Out on the quiet prairie around the Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota, a discovery was made in 1980s when the levels of the lake had to be lowered. This action revealed an archaeological treasure that uncovered many details about the ancient plains people. Today, you can visit Lake Ilo and see what those sites were like – and they are still here today. Check it out for yourself:

Out in western North Dakota near the towns of Dunn Center and Killdeer is the Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge.
USFWS/Flickr
This place has beautiful lakeside views and is a quiet place with plenty of animals - especially birds - to see. But there is more to this place than being a wildlife refuge.
USFWS/Wikimedia

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Lake Ilo was lowered in the late 1980s due to a dam being found unsafe and needing work. Once the lake was lowered, a remarkable discovery was made in the revealed land.
USFWS/Flickr
If you look closely at the satellite photograph below, you can see many faint circles in the land. These circles are the stone tipi rings from prehistoric people who lived and hunted here around 10,000 years ago.
Google maps
During the excavations in the 1990s, a staggering 58,000 artifacts were uncovered from the sites. These artifacts include spear heads, pottery shards, and other old stone tools. The people here hunted and moved on later. At the time they were very nomadic and traveled often to survive. To have a site like this with so many artifacts is very rare and it helped archaeologists piece together information about these ancient humans.
Today, Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge is open to visitors who can walk the trails. The historical sites should be left undisturbed, but you can see a recreation of the stone circles at the trailhead of the refuge.
USFWS/Flickr

Lake Ilo National Wildlife Refuge is located at 489 102 Ave SW, Dunn Center, North Dakota 58626. For more information on the site and where you can see the recreation on the trail, click here.

North Dakota is full of history in the land, especially in the western region of the state. Check out these neat geological formations that tell a history of a different kind, and they must be seen to be believed.

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