It was down to just a few Tuesday afternoon: The last stations standing in a gas war that started nearly two months ago.

Some stations tried to raise the price on a few occasions during that span, but no one else would follow and the stations would once again lower the price, which hung around $1.39 for quite a while. It had dropped to as low as $1.29 during the war.

Tuesday afternoon, though, a majority of Bismarck-Mandan stations were selling a gallon of unleaded gasoline for $1.49, which more resembles the price charged at most stations across the state.

In Bismarck, three stations were remaining at a gas-war low of about $1.39. Simonson's Station Store on Main Avenue and Runway Express near the airport were at $1.39, and Hawk's Pit Stop on Memorial Highway was at $1.37.

"We're going to be the last dog hung," Hawk's owner Marlan "Hawk" Haakenson said.

Wholesale prices on Tuesday were at $1.40, Haakenson said.

"If they aren't going to go up 17 or 18 cents above wholesale, then there's no reason to go up," Haakenson said. The gas war "hurts everybody except the customer."

According to gasbuddy.com, a Web site where customers report gas prices from across the country, prices in North Dakota ranged from $1.42 to $1.55, mainly in Grand Forks and Fargo. The state's average was at $1.47 and the national average was at $1.51 Tuesday afternoon.

(Reach reporter Mark Hanson at 250-8264 or mark.hanson@bismarcktribune.com.)