Day 44-- At the Spirit Lake Band of Lakota Sioux land

Buffalo on the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation

A view of Devils Lake (Spirit Lake) from Sully's Hill.

The controlled burn right up to the Visitors Center at Sully's hill

 The Sisseton-Wahpeton Band of Mississippi, or Eastern Sioux, and the Cuthead Yanktonai call the The Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation home. We spent most of outr time today on that reservation. One of the features of that land is the Sully's Hill National Game Preserve. There is a large herd of Buffalo there, some Elk, Deer and other wildlife and of course for us...birds!  Lots of pothole lakes. We did see our first warblers since Texas with the spotting of a Yellow Warbler.  Although not as close as we would like, we did get a photo of the bird.

It is there . A Yellow Warbler. Our first warbler.

 Sully's hill was named after General Sully, who never stepped foot on it,. His troops were waiting for his arrival, but he never showed, so the troops as a joke , named the hill "Sully's" . The name stuck to this day.

We did not see the Buffalo there but did a few miles later. There is a Company that raises and prepares Buffalo meat for sale and they have a large herd a few miles from Sully's hill. 

On a similar road a few miles away is the Old Fort Totten. Established in the 1860's , it was a fort to "protect settlers , then Indians , until the Indians were "assimilated" and then it was turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs  (BIA) as an Indian School from the 1880's until the 1960's. It is now a National Historic site, and is used for vacationers to lodge there or to vist and tour. 

Some of the barracks and buildings at Fort Totten 

Commissary and Mess Halls At Fort Totten

The Story of Fort Totten

Probably the stables at Fort Totten


We ended the day with a visit to the Fish and Wildlife WMD to secure some maps of the NWR that we wanted to visit. Sandy took care of us and we came out with a great map of the area and the National Wildlife Refuges and more.
As there is a "help yourself" breakfast at the Motel we just have to eat dinner out (lunch always is in our "cooler"). So tonight it was our favorite fast food places (Jim loves tacos and Ruth loves KFC) There is a place that serves both at the same counter.
Tomorrow we head for Alice Lake NWR and the west end of the Devils Lake.