8MAY2011 near Fort Yates, ND - As stated in yesterday's posting, it stormed violently for a short time last night. When I opened the door I saw departing clouds, a sunny day building, a SW wind generating whitecaps and a canoe loaded with water. Not swamped, the canoe was taking in water with every wave that came slapping the adjacent logs. With great effort the craft got up the bank far enough for easy access and bailing of about 40 quarts was completed, gear tied back in and I was ready to go. I did not expect to go fast, and possibly not very far before tiring, but I went nowhere. I could not paddle away from the shore an adequate distance to actually operate the canoe as it is to be done, and several waves added a gallon or two of water ... so I once again pulled up on the shore. This time I pulled up far enough to avoid any further water accumulation ... but I had gone nowhere.

My weather information being three days old, I concluded that it would be sensible to walk up and to any house with internet, check weather.com and plan my next move. Great plan, but not easily done on Mother's Day Sunday when half the houses are still sleeping and the other half out to church. At the first house (1/2 mile) I picked up two dog companions; later I found that nobody was home there. At about a mile I passed a house that was off the road a ways and eventually came to the White Eagle house. Nobody was home and the Whiteeagle internet connection was five bars ... but I did not have the password. Only a quarter mile farther was a church and about five houses. Dirty and unkempt as I was I attended church and heard an appropriate message about Mothers. Knowing that I still have one, and loving her deeply, I listened intently, prayed intently and was uplifted by the totality of it all. When the meet and greet time came about, not one lady would hug me or shake my hand - I clearly look frightful.

Upon the completion of church the gathered flock learned of my need for internet and suggested that the Belkin house had a connection. Again, no password was forthcoming. A bit dejected, I began walking the three miles back to the pumphouse. Only later did I learn that 1/2 mile farther west was the hiighway that would take me to the casino ... not that I could get a ride looking like I did. Always bring a paddle when hitching a ride - that works well. Anyway, back at the house passed earlier, I turned in as Robert was strolling out to his mailbox. He offered to walk with me to his mother's house; his mother having dial-up internet and he wanting to visit with her anyway. We were joined by his cousins, Matt and Sam, and the six of us (remember the dogs) went strolling down the road. It was an interesting walk ... vehicles stopped and passed greetings ... Sam showed me the hill on which he held off the police a decade back (shortly before he became a prison resident) ... and we visited the home of Evangeline, grandmother of the three. Evangeline is interesting ... she reportedly does not leave her home often and basically never has a non-native like me visited her. During a moment when just the two of us were alone in her kitchen, she pointed to a picture of Sitting Bull and told me that all her descendants were of the Sitting Bull lineage, though she is not. Later I met her son, Edward Swifthorse, whose visage clearly harkens back to Sitting Bull. Fascinating - it never ceases to amaze me what I bump into as I wander across our country.

Proceeding on, Robert's mother's internet connection was not operating because of a modem problem. So there I was with worn out feet and not knowing what the coming weather specifics were. There was nothing else to do but make my way back to the pumphouse and see how far I could go. Matt gave me a good pushoff and the waves were much less than in the morning, so I began some movement along the shore. Unfortunately, whitecaps were coming at me and the progress was so slow that it was quickly obvious that I would never make the Casino Marina today. The wind kept the bow blown away from being straight out, so my only way to keep the canoe off the shore was to reverse myself and bow paddle into the wind. Tedious, difficult and slow. After a very tiring hour I had progressed a mile and was looking at Robert's mother's house. She called her brother, Edward Swifthorse, who graciously agreed to drive me to the casino, a distance of 9.8 miles. As night came the area was under a tornado warning. Good to be inside and good the canoe is secured between an island and the "mainland". The canoe is at river mile 1261.