A Town Called Zap

Highway 200, a black with grey speckled, tar striped road that heads west on your way to Zap ND. The tires of the truck go bump bump as they hit the tar striped lines that fan out across the road like veins in the human body. You turn left to go down a big hill into town. The town sits on the edge of the Bad Lands six miles west of Beulah ND and 6miles east of Golden Valley ND.

As you descend the hill you see what is left of a once booming trailer park that was constructed during the influx of people in the 80's when the power plants in the area were constructed. It is situated on the left and to your right is a long deep valley green with pasture grass and some cattle, which belongs to Leroy Walsh one of the many folks that have been in this area since they were little. Leroy is originally from Dodge ND and was moved their with his mother when he was little. He like the most of the town had worked a lifetime at the now closed mine just south of town, the Indian Head Mine. The name is given on account of the location of the mine over looking the spring valley of Zap in which sits the Spring Creek. This area in the 1700's was traveled back and forth by Indians and they left traces of their existence by way of pottery and Arrow Heads from the arrows.

As you continue down the hill you will start to see houses on the right at the bottom of the long green valley. First, it is Lessley Walsh's house, then next to it is the house of the Grumming family with their 6 Ð... boys who are now about half of them through college. Their father Ed had died of cancer about seven years ago leaving Teresa, the mother left with the big job of raising what was left, but they do alright. The Boys either work at the plants or out of the shop the family has in town.

Next to their house is an old abandoned church, one of six in town that has either been converted into someone's house or storage. At one time their used to be a lot of different religion in this town from Catholic to Baptist to Lutheran, primarily Lutheran Germans