Imagine a world where Lake Sakakawea didn’t exist. The Missouri River, meandering, uninterrupted, through the northern Great Plains. You spy bison roaming the prairie. The soundtrack, a mix of the steady murmur of far-off carriages and the breeze dancing through the tall grass, is peaceful.

The year is 1868. General de Trobiand is stationed at Fort Stevenson. Over the course of his time here, he has spent hours looking across the land from the Missouri River bluffs. What does he see? While there are, undoubtedly, countless sights, here are a few he witnessed.

With his eyes downriver, General de Trobiand spots steamboats, traveling towards Fort Stevenson. While some carry provisions, mail, and goods for the Fort, others merely stop for a minute, exchange civilities, and enjoy a drink and apples before continuing on their journey.

Deep in the heat of summer, he hears the chirping of a grasshopper. Then another. And another, getting closer and closer. Clouds of grasshoppers appear in the sky. They look more like thick dust than insects, their melodic chirping transformed into the droning of an ocean. This was, of course, a troubling sight as this amount of grasshoppers would devastate the gardens and pastures in a short amount of time.

Grasshoppers weren’t the only disturbing sight in the skies for the General. Black clouds would sweep across the prairie, coming up on the horizon, clouds mounting one on top of the other. Brilliant flashes of lightning followed by rolling thunder surrounded the fort. Only the thunder was able to drown out the hum of grasshoppers. The storm brought violent wind, threatening the gardens once more. It crossed the Missouri, the skies cleared, and calm returned.

While the changing of the seasons brought an end to thunderstorms, the dark, gray skies of winter ushered in brutal blizzards. Snow, seemingly never ending, would fall from the sky day after day, coupled with wind that would cut right to the bone. During one storm, snow drifted as high as the roof, cutting off the cook from the rest of the fort. Even though the winters were long and harsh, the snow would melt and spring would arrive, the bluffs of the Missouri River shining in the morning light.

General de Trobiand appreciated the beauty of the surrounding area at his time at Fort Stevenson. He was a man with a keen eye for detail, which is evident in his drawing of the Fort. The drawing, along with his beloved telescope, is on display in the Guardhouse. Take a look through the glass, out towards Lake Sakakawea, and imagine Fort Stevenson standing on a bluff of the Missouri River, from the same vantage point of his drawing.