Those black-eyed susans had nice shiners even before the horses came by and trampled them.

The surviving wildflowers bent and danced in the wind Friday afternoon in rural Oliver County, where the grassy hills rose dramatically from the Missouri Coteau. Butterflies flapped helplessly against the breeze, which carried on it the sugary smell of sweet clover.

From a half-mile away, you could hear the horses whinny. And then, as it snaked its way up the hillside, the creaks and groans of the wagon train rode through the air to your ears.

Twelve covered wagons are carrying high-spirited guests overland from Mandan to Washburn on the "road" never traveled. They left Mandan on Thursday and will arrive in Washburn on Sunday. The Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Trail Ride, now in its fifth year, is operated by West River Teamsters.

About 110 people - counting guests and members of the host party - are taking part in this year's wagon train. The participants represent 22 states, organizer Junior Schock said.

Cynthia Lambert, from Crown Point, Ind., is riding on her third wagon train with the group. She brings her 9-year-old son, Zachary, with her every year. Zachary is one of several children on the trip, including his 10-year-old cousin, Sam, and his 9-year-old friend, Michael Keller.

"When we came the first time, I was scared," Cynthia Lambert said. "We'd never camped before. But I thought it would be good for Zach to see how people traveled across the Plains. Out here you learn so much, without ever knowing that you're learning."

Lambert said the trips are safe as can be, and are the perfect tool for teaching children about history and responsibility.

"Plus," she said, "there are hot-looking cowboys."

Those cowboys - and there are cowgirls, too - do a great job of keeping everything organized, riders said.

"These guys have done such a great job," said Connie LaVelle, from Granite City, Ill. "They have handled everything, and when they advertise that they'll take you back 200 years, they really mean it. We didn't see a car or anything all day."

LaVelle had heart surgery three months ago, and said the beauty and serenity of the wagon train have done her body good. She came to North Dakota with friend Cathy Lewis, of St. Louis, who just finished reading Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage." Lewis - no relation to the famous explorer, she thinks - is eager to get to the interpretive center in Washburn to learn more about the journey.

And then, of course, she'll be able to pass on the stories learned on her own journey when she gets back home. Word-of-mouth and travel-magazine advertising are how the West River Teamsters land most of their customers, Schock said.

The trip costs about $400 per person, which includes the ride, two meals a day and entertainment at each night's campsite. That also comes out to roughly $500 Canadian, Paulette Blais said. Blais, from Victoria, British Columbia, is making her first trip on a wagon train. The retired nurse road in the "ambulance" wagon Friday - it has springs, while the others just eat the ruts - with her sister and brother-in-law and brother and sister-in-law, all from Saskatchewan.

"We wanted to do something authentic, and saw this in a travel magazine," Blais said. "And it is very authentic."

When they reach camp for lunch and for the night, the travelers have a few more accoutrements than were afforded the first wagon-train passengers on the Plains. In addition to cell service and air-conditioned vehicles, there is a food bus and a "potty" bus.

And the riders don't have to worry about trespassing. The 50-mile route takes them through rustic land owned by eight different parties, each of whom has welcomed the train.

"There is absolutely no way this could be done without the landowners," Schock said. "I can't say thank you enough to all of them."

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tspilde@ndonline.com.)