a native grove of shrubs and trees.

While it is my responsibility to maintain the garden, I do try to delegate the weeding and general maintenance, which is never-ending. Part of the garden plan takes ease of maintenance into account. One way I’ve tried to achieve that is by creating dedicated beds for each plant and filling the space between with a deep layer of mulch. The mulch helps keep weeds down outside of the beds and makes it easier to explain to our summer staff and volunteers where to pull weeds. Not everyone enjoys gardening, and I’ve tried to take people’s plant blindness into account.

Spring cleanup begins by clearing away last year’s debris.

The prevalence of plant blindness, the inability to identify or differentiate plants, was never something I noticed until I was working on the museum garden. According to a recent presentation by Extensions Program Coordinator at North Dakota State University Paula Comeau, most people have established their concept of a plant by age 9 and carry that concept into adulthood. If kids aren’t exposed to plants and don’t learn about them, they will lack the ability to identify them as adults.

The highbush cranberry, also known as “summer berry” to local Chippewas, is a shrub that bears bright red berries beginning in summer that don’t ripen until the first frost and stay on the vine through winter. The Pembina River and the town of Pembina are both named for this native bush.

Highbush cranberry in bloom.

Comeau’s research inspired me to develop a program using our interpretive garden. Later this summer, I’ll be hosting various plant drawing programs to introduce visitors to the basics of botany. They’ll be given art supplies and told to draw their favorite plant on the grounds. Then they’ll exchange drawings with another visitor and try to identify the plant drawn. By encouraging people to pay closer attention to the details in various plants and arming them with the knowledge of where the plants grow and what they are good for, I aim to help revive old skills once crucial to life in the region—or at least revive an appreciation for the natural environment around us.

I’m no artist, but I do my best. The plant depicted is the highbush cranberry. Can you tell? Later this year, visitors to the Pembina State Museum will have a chance to draw their favorite plant from the museum grounds and learn more about it in upcoming programs.

Work goes on, and with each growing season that passes the museum grounds become ever more alive with native plants. Hopefully our late spring won’t be paired with an early autumn and I’ll get plenty of time to work outside in the garden. We invite visitors to enjoy our garden and learn a little from it, too.

Our resident jackrabbit also enjoys the spring flowers.