Riv. Bas. Sur. ont 
GR rey STAR VILLAGE—METCALF 63 
Knife River dune-sand areas are present. The highlands, with an 
altitude of 2,000 feet above sea level, formerly carried a heavy short- 
grass cover in which blue grama predominated. Today most of the 
upland is under cultivation, with spring wheat the most important 
crop and with lesser acreages devoted to corn, flax, oats, and barley. 
However, occasional early frosts and low annual precipitation com- 
bine to make agriculture hazardous west of the Missouri River in 
North Dakota. 
The Missouri River, which forms the northern and eastern bound- 
aries of the county, flows through a valley some 300 feet in depth and 
from 1 to 3 miles in width. The stream is bordered by a low, alluvial 
flood-plain of variable width but often of great extent, covered with a 
dense growth of willows and in the higher parts with groves of 
deciduous trees, cottonwood, willow, ash, elm, and boxelder. 
Rising sharply from the flood-plain to a height of some 30 feet 
is a terrace seldom exceeding a half-mile in width and often much 
less. This originally carried a heavy short-grass cover of the same 
type as that on the uplands but is today largely under cultivation. 
It is upon this level or slightly sloping terrace that the remains of 
former aboriginal villages and camps are most commonly found. 
The terrace slope often carries a heavy growth of chokecherries, june- 
berries, buffaloberries, and wild currants. Clumps of wild plum 
bushes are found on the drier parts of the flood-plain as well as on the 
terrace slopes, and most of these fruits may be found growing in the 
coulees as well as along the margins of the upland. 
The valley sides are deeply eroded and form a belt of hills, often 
bold and rugged in outline, between the upland and the valley bottom. 
The drainage ways, or coulees, cut through this hilly belt and extend 
far back into the uplands, while their lower courses cut the bordering 
terrace into segments. The coulee heads, as well as the more gentle 
slopes of the hills, frequently show small wooded areas, ash being the 
most common species of tree in these situations. Near the edge of the 
uplands scattered groups of quaking aspen are sometimes found, as 
well as an occasional oak. Junipers are present on the more pre- 
cipitous slopes. 
The climate is dry and characterized by long, cold winters and short, 
cool summers. Temperature records for the county show extremes 
of 105° F. to-50° F. The average dates for the first and last killing 
frost are September 14 and May 28, giving an average frost-free 
season of 109 days. Records kept over a 24-year period show an 
average annual precipitation of only 13.83 inches, with slightly over 
55 percent of this occurring during the months of May, June, and 
July. Prevailing winds are from the northwest.’ 
2Climatie data 1s summarized from Climate of North Dakota, by Frank J. Bavendick, 
in Climate and Man, pp. 1045-1054, 1941 Yearbook of Agriculture, Washington, 1941. 
