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4/4/2016: Floods are a regular springtime worry in North Dakota, and almost a season by themselves some years. In the east, the Red has flooded many times, with the 1826 flood believed to be the largest in recorded history. It washed trappers and natives off the land, resulting in deaths from drowning and starvation.

4/6/2016: Fifty years ago, the National Historic Preservation Act was created to help preserve the diverse archaeological and architectural treasures of America. These sites span a variety of structures and locations that chronicle life in North Dakota – including how the deceased are cared for and buried.

4/14/2016: Before he was president of the American Sociological Association, George Lundberg spent his youth in North Dakota. He was born in 1895 in Fairdale, North Dakota to Swedish immigrants. Lundberg received his first eight years of education in a one-room schoolhouse. By age sixteen, he was a public school teacher just three miles from home.

4/18/2016: North Dakotans have not always been privileged to own cars and tractors. Before such luxuries existed, horses served as the main means of travel; and they pulled plows and hauled heavy loads on farms. Buying and selling horses was a vital part of life even after automobiles and tractors became common.

4/19/2016: On this date in 1974, an estimated 4,000 people were moving out of their homes in Minot as the Souris River approached flood stage. Minot Mayor Chester Reiten said that dikes already in place could hold back the river until it reached a flow of 3,600 cubic feet per second. But it was expected to reach 4,000 feet per second the following day and 6,000 cubic feet by the end of the week. That would put the crest of the Souris River at 20.5 feet. Flood stage was 14 feet.

4/21/2016: When Dakota Territory became North and South Dakota in 1889, the Catholic Church split the Vicariate of Dakota into two dioceses, Sioux Falls and Jamestown. In 1899, Father Vincent Wehrle and a few monks began monastic life at Richardton, North Dakota. The new monastery was called St. Mary’s Priory. By 1900, the Priory had added St. Mary’s College. The college offered class for men and boys, educating both lay students and seminarians.

4/29/2016: America has a long history of contention over milk production. In 1883, a so-called “milk war” broke out in New York State when farmers demanded a higher price for milk. When distributors refused, the farmers formed “spilling committees.” They waylaid milk on the way to market and dumped it on the side of the road. They dumped their own milk rather than selling it at such low prices. The result was a “milk famine.”

5/12/2016: On this date 71 years ago, Air Force B-17 bombers landed at Barth, Germany to evacuate English and American prisoners of war. One of these prisoners was Pershing Carlson from Minot.

5/20/2016: The Great Northern Railroad was the dream of James J. Hill, a man known as the “Empire Builder.” Hill considered the Great Northern his greatest achievement. When he retired he said, “Most men who have really lived have had, in some shape, their great adventure. This railroad is mine.”

5/25/2016: Stewart Bass was born on this date in 1921 in Stevensville, Montana. He joined the Navy in 1941 and ended up flying the Grumman Avenger. Although the Avenger was designated a torpedo bomber, most of the time it carried conventional bombs.