6/12/2010:
Carrier pigeons have been used to carry messages back and forth for hundreds of years. But using the pigeons had some limitations; for example, they could only be trained to fly to known positions. They could also fall prey to various dangers, or even get lost. Any number of unknown factors could enter into the equation.
Such was the case in 1944, when a flock of carrier pigeons was released in Grand Forks for a race sponsored by the St. Paul Pigeon Club. However, the fine feathered friends ran into some "fowl" weather, and it was on this date that only about fifteen of the 150 birds made it home, finding plenty of room to roost, with about 100 (of perhaps the smarter pigeons) returning to the starting line in Grand Forks to wait out the bad weather.
Dakota Datebook written by Sarah Walker
Sources:
http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/carrierpigeons.htm
The Bismarck Tribune, Tuesday, June 13, 1944
www.nytimes.com/2004/01/30/style/30iht-blume_ed3__1.html