Bismark, ND – Day 40 / Capitol #46

The North Dakota State Capitol has a Lincoln Room, Memorial Hall and a great slogan on their state seal: Liberty  and Union Now and Forever One and Inseparable. Unfortunately, this is the only state Capitol that I did not get inside of because they are only open on weekends during the summer. That turned out to be a blessing because while at the ND Heritage Center I was able to get to know Merlan Paaverud and Kim Jondahl of the State Historical Society and learned the following: ND's top three industries are agriculture, oil and tourism, but its also famous for dinosaurs; "Dakota" the Hadrosaur, or duck-bill dinosaur (see pic),  is only one of four found in the world with skin impressions that have been fossilized.  It's also another state with  great ties to Lincoln for his signing of the Land Grant College Act, the Homestead Act and Intercontinental Railroad Act.  In addition, Merlan, the Director of State Historical Society, also recited the Gettysburg Address with me in front of the Capitol!