3420 search Results for: datebook
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Emmons County Gets PWA Funding To Build A New Courthouse
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of properties in the U.S. considered worthy of preservation. The National Register lists sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, and culture. One of the National Register buildings in North Dakota is the Emmons County Courthouse in Linton, sixty miles southeast of […]
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Waterfowl Factory
North Dakota’s skies teem with life when waterfowl migration begins in September. Half of North America’s waterfowl flock to the state where the Prairie Pothole Region is a jewel for ducks, geese and other birds. Last Saturday marked the start of the hunting season for ducks, geese, coots and mergansers for North Dakota residents. The […]
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Stefan Popiel
Stefan Popiel was born in 1907 and grew up in Poland. He was the nephew of an early chess master, Ignatz von Popiel, and he took a liking to chess at an early age; he played in his first tournament at age 12. He went on to became the best chess player in the region […]
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A Fight to the Death
It was at 2 o’clock in the morning on this date in 1888 that a crowd of cowboys, gamblers and drifters crammed into a Grand Forks horse barn. They were there to watch prizefighter George Fulljames go up against an undisclosed opponent in a fight to the finish. Fulljames presumably needed the money – there […]
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Dedication of New Sheridan County Courthouse
The National Register of Historic Places honors buildings significant for architectural style or their connection with important people or events. In the town of McClusky, which is right-smack-dab in the middle of North Dakota, there’s the Sheridan County Courthouse. It gained listing on the National Register in 1985, along with several other Art Deco courthouses, […]
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Perpetual Motion Machine
For many years, humankind has quested for a machine of perpetual motion, something mechanized that would not stop moving. The first documented attempt comes from the Indian author Bhaskara around 1159. The machine was a wheel with containers of mercury around its rim, which was supposed to always maintain weight on one side as it […]
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Old Leipzig Born
The railroad could make or break any town in North Dakota’s early years. New Leipzig can tell you that, born from a railroad bypass and a previous Leipzig. Little remains of Old Leipzig, located about eight miles north of Elgin, North Dakota. The tiny town did OK for itself early on, starting with a post […]
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Yeggs Break Into Two Banks
Yegg is an old slang term for a thief, especially a burglar or safecracker. On this date in 1923 that a North Dakota newspaper had this headline: “Safes Blown in 2 North Dakota Banks; Bandits Get $5,000 Loot – Vaults Damaged by Explosives: Currency, Silver and Liberty Bonds Taken by Yeggs.” Between 2 and 4 […]
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Frank Briggs’ Birth
An early North Dakota governor, who died a dramatic death, had a humble birth and upbringing in Minnesota. Frank Arlington Briggs was born on this date in 1858. He was the only son of his parents’ four children. His father Thomas was a carpenter, successful enough to acquire servants at one point. Briggs had worked […]
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Red Gasoline Cans, 1909
Oftentimes we look at everyday items and have little idea why those things are the way they are. Take, for instance, the gasoline cans. Why are they colored red? The answer comes from bygone days when kerosene lanterns were common. Kerosene was relatively safe, being somewhat less flammable than gasoline, but with the rising popularity […]
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Lost and Found
Two stories of the lost being found took place on this date in 1923. Our first story takes place in McLean County in a little town called Dogden, which was founded in 1906 along the Soo Line Railroad. The village got its name from a nearby landmark, Dogden Butte, which was favored by dens of […]
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Ward County Fair
On this date in 1922, the Ward County Fair opened its gates, and over the next four days, the populace poured in. The Ward County Independent wrote glowing responses to the fair, stating that it was “an unqualified success from every standpoint. It is very much better than anyone anticipated it could possibly be, considering […]
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FM Twins
In response to a number of baseball teams being cut from the major leagues, a new league formed in 1902 involving North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Manitoba, Iowa and Ontario. The Northern League’s opening day was on May 22, 1902, and the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Crookston toppled Fargo, Winnipeg shut out […]
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Stutsman County Courthouse
Fifty years ago Congress created the National Historic Preservation Act was to help preserve the diverse archaeological and architectural treasures of America that were quickly disappearing. One such treasure is the historic Stutsman County Courthouse located in Jamestown. It was designed by Henry C. Koch, a Wisconsin architect who served as General Philip H. Sheridan’s […]
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Typist to Treasurer
Bernice Muriel Asbridge faced many obstacles on her road to success. She was born in Arena, North Dakota on this date in 1919. She graduated from Bismarck High in 1937 during the great depression and hired on as a bookkeeper for a department store, working there until she married Donald Asbridge during World War II. […]
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Fireguards
Prairie fires were among a farmer’s worst fears throughout North Dakota’s early history. Uncontrolled fires commonly incinerated grasslands, because the dry prairie-grasses burned easily in the fierce heat of summer and early fall. It was said that fire could fly like a race-horse through the grass and leap over barriers, with blazing tumbleweeds carrying embers […]
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Whitestone Skirmish
The Battle of Whitestone Hill was the bloodiest attack by whites in Dakota Territory. Up to 300 Sioux were killed and over 150 were captured. The soldiers destroyed the Sioux’s property as well, leaving them almost entirely unprepared for winter without food or shelter. General Alfred Sully’s expedition meant to punish the Sioux responsible for […]
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Fort Berthold’s Early Years
The early years of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation took a major toll on the lives of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara people. The federal government created the reservation in 1870 and named it after a nearby frontier fort. The government forced assimilation into the Euro-American way of life, putting natives on allotments of land […]
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First Radio Broadcast
Margaret Mead once said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” On this date in 1981, a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens were excited to begin changing their piece of the world in North Dakota. Today marks the […]
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Sully Springs, A Badlands Ghost Town
When you think of “Ghost Towns,” you think of empty buildings and lost hopes. Interestingly, the State Historical Society of North Dakota has an actual “Ghost Town Index.” This index has a file-card for a place named “Sully Springs.” If anyone would travel to the Billings County location, one would, logically-enough, find nothing there – […]