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9/22/2014: Alexander McKenzie was a powerful man in the political field in Dakota Territory. The Jamestown Alert called him the “noblest Roman of them all” and noted, “Without a doubt the people of North Dakota would turn in and send him – the one man above all others – to the United States Senate… if he would consent himself.”

9/30/2014: The last week of the campaign had passed quickly, and tomorrow, the 1st of October, 1889, would hopefully change the political face of Dakota Territory forever. For the first time in almost three decades, the people would be free of the political yoke of territorialism, free of carpetbaggers, and free to chart their own destiny. Yet the fate of the Constitution was now in the hands of the voters, and the outcome was uncertain.

10/6/2014: It was common knowledge in the 1880s that there was gold in the Black Hills. Deadwood was a boomtown. It seemed as if everyone was trying to get there.

10/13/2014: Whitestone Hill was designated a State Historical Site in 1904. On this date in 1909, a crowd gathered at the top of the hill to commemorate a new monument. The monument was carved from Vermont granite. At the top of the tall column, a soldier forever stands with his bugle to his lips. The column is surrounded by twenty granite headstones, one for each soldier killed 46 years before. The event began with a military bugle call. Congressman Thomas Marshall delivered the official address. He asked those present to remember that they stood on ground “made sacred by the blood of the soldiers of 1863.”

10/14/2014: On this date in 1918, American soldiers were in combat during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began September 26thand continued until the Armistice, November 11th. North Dakotan Wesley R. Johnson served among the U.S. troops. Johnson was one of North Dakota’s youngest soldiers in World War I, being just seventeen when he joined Company M of the National Guard.

10/16/2014: As one of his last acts as governor of Dakota Territory, A. C. Mellette would meet with Secretary L. B. Richardson and Chief Justice Bartlett Trip in Bismarck on October 17thto certify the fall election. Once that was completed, he would send a certified copy to President Benjamin Harrison along with a copy of the State Constitution. Harrison would then issue the Proclamation of Admission, and Dakota Territory would no longer exist.

10/20/2014: One hundred years ago, the City of Bismarck was filled with activity concerning the Fourth Annual North Dakota Industrial Exposition. They were also commemorating the 25thanniversary of statehood. Many of the members of the constitution convention returned to visit the scene where they worked so hard to place the 39thstar on the national flag. Not only did they honor the delegates to the convention, they also honored the members of the first state legislature who had the burden of completing the statehood process – enacting the laws mandated by the Constitution.

10/21/2014: On October 16th, Territorial Governor Mellette and Secretary Richardson met in Bismarck and canvassed the election results. Completed on the 17th, they made the arrangements to provide a certified copy of the vote along with a certified copy of the North Dakota State Constitution to President Benjamin Harrison. It was hoped that the Presidential Proclamation could be issued as early as October 20th. The newly elected legislators and State officials began arriving at the Capitol preparing for the beginning of first legislative Session of the State of North Dakota set for November 1st.

10/22/2014: Fort Abercrombie was known as the Gateway to the West. It was the first permanent United States military fort in what is now North Dakota. Established in 1858 by an act of Congress, it was named for the officer in charge, Lieutenant Colonel John J. Abercrombie. The fort’s initial purpose was to guard the oxcart trails used by fur traders. Those duties expanded with increasing traffic that included wagon trains, stagecoaches, and steamboats. As the railroad made its way west, the soldiers also protected railroad workers. The fort was instrumental in the non-native settlement of western Minnesota and the Dakota Territory.

10/23/2014: Vice Presidential candidate Richard Nixon drew large crowds when he appeared on the campaign trail on this date in 1952. He started the day in Moorhead. His train arrived twenty minutes late, and when it did arrive, it overshot the station. The large crowd had to wait while the train backed up.