Dakota Datebook

As the Northern Pacific Railway made its way across Dakota Territory, it eventually reached what is now known as Billings County. The first siding there was called Fogarty, named for a railroad contractor. In 1883, it was renamed Summit, a fitting name, as the railroad was at its highest point before descending into the Badlands.

Most of Europe was engaged in World War I from 1914 to 1919. The United States entered the war in the spring of 1917. The conflict claimed the lives of sixteen million people. Buildings and agricultural land were devastated. The world was shocked by the use of powerful new weapons, including submarines, machine guns, poison gas, tanks, and airplanes.

On this day in 1912, Kermit Sloulin was born in Wildrose, North Dakota. After completing his schooling in Williston, Kermit joined the 164th Infantry Regiment of the North Dakota National Guard.

During the first half of the 19th century, the United States government sent out expeditions to explore the western portion of the country. Government officials wanted to understand what the nation had acquired in the Louisiana Purchase.

Cattle flourished on the excellent grazing lands of western Dakota Territory in the 19th century. Massive herds roamed freely across the plains. Ranches began springing up in the Badlands before North Dakota was even a state. The most famous was Teddy Roosevelt's Maltese Cross Ranch but there were many more. Some folded after just a few years, while others managed to hang on and become prosperous.

On this date in 1910, newspapers reported that the battleship USS North Dakota had suffered an oil tank explosion and fire at sea. Six crewmen received the Congressional Medal of Honor for “extraordinary heroism in the line of their profession.”

“Why did the chicken cross the road?” The answer has always been considered humorous in an odd sort of way: “To get to the other side.” This old joke has been amusing folks for nearly 200 years, especially little kids, though maybe not so much for grownups.

Travelers to Fargo ninety years ago were about to lose an amenity they may have taken for granted: the tourist park. Citing costs, city officials chose to end support for the park. The Bismarck Tribune quoted the park board as saying, “Tourists these days are too finicky.”

Cattle drives were a major economic activity during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Cattle were driven from Texas to railheads in Kansas and Nebraska to be shipped to eastern stockyards. When big Texas ranchers took note of the good grazing in Dakota Territory, cattle began arriving in 1876.

Following the Dakota Conflict of 1862 in Minnesota, the U.S. military launched a punitive campaign known as the Sibley and Sully Expeditions. By mid-1863, troops had entered present-day North Dakota in a two-pronged effort to crush the Sioux between the two generals' forces.

On this date in 1936, the Bismarck Tribune reported the passing of William Zahn at Fort Yates. Zahn was a colorful character in North Dakota history, a Native trader, interpreter, and former Army scout who accompanied Custer's expedition to the Black Hills in 1874. After returning, he quit the Army to marry Pretty Woman, sister of Chief John Grass. They had three sons. Pretty Woman died in 1886.

On this date in 1918, the Spanish Flu had reached North Dakota. The state's first confirmed case was a U.S. Marine on leave in New Rockford. Within a week, 100 local cases were reported, along with two deaths.

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress adopted a resolution authorizing the design of the new country's flag. That resolution read: “Resolved: That the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

In 1912, political fervor and interest swept the country over the presidential election. President Taft sought the Republican nomination, challenged by former President Theodore Roosevelt, who unexpectedly entered the race. Senator Robert LaFollette was yet another contender for the nomination.

When the North Dakota Agriculture College was established in 1890, many North Dakota farmers were skeptical that “college boys” could help them improve their farms. But it didn't take long for those college boys to win them over.

On this day in 1992, the Dakota Clinic and Hospital in Fargo celebrated Dr. Blaine Amidon's 50 years as an OB-GYN. The celebrated doctor had delivered an estimated 18,000 babies during his long career.

Pasta and safaris may seem like an odd combination but to the organizers of North Dakota's “Spaghetti Safari,” it was the perfect opportunity to showcase the state's wheat and durum industry. Their goal was to promote North Dakota products and connect with stakeholders and partners from across the country.

When the French and Austrian armies squared off in the 1859 Battle of Solferino, they fought with modern firearms and artillery. The casualties were horrific. Jean-Henri Dunant was stunned by the misery of wounded soldiers left on the battlefield without care.

When Europeans arrived in the area along the Pembina and Red Rivers in the 1600s, the land was already home to the Assiniboine and Lakota. They were later joined by the Chippewa, who migrated from the east and became the dominant tribe, pushing the others farther west.

Continuing our story about taxi warfare and parking meters on August 12, we now turn to their fraught ending in North Dakota.

In 1934, children generally made their own entertainment. Sometimes it was informal, like jumping into a lake or stream, no lifeguards required. Sometimes it meant playing games with definite rules, like baseball or football. Kids divided themselves into teams and set their own boundaries as games were played in a backyard or open field, no adult supervision needed.

On this date in 1930, the body of Vernon Squires, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, laid in state at the University of North Dakota.

Registering a child's birth today seems straightforward. It ensures your new arrival is counted in the state's population and receives a record that will follow them throughout life. Birth certificates are essential to access education, healthcare, government services and to prove one's identity. But just a few generations ago, registering a birth wasn't so simple.

On this date in 1870, the Chippewa-Sioux Peace Agreement was signed at Fort Abercrombie by leaders of the two rival tribes. The three-day event, sometimes called a treaty, was arranged by missionary priest Father Genin and attended by 900 people.

On this date in 1995, the Bismarck Tribune reported about the decay of the Fortuna Air Force Station. From 1951 to 1979, the station was an active radar station in the Air Defense Command that protected the United States from attack.

Due to the severe lack of parking space in downtown districts, nine North Dakota cities turned to parking meters in hopes of solving their parking problems. This began the short but fraught, history of parking meters in North Dakota.

By 1916, the United States had managed to stay out of the war in Europe, but there was growing uneasiness about the country's future. Inflation was beginning to creep up, and as the labor market tightened, business was disrupted by strikes. Workers demanded higher pay and better working conditions. Farmers, on the other hand, benefited from increased demand and higher prices for agricultural products. Americans anxiously awaited the outcome of the 1916 presidential election.

Before the first bridge was built across the Missouri River, getting across was the business of ferries. The first documented ferry began operation in 1860, between Bismarck and Mandan.

The Homestead Act of 1862 attracted new settlers to Dakota Territory. Some settled in towns, but most were drawn by the promise of owning 160 acres to start farms and ranches. New towns were small and scattered across the territory. They supported agriculture as centers of trade, services, entertainment, and social life.

Who hasn't experienced the momentary, magical thrill of seeing a meteor flash across the night sky in the corner of your eye? It vanishes almost instantly yet its vapor trail lingers longer in your imagination.

In the summer of 1861, Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase approached Congress. He could clearly see that the Civil War was going to be expensive. He said he needed $320 million over the next year. He thought he could come up with $300 million through existing taxes and the sale of public lands and he left it to Congress to find the remaining twenty million.

As young men entered military service in large numbers following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States faced the possibility of a labor shortage. North Dakota grappled with the labor shortage like the rest of the country did.

Vice presidents may not get the same attention as presidents, but they still make public appearances. The first vice president to visit North Dakota was Adlai Stevenson I.

The United States Postal Service is responsible for issuing postage stamps and that includes choosing the subjects. In 1957, the process was opened to the American public. The Postmaster General appoints members of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee. Members come from a broad span of public life, including art, science, education, history, sports, and politics.

As territories became states, communities vied for a piece of the statehood pie and North Dakota was no exception. As statehood neared, the various institutions of state government were divided among cities and enshrined in the state's constitution.

Europe had been fighting a war for years before the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Walter Joseph Keefe of Fargo enlisted in Company B of the North Dakota National Guard on July 17, 1917. He was only seventeen and needed his parents' permission to enlist.

North Dakota has been called a “farmer's frontier,” with settlers bringing their families to claim land for farms and settle down. Husbands and wives worked side by side, and children were put to work at an early age. By their early teens, they were harnessing horses and walking behind the plow. Younger children were often responsible for chickens, feeding them and collecting eggs. They were also in charge of even younger siblings when both parents were working in the field. Everyone had a job.

On this date in 1971, the moon was in a Waxing Crescent phase. This is the first phase after the new moon and an optimal time to see the features of the lunar surface. The moon can be seen in the sky after the sun dips below the horizon at sunset. The moon is close to the sun in the sky and mostly dark except for its right edge which becomes brighter as the days get closer to the next phase which is a First Quarter with 50% illumination.

In today's episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll hear about the importance of the circle of life from Spirit Lake Dakota Elder Catherine Howard.

True simplicity in fishing consists of a bamboo cane pole, about 10 feet long, attached to a fishing line of about the same length, with a bobber, sinker, hook, and a wriggling worm. Sitting on a dock, riverbank, or the shore of a lake, pond, or stream, all you have to do is wait for your bobber to go down, and fun begins.

By the early 1900s, amateur mechanics in North Dakota were building their own motor cars and whizzing down dirt roads at the mind-boggling speed of 8 miles per hour. The other rage of the time was aviation. North Dakotans were in on that, too. In 1910, Archie Hoekse created a sensation with the first successful North Dakota flight at Grand Forks. And there was Frances Klingensmith, the first woman in the state to get a pilot's license.

On this date in 2000, sculptor Tom Neary installed a 14-foot-tall stainless steel sign at the intersection of highways 83 and 200 in Washburn. The sign, which weighs almost a ton, reads “Historic Washburn” above a scene of Lewis, Clark, and Sakakawea. The giant sign was commissioned by the Washburn Civic Club and gave Tom Neary a chance to put his mark on the town he lived in and loved.