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11/14/2011: Henry was a bird lover through and through. He died on this date in 1890, and his full name, one you know, will be "hatched" at the end of this Dakota Datebook.

11/16/2011: Picking up the phone in the early 1900s and ordering the operator to "get me the police!" only worked when the police were able to answer the call. On this date in 1909, the Bismarck Police Department installed their first "trouble phone," a twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week emergency phone number, after it became clear the old system wasn't working for the city.

11/20/2011: One of North Dakota's most colorful and outspoken public figures, Henry Martinson was a Socialist, a Democrat, organizer of the state's Nonpartisan League, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Labor among other contributions to the state's fiery political landscape in the early 1900s. He published three prose pieces about the North Dakota labor movement.

11/21/2011: The support of influential politicians and powerful corporations often plays a significant role in the election of US Congressmen; indeed many bitterly criticize American politics for just this fact. But in 1889, one North Dakota hopeful discovered that having friends in high places is not always enough.

11/23/2011: In November of 1921, the North Dakota political scene was undergoing huge change as an election pushed Nonpartisan League Governor Frazier out of office and put the independent candidate Ragnvold Nestos into office for the next four years.

11/30/2011: Organized in May of 1932, the National Farmers’ Holiday Association sought to raise prices of American farm products by withholding products from the market and driving up demand. It was a popular idea in the American Midwest, where many state-chartered organizations sprang up.

12/2/2011: Hollywood's westerns have mostly ignored North Dakota, but an exception was "Dakota," a John Wayne western that premiered on this date in 1945. Even then, all the action happened on the eastern edge of the territory – In the heart of the Red River Valley.

12/13/2011: It has often been said that ties run close in North Dakota. It’s the biggest small town in the world—or so it seems.

12/14/2011: Writing letters to Santa is an age-old tradition. Of course, today Santa is tech-savvy, and children are now able to e-mail him letters, as well as track his flight around the world…but he also has a strong history with newspapers.

12/19/2011: The first real snow storm of 1905 raged through Minot and its surrounding areas in late November. The storm lasted all day and all night, with a strong northeasterly wind, resulting in a good 18 inches of snow—the heaviest snowfall in the area for the last twenty years. And there was more on the way.