The Crying Hill
Published by gwen September 24th, 2007 in North Dakota People, Uncategorized.I learned something new about Mandan, North Dakota a few weeks ago that I keep meaning to look into.
There is a hill in Mandan, facing east, with the word ‘Mandan’ spelled out on it twice: once in white-washed rock, and once in trees. I notice it most when I’m coming west from Bismarck and it’s sunny outside. It smiles down at the greenway between the freeway lanes.
I noticed in the news a few weeks ago that Patrick Atkinson, owner of part of that hill, meant to donate the land to Mandan Parks and Rec. The city wasn’t able to take the property, but I’ve been intrigued by it ever since.
The hill is called The Crying Hill. It’s a Native American Heritage Site. Atkinson bought the property in 2003 when it was up for sale to protect it and preserve history. The web site itself is worth visiting.
It’s wonderful to find a piece of history looking me right in the eye as I drive along the freeway. One more thing to love about North Dakota and the Bismarck-Mandan area!
I have family in the Bis-Man area I try to visit, at least, annually and I have never heard the story of the Crying Hill.
Thanks for posting the link. Interesting stuff!
One story you probably won’t see anywhere else: the cops kicked Pat off the land one night while he was out enjoying his purchase. Apparently they would not accept his word that he was the owner of the property, and threatened to arrest him if he didn’t leave!