Once there was a man who came to Dakota seeking his fortune. He prospered and proposed marriage to a lady back east. But she hesitated to come to Wahpeton, terrified of tornadoes.
To ease her fears, the man constructed a home known locally as “the tornado-proof house.” It featured a sturdy lookout tower where his bride could watch the skies for coming storms. This story was told by pioneer daughter Donna Forkner.
R.N. Ink built the house with solid two-by-six plank walls and partitions like grain elevator construction, instead of standard two-by-fours. Ink held various public offices over the years, including City Council, Richland County Sheriff, and State Senator. Like many who came to Wahpeton in the boom years, he was involved in several enterprises, real estate, farm loans, and law.
Newspapers frequently reported on the society doings of Mr. and Mrs. Ink, along with other well-to-do locals. But in 1897, the Ink divorce shocked the community and became a public scandal. Papers followed every detail from the first rumors of pending action.
The courtroom was packed with eager spectators, but during the proceedings, everyone was sent out due to the sensitive nature of Mrs. Ink’s testimony. She had sued for divorce on grounds of “extreme cruelty, drunkenness, and adultery.”
The Globe reported custody arrangements for the couple’s child, upholding Mrs. Ink’s request that the child’s one-week visit with her father take place “at the home of some respectable family other than the home of John Ink, brother.”
R.N. Ink remarried in June of 1900. Alta remarried that November, but not without a fresh scandal and a scolding from the press.
On this date in 1900, talk of the town centered on a story printed the previous day:
“The marriage of Alta Ink to lawyer Bruce Bogart, widower, is quite a surprise to a large portion of this community... Ink and Bogart were cousins, almost like brothers. But Mrs. Ink’s divorce suit involved division of a large amount of property. Mr. Bogart appeared as the friend, sympathizer, and advisor of Mrs. Ink. Animosity between he and Mr. Ink became as strong as their friendship had been. This case enforces an old admonition to married people to avoid an excess of intimacy between families.”
By 2025, the tornado-proof house had outlived the Ink marriage by 128 years.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
Sources:
- Mrs. R.N. Ink. Wahpeton Has of Late Feared the News Which it is Now Shocked to Hear. North Dakota Globe, August 13, 1896
- DIVORCE GRANTED. THE INK DIVORCE STORY BLOTTED AND CLOSED UP. Both Sides Begin a Big Battle – Monday Noon Marks and Agreement, Monday Evening a Settlement – Mrs. Ink Gets a Divorce on Grounds of Cruelty. The North Dakota Globe, February 18, 1897
- DISTRICT COURT. Answer Withdrawn, and a Divorce Granted to Mrs. Ink. Richland County Gazette, February 19, 1897
- The Hon. R.N. Ink and Miss Sylvia Boutiette Married. The Wahpeton Times, June 28, 1900
- News of the marriage of Alta Owen Ink, divorced wife of Rolla N. Ink, to Bruce L. Bogart. The Richland County Gazette, November 30, 1900
- Oral history: Rita Erdrich. Donna Forkner account of "The Tornado-Proof House" told to Home Economics students in 1950, North Dakota State School of Science.
