Jayme L. Job

10/8/2013: Territorial Governor William Jayne reported the death of Sioux Chief Bear Ribs on this date in 1862. Chief of all Sioux, Bear Ribs was killed by his own kinsmen for the act of accepting annuity payments from the U.S. Government, an act that the Sioux had forbidden as treasonous only months before.

10/4/2013: Gossiping tongues could hardly keep still on this date in 1889 in Casselton. The evening before, Magdalena Sands had been captured near the city’s train station. Magdalena, the wife of Deputy Sheriff John P. Sand of Little Falls, Minnesota, was wanted for freeing her husband’s prisoner … and eloping with him!

10/3/2013: On July 7, 1864, Robert Winegar and Ira Goodwin published the first newspaper in Dakota Territory from their military headquarters at Fort Union.

10/1/2013: Prominent Minot attorney and state legislator Christopher A. Johnson spent the summer and fall of 1910 canvassing the state of North Dakota. The popular and energetic politician was campaigning as the Republican candidate for governor after winning the state primary. Johnson was running against popular incumbent and early favorite in the race, Governor John Burke, but in the early days of autumn, Johnson appeared to pull ahead in the race. As September faded into October, with the long and grueling campaign entering its final stretch, tragedy struck.

9/23/2013: John Burke launched his senate campaign on this date in 1916 by speaking before a small crowd in Fargo. Burke was considered one of President Wilson’s most ardent Democratic supporters and was extremely well-known to North Dakotans; from 1907 until 1913, he had served three terms as the state’s tenth Governor.

9/20/2013: Blakely Durant was an unlikely celebrity. The humble and quiet black man had been born into the antebellum south in 1826, near Natchez, Mississippi. The son of former slaves, Blakely moved with his family first to Texas, then north to Cincinnati, hoping to escape the dangers of the south. Even in Cincinnati, there were no schools open to African Americans, and Durant continued to face discrimination. He eventually grew up, got married, and moved to a farm in Mercer County, Ohio. When the Civil War broke out, Durant volunteered for the 71st Ohio infantry, under the command of General William Sherman.

9/6/2013: Two train agents shot and killed would-be looter Robert Williams aboard an east-bound freight train on this date in 1917; Williams, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, jumped the train at Dilworth. Strongly anti-war, I-W-W members, or ‘Wobblies’ as they became known, engaged in various acts of sabotage against the nation during the First World War. Composed largely of unskilled and migratory workers, they were very active in North and South Dakota, as well as Minnesota, during the 1910s, often in league with the rising Non-Partisan League.

9/2/2013: On July 18, 1875, fifteen men left Bismarck, Dakota Territory, bound for the Black Hills. The men, led by H. N. Ross, were intent on proving the existence of large gold deposits in the hills, which Custer’s expedition had reported the previous year.

8/30/2013: In June of 1930, a residence near the small town of Omemee was burglarized. Although now a ghost town, Omemee was once a growing railroad community of over six hundred, “…conveniently situated at the junction of the Great Northern and [Northern] Soo…” railroad lines. Due to the town’s size, criminal matters were often turned over to Sheriff J. C. Miller of Bottineau.

8/29/2013: Last May, a small Chinese restaurant in Mandan made headlines after being named one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in America. Sammy Wu and his family opened the Rice Bowl above the Mandan Library in the late 1990s. Despite the long history and ubiquity of Chinese restaurants in the state, the Rice Bowl was the first North Dakota eatery named to the annual list. In fact, nearly a hundred years ago, North Dakotans were already enjoying authentic Asian food at Dickinson’s popular Star Restaurant, although a notable scandal led to its closing on this date in 1917.