7/17/2005:
On this date in 1893, J. Morley Wyard reported two strange sightings while crossing Devils Lake on the Minnie H, a small steamer bound for Ft. Totten. The Park River Gazette Witness reported that 12 miles away, Wyard clearly saw the hull of a giant ship – the size of which didn’t exist on Devil’s Lake in 1893.
On his return trip, Wyard spotted another USO (Unidentified Sailing Object). “Far down the strait,” he wrote, “there appeared the glint of a sail, that...came more clearly into sight. Though the air was breathless, the fairy craft swept along with wonderful rapidity until it might have covered ten miles in about as many minutes. Its rapid flight could be definitely measured. Upon the shore the taller trees were outlined against the sky, and the mystic yacht sped past them...until it...disappeared at the boulder point near Fort Totten.”
Source: Editor: Trainor, Joseph. 1893: Strange Cruise of the Minnie H. Newsletter, “UFO Roundup,” Vol. 5 # 24. June 15, 2000: Masinaigan Productions. (http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/2000/jun/m15-004.shtml)
Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm