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8/13/2012: Today’s influx of oil pioneers in the Western part of the state is reminiscent of the immigrants to this area approximately one hundred years ago. While the modern migration is concerned with the development of minerals beneath the ground, the earlier immigrants were hopeful of developing the immense opportunities that awaited on the fertile land and tall grass prairies. They came by the thousands from all over the world.

8/16/2012: In the spring of 1937, R. L. Melville, while walking along Apple Creek south of Bismarck, found an old axe, hobbles made of iron for a horse or mule, and some links for a log chain. But it was a rusty old branding iron buried in the sand that caught his attention. T

8/17/2012: As the frontier pushed westward, the majority of those who participated were young men or married men with families. Few single women took up the challenge, so there was an extremely high ratio of single men to single women. On this date in 1883, John T. Steen of Bismarck, himself a married man who had enjoyed the blessings of a fine home and family, announced his plan to aid those lonely, less fortunate brothers in the city. He proposed the formation of the Bismarck Bachelors Club to promote their mutual happiness.

8/18/2012: Sitting Bull and his band left the reservation in the 1870s. As Medicine Man, he was the spiritual leader who wished for a better life for his tribe. After the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull was hounded by the federal government and returned to the reservation.

8/21/2012: On this date in 1911, the citizens of Antler, Sherwood, Westhope, and the surrounding communities were calculating their losses after a series of deadly tornadoes. Downed wires made the news of casualties and losses slow to spread. Speculation and miscommunication lead to widely differing tallies, as well as cases of mistaken identity. Martin Fryberg, a young farmer and a survivor of the storm, was reported dead in some dispatches, while purportedly only injured in others.

8/23/2012: A recent study done by Transportation for America projects that in a few years, more than 15.5 million Americans age 65 and older will live in communities where public transportation service is poor or non-existent. As the population ages, getting from point A to point B can become more difficult. But a lack of transportation didn’t stop one woman in 1952.

8/26/2012: North Dakota’s earliest recorded airplane fatality occurred on this date in 1919, when a small plane went down near Sutton.

8/28/2012: On this date in 1947, Mrs. George D. Mann, publisher of the Bismarck Tribune, announced that the newspaper would sponsor two performances in Bismarck by the United States Marine band, “The President’s Own.”

8/29/2012: We all know the power of advertising. Branding yourself is an important business strategy. Advertising can be very positive, but it can also be negative…the difference between North Dakota being “Legendary” and North Dakota being known for its number of small towns, for instance. Unfortunately, in 1921, it seemed some residents felt that recent ad campaigns were untruthful and had negatively affected the public opinion of this fine state.

8/31/2012: If you tuned in yesterday, you learned that the Ku Klux Klan had a significant presence in our state. F. Halsey Ambrose, a Presbyterian minister, mobilized his masses to discriminate, especially against Catholics and members of the Nonpartisan League.