Sitting Bull to Phil Jackson, cattle to prairie dogs, knoephla to lefse. North Dakota's legacy includes many strange stories of eccentric towns, war heroes, and various colorful characters. Hear all about them on Dakota Datebook, your daily dose of North Dakota history.
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Dakota Datebook is made in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and funded by Humanities North Dakota, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities North Dakota or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
You can find all Dakota Datebooks from 2018-today below. Our archive of Datebooks from 2003-2017 can be found here.
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On this date in 1971, a mysterious, hopping, hairless creature was loose on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. Armed with a rake and a burlap sack, Morris Baker spotted and captured the creature on Halloween at his farm near Belcourt. Dubbed “Whatsit,” the unknown animal was taken to the jail in Belcourt in poor health, where he was vaccinated against rabies and nursed back to health. -
There was a ghost haunting the streets of Bismarck in 1892. At least, that's what the Bismarck Tribune reported as Halloween neared, stating: "Bismarck does not claim for itself anything out of the ordinary, but it does, just at present, rejoice at the possession of something which does not fall to the lot of every city; it owns a real, live ghost, with the white robe and all other appendages of dress, the possession of which is absolutely indispensable to the fashionable personal appearance of a well-dressed ghost."
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For Vincent Baltulis of Fargo, the hiccups started on a December day in 1936, and they wouldn’t go away. Vincent tried every home remedy he knew. First, he tried holding his breath. Then he tried taking “nine swallows of water in rapid succession.” Nothing worked for the 74-year-old, who had worked as a highly skilled tailor for many years.
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The mail-order business began when Montgomery Ward launched the first mail-order company in 1872.
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In December 1930, when the original Capitol building burned, many people turned out to watch. Some, however, came to save what they could. Secretary of State Robert Byrne was one of those who joined in the heroics. He broke a window into his office, cutting his hand on the glass and singeing his hat. Inside, he opened the storage vault and rescued the original state constitution, which luckily suffered no damage. Without his efforts, the constitution might have been lost or damaged, as happened to records from some other state agencies. His quick thinking saved this founding document.
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Fort Abercrombie was built in 1857 along the heavily wooded Red River, 15 miles north of the present-day towns of Wahpeton, North Dakota, and Breckenridge, Minnesota. Both towns were founded at the “Head of the Red” in 1858 by Pierre Bottineau, a French-Chippewa frontiersman and railroad surveyor. He led a team of men from St. Paul who spent the winter there to hold the claim.
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October is Archives Month, when archives around the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value. The North Dakota State Archives is part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
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A shaggy dog tale was told about a sighting of Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy at Wahpeton long ago. Any evidence? Doggoned right there is!
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October is Archives Month, when archives around the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who assess, collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value. The North Dakota State Archives is part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.
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Flour milling has a long history in North Dakota. With wheat a major agricultural commodity, flour production was important to the state’s economy and became a political issue the Nonpartisan League championed. While the State Mill and Elevator in Grand Forks may be more familiar, fewer people may know about Bismarck’s flour mill.
Dakota Datebook is made in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota, and funded by Humanities North Dakota, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities North Dakota or the National Endowment for the Humanities.