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7/21/2004: Back in 1884, some pistol-packing cowboys showed up at the depot at Devils Lake. The news was quickly carried to Sheriff Ever Wagness, who confronted the men and told them to either surrender their guns or get out of town. Because of events the year before, Ramsey County had passed an ordinance requiring handguns to be registered, and permits were now required for carrying them – and they had to be concealed.

7/25/2004: It was about this time in July 1918 that ten young men from Rock Lake were going off to fight in World War I. The Rock Lake Ripples called their send-off “the largest assembly of any as on previous occasions in our village...”

8/7/2004: On this date in 1965, the first Minuteman Missile in North Dakota was installed in its launch facility near Inkster, in the northeastern part of the state.

8/8/2004: The Fargo Moorhead Community Theatre staged its first production, My Sister Aileen, in 1946, and until getting permanent facilities in 1967, they staged their shows wherever they could. In 1963, an east coast actor was hired to direct two of their plays, at least one of which was produced in the Red River Playhouse.

8/9/2004: The worst rail disaster in North Dakota history happened at 7:20 p.m. on this date in 1945 at Michigan, about 50 miles west of Grand Forks. The first section of a Great Northern passenger train had to make an emergency stop, and the engine of section-two plowed into it from behind.

8/11/2004: For those of you who haven’t heard, the “World is Coming to Fargo” this weekend and will be staying for 10 days. The world in question is of the diamond variety – the World Series of Fastpitch Softball.

8/15/2004: The U.S. Army abandoned Fort Pembina on this date in 1895. The only other military fort that remained operational after that year was Fort Yates, which was abandoned in 1903.

8/19/2004: In the early years of white settlement in North Dakota, there was a severe shortage of building materials, which is why many people made their homes from prairie sod. In some areas of the state, however, a good grade of clay was discovered, and within a few years, at least 18 brick factories sprung up. It was on this date 100 years ago that the Hebron Fire and Pressbrick Factory was founded.

8/21/2004: When people filed homestead claims in North Dakota, they had six months to build themselves a dwelling and start living on the land. Rachel Taylor, a 21 year-old single teacher, filed in McKenzie County in late November 1903, and then went back to Steele County to finish out the school year. She set out for McKenzie County as the deadline for building her house approached in the spring, but the river was so swollen, she couldn’t cross it. In fact, it took three weeks for the water level to drop enough so that friends could take her across in a rowboat.

8/22/2004: Tomorrow, it will be exactly 88 years since the cornerstone was laid for the Valley City Post Office, another architectural gem in that city that has escaped alterations.