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5/30/2005: We have a special Memorial Day story for you today. It’s the story of a boy named Wayne Wickoren and an old man named Andrew Anderson; they lived in McLeod, east of Lisbon in Ransom County.

5/31/2005: Ft. Lincoln was built south of Bismarck around 1898 and is now owned by the United Tribes Technical College. It served various military purposes until 1941, when the U.S. Justice Department turned it into an Internment Camp for people the government deemed enemy aliens.

6/2/2005: A few miles west of Stanley, ND, is Ross, which technically existed as a town site as far back as 1887. It was really just a Great Northern stopping point back then, consisting of a siding and a water tank. Then, around the turn of the century, development began, and on this date in 1902, a post office was established.

6/3/2005: The Dakota Zoo in Bismarck opened its gates for the first time on this date in 1961.

6/8/2005: The immigrants who flooded into this region in the late 1800s found abundant fertile plains and a large variety of plant and animal life. But, as most North Dakotans know, there very few trees. Settlers soon realized unrestricted winds and winter blizzards were not only an irritation, but a constant danger. The state encouraged the development of tree claims as protection against harsh conditions, but these didn’t keep the wind from blowing away precious topsoil from newly plowed fields.

6/7/2005: In 1907, Norwegian author Martin Ulvestad wrote: “The first Norwegian who settled in the State of North Dakota was N. E. Nelson, the father-in-law of the well-known politician Jud LaMoure. Nelson was appointed as Customs Collector in Pembina in 1869 and has lived there ever since. He was also the first homesteader in the state. Thus we have the pleasure of knowing that the first claim in North Dakota was made by a Norwegian, and at the same time know that North Dakota (with respect to its size) now is the most Norwegian Sate in the Union, since at least a third of its total population is of Norwegian origin.”

6/14/2005: On this date in 1942, a 39 year-old German named George Dasch called the FBI to set up an appointment to talk to J. Edgar Hoover. The night before, a German submarine had put Dasch and three Nazi terrorists ashore on Long Island, where they buried their uniforms and explosives. Four others came ashore at Jacksonville, FL; they were to join forces in the Midwest on July 4th.

6/15/2005: Construction began on Fort Buford on this day in 1866; it was located where the Missouri meets the Yellowstone River (near Williston). Fort Buford served as a military post until 1881, when Sitting Bull surrendered to the fort’s military officials.

6/17/2005: Doctor Webster Merrifield became UND’s third president on this date in 1891. He refused for a number of years before finally accepting the position.

6/16/2005: Grand Forks witnessed one of the worst windstorms in the recorded history of North Dakota on this day in 1887. The storm caused over $100,000 in damage and 4 deaths; trees were uprooted, and 100 homes and most businesses were damaged.