On top of a hill overlooking Jamestown next to the National Buffalo Museum (previous post), is the Frontier Village, a bit of the Old West in this recreation of a prairie town. The city pulled this village together using original buildings from all over the state. Dakota Thunder, at the end of the main street, drew us in as we pulled into the city from driving along Hwy. 94. Time to pull on your boots and put on your cowboy hat, and walk along with us on the boardwalks of this authentic pioneer town.
We’ve seen numerous buildings from the period of time of the Frontier Village, so we’ll just be sharing new looks at history that we haven’t seen before.
general store
early church
An audio tour guide of the city told us that the first church services in North Dakota were held in railroad box cars. The Catholic church realized that it was easier to reach their congregants using the railroad instead of trying to get around by horse or mule since roads were hard to travel on, so the area’s bishop started traveling by boxcar to conduct services. Other faiths soon followed suit.
one-room schoolhouse
My dad went to such a one-room schoolhouse in southern Iowa and taught at the same school after completing his training at a Normal School.
This school was built and opened in December 1910. That month 17 students started going to classes, and the school year was over the next March probably to help with the spring planting. From 1915 to 1952, the school was open for 7 months a year and worked from a 9-month curriculum.
Reading, writing, arithmetic, and spelling were the first lessons taught and learned in those early days, and the wide-eyed youngsters listened to their teacher as she (usually a woman) described the way a town looked and how trains ran on tracks since many of them hadn’t seen these sights before.
Many of the first teachers were faced with the prospect of students for whom English was a second language. Some of the children, born of immigrant parents, came to school unable to speak a word of English. Somehow the teachers, not far removed from being children themselves, were able to cope with the challenge.
barber’s prices
Louie L’Amour
Louie was born in Jamestown on March 22, 1906, (same year as my dad) and was the youngest of 8 children. His father was the local large animal vet and held numerous city-appointed jobs. His mother was trained as a teacher and shared her love of books with all of her children. The LaMoore family left the area in 1923 because of the poor farm economy.
Here’s more about Louis from the city’s walking tour brochure:
As well as being an avid reader, “Louis enjoyed activities growing up close to the railroad and downtown Jamestown. He watched the circus arrive and unload the tents and animals. He boxed with his father and brothers in the LaMoore Veterinary barn. He listened to stories of his great-grandfather Ambrose, who was scalped by Sioux Native Americans. He enjoyed tales of cowboys from his Uncle Truman Dearborn, who was a well-known cowboy of the west.
“At twelve years old, Louis gained his first job working at the Train Depot Telegraph office where he learned to type.
After his family left Jamestown, “Louis went on many real adventures including working as an able seaman, mine claim manager, boxing, and hoboing.”
The story goes that Louis often requested new subjects to his teachers since he had often already read about the materials the teacher was covering from when he sat in the library reading. His oldest sister, Edna, worked at the library in the summers and was able to help Louis learn how to best use it.
lawyer’s office
surveyor’s office
We’ll learn more about this expedition as we travel in North Dakota.
If the Deputy Government Land Surveyors surveyed the township this way, the crews would have had to travel a minimum of 118 miles and mark a minimum of 100 corners by setting a post or stone for the corner and digging a pit beside the corner and piling the dirt around the post to make it easily visible to the settlers.
This instrument has been used since at least the time of ancient Egypt to ensure that constructions are “plumb,” or vertical.
frontier justice
bank
saloon and new friends
The Frontier Village’s saloon is also the tourist information location. The afternoon we drove into Jamestown, we decided to stop by here to pick up brochures and chat with the volunteer worker so we could spend the evening planning out what we wanted to visit when while we were in the area.
Barney may be interested in this type of part-time job!
jail cell
printing office
portable dentist chair
The Spanish–American War was an armed conflict between Spain and the United States from April to August, 1898. Hostilities began after the internal explosion of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor in Cuba, leading to U.S. intervention in the Cuban War Independence. With the U.S. winning this conflict, Spanish colonial rule ended in the Americas
post office
walk to railroad depot
Native Americans used the wood in their tipi construction and when making bows and arrows. These days, berries are used in jams, jellies, and wines. The trees are found primarily in Canada and the northern United States, ripening in late August.
railroad station
town hall
log cabin
Dakota Thunder
From this spot, we looked all over this large field with trees covering up a stream but couldn’t see any movement from the bison herd.
The staff in the National Buffalo Museum told us that the herd had been recently moved to their winter “home” and gave us directions to a spot a couple of blocks away so we could possibly see them. We went there and looked and looked but couldn’t see any movement in the field.
We were really disappointed that we hadn’t seen any live bison on our visit to this city. But we did get close to Dakota Thunder, the name given him by the city as the result of a contest for his name 50 years after he found a home here.
The Frontier Village is about 2 blocks long with buildings on both sides. At the opposite end of the entrance is Dakota Thunder—the world’s largest buffalo. His presence is Jamestown’s claim to fame and is the main reason why the city is called “the Buffalo City.”
The inspiration for Dakota Thunder was the statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in Bemidji, Minnesota, and the thousands of travelers that drew visitors to northern Minnesota to see this pair. We’ve been there so can understand why the city wanted their own draw for vacationers. This area in Minnesota is also close to the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
finally
In our next post we’ll fast forward about 70 years to see a Minuteman Missile site!
