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Maria Witham

  • The four main ingredients in beer are barley, water, hops, and yeast. North Dakota is not known for its hop production, but the United States is the leading producer in the world, with a large percentage grown in the Pacific Northwest.
  • The grandeur of the plains is more subtle than most landscapes. It appeases the need for simplicity, filled with absences. Quiet, modest, and if one is not accustomed, lonely. However, for a faithful lover of the prairies, it holds not loneliness, but peace. This peace appealed to a group of Franciscan Sisters who made their home in Hankinson, North Dakota, in 1928. On this date in 1926, the location for the Sister’s intended community was selected.
  • Fall in North Dakota is often too brief, but the moment is bright and scenic. Highway 1804, which travels through the Missouri River’s eastern bluffs, is…
  • In the mid 19th century amateur footraces became popular and were held on cinder and dirt roads with estimated distances. It was common entertainment to…
  • The word museum comes from the Greek word, “mouseion,” which translates to “seat of the muses.” In classical Greece and Rome, a museum was not a building,…
  • There was a time when taking a chance and “rollin’ the bones” meant literally rolling bones. The “bones” in this case are playing dice. Evidence of dice…
  • It was this week in 1825 when Sioux Chief Waneta signed the Treaty of Prairie du Chien. It preserved all lands now in Central Wisconsin, Minnesota, North…
  • On a five-acre plot, on the edge of Carrington, North Dakota, Harry Hayashi created a little piece of Japan. The Rainbow Gardens were modeled after…
  • In 1853, the U.S. Army's topographic bureau set out to find the best transcontinental passages across the American West and scout routes for a railroad.…
  • On a hot July morning in 1853, a group of hungry men were navigating the plains of North Dakota. As members of the Pacific Railway Survey, they were…