3/10/2008:
Due to a growing number of documents and records, by 1937 the North Dakota National Guard headquarters housed in the State Capitol Building was proving inadequate.
Searching for a new location, Brigadier General Heber L. Edwards discovered the abandoned Indian School west of Bismarck. However the Conservation Civilian Corp also hoped to use the site since their own camp, southwest of Mandan, had recently been damaged by floodwaters.
Facing competition for access to the site, General Edwards began a letter-writing campaign to the state's congressional delegation and the federal government. His persistence paid off. By October of 1937, the North Dakota National Guard was granted a one-year temporary use permit from the Department of Interior.
With permission for temporary use secured, the next battle Edwards faced was making several abandoned buildings left from the school suitable for the National Guard. The state lacked funds for renovation, but not one to be easily deterred, General Edwards secured money, material and labor from the Works Progress Administration.
By 1944, after several extensions to the temporary-use permit, the United States government deeded the site to the state of North Dakota for military and defense purposes. When the North Dakota Legislature approved the acquisition the following year, General Edwards suggested naming the new barracks in honor of Brigadier General John H. Fraine.
Fraine, a longtime member of the North Dakota National Guard, began his military career in the territorial National Guard after moving to Grafton in 1885. Before he was discharged 34 years later, John Fraine had fought in the Philippines, protected the American southwest during the 1916 Border Crisis, was called into action during the First World War and was instrumental in changing the name of the First North Dakota Infantry to the 164th Infantry Regiment.
As a lasting tribute to the distinguished military career of John H. Fraine, on this day, March 10, 1945, the governor officially named the North Dakota National Guard headquarters Fraine Barracks.
Written by Christina Sunwall
Sources:
Cooper, Jerry. Citizens as Soldiers: A History of the North Dakota National Guard (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press; 2005)
Eriksmoen, Curt. Did You Know That…? 47 Fascinating Stories About People Who Have Lived in NORTH DAKOTA: Volume 1 (McCleery & Sons Publishing; 2006)
North Dakota National Guard- http://www.guard.bismarck.nd.us/jointforces/default.asp?ID=378