Sentinel Butte

I wonder how many people driving interstate 94 between Medora and Beach wonder about looking out over the world from the top of Sentinel Butte. That would be an amazing sight.

Sentinel Butte is quite the landmark. It is roughly three miles east to west, is about a half a mile wide, and rises about 700 feet above the surrounding plain. At one time it was thought to be the highest point in the state. Now, of course that honor goes to White Butte in Slope County which bests Sentinel Butte by a little less than 100 feet.

Bertha Rachael Palmer in her book “Beauty Spots in North Dakota” published in 1928 described a trip to view sunset from atop Sentinel Butte. She wrote that the butte was reportedly named after two of Custer’s scouts that were killed atop the butte by Indians in 1876. However, she also wrote that the explanation had perhaps been disproved. More recently, Douglas Wick in his 1988 book “North Dakota Place Names” states that the butte was named in honor of two Arikara sentinels killed on top of the butte by the Sioux in 1864.

Sentinel Butte also has a geologic formation named after it. The Sentinel Butte formation is a remnant of the swampland that existed in our region during the Paleocene Epoch, roughly from 65-55 million years ago. The formation consists of deposits of sandstone, siltstone, shale, and lignite.

As some of you may know, the Sentinel Butte formation is quite rich in fossils. Freshwater snails and clams, fish, turtles, and crocodile-like animals called a champsosaurs have been found in the formation. It also contains petrified wood, including some large stumps that are several feet in diameter. These trees, probably some type of conifer, grew in the swamp much like bald cypress does today. There are also reports of an abundance of moss agates around the base of the butte.

So are you still wondering what the view would be on Sentinel Butte at sunset? Here is Bertha Rachael Palmer’s description:

“All the crudeness of color and roughness of outline were subdued and smoothed by distance and atmosphere, while over all was spread a trembling veil of old rose light. It was all so beautiful, the heart ached that it could not last.”

Chuck Lura

Natural North Dakota is supported by NDSU Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and Minot State University-Bottineau, and by the members of Prairie Public. Thanks to Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau for their recording services.