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11/25/2003: Yesterday we talked about a hunting trip taken by the great western artist, Frederic Remington, in the late 1890s. Remington was new to hunting and was having a few misadventures.

12/2/2003: Yesterday, we began a 3-part series on an article written by Helen Smith of Wimbledon for the Dakota Farmer in 1907. Here is part two, picking up after 3 of her 6 children have left for school in the morning:

12/6/2003: Father Pierre De Smet entered North Dakota from Montana in 1840, calling it the best "retreat" he ever made; he was petrified of warring Blackfeet. “...only a rocky point separated us from a savage war-party,” he wrote. “Without losing time, we...started at full gallop... That day we made forty to fifty miles without a halt, and did not camp until two hours after sunset...”

12/8/2003: On this date in 1738, Pierre La Verendrye was midway through a 10 day stay with the Mandan Indians; reportedly, he and his group were the first white men to set foot in North Dakota, as well as the first to provide written records about the Native Americans they encountered.

10/29/2003: Today marks the birthday of the first Governor of North Dakota, John Miller, who was born in New York in 1843.

12/21/2003: On this day in 1882, the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation was established for the Chippewa Tribe. Congress planned for 200 full-bloods, who were allotted 160 acres each, but the Chippewa, true to their culture, decided to hold the land in common rather than claim individual plots. Soon, more than 1,000 mixed-bloods were placed on the reservation as well. In less than two years, overcrowding became a serious problem, because the reservation’s best farmland was opened to homesteaders, and the Chippewa’s original 22 townships were reduced to two.

12/26/2003: On this day in 1876, a soldier lay dead, and a saloonkeeper was arrested for murder. Bismarck was, at this point, as wild as any town on the frontier – one surveyor described it as “17 saloons and 13 other buildings.” This latest incident was another in a long line of too many shootings for too many years, and come hell or high water, Bismarck wanted a stop to it.

2/1/2004: Lincoln Valley was a small village in Sheridan County populated mainly by Germans from Russia. In the 1950s, it was still thriving with a country school, several churches, a creamery, a general store, an implement shop, an insurance agency and, of course, a bar. The back room of the gas station was sometimes used for showing movies. By the late 1960s, only one person remained. Joe Lientz was still supplying farmers with parts when they broke down.

2/3/2004: It was on this day in 1971 that country singer Lynn Anderson’s Rose Garden went gold. The album earned Lynn 15 more gold albums worldwide, and back in the states, it ended up going platinum.

2/7/2004: Today is the second annual Fargo Winter Carnivale, which is being held from 2 until 12:30 at the historic Fargo Theatre. There will be 24 bands, as well as films, art, stand-up comedy and a wearable art fashion show.