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9/19/2013: In 1934, a great drought beat down about the Great Plains region. Intense heat and no rain created an almost unbearable environment.

9/20/2013: Blakely Durant was an unlikely celebrity. The humble and quiet black man had been born into the antebellum south in 1826, near Natchez, Mississippi. The son of former slaves, Blakely moved with his family first to Texas, then north to Cincinnati, hoping to escape the dangers of the south. Even in Cincinnati, there were no schools open to African Americans, and Durant continued to face discrimination. He eventually grew up, got married, and moved to a farm in Mercer County, Ohio. When the Civil War broke out, Durant volunteered for the 71st Ohio infantry, under the command of General William Sherman.

9/30/2013: Alvin "Creepy" Karpis got his nickname for his crooked, sinister smile. While in the Kansas State Penitentiary for stealing a car, Karpis fell in with members of the Ma Barker Gang, a family of brutal bank robbers known for their bloody heists. When Karpis was released from jail in 1931, he teamed up with the Barker Gang and headed north.

10/1/2013: Prominent Minot attorney and state legislator Christopher A. Johnson spent the summer and fall of 1910 canvassing the state of North Dakota. The popular and energetic politician was campaigning as the Republican candidate for governor after winning the state primary. Johnson was running against popular incumbent and early favorite in the race, Governor John Burke, but in the early days of autumn, Johnson appeared to pull ahead in the race. As September faded into October, with the long and grueling campaign entering its final stretch, tragedy struck.

10/9/2013: Bismarck leaders and organizers of the 2nd Annual North Dakota Industrial Exposition celebrated Old Settlers Day on this date in 1912.

10/11/2013: In 1803, Thomas Jefferson purchased the vast Louisiana Territory from the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite domestic opposition, Jefferson believed the deal was too good to pass up; not only was the price ridiculously low, less than 3 cents an acre – 42¢ in today’s dollars. The deal also helped assure the removal of the French from much of North America, something Jefferson believed would protect his young country from future conflicts.

10/14/2013: In President Abraham Lincoln’s third state of the union address, he emphasized the importance of America’s railroads in bringing the expansive country together, stating that the railroads “…when completed, will so largely multiply the facilities for reaching our distant possessions.” The year was 1863 and, at the time, Dakota Territory was considered by most Americans to be one of these “distant possessions.”

10/16/2013: Eating lutefisk is not for the faint of heart, for this peculiar Norwegian form of codfish smells to high heaven. But to Norwegian-Americans, eating snow-white, light and flaky lutefisk was a joy at holiday dinners, especially at Christmas-time, as a taste of Norway for those immigrants who had left its fjords and shores for America. For non-Norwegians, the penetrating aroma of lutefisk cooking in the kitchen could make them cringe or induce them to make fun of the lye-soaked codfish.

10/17/2013: North Dakota champion barrel racer Maude (Kirk) Gullickson was born on this date in 1911 in Washburn. Maude was the youngest daughter of Grant and Maude Kirk. She started riding horse as a toddler and rode nearly every day of her life until she was 73 years old. Maude trained and rode barrel-racing horses for most of her life, winning both the North Dakota State Cloverleaf title and the first North Dakota Rodeo Association State Champion Barrel Racer Title in 1955.

10/23/2013: Beginning in the 1870s, a new group of immigrants began arriving in the United States. The newcomers were from Central Europe and Russia, but they spoke German. These ‘Germans from Russia’ were ethnically German, and had fled their villages on the Russian steppes to seek freedom overseas. Thanks in large part to the Homestead Act, Dakota Territory experienced the Great Dakota Boom during this time, as settlers flooded the territory seeking cheap land. The Germans from Russia found the area appealing, as it mirrored the harsh treeless plains of the Russian homeland to which they had grown accustomed.