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5/1/2014:

5/6/2014: McLean County is named for John A. McLean, the first mayor of Bismarck. Today we’re talking about one of his sons, Harry, who was born in Bismarck in 1883 and died May 1st, 1961. Young Harry had guts and a whole lot of moxie.

5/9/2014: Dakota Territory experienced an immigration boom in the 1880s, but those new settlers often faced difficulties in establishing homesteads. Disease was a formidable obstacle, and fears of contagion filled parents whenever a child fell ill. The Grand Forks Herald for this date in 1888 told of the “Dakota Boom” of settlers and of those on the area’s “sick list.”

5/13/2014: In the 1930s, dust began to settle across much of the Great Plains. Although much of the blame for the coming Dust Bowl would be laid at the feet of the nation’s farmers, ranchers were also suspect. Ranchers had “enacted decades of rangeland deterioration” on unprotected federal lands. Free and unregulated access also inspired violent disagreements between ranchers, as each fought to maintain control of water and land resources. Infamous range wars served as bloody reminders to ranching families just how precarious land rights in the country had become.

5/16/2014: On this date in 1889, the citizens of Northern Dakota Territory were tallying the results from the May 14th election where delegates were chosen to the Constitutional Convention. It had been an exciting two months since the signing of the Omnibus Bill that set the stage for statehood. After twenty-eight years of living under the authority of political appointees, selected more for their relationship to the President than to the Territory, they were finally going to rid themselves of the so-called carpetbaggers and enter into the rights of statehood and self-determination. They would soon be approving the state’s constitution by which they would govern.

5/26/2014: Today is Memorial Day, a day to remember the fallen heroes who gave their lives in service to their country. It was a somber Memorial Day in Grafton in 1899. Word had come from the Philippines that four members of Company C had paid the ultimate price.

5/28/2014: Novelties always seem to sell well, a fact as true today as it was in the distant past. One of the odd novelties from about one hundred years ago was a fellow named Jack Williams, who called himself the “Human Fly.”

5/29/2014: The Great Depression of the 1930s brought disastrous droughts to North Dakota. In 1934 the state was suffering its sixth year in a row with below average precipitation. The U.S. Weather Bureau called the drought the “worst on record.” 1934 saw 9.5 inches moisture, almost 8 inches below average.

6/16/2014: Located near the present-day International Peace Garden, the North Dakota town of Dunseith is named for a Gaelic word meaning “city of peace” – although there have certainly been times in the city’s history when peace was in short supply. June of 1893 was just such a time, when a mysterious cowboy appeared in the small town and caused quite a bit of trouble.

6/17/2014: The officers of the 164thInfantry extended an invitation, on this date in 1927, to all North Dakotans to come to Camp Grafton to witness special maneuvers and parade review in honor of Governor A. G. Sorlie.