Page:1959 North Dakota Session Laws.pdf/913

Rh into the greatest fur trading post on the North American Continent and played a preeminent part in the opening of the Pacific Northwest for more than two decades; and

WHEREAS, Fort Union became a port of call for many world famous personages, such as George Catlin in the year 1832, who arrived on the first steamer to reach the Yellowstone River; Prince Maximilian of Wied and party in the year 1833; John James Audubon in the summer of 1843; and the eminent frontier missionary Father Pierre Jean DeSmet in the year 1840; in addition to being a point of meeting for many years for bands of Indians from the Chippewa, Blackfeet, Crow, Sioux, Cree, Blood, Piegan, Assiniboine, Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara, Cheyenne, Flathead and Snake Nations; and

WHEREAS, Fort Buford was similarly established at the confluence of the two rivers in the year 1866; and

WHEREAS, said fort played a large and significant part in the regulation of the fur trade with the Indians and in the subsequent Indian campaigns, culminating in the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876; and

WHEREAS, such Indian prisoners as Chief Joseph and members of his Nez Perce Tribe and Chief Gall passed through Fort Buford; and

WHEREAS, it was at Fort Buford in the year 1881 that Sitting Bull surrendered, together with the remnants of his followers; and

WHEREAS, this area situated at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers is an area of great historical significance to the people of the United States; and

WHEREAS, its historical significance has been lost largely by reason of its nondevelopment;

Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Thirty-sixth Legislative Assembly of the State of North Dakota, the House of Representatives Concurring Therein:

That we do respectfully and earnestly request the Congress of the United States to authorize and establish sufficient of the area situated at the confluence of the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers as a national park and that the sites of Fort Union, Fort Buford and the early frontier town of Mondak and other historical sites be renovated, preserved and maintained for the enjoyment and benefit of the people of the United States.

Be It Further Resolved, that the secretary of state of the state of North Dakota be authorized and he is hereby directed