Medicine Rock State Historic Site, situated along the north fork of the Cannonball River in Grant County, is the largest and most diverse American Indian rock-art site in North Dakota. The sandstone outcrop bears both incised petroglyphs and painted pictographs—riders on horseback, turtles, bighorn sheep, bear paws, handprints, bird and hoof tracks—many still visible despite erosion and vandalism. Historically revered by the Mandan and Hidatsa as an oracle, the rock was a place of offerings, smoking rituals, and divination, where white?clay glyphs were interpreted as messages from the manhopa (Great Spirit). Although Lewis and Clark did not visit the site, Clark recorded its significance in his 1805 journal. The rock's ceremonial role was later documented by members of Stephen H Long's 1819-1820 expedition and by Prince Maximilian in the 1830s, and it appears on regional maps from 1864-1872. Today Medicine Rock remains an active sacred site, marked by tobacco and cloth offerings. Access is difficult and crosses private land. - AsNotedIn