Great Plains Rambling

When coworkers ask what I do on my days off the simple answer I can give is “drive around to look at stuff and take pictures.” Usually I get a somewhat perplexed look, but that’s pretty much it. Drive around, look at stuff, take a few pictures. I’ve been doing that for nearly 25 years and I don’t see any stop to it. The majority of my travels is around my home state of North Dakota, because that’s where it’s most convenient to do a day trip, though I’ve covered most of the Midwest and some sizable pieces of the west. In this blog I want to share images and stories from my rambles across the Great Plains (and elsewhere), images and stories that may not make it into my more curated photo projects. When I started in photography I shot on slide film. Once in a while groups of friends (who also shot slides) would gather to show photos, eat pizza, drink beer, and harass the person showing photos if they had one that was really great. That’s part of the fun of photography, showing the images. Thinking of this as a web-based slide show is the approach (you have to supply your own pizza and beer).

This past week the weather in North Dakota had broke a little, it wasn’t snowing, the wind was under 10 mph, and the temperature reached 14 degrees, perfect for driving around to look at stuff. I made an afternoon trip in a circle through the central ND towns of Anamoose, Balfour, Butte, and Goodrich. The first stop was Anamoose. That’s the name of the town, Anamoose. The local joke is it was named that way because some hunters were out and spotted two deer “an’ a moose.” The more credible story is it’s a corruption of the Chippewa word “uhnemoosh,” which is supposed to mean “female dog.” Why the town was named Female Dog is another mystery unto itself. Regardless, as a Christmas decoration someone put a beat up old station wagon on display complete with a Christmas tree strapped to the roof. I spotted it while at work one day and made a note to get back and photograph it. Despite it being March it’s still there.

The next stop was a bit further west at the town of Balfour. There’s less mystery behind the name of this town, it was named for Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. There was some hopes that Balfour would live up to the royal name it was given, the Soo Line Railroad even built a fancier depot than most found along the railroad in ND. Things didn’t quite pan out for Balfour, today the population is 20. The Soo depot has been moved to Drake, the next town east. Main Street consists of the old post office (closed) and a brick building that appears to have been a bank. An impressive Lutheran church stands empty and the even more impressive brick school is collapsing in on itself. Along US Highway 52 there used to be a gas station and cafe, but those closed about 30 years ago.

Although Balfour has mostly empty houses, I did have a brief conversation with a local named Evinrude (“like the boat motor”). His mother used to work at the post office and lived in the apartment above it. Sometime in the previous year some kids broke into the post office building but another resident caught them on the highway. It wasn’t difficult to prove their guilt because one kid’s hand was cut up and bleeding from where he broke it through a plate glass window. Mr. Evinrude also told me there was a jail cell in the brick building and said I should take a look. “Just don’t get trapped in there, if I see footprints going in but not coming out I’ll come look for ya!” Unfortunately the floor of the building has collapsed so there wasn’t much to see inside anymore.

The next stop was Butte. Keeping with the dog theme from Anamoose Butte was originally named “Dogden” after the nearby Dogden Butte. Dogden Butte was named for numerous prairie wolf dens found around it. At some point the people of Dogden decided that perhaps just “Butte” would be a better name.

Dogden Farm Supply and a closed elevator

Butte, ND

Despite the name change there’s been a recent resurgence in the use of the name Dogden in town. The old Farmer’s Union service station was bought by a local who named it “Dogden Farm Supply.” The bar had recently changed ownership as well to become known as the Dog Den Steakhouse and Saloon (unfortunately it burned down a few months ago). Despite the dismal state of the business district of Butte I was told by a local a few years ago that the town has actually had an increase in population, mainly people wanting to work in Bismarck but not live there.

The last stop of the day was Goodrich. Upon turning into town I was nearly overrun by a herd of deer that seems to have taken over the town. I’d say the deer population easily outnumbers the human population at this point! That was enough excitement for me and I called it a day.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed driving around and looking at stuff!

Blizzard