Search results for

9/13/2006: As Thomas Whelan, a farmer and North Dakota republican, stood before President Harry Truman in 1951, Truman said unabashedly, “I don’t know why in the hell I’m giving you this job when there are so many good, deserving democrats who would like to have it.” Whelan simply replied, “I don’t know why in the hell you’re giving it to me, either, Mr. President.” But both men knew why Whelan was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Nicaragua.

9/17/2006: Pioneer Express reported today in 1897 that a particular Pembina County cow did try to turn the tables.

9/19/2006: The Elmer Fraase Farm near Buffalo was the center of excitement on this day in 1964. The Plowville National Plowing Contest and Soil Conservation Field Days were underway and, although President Lyndon B. Johnson would not be able to attend, Vice Presidential Candidate, Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, from Minnesota and Senator Barry Goldwater from Arizona would address the crowd along with Governor William Guy. Among other dignitaries present were Senator Quentin Burdick and congressional candidates George Sinner and Rolland Redlin.

9/24/2006: Harriet Beckert, a Chicago opera star, collapsed on stage one night in 1917. Doctors said her career was over and she needed to move somewhere with fresh air. Soon, she began ranching near Kildeer, ND, where she became known for her fierce independence and unusual ideas.

9/25/2006: The trip to France was supposed to be routine for the seven sisters of the Maryvale Convent located near Valley City. As Sisters of Mary of the Presentation, a French order, they were required to study at the motherhouse in Broons, a small town in northwestern France. The trip for sisters Edward, Annetta, Theresa, Corinne, Eloise, Loretta, and Alexandra, however, would be anything but ordinary.

9/28/2006: Hunting in Dakota Territory days wasn’t much different than it is now, except hunters these days probably have it a bit more comfortable. To give you an example, The Bismarck Tribune ran a story, in September 1879, titled: A DEER HUNT – Bedsteads Without Blankets and a Bottom Without a Top.

9/29/2006: Helen Virginia Briggs was born on this date in 1910 and grew up in Fargo. Her father, Earll, was an insurance broker; her mother, Margaret, was an exceptional golfer who won the ND State Golf Championship three times.

9/30/2006: A fourteen-year-old Fargo boy experienced a bit of a surprise on this day in 1913 when he attempted to help out the local electrician.

10/1/2006: The Fargo Forum reported an interesting war effort undertaken by local schoolchildren on this day in 1944.

10/2/2006: Eight Lutheran missionaries from North Dakota were in the hands of Chinese bandits on this day in 1913. The missionaries were captured while working at a Lutheran Brethren mission in Tsaoyang, China.