Tessa Sandstrom

9/25/2007: Poor Johnny Benson had led a turbulent, dramatic life that was filled with heartache and jail sentences. To many, Johnny was merely a criminal. To others, he was a hopeless romantic who was prone to misfortune. On this day in 1946, however, federal agents waited patiently in Sanish for Johnny who was still at large for shooting a federal agent. In just three days, the federal agents would bring Johnny’s unfortunate life to a dramatic end.

7/27/2007: On this day in 1849, a boy was born in Geneva, New York. The boy, Luther Sage Kelly, would grow up to become a great Indian scout, soldier and adventurer, living a life, said the Drake Register, “that comes to few men outside story books.”

7/26/2007: Expectations were high on July 12, 1912 when the Ray Pioneer announced the upcoming festivities to take place at the Ray Grain Palace Festival. The festival would feature a palace constructed entirely of the finest sheaves of grain, grasses, fruits and vegetables grown in the county. The palace was something never before attempted, but, reported the Pioneer, “the prospects now assure success…It will be a standing advertisement of the great productiveness of the rich soil in this vicinity and is destined to be the pride of the community.” Decorators and trimmers worked hard to construct the palace while boosters worked hard to plan the festival.

7/19/2007: North Dakota’s history is filled with stories of brave soldiers and warriors. Throughout the spring and early summer of 1918, state newspapers were reporting stories of yet another—Charlie Rogers.

7/11/2007: “The village of Van Hook, North Dakota may have no claim to greatness, but it can claim the unusual distinction of knowing its beginning and end,” stated the Mountrail County Historical Society. Though Van Hook is no longer an official city of North Dakota, one might also say that it is one of few towns to be reborn again–at least in spirit.

7/10/2007: Although the railroads are credited for bringing growth and prosperity to many small North Dakota towns in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it was the steamboats that first served as the major Red River life lines.

7/7/2007: On this day in 1929 Dwight “Barney” Zimmerley swooped low over the town of Cogswell, ND. Zimmerley was on a record flight from Brownsville, Texas, to Winnipeg.

6/30/2007: North Dakota can lay claim to many great hunters, but one man truly stands out in Wells County. A.G. Leismeister was originally from Odessa, South Russia, and came to Pierce County in 1897.

6/25/2007: “Digging up bones, I’m digging up bones. I’m exhuming things that are better left alone.”

6/22/2007: Right now in Fessenden, the annual Wells County Fair is underway. This fair, however, is not just any fair. Today and the rest of this weekend, Wells County is celebrating the event’s 100th birthday, a landmark only four other county fairs in North Dakota have been able to celebrate.