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12/17/2010: Oscar Henry Elmer, the Red River Valley’s first preacher, conducted the first religious service in Fargo on this date in 1871. Without a church to preach in, services were held in a make-shift tent. Attendance to the evening service was encouraged by the promise of free liquor after the service. Among the rough settlers and railroad men then populating the city, this offer proved excellent motivation for the cold winter trek to the church tent.

12/20/2010: Funeral services were conducted on this date in 1936, for Dr. Philip Graham Reedy.

12/23/2010: CNN Money released an article on this date in 2004 outlining aspects of the proposed New Homestead Acts in North Dakota and Kansas. Titled “Free Land in the Heartland,” the article documented the states’ attempts to lure “21st century pioneers” into depopulated rural areas. NPR investigated the story in 2003, and this past summer, the New York Times revisited the idea yet again.

12/27/2010: About twenty Red River Valley pioneers gathered in Grand Forks on this date in 1879. The men met at McCormack and Grigg’s Hall and organized the Red River Valley Old Settlers Association. The purpose of the association was to preserve “a full history of the important society [of Dakota pioneers].” Each founding member paid dues of 25¢.

1/1/2011: Born in London, England on March 7, 1852, Henry Hale came to the United States at the age of fourteen. He enlisted in the Army, and in 1878 was sent to Fort Totten. During his time there, Hale worked with individuals such as Limpy Jack Clayton, Major Marcus Reno, and Lt. Hugh Scott who would later become a Major General.

1/2/2011: On this date one hundred years ago, a group of students at the University of North Dakota were exploring an idea to create a theater group.

2/15/2011: Football was the game that brought about college sports rivalries in the 1890s, and it was then that the intense competition between NDSU and UND began.

2/18/2011: In popular culture, the term Old West is often associated with wild gun-slinging outlaws, shootouts, vigilantes, and stand-offs at high-noon. The Medora of the Old West certainly had its fair share of gunslingers, including the Marquis de Mores, who fought many a duel. Yet, while Medora was certainly a part of the “Wild” West, its citizens actually tried to put together a civilized gun club to practice their shooting skills as a gentlemanly sport.

2/21/2011: Clifford ‘Fido’ Purpur passed away on this date in 2001. The former Head Coach of the University of North Dakota’s hockey team also held the distinction of being the first North Dakota native to play in the National Hockey League.

2/22/2011: An Omnibus Bill was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland on this date in 1889. The bill, surrounded in political controversy, divided Dakota Territory into North and South Dakota, and authorized the framing of state constitutions for Montana, Washington, North Dakota, and South Dakota.