"The 200th anniversary of the Corps of Discovery's historic journey now is finished and a part of the past, but this celebration taught many of us a lot of backyard history that we hadn't known. Lewis and Clark, Sakakawea, Charbonneau and others became more than historical characters for us. Their route from St. Louis to Oregon went right through our region.
While traveling through Montana a few weeks ago, I stopped for the first time at a site called Pompeys Pillar National Monument, the only remaining physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark expedition that is visible on their actual route.
I'd seen the green highway signs that indicated Pompeys Pillar historical marker many times but never had stopped. This time, I did a “U-ey” off Interstate 94 toward the Yellowstone River, which my sister and I had been following since we passed Glendive, Mont.
As we came off the highway, we were surprised - although we shouldn't have been - to find that the pillar was more than just a placard with a historic description facing the site. It is a national monument, and we had to pay to enter. And pay we did, once we saw this gigantic yellow monster a few miles away."
Get the Story:Dorreen Yellow Bird: ‘Near which I marked my name and the day' (The Grand Forks Herald 7/11)
pwpwd More Dorreen Yellow Bird:
Yellow Bird: Be careful shopping in the wild (7/9)
Yellow Bird: Indians were foreigners in own land (7/5)
Yellow Bird: Yellowstone River needs protection (7/2)
Yellow Bird: Change comes but we can't forget past (6/25)
Yellow Bird: Festival days and prairie nights (6/20)
Yellow Bird: The case of the $54 million pants (6/18)
Yellow Bird: Monarch butterfly a special creature (6/13)
Yellow Bird: Graduates inspire with their lives (6/6)
Yellow Bird: Meth walks our reservations (6/4)
Yellow Bird: Commercials influence our lives (5/30)
Yellow Bird: Remember heroes on Memorial Day (5/28)
Yellow Bird: Blogger lacks facts about Indian life (5/22)
Yellow Bird: Indian culture changes in subtle ways (5/16)
Yellow Bird: Wolf knew it was ready to cross over (5/14)
Yellow Bird: Woman sees world with understanding (5/9)
Yellow Bird: Indian women and spiritual leadership (5/7)
Yellow Bird: Tighten gun control laws in North Dakota (5/3)
Yellow Bird: Easy ways at becoming more green (4/30)
Yellow Bird: School shootings just don't 'happen' (4/18)
Yellow Bird: The Red River Valley Flood of 1997 (4/9)
Yellow Bird: Women of color share their views (4/5)
Yellow Bird: UND powwow needs your support (4/2)
Yellow Bird: UTTC begs for funding year after year (3/26)
Yellow Bird: Even more about colon cancer screening (3/21)
Yellow Bird: Remembering my aunt/mother, Pearl (3/19)
Yellow Bird: Colon cancer screening essential (3/14)
Yellow Bird: Return land to North Dakota tribe (3/12)
Yellow Bird: Native Media Center at UND prospers (3/7)
Yellow Bird: Woody Keeble a true American hero (3/5)
Yellow Bird: Cell phone addiction affects driving (2/28)
Yellow Bird: UND has many reasons to be proud (2/26)
Yellow Bird: Signs of spring already in the air (2/21)
Yellow Bird: US automakers ignore innovation (2/19)
Yellow Bird: Tribes should snuff out smoking too (2/14)
Yellow Bird: On being Black or Indian 'enough' (2/9)
Yellow Bird: Braving the cold North Dakota winter (2/5)
Yellow Bird: Chokecherry for North Dakota state fruit (1/31)
Yellow Bird: Name-calling and bullying in schools (1/24)
Yellow Bird: Climate change impossible to ignore (1/17)
Yellow Bird: Tribes can help Indian doctors program (1/15)
Yellow Bird: Tribes have much to offer North Dakota (1/11)
Yellow Bird: Catching a ride on the Dakota wind (1/2)
