Steve Stark

3/29/2012: The first North Dakota governor to live in the executive mansion was born on this date in 1830. As you might expect in the new State of North Dakota, most persons of note and influence were born somewhere else. North Dakota’s third governor, Eli C. D. Shortridge, was no exception. The West Virginia native, raised in Missouri, completed his education at a Paris Academy. Not in France, but, in Paris, Missouri.

3/27/2012: North Dakota’s reputation as a low-crime state is more than an anecdotal source of pride. But no state, even North Dakota, is free from major crime. For a small number of those crimes, justice can prove elusive.

3/26/2012: Grave Claims Hatton’s Hero: was the somber headline of the Fargo Forum on this date in 1930. Indeed, every North Dakotan knew who the hero from Hatton was. Carl Ben Eielson, pioneer pilot in the Alaskan skies was coming home. The rich earth of the Red River Valley, the land of his birth, would embrace his coffin.

3/21/2012: Unlike present day “snowbirds,” the Lewis & Clark expedition members were gearing up to leave North Dakota after the snow. Today in 1805, on the heels of a torturous winter near the Missouri Riverbanks, ice-locked boats were being freed from their frosty confines as the explorers prepared for their Westward journey.

3/16/2012: We are currently at high tide for political news in the United States during this presidential campaign season. But successful campaigns – and eventual election wins – can’t guarantee the completion of a winner’s full office term.

3/12/2012: Despite being in the middle of World War II, visitors to the North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City were enjoying the last hours of the sixth annual agricultural get-together on this date in 1943.

3/9/2012: People from across the state and region are gathering in Valley City today as they have been for the past 75 years. The enticement is the state’s oldest and longest running agricultural exposition: The North Dakota Winter Show.

3/7/2012: On this date in 1954, March 7 was a Sunday. And, for many North Dakotans and other Americans with television sets, Sunday night at 7:30 meant watching “Private Secretary,” starring North Dakota’s Ann Sothern in the title role.

3/5/2012: A wild series of events in the North Dakota Senate ended in thrown punches and sensational newspaper headlines on this date in 1921. In all caps, The Fargo Forum reported “SENATE SESSION COMES TO END AMID BRAWLS, FIST FIGHTS AND SCENES OF WILDEST DISORDER.” And that was only the sub-headline! Across the banner the paper trumpeted: League Senators Try to Get Rough With Two Irishmen And regular Movie Comedy Results.”

3/2/2012: A cartographer certainly had his work cut out for him when it came to the early days of mapping Dakota Territory.