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7/8/2015: On this date in 1884, Cavalier County began to take shape. Three energetic locals petitioned the governor of Dakota Territory for permission to organize Cavalier County. Sixteen days later, the county officials were decided – positions from sheriff to superintendent of schools.

7/10/2015: The recent success of American Pharoah … becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years … had racing fans excited. “Pharoah Fever” resulted in people buying hats and T-shirts honoring the horse. American Pharoah did more to revitalize racing than all of the industry’s marketing campaigns combined.

7/14/2015: The International Peace Garden straddles the U.S.–Canadian border between Boissevain, Manitoba and Dunseith, North Dakota. It was on this date in 1932 that it was first dedicated.

7/15/2015: The only North Dakota governor to be elected in a recall election died on this date in 1942. Ragnvald Nestos was governor from 1921 to 1925. He was born in Norway in 1877, and came to Buxton, North Dakota at age 16. He spoke no English at the time, and lived with an aunt and uncle.

7/16/2015: In 1886, James J. Hill’s Great Northern Railway was pushing its way across North Dakota. As winter set in, the workers were having difficulty constructing a trestle across Gassman Coulee, so they decided to call it quits for the season. It was plain this would be the end of the line for a while, so the railroad chose the site for a town. The land was owned by homesteader Erik Ramstad. The railroad convinced him to relinquish his claim, and he subsequently became one of the town’s leaders.

7/20/2015: Barnum & Bailey’s circus pulled into Fargo on this date in 1907, and it would soon experience a menagerie of mishaps.

7/21/2015: A violent explosion rocked Minot on this day in 1947. People were thrown to the ground as far as two blocks away, and windows were shattered throughout a four-block radius.

7/24/2015: Many an older North Dakota driver may recall a glove compartment filled with maps advertising their local gas stations. These were gradually replaced by more colorful and fact-filled Official State Highway maps, and most recently by electronic versions. But in the early 1920s, as the automobile gained popularity and motorists began traveling greater distances, few road maps were available.

7/29/2015: When Joseph Nicollet came to the United States from his native France in 1832, he arrived penniless and alone. His promising scientific career had been interrupted by turbulent French politics, and he needed a new start. He came up with a bold plan to map the Mississippi River Valley. Lewis and Clark had reached the Pacific Ocean thirty years earlier, but a vast expanse of land was still waiting to be mapped.

8/3/2015: A long time ago, pitcher Steve Morse was a “spit ball artist” for the Grand Forks Flickertails baseball team. On this date in 1912, the Grand Forks Herald reported that Morse and the Flickertails had lost a tough game to Duluth, 6 to 4, but the paper didn’t blame Morse, saying the “young gentleman did everything in his power to save the team . . . but his fellow players wobbled and floundered [all] over the diamond.” The Flickertails catcher, trying to excuse his wild throws, blamed the leftover saliva from Morse’s soggy pitches for his own inaccuracy.