News
A guide in elevation for the Turtle Mountains
Scott Wagar
08/27/2013
Travelers who trek north of Bottineau on the Veterans Memorial Highway (the Town Line) are given the opportunity to see planters with elevation signs on them on the right side of the road, which grants individuals the opportunity to see colorful flowers and the rise in altitude as they venture up into the Turtle Mountains.
If travelers ever wonder how the planters came to be, they were created from the brilliant mind of the same man who established Mystical Horizons in hopes of giving insight to people who journey into the local mountains.
“The planters and elevation signs were started by Jack Olson,” said Mae Streich, who is Bottineau County’s director of sites for the Scenic Byway and the Veterans Memorial Highway through the Turtle Mountains. “Jack wanted people to know that we are in a mountain region, and even though it is only mountain elevation by a little bit, Jack wanted people to know how high the elevation goes up and how fast it goes up. If you ever ride a bike up north you know how much the rise is.”
Olson originated the planters around the turn of this century with the idea of making it a community project.
“Dakota College at Bottineau was contacted and Bob Underwood (former dean of DCB’s forestry department) agreed to construct the planters on the roads,” Streich said. “Jack conducted the elevation as to where each planter would be located.
“We then had people come forth and adopt the planters where they planted, mowed and weeded the planters at their own expense,” Streich added. “Over the years, there has been some exchange in individuals who cared for the planters, but most of the planters have been cared for by the original people who said they would do it.”
At the present moment there are 11 planters, which are cared for by Dakota College at Bottineau, American Legion Post 25, the Arlan Monson family, the Leno’s, the Jacobson’s, AMVETS Post 25, Al and Barb Wondrasek, Toni and Ron Peck (in memory of Steven Peck), Rick’s Home and Cabin, Johnson Hoe Service and the Bottineau County Veterans.
Lois Raymo, owner and operator of Northern Exposure Sign Company in Bottineau, has made each sign for the planters.
Outside of handling the elevation of each planter, Olson also conceived the witty rhymes on the first and last sign. The words on the first sign state “Lo! The Turtle Mountains! They don’t appear so high but just keep on driving and watch the signs go by.” The words on the last sign state “It’s the end of the road, but not of the rise. Three and a half miles NNE Boundary Butte lies”
The Boundary Butte Olson speaks of is the Butte Saint Paul Summit near Dunseith which holds the highest elevation in the Turtle Mountains at 2,541 feet above sea level.
The first sign is located just north of the Bottineau Fairground at a height of 1,659 feet above sea level.
The last sign is located at the intersection of the Bottineau County Memorial Veterans Highway and states the elevation of Butte Saint Paul.
For Streich, she is proud of the planters and elevation project
“Jack created a wonderful tourist attraction on the Veterans Memorial Highway,” she said. “And, the individuals who care for the planters do a great job. I hope when people see those responsible for the planters they will say a thank you to them for making them so beautiful.”
Olson was born on Oct. 24, 1922, in Bottineau and passed away on August 28, 2001, at his home in Normandy, Wash.
Olson is a graduate of Bottineau High School, attended the University of North Dakota, graduated from the Minneapolis School of Art and Design and Central Washington University with a BA degree in aeronautical engineering.
He served in the Army Air Force during World War II as a flight instructor and pilot. After leaving the military he spent the majority of his career being employed with Boeing as a designer creating concepts for jetfoil, plans that paralleled the Hubble Space Telescope and a mass transit system in Morgantown, W.V.
Olson was also a master painter and some of his paintings on life in space are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
After retiring from Boeing, Olson spent some of his retirement in Bottineau where he designed the planters and elevation signs, Mystical Horizons and many other projects in the community.