Standing Rock

Nome, North Dakota

The rutted gravel track and overgrown path -- prairie grass up to the armpits -- leading to The Standing Rock Hill Historic Site reveals a monument that is infrequently visited. No official at nearby Ft. Ransom State Park (where it's supposed to be, but isn't) knew how to get to it ("We've never had anyone ask us before.") but old George Peterson who lived around the corner from the post office did.

Standing Rock is a lumpy, cracked granite cone about three feet tall, jutting out of the ground at the crest of a hill, anchored in concrete. Next to it is a 1954 U.S. Geodetic Survey marker; the surveyors may have been the last to visit. There is also a plaque: "The Inyan Bosendata of the Dakota Indians used this site as a place for ceremonials and offerings. The state geographic board has designated this place as one of the most sightly and historic in North Dakota." The rock frame that encloses this metal sign is much larger and impressive than Standing Rock.