Ponies diving from great heights into water, a log rolling contest, performances by big brass bands, and performers “leaping the fiery gap” were among the numerous attractions that drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 people to the first day of the Fargo Inter-State Fair on this date in 1907. The Inter-State Fair was one of many oftentimes competing state fairs held throughout North Dakota prior to the State Fair making its permanent home in Minot with the creation of the State Fair Association in 1965. However, these varied events were outshone when famed auto racer Barney Oldfield took to the track at the fair in his Peerless Green Dragon racing car.
One of the foremost celebrities of his day, Oldfield was known for such feats as becoming the first American to drive a gasoline-powered automobile at speeds of a mile per minute on a dirt track in 1903, and becoming “Speed King of the World” when he powered a Blitzen Benz to over 131 miles per hour on Daytona Beach in 1910.
There was certainly excitement to see the great racing driver on what was both Automobile Day and Children’s Day at the fair, as the auto races were well attended and generated more interest than the fair’s horse races. Alongside other automobile races held that Monday, Oldfield raced in exhibition and handicap races against local drivers, and raced against the clock in timed events on the half-mile track.
The Hatton Free Press reported that “all there was to see was a cloud of dust” when Oldfield’s Green Dragon hit the track, completing the first mile of a three-mile race in one minute, fifteen and a half seconds, breaking his own world record for that distance. The record-breaking continued when he took the checkered flag of the three-mile race in three minutes and fifty-one seconds – eighteen seconds better than the record he set earlier that month in Winnipeg.
Though Oldfield’s record-breaking speed, averaging about 47 miles per hour, is unimpressive by today’s standards, back in 1907 it was, by all accounts, a thrilling event to remember for that day’s fairgoers in Fargo.
Dakota Datebook by Matt Ely
Sources:
- “Archives - State Agencies - State Fair Association,” North Dakota State Archives, https://www.history.nd.gov/archives/stateagencies/statefair.html.
- “Barney Oldfield Breaks Records,” Meridan Record-Journal, July 30, 1907, p. 1.
- “Barney Oldfield Makes Record Run on Daytona Beach,” Daily Metropolis (Miami), March 21, 1910, p. 1.
- “Fargo Fair One Week Away,” Bismarck Daily Tribune, July 17, 1907, p. 4.
- “Fargo Fair Successful,” Oakes Times, August 8, 1907, p. 3.
- Kernan, Michael. “Wow! A Mile a Minute!”, Smithsonian Magazine, May 1998.
- “Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Kelly […],” Hatton Free Press, August 1, 1907, p. 4.
- “Records Made By Oldfield,” Grand Forks Daily Herald, Tuesday, July 30, 1907, p. 2.
- “See Barney Oldfield,” Tioga Gazette, July 26, 1907, p. 4.
