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2/4/2016: For middle-aged adults, the word “lyceum” might be remembered as having a guest speaker deliver a lecture in the public school auditorium. But in the 1800s, the term referred to a form of community education in which neighbors shared their personal expertise in literature, fine arts, and music; or it could feature a debate or readings and recitations. The lyceum meetings served as social events, too, as a pleasurable way to gather together on a regular basis.

2/9/2016: On this date in 1966, word came from Bismarck that a North Dakota town was going to be given back to Montana. At the time, Westby was a town of about 300 people. The residents were used to thinking they were from Montana, but between 1963 and 1966, the official state map of North Dakota showed it as belonging to North Dakota.

2/11/2016: General Alfred Howe Terry was an experienced army officer, with extensive service during the Civil War.

2/15/2016: On this date in 1935, the Fargo Forum and Daily Republican reported water flowing over the lower dam on the Red River. Since Minnesota had not released water from reservoirs, it was clear that the high water was a result of snowmelt.

2/19/2016: On this date in 1911, Bessie ‘Carry The Moccasin’ died. The Sioux woman lived her entire life near Porcupine, North Dakota, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. She was born as Matoziwin, or Yellow Bear, in 1873 or ‘74. Her father was Struck Many and her mother was Iron Tracks. Iron Tracks gave birth to Matoziwin at 13. The family belonged to the Upper Yanktonai Sioux tribe. Matoziwin was raised with her siblings Surrounded, Fight For Him and Wounded Horse.

2/24/2016: Today we are accustomed to hearing stories of terrorist attacks in the Middle East, Europe, and even closer to home. Forty-five years ago, such tales were not so common, but there were terrorist incidents.

3/7/2016: A politician and businessman who served North Dakota in Congress was born on this date in 1854.

3/9/2016: North Dakota’s southwest is one of the state’s most depopulated regions, Slope County especially. The city of Marmarth, founded in 1907, had over 1,300 residents by 1920. It had a theater, car dealership, jewelry store, opera house and other businesses. Today the town has about 140 residents. The county’s only other incorporated town is Amidon, the county seat, population twenty. The county has around 760 residents. Compare that to the state of Rhode Island, which is about the same size, but with 1.1 million residents!

3/14/2016: By the turn of the Twentieth Century, the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern Railroads had transcontinental lines running across the state, but there remained areas that lacked rail service. Rail lines sought to link these communities, but the area comprising McKenzie and Dunn Counties, north of Dickinson and south of Williston, was proving difficult to access.

3/17/2016: Fifty years ago the National Historic Preservation Act was created to help preserve the diverse archaeological and architectural treasures of America that were quickly disappearing. As we’ve been reporting, many sites in North Dakota have been protected by the Act.