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10/22/2006: At this time in 1918, North Dakota was in the midst of the worst epidemic since the plague of the middle ages. Hundreds suffered from Spanish Influenza, and when the virus subsided in 1919, an estimated 1,378 North Dakotans—if not more—and nearly 20 million world-wide had died from the virus.

10/23/2006: Erick Lien of Union, North Dakota arrived in Minot today in 1908, but his visit was not under happy circumstances. Lien was coming to inspect the cause of his daughter Gina’s death on October 5. Officials had already been investigating the case, and suspected her doctor, Dr. Moeller of malpractice. They suspected Gina died from a wound they thought Dr. Moeller had inflicted during operation, and Dr. Moeller was charged with manslaughter in the first degree.

10/24/2006: It was not your typical match play in golf. Rather than taking on another team of golfers, Ray Anderson and Alex Olson would be playing against two archers instead, and the results of the first doubles match played in Grand Forks was reported today in 1924.

10/26/2006: The death of Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter, was a shock to some, and the inevitable to others. But, before Steve Irwin, there were others who put themselves at eye level with dangerous predators, and one of them was Bert Wilson, the superintendent of Minot parks. Wilson, however, seemed to have less caution—and perhaps common sense—than Irwin when dealing with animals.

10/27/2006: With hunting season now well underway, it is a good time to reflect on just how much the sport has changed over the years. Yet, hunting is a sport that did not only differ with time, but with place. This is a lesson John Palliser of Ireland was to find out when he came to the United States in 1847.

10/28/2006: When a group of Italians rolled an apple barrel down the tracks to Charlie Porter today in 1913, and asked to have it shipped to Chicago, the last thing Charlie expected was for the barrel to talk.

10/29/2006: On September 26, 1879, the mining town of Deadwood, Dakota Territory, was destroyed by fire.

10/30/2006: The State Mill and Elevator opened for business on this date in 1922. Governor Ragnvold Nestos, who had sold $3 million in bonds to construct the facility, pushed the button to start the mill machinery.

11/2/2006: As the railroad moved west, new towns sprang up along its lines, adding some slight contour to the flat, North Dakota horizon line. But, the towns’ buildings were not the only structures that grew. Along with them were large white monuments of sun-bleached buffalo bones stacked as high as 20 feet, awaiting the arrival of railroad lines. Meanwhile, settlers, Indians, and metis continued to gather bones to add to the monuments for anywhere from $5 to $20 per ton.

11/4/2006: During hunting season, there are always the stories of the “one that got away,” but in the case of two Mandan sportsmen, their pursuit after an entire flock of geese was nothing to brag about.