September 11: A New Volunteer Fire Department
Fire was always a danger in early North Dakota. Early firefighting often consisted of community members responding and forming bucket brigad...
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Dakota Datebook
Stories of things that happened in North Dakota and vicinity. Sitting Bull to Phil Jackson, cattle to prairie dogs, knoefla to lefse. In partnership with the Historical Society of North Dako...
Episodes
20 of 115 episodesSeptember 10: Durum Day
The hardest variety of wheat is durum. Its high protein content makes it ideal for producing pasta. In fact, it is often called “pasta wheat...
September 9: The Original Social Media
Social media has become an important part of modern life. Although the technology that allows for two-way communication is modern, the conce...
September 8: Shared Sacrifice
The 1916 presidential campaign occurred during the Mexican Revolution and World War I. Americans wanted no part of foreign wars. Woodrow Wil...
September 7: Buffalo Graveyard, Devils Lake
It doesn’t happen very often that a large lakebed largely dries out. Yet that is what happened at Devils Lake. North Dakota’s biggest natura...
September 4: Moffet’s Battle Against Corruption
William Moffet, editor of the Bismarck Pioneer, was a controversial but respected journalist known for his no-nonsense reporting style. A st...
September 3: Oliver Evans, Photographer
In late August, 1911, a horrible fire in Topeka, Kansas did more than one hundred thousand dollars damage in the business district. The repo...
September 2: The 1892 Tariff Conference
By the 1890s, relations between the United States and Canada were evolving. Both countries were growing, and their markets were becoming mor...
September 1: Getting Connected
The earliest telephones were very basic. One telephone couldn’t call another phone directly unless the two were connected. The caller needed...
August 31: A Ship Called "It"
Steamboats and ships were an important means of transportation in early years, and newspapers frequently reported on the shipping activity....
August 28: Teachings of Our Elders - Dr. Twyla Baker on Building a Better Society
In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll listen to Dr. Twyla Baker, enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, talk about...
August 27: What’s for Lunch at School?
Late August signals the beginning of a new school year for thousands of students in North Dakota. As schools welcome children for another te...
August 26: The Great Comet
Edmund Halley was an English astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. In 1720, he was named the second Astronomer Royal. He produced a map...
August 25: Boys in Blue
In August of 1930, men who had fought for the Union during the Civil War and were able to make the trip to Cincinnati were at a convention f...
August 24: Escape Attempt
On this date in 1916, citizens of Fargo were reading about an attempted escape from the Cass County jail. According to the local papers, "On...
August 21: Not on Shaky Ground
On this date in 2009, a rather unusual event occurred in North Dakota when residents in the Minot area felt the earth tremble. The earthquak...
August 20: Fargo Society snippets from the Wisconsin Afro-American, 1892
Society columns were once a popular feature in newspapers. Here are some examples from this date in 1892 from the Fargo Society column of th...
August 19: North Dakota Wolves
Wolves once thrived in North Dakota. Early settlers considered them a danger to livestock and to the settlers themselves. In the late 19th c...
August 18: A Bolt from the Blue
North Dakota experiences frequent thunderstorms, averaging 25 to 35 storms each year. The storm season usually runs from late spring through...
August 17: Bank Robbery in Lunds Valley
In August 1921, a wave of bank robberies swept through small towns across North Dakota. The first targets were banks in Honeyford and Niagar...