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8/18/2013: In July of 1864, Fort Rice was established on the Missouri River, about thirty miles south of present-day Mandan.

8/19/2013: William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States, took office in January of 1909. He rode into the White House on a wave of popular support, and became known for his agenda on domestic reform, hoping to improve civil service practices, as well as the postal service. However, soon into his presidency, he gained notoriety for proposing a federal income tax to Congress in June of 1909; Congress approved the resolution of the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution a few weeks later, allowing for just such a tax. Amidst the furor and excitement caused by the proposal, most Americans paid little attention to other acts passed by President Taft that summer, including a short document titled “Proclamation 879,” which the President signed on this date in 1909.

8/20/2013: Today, North Dakota students looking for a career in business have several options. Colleges and technical schools offering business, accounting, and office management degrees can be found in all of the state’s major cities, plus there’s the plethora of online options that can be accessed from anywhere. In the early 1900s, however, demand was high for an education in business, while schools were few and far between.

8/22/2013: Although most North Dakotans today are well aware of the role played by Scandinavian and even German settlers in the state’s early history, few people are familiar with later ethnic immigrations, especially those at the turn of the 19th century. Between 1890 and 1910, immigration to the Great Plains changed dramatically, as changing political and social conditions in Eastern Europe led to an influx of Greeks, Italians, Czechs, and Poles.

8/27/2013: Fred Kist Jr. was born in 1939 of this month to Fred Sr. and Laura (Fallgren) Kist of Mandan. Fred attended Mandan schools, graduating from Mandan High and going on to Dickinson State College.

8/28/2013: During the early half of the twentieth century, migrant farm workers often spent the summer traveling north from Oklahoma to North Dakota, participating in the harvest of the nation’s breadbasket as part of the Great Wheat Belt migration.

8/29/2013: Last May, a small Chinese restaurant in Mandan made headlines after being named one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in America. Sammy Wu and his family opened the Rice Bowl above the Mandan Library in the late 1990s. Despite the long history and ubiquity of Chinese restaurants in the state, the Rice Bowl was the first North Dakota eatery named to the annual list. In fact, nearly a hundred years ago, North Dakotans were already enjoying authentic Asian food at Dickinson’s popular Star Restaurant, although a notable scandal led to its closing on this date in 1917.

8/30/2013: In June of 1930, a residence near the small town of Omemee was burglarized. Although now a ghost town, Omemee was once a growing railroad community of over six hundred, “…conveniently situated at the junction of the Great Northern and [Northern] Soo…” railroad lines. Due to the town’s size, criminal matters were often turned over to Sheriff J. C. Miller of Bottineau.

9/2/2013: On July 18, 1875, fifteen men left Bismarck, Dakota Territory, bound for the Black Hills. The men, led by H. N. Ross, were intent on proving the existence of large gold deposits in the hills, which Custer’s expedition had reported the previous year.

9/4/2013: In the late nineteenth century, Wahpeton was a thriving but sleepy little community nestled on the bank of the Red River. Steeped in the morals and traditions of the Norwegian and Bohemian families that settled there, it hardly seems like an insignificant local event would eventually have a major impact on theatrical stages across the nation. Occasionally, a traveling theater troupe would perform wholesome productions at the schoolhouse or at the Wahpeton Opera House, but lying deep in a North Dakota version of the Bible Belt, it was far from the Vaudeville and Burlesque theaters found in the larger cities across the United States.