David Thompson Monument
Verendyre, North Dakota
This granite ball, five feet in diameter, is crossed by perfunctory latitude and longitude lines. It's a monument to David Thompson, who "passed near here in 1797 and 1798" while making the first map of North Dakota. Thompson's accomplishment is difficult to appreciate, as North Dakota is essentially a rectangle of arbitrary geography.
The monument was placed on this lonely hill in 1925, overlooking the tiny town of Verendyre, a gift from the Great Northern Railroad, whose tracks ran nearby. [RA: Thanks to tipster Randal O'Toole for straightening us out on its origins.]
David Thompson's monument has never drawn much of a crowd. Verendyre was abandoned decades ago, and the last time that we stopped by the monument's only visitors were a herd of cows. Its inscription was so worn that it was barely legible. A few more North Dakota winters (or itchy cows) and it will be gone, and the meaning behind this big, granite Hellraiser head will be lost to the rare traveler who stumbles upon it.
Also, if David Thompson deserves a monument, how come he isn't in the North Dakota Hall of Fame?