On this day in 1929 Dwight “Barney” Zimmerley swooped low over the town of Cogswell, ND. Zimmerley was on a record flight from Brownsville, Texas, to Winnipeg. He flew nonstop for 1,725 miles, easily beating the old record of 758 miles. On his return flight, Zimmerley stopped in Stirum and Cogswell for the night, and residents held a banquet and reception for the new record-holder and former Cogswell boy.
Residents reminisced about Zimmerley’s earlier feats in Cogswell. He’d been the first to have an automobile, and according to the Cogswell Enterprise, this is how he got the nickname “Barney.”

“Frightening horses and careening his machine through the streets, he soon acquired the name of Barney, for it was at that time that Barney Oldfield was at the peak of his glory as a pilot of high-speed machines,” said the Enterprise. It was a fitting nickname for Zimmerley, who proved that he, too, was a master pilot of high-speed machines when on this day in 1929, he claimed the record for the longest nonstop flight.

By Tessa Sandstrom

Sources:
“ ‘Barney’ spent night here,” Cogswell Enterprise. July 11, 1929: 1.
“Barney Zimmerley makes new record,” Cogswell Enterprise. July 11, 1929: 1.

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