Gravel Pits

River banks here are underlayed with a stable base of gravel, a rare feature in this area that helped the American Fur Company choose this site for Fort Union because it stabilized the riverbank against erosion and reduced mud. In more recent times, the commercial value of these deposits nearly led to the fort's destruction, and quarrying scarred the landscape until it was halted when the State Historical Society of North Dakota acquired the land in trust. The Historical Society held the land while the community and Congress worked to establish Fort Union as a national historic site.

Trenton, North Dakota · United States