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12/16/2013: Northern Dakota Territory was rapidly developing, and on this date in 1888 citizens were hopeful that statehood was growing near. It was significant, however, that many absentee land owners controlled huge tracts of land in so-called Bonanza farms. With the financial failure of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1873, bond holders like George Cass exchanged his bonds for approximately ten sections of land, and E. P. Cheney secured eight sections. The Grandin Brothers from Pennsylvania acquired nearly one hundred sections, all of this in the Red River Valley.

12/17/2013: Bob Watson was something of a mystery citizen. No one knew him when he first moved to Mandan in 1925. He was slight—perhaps in some ways a little too thin—but cheerful.

12/27/2013: North Dakota rodeo star John “Buzz” Fredericks Jr. died on this date in 2006. He was a lifetime rancher and a well-known rodeo cowboy, winning titles in bareback, saddle bronc and steer wrestling.

12/30/2013: During the mid-1880s the most influential obstacle to the admission of North and South Dakota resided in the United States House of Representatives. William Springer was a long-time Democratic leader from Illinois. He was born in Sullivan County, Indiana on May 30, 1836, but moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, with his parents in 1848. He was first elected to Congress in 1870 and served nine consecutive terms in the House. There he gained significant power as one of the leading Democrats and beginning in 1887, chaired the Committee on Territories for the Democratic controlled, 50th Congress.

1/7/2014: On this date in 1888, Congress was dealing with the Springer Omnibus Bill, which would admit a single state of Dakota. For most people, especially in Dakota Territory, statehood was not acceptable without division. However, the precedent in dividing the territory along the 46th parallel went back more than three decades, even before the creation of the State of Minnesota. In 1857, Minnesota Territory was struggling with statehood problems. While a majority favored division along the Red River, there was also was a strong party in favor of a division just north of Minneapolis, cutting the territory in two, making the State of Minnesota out of the southern portion leaving the north as a territory.

1/20/2014: It was on this day in 1938 that the Walcott Reporter printed a story about a particularly interesting oak tree. Surveyors in 1870 had used the oak as a landmark when measuring land near the Sheyenne River south of Kindred. The oak was not an unlikely choice for a landmark on the North Dakota prairies, where it was most likely the only tree for miles.

1/22/2014: A kidnapping report that had put the city of Fargo into a frenzy was retracted on this day in 1928. On January 19, eighteen-year old Esther Monson was found lying unconscious on a sidewalk in downtown Fargo.

1/27/2014: Having completed a third of their allotted time of sixty days, the Territorial Legislature was keeping a keen eye on the United States Congress. The legislature was in a very difficult position. The lawmakers had a territorial government to run, and money had to be appropriated to fund it, possibly for the next two years until the next session, if there was a next session. There were some significant questions that needed answering

1/31/2014: In May of 1917, as the First World War rolled on across the seas, Congress established the Selective Service Act, and consequently, the selective service system, in order to administer a selective draft for all male citizens between the ages of 21 to 30. In 1918 the age range was expanded to 18 to 45.

2/13/2014: During World War II, the United States held many drives for all sorts of goods to aid the war effort. People bought war bonds, grew victory gardens, "canned" Hitler, rationed their foods, and gave up nylon, rubber, and metals.