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11/28/2005: Anna Shatswell was born in Vienna, Austria, on this date in 1875. She immigrated with her family to New Ulm, MN, when she was 13.

11/30/2005: Yesterday we brought you part 1 of a story about Verne Miller, a war hero who served with the ND National Guard in WWI. He was clean cut, tall, and blond with chiseled features. When he came home, he became a policeman and was then elected sheriff. But, in July 1922, he was found to have embezzled some $6,000 from the South Dakota county that employed him.

12/4/2005: Between 1860 and 1900, eastern churches were intent on bringing the Christian religion to the western Native American tribes.

12/5/2005: Prairie Public would like to wish the University of North Dakota a special happy birthday! UND’s medical school is 100 years old this year.

12/6/2005: On this day in 1966, UND defeated Parsons 42-24, in the Pecan Bowl, to win the conference championship. UND linebacker Roger Bonk earned the Associated Press Little All-American honor – UND’s first – and quarterback Corey Colehour received an honorable mention. Seven members of the team earned all-conference honors and five went on to play in the pros.

12/16/2005: Anti-German sentiment ran high not only in the U.S. but also in Canada during the First World War. In some Canadian cities, full-fledged riots broke out. For example, an anti-German mob destroyed the Riverside Hotel in Calgary on February 10, 1916. Nine days later, the hotel owner’s saloon was also destroyed because he was German speaking. There were also stories of Calgary firemen hanging and beating effigies of German soldiers.

12/18/2005: Roger Allin, was born in Devonshire, England, on this date in 1848.

12/19/2005: Christmas Eve in 1935 was memorable because, for some, one of the state’s worst blizzards turned the holiday into a tragedy. The storm began in the northwest corner of the state and soon stretched east, to the New England states, and south to Ohio. By the time it blew itself out, nearly 200 people in 28 states died, either from direct exposure or from storm-related traffic accidents.

12/20/2005: The Northern Pacific Railroad founded Fargo in 1871. On the other side of the river, another town was growing at the same time – Moorhead. Minnesota was already organized, and there were concerns of how the Dakota Territory was going develop. But land in Moorhead was extremely expensive, so many people had moved to the Fargo side of the river. At that time, Dakota Territory was dry, but Moorhead served liquor, so despite the expense, its population jumped from 227 to 700 persons that year.

12/21/2005: Back in 1930, the decision of whether Santa would visit Bismarck area children was in the hands of H. P. Goddard, Secretary of the Association of Commerce. On November 24th, Santa sent Goddard a radiogram from the North Pole, which read, “Dear Sir: Will you please ask the children of your city and the Missouri Slope if they would like me to pay them a visit this year and take their orders for Christmas? The dwarfs and elves who work in my factories here have suggested that I make a trip to check up on the persons who will want to see me this year. Only those who ask that I come to see them will be visited as I am very busy and the demands on my time are terrific... Sincerely Yours, Santa Claus.”