In his book about the Great Plains, Ian Frazier wrote, “A nuclear missile silo is one of the quintessential Great Plains objects: to the eye, it is almost nothing…but to the imagination, it is the end of the world.”
During the Cold War, the Great Plains provided an ideal location for Minuteman Missiles for three reasons. The shortest distance to the Soviet Union is over the North Pole. A missile launched from North Dakota could reach the Soviet Union in thirty minutes. North Dakota also provided protection by being far from coastlines, meaning more warning time if missiles were launched from submarines off either coast. Placing the missiles on the Great Plains also meant they were far from major population centers. Fewer lives would be at risk from an attack on the sites.
The Cold War did not break out into open warfare, but that did not mean the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was friendly. By the 1950s, both countries were frantically building up military supplies. The underlying distrust and the frantic arms race caused tension and uncertainty.
The arms race included nuclear weapons. One example in the United States is the Minuteman I intercontinental ballistic missile, which could be launched from underground. Subterranean missile silos soon dotted the Great Plains.
On this date in 1965, the first Minuteman missile in North Dakota was installed in a silo near Inkster. The 321st Missile Wing included launch sites that were on the alert 24-hours a day. Eventually, the state had one hundred fifty missile silos and fifteen command centers.
As the American-Soviet relations began to thaw in the 1980s, the missiles quietly began leaving North Dakota. Command centers were closed and missiles were loaded onto trucks, destined for storage or redeployment.
Although they were gone, the missiles left their silos behind. The State Historical Society of North Dakota acquired command post Oscar-Zero, four miles north of Cooperstown, and missile silo November-33, two miles east of the town. The Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site tells the story of North Dakota’s role in the Cold War, preserving this important part of the state’s history.
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- National Park Service. “Minuteman Missiles on the Great Plains.” https://www.nps.gov/articles/minuteman-missiles-on-the-great-plains.htm Accessed 6/25/2024.
- State Historical Society of North Dakota. “Today in North Dakota History.” https://www.statehistoricalfoundation.org/todayinndhistory/?&offset=250 Accessed 6/25/2025.
- The Road Unraveled. “The Pyramid of North Dakota and the Missile Silos of the Peace Garden State. https://www.statehistoricalfoundation.org/todayinndhistory/?&offset=250 Accessed 6/25/2024.
- MinnPost. “Their nuclear missiles long gone, North Dakota silo and command center will come back to life. https://www.minnpost.com/politics-policy/2008/07/their-nuclear-missiles-long-gone-north-dakota-silo-and-command-center-will-c/#:~:text=The%20150%20silos%20and%20the%2015%20missile%20alert,were%20installed%20on%20leased%20farmland%20starting%20in%201964. Accessed 6/25/2024.
