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10/27/2017: Warnings about scams are common today. No sooner does one scheme become ineffective than a new one pops up. Today people are much less likely to fall for an email from a Nigerian prince offering millions of dollars, but they still might click on a bogus link to update their information with their bank, giving away all their personal information in the process. Sometimes an old con falls out of favor when it receives too much publicity, only to come back again when people have forgotten all about it.

11/1/2017: In the military, combat arms are the units that work on the ground, such as the infantry or artillery. One tactic employed by strategists is called combined arms. The idea of this tactic is to attack using differing units in such a way that the opposing forces, in defending against one of the attacks, becomes vulnerable to the other. It is a highly effective strategy and one of the primary tactics employed by the North Dakota National Guard. However, this strategy was not always part of the Guard’s training. We can credit Robert Schulte for introducing the strategy.

11/2/2017: With the troops now gone, those remaining in North Dakota took on the challenge of dealing with many concerns. Winter was fast approaching and a coal shortage was becoming critical. While the Great Lakes were still open for shipping, coal was slow in reaching the docks, and the demand was great across the Northern Plains. To make matters worse, coal strikes at Burlington, near Minot, were keeping six hundred tons per day of locally-produced coal off the market, and rationing was sure to follow.

1/4/2006: January 4, 1806 — 200 years ago today — was the day of an important diplomatic exchange between the President of the United States and some of the Indian nations Lewis and Clark had encountered in the interior of the rapidly expanding nation. On their way westward Lewis and Clark had convinced some Indian leaders they met to journey to Washington to speak with Thomas Jefferson — their new “father.” The Corps of Discovery was wintering on the West Coast at this time, and would begin the return trip East in the Spring.

1/6/2006: Dakota Territory was organized for a period of 28 years – from 1861, just days before Abraham Lincoln took office, until 1889, when the territory was divided in half along the 46th parallel, and North and South Dakota were admitted as states.

1/7/2006: Aagot Raaen (AH-gut RAHN) died on this date in 1957, at Fergus Falls, MN. She was born in Iowa in 1873, but before she turned one, her Norwegian immigrant parents moved to Dakota Territory to homestead near present day Hatton. Raaen would later document the ups and downs of her family’s challenging existence in her well-known book, "Grass of the Earth."

1/9/2006: This week in the year 1890 would have been an interesting time to visit Hatton, North Dakota. Front row seats for the action could be had on bar stools in saloons owned by Oscar Brandon, Charlie Gunderson, and L.O. Fisk. But then, for your own safety, you might not want front row seats. A secluded table some distance from anything made of glass—that is whiskey bottles, beer glasses and mirrors—would have been advisable.

1/10/2006: It was business as usual in the saloons of Hatton on this day in 1890. Business was good. Fires crackled in the stoves. Thick-fingered men played cards, smoked, spat, laughed, argued, and kept the bartenders busy refilling their glasses. The single pane windows were frosted over. New arrivals stomped the snow from their boots and made their way to the stove to warm their hands and scrape little icicles from their mustaches. Droplets hit the stove, sizzled, and turned to steam. The rooms smelled of wet wool, wood smoke, tobacco, beer, horse manure, and sweat.

4/12/2006: On this date in 1958, John F. Kennedy, who was then still a U.S. Senator, delivered a speech at Dickinson State College titled Moral and Spiritual Imperatives of Free Government. He was honoring the memory of T.R.’s 100th birthday at the first Theodore Roosevelt Symposium.

4/18/2006: In 1927, Lawrence Welk and His Novelty Band discovered the power of the media when Welk persuaded a Yankton radio manager to let them play on his station one morning. It went so well, that the band got a long-term contract out of the deal.