The wide Missouri flows between Bismarck (foreground) and Mandan, North Dakota, in this 1980 picture. The historic transcontinental railroad axis winds from the left center to the upper center where it crosses the Missouri. The land rises from the rail corridor and downtown area northward toward the state capital grounds (right center) and the bluffs overlooking the river. The extensive shopping mall and related expansion south of the rail corridor has spread across lower land, and its development followed initiation of flood control by the big dams on the Missouri. Aerial photo by K. Bordner Consultants, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.