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7/9/2013: One of the earliest Red River Valley settlers was also one of North Dakota’s most interesting and little-known characters.

6/25/2013: In 1916, after paramilitary forces led by Mexican General Francisco “Pancho” Villa began raiding U.S. border towns, President Wilson ordered U.S. General John Pershing to capture the Mexican leader.

6/27/2013: On this date in 1980, the family and friends of Archie Campbell were mourning his June 26 death. He was born to Alexander and Maude Campbell on July 13, 1897, on a farm west of Harvey.

7/1/2013: Beginning on this date in 1961, North Dakota would no longer have Justices of the Peace to administer local justice across the state. The State Legislature, in an attempt to reform the state’s judicial system, abolished the office in 1959, replacing it with a system of county courts and judges.

7/3/2013: On this date in 1908, Joseph and Estelle Cordner were busy celebrating the birth of their daughter Marie just two days before. Born on the family farm near Moffit, Marie later moved to Bismarck, graduating from Bismarck High School in 1926. In 1938, she married James Tyler in Poplar, Montana.

7/4/2013: The city of Mandan celebrated its first Fourth of July on this date in 1879, marking the nation’s 103rd birthday. Often over-shadowed by its larger neighbor, Mandan residents decided to steal some of Bismarck’s thunder, quite literally, by stealing the city’s cannon the night before the celebrations.

7/10/2013: There was a time in North Dakota when giant sturgeon swam the waters of the Red River. These were ‘lake sturgeon,’ which could grow to be six feet long and over 99 pounds, with a typical maximum life span of 55 years for males and more than 100 years for females.

7/15/2013: In 1875, an investment group of forty New England families purchased almost 28,000 acres of land in Cass County, North Dakota. This created the Amenia and Sharon Land Company, named for the towns of Amenia, New York, and Sharon, Connecticut. The Company sent their largest shareholder, Eben W Chaffee, to establish a bonanza farm and run the business. Understanding how fertile the land was, he ran the company as one enormous farming operation.

7/20/2013: During the summer of 1902, the city of Lakota had a problem.

7/22/2013: When automobiles began whizzing around at speeds over 20 miles per hour, these “devil wagons,”as some called them, offended many country people – frightening horses and killing free-range chickens accustomed to slower speeds of wagons and buggies.