Bismarck Guide » More About Bismarck: Overview
Overview
A land of fertile soil, untapped coal and oil reserves, rolling prairies, and close-knit communities, North Dakota has lost little of its frontier spirit over the years. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the capital city, Bismarck. Named after a German Kaiser in an attempt to encourage investment in its neophyte railroad industry, Bismarck's history can be traced back to 1804, when Meriwether Lewis and William Clark camped on the banks of the Missouri River (just a short distance from the modern city limits) while exploring the lands of the Louisiana Purchase and opening the door for thousands of pioneer families who settled the area over the next century or so. By the time North and South Dakota formally entered the Union in 1889, Bismarck was well on its way to becoming one of the region's most important economic and cultural centers, attracting investment capital thanks to a position at the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad and serving as an important steamboat crossing point. Important sites in and around the capital city include Fort Abraham Lincoln, General George Custer's command post when he met disaster at the hands of Sitting Bull at the Battle of Little Bighorn; the Lewis and Clark Riverboat, a 150-passenger vessel that cruises the Missouri in grand style; and the contemporary capitol building, the so-called "Skyscraper on the Prairie," a fascinating blend of old and new that houses the North Dakota Heritage Center, Avard Fairbanks's famous "Pioneer Family" statue, and a dazzling arboretum that contains indigenous plants, trees, flowers, and shrubs. Once the sun sets on the prairie, visitors will find that they have no shortage of options to pass the night away, whether it's playing blackjack at the Prairie Knights Casino, taking in a Native American dance and musical performance, or enjoying night fishing at nearby Lake Oahe. In North Dakota, something exciting is always on the horizon.
