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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.

5/26/2016: In 1909, the Northern Pacific Railway built a new "high line" about a mile north of Valley City. This new line made it possible to overcome the steep grades of the valley, allowing trains to keep better time. However, the high line was also about a mile north of the city, bypassing the convenient, downtown depot. This affected the town in many ways, including mail service and hotel businesses.

6/1/2016: The Cold War left many marks in North Dakota, from its Air Force stations near Fortuna and Finley to the giant concrete radar pyramid at Nekoma. Most of these structures are now abandoned or converted for other uses. But the Minot Air Force Base is still the headquarters for the 5th Bomb Wing, an element of the Global Strike Command, and the 91st Missile Wing, with nuclear missiles located in three main fields to the north, west, and south of the base.

6/2/2016: Rattlesnake season is upon us – anyway for those of us who live west of the Missouri River. Rattlers will need a full meal every 10 days until the weather reaches the 80s and 90s; then they only need to eat only once every three weeks. During the fall, they’ll increase their meals to once every two weeks to store enough fat to get them through winter hibernation.

6/7/2016: On this date in 1893, the growing development of Fargo was struck by a terrible fire. It started on what was then Front Street – now called Main Avenue. Strong winds spread the fire, burning away most of the downtown area. Forty-two city blocks were destroyed, an estimated $3,000,000 in damage. However, the people of Fargo did not let this disaster bring them down, and within the next year, they had already constructed 246 new buildings, revitalizing the area.

6/13/2016: The United Commercial Travelers was founded in 1888. It was started by people who had to travel for a living like salesmen. On this date in 1913, a delegation from Fargo was greeted in style as they arrived in Crookston for the Minnesota / North Dakota United Commercial Travelers convention.

6/15/2016: There once was a fabulously-big farm near the village of Arvilla. The story of the Hersey “Bonanza” Farm in Grand Forks County begins with Dudley H. Hersey’s birth in Bangor, Maine in 1846. He was the son of wealthy lumberman Samuel Hersey. The Hersey family used the fortune gained in Maine to buy Minnesota timberland in 1854, and Dudley Hersey moved to Stillwater in the 1860s to help operate sawmills along the St. Croix River.

6/20/2016: The city of Fargo may have kept the high floodwater of 2009 at bay, but in the summer of 2000, a 100-year rain soaked the city. Seven inches fell in seven hours overnight. And on this date, when it was all said and done, half the city’s homes had taken on water. The damage estimates hit almost $100 million.

6/23/2016: Food prices spiraled upwards in 1972. There were many reasons, including the devaluation of the dollar, a decline in world grain production, and an increase in the demand for meat in developing countries. But those reasons were no comfort to American consumers.

7/8/2016: There was a great deal of excitement in Fargo on this date in 1935. Morning showers did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd that gathered at the Great Northern railroad station. They came to watch the unloading of a train more than forty cars in length.