While Ben Eielson is North Dakota’s most famous aviator, others came before him, though their names are less well known. On June 9, 1911, Fargo banks and stores closed as more than 12,000 people flocked to the fairgrounds to watch Robert St. Henry take to the air in his Glenn Curtiss biplane. St. Henry was working for Curtiss, the New York airplane designer based in Hammondsport.
Perhaps inspired by that flight, Clifford Prodger of Carrington turned his eyes skyward. On this date in 1911, the Dickinson Press announced that Prodger was “casting his lot with the birdmen.” He had been accepted into an aviation school in Kentucky.
Prodger went on to have a distinguished flying career. During World War I, he served as an instructor at a British aviation school and was appointed inspector of all airplanes received by the British government.
In addition to overseeing government aircraft purchases, Prodger became a test pilot. He was the first to fly the Supermarine Nighthawk, designed as an anti-Zeppelin night fighter. The plane carried a crew of five and could stay aloft for twelve hours, but its performance was disappointing and it was never put into production.
Another test flight was far more dramatic. Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipbuilders who built the Titanic, tried their hand at aviation, constructing one of the largest airplanes of the era. With a wingspan of 126 feet and a cruising speed of 100 miles per hour, it was a giant. Prodger, described by an English newspaper as “a bold and experienced aviator,” took the massive aircraft into the air with forty passengers aboard. The newspaper reported that those who watched its flight “must have been impressed by its grace and stability,” perhaps even envying the brave occupants. North Dakota newspapers proudly noted Prodger’s achievement. The aircraft was intended for a bombing mission over Berlin, but after the armistice it was reassigned for use in the Indian mail service.
Prodger ultimately met the fate of many early aviators. He was killed in an airplane crash in Los Angeles in 1920.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Sauk Centre Herald. “Central Minnesota.” Sauk Centre MN. 3/23/1916. Page 7.
- Emmons County Record. Williamsport ND. 9/2/20. Page 7.
- Early Aviators. “Clifford B. Prodger.” https://earlyaviators.com/eprodger.htmAccessed 11/16/2025.
- Early Aviators. “Robert ‘Lucky Bob’ St. Henry.” https://earlyaviators.com/ehenry.htmAccessed 11/16/2025.
- Ward County Independent. “Mandan Man is Killed in Airplane Accident.” Minot ND. 9/9/1920. Page 3.
- Bowbells Tribune. “North Dakota News in Brief.” Bowbells ND. 1/17/1919. Page 5.
