decot (01/21/83)
If you're driving through you-know-where (assuming that it is actually there), you may notice some advertisements for a place called Agate National Monument. If you are (as I am) one always on the lookout for historical enlightenment through tangible experience, you will be tempted to visit this place. Don't. The monument is located a short distance from the outskirts of Agate, ND. This alleged town consists of A tree, A post office, and FOUR roadsigns. Two of the signs advertise Agate National Monument, but the other two are interesting. The first says, "Entering Agate," and the second says "Leaving Agate." The signs are approximately 25 feet apart. When you are ignorant enough to arrive at the entrance to the Monument, you are not immediately rewarded with a view of it. What you get is a tour of a small museum that displays several different forms of rocks. There is a person in the museum who, with the aid of a hand-painted map, indicates how to get to the Monument \per se/. You leave the museum, cross what seems like a mile of desert covered with semi- noticeable rock formations. At last, over a hill, you see a glint of metal! Before you is a five-foot stone marker with a little plaque. This is probably the most exciting tourist attraction in North Dakota, and it is a MUST SEE for anyone whose travel plans include visiting ND. -Dave Decot