SAVING CRYING HILL
The Mandan News
June 2, 2003
by Sue Bartholomew
Pat Atkinson went in for a regular physical therapy treatment last Monday and came out a philanthropist.
The massage therapist, named Denise Wentz from Hair Hospital, did some musing about Mandan¹s Crying Hill. She said it was up for sale.
This triggered a memory for Atkinson about a toboggan and the hill. “Tell me the lore and legend, the history behind Crying Hill,” he said.
After listening to her story, Atkinson said to himself, they can¹t sell this, what are they going to do with it?
So, he drove to Mandan to Crying Hill and parked the car.
“As I walked the hill, I put into perspective the history and what I had been told. It became apparent to me that these were very sacred grounds. This is a place where generations of kids grew up, where churches came to pray a place of mourning, fasting, communing with the dead,” he said.
Atkinson could see that people had used the hill. There was evidence of sage being planted and piles of prayer stones; some were five high.
Hungry for more information, Atkinson talked to Juanita Maxon, a Mandan/Hidatsa who works at Five Nations Art. Maxon shared stories about Crying Hill from her mother and grandmother.
The next day, Atkinson brought his son, Ernesto, of Mayan Indian Cakchiquel descent, to the hill. Ernesto is studying to be an architect.
“Ernesto,” he said, “I don’t feel anything here.”
Ernesto said, “Papa, just listen.” So they did. They lay down on the hill in the sunny afternoon, and they heard the birds, the wind, the rustle of grass. These are sacred grounds, they both agreed.
”What could we do with this property?” Atkinson asked. “If I purchased it.”
”We could put a house up here,” Ernesto said. “Look at the view. It would make a beautiful home, but it wouldn’t be right.”
Atkinson did purchase the land within two days of discovery.
“I didn¹t buy this for myself,” Atkinson said, “I believe I am being used as a tool to pursue this.”
"..."
Frederic Smith's July 1, 2003, newspaper editorial about Crying Hill in The Bismarck Tribune:
Archived Story 07-01-2003: news-editorials
More magic: Crying Hill site By Frederic Smith for the Tribune
"The more "magic" places in a city, the better. The city of Mandan has one in the Missouri River Natural Area, that delightful woods hideaway in which you can dip into the world of Lewis and Clark right next door to Interstate 94. (Go on a windy day, when the roar of the cottonwoods will drown the traffic noise.)
"It has another in Crying Hill, which now has been preserved for all time, courtesy of Bismarck's Patrick Atkinson.
"You know Crying Hill. It's the prominence on the east side of Mandan that sports the town's name in concrete slabs on one side and in live trees on the other. Its real claim to fame, though, is its association with a Mandan Indian village now overlaid by the modern city. (Some of it was excavated in connection with the rebuilding of First Street a few years ago.) This was in the Mandan tribe's "golden age," when the Mandans occupied a half-dozen towns near the confluence of the Missouri and Heart rivers.The tradition of the Mandans is that women resorted to the hill to watch for their men who had gone off on war raids. Burials also took place up there. There probably were a lot of those when an early smallpox epidemic ravaged the tribe about 1782. That was the end of the Heart River period, with what was left of the Mandans moving north to join their Hidatsa friends at Knife River. Leaving Crying Hill, Double Ditch, On-A-Slant, Chief Looking's and other wonderful old sites behind.
"Lewis and Clark saw all of these in their abandoned state.
"Fate has been kind to Crying Hill, preserving most of it, at least partly because of its steepness. Another deterrent to construction has been the probability of running into artifacts and human remains. It's far from pristine, however. The north and east sides have been gnawed at by road construction, and I-94 roars at its base in place of the old Missouri River.
"Still, it was for sale again, and who knows? That's the thought that bothered Atkinson, whose Indian son also convinced him that the old spirits are still around. So, Atkinson bought it. He and some friends set up the Crying Hill Foundation to protect it into perpetuity and to do such development as fits, such as trails and perhaps an interpretive center.
"Atkinson has done Mandan and the larger community -- including descendents of those old Mandans -- a good turn, preserving one of the magic places that add depth to our everyday lives.
"We residents should all do what we urge our tourist visitors to do -- climb a hill (like Crying Hill) or take a walk in the woods (like the Missouri River Natural Area) to catch a glimpse of the yesterworld we live in the middle of. It's magic."
To keep the Crying Hill legend, name, and heritage from being abused or exploitated, the name Crying Hill has been registered by Patrick Atkinson as a protected trademark under the United States Patent and Trademark Act laws. Any heritage or civic-minded individuals, groups, or municipalities interested in using the Crying Hill name for business purposes should contact us for legal authorization prior to use.
