6/27/2009:
On this date in 1970, the North Dakota State Historical Society Board sent out a warning to tourists and bystanders: Chicken Little was right - the sky was falling. At least, that's what seemed to be happening around the 80-foot chimney at the Marquis de Mores' historic site in Medora. Bricks at the top of the old meat packing plant chimney were loosening and occasionally dropping to the ground.
To repair the chimney, and protect the public, the Historical Society requested money from the legislature, but when that failed, James Sperry, the director of the Society, turned to the North Dakota Emergency Commission for the needed $7,000 -a necessary step to keep destruction, lawsuits and Chicken Little at bay.
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Bismarck Tribune, Saturday, June 27, 1970, p.9