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5/21/2013: Steamboats operating on the Missouri River were a key element in advancing the frontier westward. Manufactured goods could be shipped to St. Louis, transferred to smaller steamboats and then freighted up river as far as Fort Benton, Montana. Freighters then hauled the goods from that point to the miners. Military posts along the river also needed supplies – thousands of tons each year to sustain the troops through the often brutal winters when almost all travel ceased on the Northern Plains.

5/25/2013: On this date in 1916, an infection had James Hill bedridden. From his window, the man known as the Empire Builder looked onto the bustling city of St. Paul.

6/19/2013: William Lemke, Fargo attorney and North Dakota congressman, announced that he would be entering the race for the United States presidency on this date in 1936.

6/22/2013: On June 17, 1921, a terrible flashflood struck the badlands near Medora, North Dakota.

11/2/2012: Within a decade after Dakota Territory was created in 1861, the winds of division were already blowing through the prairie. The main population was sequestered in the southeastern part of the territory and they believed the northern part, mainly centered around the town of Pembina, was of little value and would only delay statehood. In 1871 the Dakota Territorial Legislature, firmly under the control of the southern faction, began submitting a series of petitions to Congress to divide the Territory.

11/8/2012: The first graveyard in Bismarck was established in 1872. Located on 4th Street and running north, it was initially believed that it was far from the main part of town, but within a decade the city overtook the area and plans began for the removal of the graves.

11/12/2012: Winter is the longest season in North Dakota, and hearty North Dakotans have always plunged into frosty outdoor sports. On this date in 1916, the Grand Forks Herald newspaper announced that the city’s ski jump in Lincoln Park had been repaired and had been built a little higher to make ski-jumping “more sensational.”

11/13/2012: Modern and classic films hail the train station as a place of romance and as an important meeting ground. The railway was the primary method of transportation for goods and passengers across states in the early 20th century. Train stations saw many passengers each year.

11/16/2012: In October of 1889, the Constitution of North Dakota was approved by a vote of 27,471 to 8,107 however the prohibition plank was approved by a margin of only 673 votes. Almost fifty percent of the voters did not want prohibition, but it passed, creating an enforcement problem throughout the state until National Prohibition was approved with the Volstead Act in 1919.

11/19/2012: By November of 1890, the belief that a Messiah would return to earth and lead the Indian people was sweeping across the plains from its origins among the Piutes. The spreading of the belief among the tribes living in the Dakotas was attributed to Kicking Bear, but the message had taken on an ominous tone.