From the Fort Abraham Lincoln State park website: (
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"Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park History
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park in North Dakota is one of the outstanding historic areas within the state. The park is made historically important because within its boundaries are the ruins of On-A-Slant Mandan Indian Village and the Fort Abraham Lincoln cavalry and infantry posts.
The land itself was deeded to the state in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt. Park development started in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), who built the visitor center, earthlodges, blockhouses, shelters and roads, and placed cornerstones to mark buildings at the infantry and cavalry posts."
The men of the Civilian Conservation Corps who developed Fort Abraham Lincoln State park are honored with a statue named "The Worker" and an associated historic marker for their efforts. The historic maker reads as follows:
"CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS
“The Worker” commemorates the valuable contributions of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) across this great country during the years 1933-1943. That Depression-era decade was a critical period in American history, The CCC played a major role putting people back to work performing jobs on public works projects.
Single, unemployed males ages 18-25 were eligible to enlist in the CCC. They were paid $30 per month, of which $5 could be kept and the remaining $25 sent home to their parents. These young men developed state parks, city and county parks, national parks, and wildlife refuges, restored historic structures, built bridges, planted trees to stop erosion, built roads and community structures, and much, much more across North Dakota.
Over 32,000 young North Dakota men were enrolled in the CCC, serving in the state and across the nation. Few other such groups have accomplished so much for our country. We owe a great debt of gratitude to these young men for their commitment and contributions."
Many CCC-built structures still serve the public today, such as the Museum, camping shelters, and park roads. Other non-infrastructure CCC projects here include recreating a Mandan Indian village and setting stones to mark the old Fort's ruins.
The CCC was active here from 1934-1938. Source: (
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Two plaques tell more of the CCC story here:
Plaque 1 (west side of Museum entrance):
"CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS PROJECT
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Company 2775-V of Mandan ND
Let this be a reminder to future generations of the invaluable service rendered by so many young men in preserving and maintaining parks and wildlife areas of this country.
The CCC assisted in the development of Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park by building the museum, roads, shelters, earthlodges, blockhouses, and marking the buildings of Fort Abraham Lincoln.
The CCC functioned from 1933 to 1942 with enrollees earning a dollar a day.
This plaque is placed here through the cooperative efforts of:
Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park
Merlin and Dorothy Dahl of Mandan ND
Raymond C. Ware of Bowman ND
Maurice and Margaret Barstad of Mesa AZ
Oakes CCC Alumni Association of Oakes ND
Life Members of CCC Chapter #106, Organization of North Dakota"
Plaque 2 (east entrance to Museum)
"The Civilian Conservation Corps is history that should be taught in schools so that future generations might learn of the great organization that did so much in the conservation of the nation’s natural resources. The CCC gave us hope, where there had been no hope. Jobs when no jobs were available and most of all produced a generation of responsible young men with work skills, learned in the CCC, a better education and love of family and country. Ninety percent of the three million plus young men who served in the CCC were the first to enter the armed forces of the USA to fight and win World War II. We were trained by the CCC to obey orders and to live and work with others in an army-type setting, who were ready, willing, and able to fight for their country when necessary."