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6/12/2017: On this date in 1917, draft registration was over and North Dakota fell slightly short of its goal; but with many already enlisted, Registration Day was deemed a success.

6/15/2017: Construction began on Fort Buford on this date in 1866; where the Missouri meets the Yellowstone River near Williston. Fort Buford served as a military post until 1881, when Sitting Bull surrendered to the fort’s military officials.

6/26/2017: If a person knows how to swim, then nothing says “summertime” better than plunging into the water for a refreshing dive on a sweltering-hot day. Historically, one of the best places for swimming in Fargo has been the city swimming pool on the west side of Island Park – the oldest park in town.

6/27/2017: In 1933, newsman Myron Scott of Dayton, Ohio noticed a group of boys racing their homemade cars. It immediately caught his attention. He copyrighted the name “Soap Box Derby” and went looking for a company to sponsor a national program. Chevrolet agreed and the Soap Box Derby was born.

6/30/2017: For thirty years, Bismarck, North Dakota was home one of 30 non-reservation boarding schools for native students in the US. The Bismarck Indian School was established in 1907 between the Missouri River and the city’s Northern Pacific Railroad tracks. Students largely came from the Fort Berthold Reservation, but also Standing Rock and Turtle Mountain, and some from other states too.

7/3/2017: Today’s story is one of true love – a love story that unfolded near Bowbells, Kenmare, and in Minot. It begins in Bowbells in 1903. That June, an epidemic struck the town. A man got severely ill from typhoid fever, caused by Salmonella typhosa, a fearfully infectious bacteria in contaminated food or water.

7/4/2017: With many of North Dakota’s young men and women already serving on the battlefields in Europe, the 4th of July in 1917 promised to be a day of commemoration and consecration. For some, it was difficult to call it a day of celebration, but unlike Memorial Day, with the somber reflection that death may await loved ones serving overseas, the 4th of July remained a celebration of patriotism, commemorating the battle for independence and democracy.

7/5/2017: Frederic Tudor, the third son of a wealthy Boston lawyer, hatched an idea one summer day as he reflected on the ice clinking in his glass. He knew that not everyone could enjoy the luxury of a cold drink on a hot day. His brother joked that they should ship ice from their pond in Massachusetts to the West Indies.

7/13/2017: The 1930s were hard on North Dakota farmers. About the only thing that survived the dust and grasshoppers were Russian thistles. Cattle starved or fell dead with bellies full of dirt, and farm foreclosures became frequent. An elevator man in Sanish thought the price of wheat hit rock bottom at 56 cents a bushel and wrote on his market chalkboard, “Don’t faint when you read these prices.” Little did anyone realize that within the next several years, wheat would go as low as 17 cents.

7/17/2017: In the spring of 1898, President McKinley put out a call for volunteers for a war with Spain. North Dakotans had always answered their country’s call. The people of the Dakotas fought on both sides in the Civil War and the Indian Wars, and they were willing once again to don uniforms and pick up rifles. But there was a problem.