Bald Hill Dam. Have you ever wondered about the origin of that name? Bald Hill? I have been rereading portions of the book Joseph N. Nicollet on the Plains and Prairies, the expeditions of 1838-39 with journals, letters, and notes on the Dakota Indians translated from French and edited by Edmund and Martha Bray (1976). On their way to Devils lake from Fort Pierre during the summer of 1839 the Nicollet expedition traveled for a time along the Sheyenne River north of what is now Valley City.