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3/30/2017: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark get most of the credit for being early white explorers of the Missouri River and the American West, but their adventure wasn’t the first. The Verendrye family was in the North and South Dakota region for more than sixty years before the Corps of Discovery. They too sought an all-water route to the Pacific Ocean. Louis-Joseph and Francois de la Verendrye camped with the Mandans on the Upper Missouri before leaving on their journey in the summer of 1742.

3/31/2017: On this date in 1951, The Fargo Forum ran a big spread titled, “Orchestra Success Regarded by Outsiders as Astounding.” The story, written by Roy P. Johnson, celebrated the symphony’s 20th anniversary.

4/12/2017: George Bird Grinnell, a respected authority on the Plains Indians, passed away on this date in 1938 at the age of 88. In 2004, conservationist Shane Mahoney wrote this of Grinnell: “He was many things: scientist, hunter, explorer, naturalist, entrepreneur and author. Above all else, however, George Bird Grinnell was and remains the most influential conservationist in North American history.”

4/22/2014: Before 1910, New England's Catholic settlers were served by Father John Dignan of Dickinson and missionary Abbot Vincent Wehrle, who would occasionally travel to the area. Father Regensberger, the first resident priest, also established a frame church, and preached in German and English both, to satisfy the needs of his congregants.

5/2/2014: Long before the Internet and online blogging, there was amateur journalism, a hobby that began shortly after the American Civil War with the availability of small and inexpensive printing presses. Amateur journalists published and circulated their own newspapers, and sometimes books. They formed associations and held conventions. Similar to the Paris salons of the 18th and early 19th centuries, they also gathered informally with other writers to exchange ideas and information. In the late 19th century, one of the leading amateur journalists of the day was living in Fargo, North Dakota.

6/26/2015: Sometimes the best ideas never come to fruition, and sometimes really dumb ideas gain wide popularity. This story tells only of a great idea.

6/23/2015: Wendelin Grimm emigrated from Germany in 1857, and he settled on a farm in Carver County, Minnesota. It was impossible to imagine then the important impact he would have on American agriculture. That impact began with a prized possession he brought with him to America – a bag of seed for a hardy strain of alfalfa.

6/24/2015: On this date 129 years ago, Custer and the 7th Cavalry were one day away from their fate at the Little Big Horn River. Among the warriors who fought the following day was Tashna Mani or Moving Robe Woman. The following is an abridged version of her account of what happened:

6/25/2015: When Al Jolson's voice soared through theaters in "The Jazz Singer" in 1927, and movies began their transition from silence to “talkies,” the theater-going experience changed forever.

6/22/2015: John Elgin Elsberry was an early dairy pioneer who lived in the Minot area for many years. He and his wife had moved to North Dakota in 1901; they came from Missouri, with two daughters. A son was born during their first winter in the state.