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ByJamesMacpherson The Associated Press CANNON BALL, N.D. Sofar, the hundreds of protesters fighting the Dakota Access pipeline have shrugged off the heavy snow, icy winds and frigid temperatures that have swirled around their large encampment on the North Dakota grass- lands. But if they defy next week'sgovernmentdeadline to abandon the camp, dem- onstrators know the real deepfreezeliesahead,when the full weight of the Great Plains winter descends on their community of ny- lon tents and teepees. Life- threatening wind chills and towering snow drifts could meanthegreatestchallenge is simple survival. "I'm scared. I'm a Cali- fornia girl, you know?" said Loretta Reddog of Placer- ville, California, a protester who said she arrived sev- eral months ago with her two dogs and has yet to ad- just to the harsher climate. The government has or- dered protesters to leave federal land by Monday, al- though it's not clear what, if anything, authorities will do to enforce that mandate. Demonstrators insist they will stay for as long as it takes to divert the $3.8 billion pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe believes threatens sacred sites and a river that pro- vides drinking water for millions of people. The pipeline is largely complete except for a short segment that is planned to pass beneath a Missouri River reservoir. The com- pany doing the building says it is unwilling to re- route the project. For several months, the government permitted the gathering, allowing its population to swell. The Seven Council Fires camp began growing in August as it took in the overflow crowd from smaller pro- test sites nearby. It now covers a half square mile, with living quarters that include old school buses, fancy motorhomes and domelike yurts. Hale bales are piled around some tee- pees to keep out the wind. There's even a crude corral for horses. The number of inhab- itants has ranged from several hundred to sev- eral thousand. It has been called the largest gathering of Native American tribes in a century. Increasingly, more per- manent wooden structures are being erected, even though the Army Corps of Engineers considers them illegal on government property. The Standing Rock Sioux insist the land still belongs to their tribe under a nearly 150-year-old treaty. Nate Bison, a member of South Dakota's Cheyenne River Sioux, came to the camp after quitting his job in Las Vegas a week ago. He said he intends to stay in- definitely, a prospect that may cause him to lose his house in Nevada. "But since I've lived in these conditions before, to me it's not all that bad," he said. Camp morale is high, he added, despite the onset of winter. "Everybody I've talked to, you hear laughter and people just having a good time, enjoying the camara- derie and the support from each other," Bison said. "And the love. People are taking the shirts off their own backs for other peo- ple. No one is left out that I've seen." On Thursday, the camp near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannon- ball rivers was shrouded in snow, much of it com- pacted by foot and vehicle traffic. Temperatures hov- ered in the 20s. Next week's forecast calls for single dig- its and subzero wind chills. Camp dwellers are get- ting ready for the hard- ships of a long stay. Moun- tains of donated food and water are being stock- piled, as is firewood, much of which has come from outside of North Dakota, the least-forested state in the nation. A collection of Army surplus tents with heating stoves serve as kitchen, dining hall, med- ical clinic and a camp-run school. Many of the smaller tents have become tattered by the wind. Thane Maxwell, a 32-year-old Minneapolis native who has been living at the camp since July, said North Dakota's bitter cold will not deter protesters committed to fighting the pipeline, or "black snake" as they call it. Tribes from the Great Plains states are adept at surviving brutal win- ters, he said. Others from warmer climes are being taught how to endure the frostbite-inducing tempera- tures that are sure to come. NORTH DAKOTA Famously cold winter menaces camp of oil pipeline protesters DAVIDGOLDMAN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS A person prays along the Cannonball River during a Native American water ceremony at the Oceti Sakowin camp, where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline in Cannon Ball, N.D. By Julie Pace and Jonathan Lemire The Associated Press NEWYORK DonaldTrump's skeptics hope the presi- dency will reveal a serious side of the brash business- man. His supporters want him to keep the freewheel- ing style that rattled Wash- ington. In true Trump fashion, so far he's doing both. Trump has soothed some Republican establishment anxieties with many of his early Cabinet picks, includ- ing the respected retired Gen. James Mattis to lead the Pentagon and Geor- gia Rep. Tom Price, an or- thopedic surgeon tapped to head the Department of Health and Human Ser- vices. He's hinted that he's open to shifting some of his most controversial poli- cies, including his rejection of climate change and sup- port for torture. He's been full of praise for President Barack Obama and largely respectful of Hillary Clin- ton, his vanquished cam- paign rival. But Trump is also refus- ing to abandon the raucous, stream-of-consciousness rallies and Twitter tirades that defined his presiden- tial campaign. He's con- tinued to level false state- ments, claiming without evidence that millions of people voted illegally in the election. And he's infused the normally staid Cabinet selection process with real- ity television drama, invit- ing cameras into his dinner with Mitt Romney, a lead- ing candidate for secre- tary of state, and announc- ing the secretary of defense pick in an arena, seemingly off the cuff. "He was a very uncon- ventional candidate," House Speaker Paul Ryan said. "He's going to be an uncon- ventional president." Despite his tell-it-like- it-is reputation, Trump is fueled by a deep need to be liked, according to long- time associates. He of- ten modulates his tone to his setting and frequently tries to curry favor with his audience by telling them what he thinks they want to hear. He often speaks in vague generali- ties, his policy plans short on details, and that allows supporters to read in what they wish. And sometimes he seems to move in contra- dictions, as when he made simultaneous appoint- ments of Reince Priebus — a nod to the Washing- ton establishment — and Stephen Bannon — a shot across the establishment's bow — to fill two key roles in his administration, giv- ing opposing factions of his coalition something to cheer. People who meet with the president-elect personally talk about there being "two Trumps" — the self-promot- ing celebrity that's seen in public and the amiable and courteous grandfather who emerges in private. "He's charming in per- son," said John Allison, the former CEO of BB&T, who recently met with Trump. "He absolutely has a lot of personal charisma." Indeed, Trump has ap- peared to win over some of his toughest Republican critics since defeating Clin- ton. GOP lawmakers have praised all of his Cabinet nominees, some of whom hold more traditionally con- servative views than Trump himself. Romney, who was one of Trump's fiercest crit- ics during the campaign, emerged from their dinner this week with warm words for a man he'd only recently called a "phony." PRESIDENT-ELECT The 'Two Trumps' surface in the new president's transition 728 Main Street Red Bluff, CA 96080 Support our classrooms, keep kids reading. 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