4/28/2011:
In 1922, a general awakening was taking place about the rich heritage of our relatively young state with the formation of a North Dakota Historical Association. On this date, the board of directors for the State Historical Society announced a chairman for each county. The members of the association were encouraged to obtain records, stories, anecdotes and reminiscences of Dakota pioneers – information that would soon be no longer available, as that generation moved into their senior years. The association also saw the need to record the history and lifestyle of Native Americans. Many of the county chairman, such as Henry Hale, Mrs. John Wishek, E. E. Saunders and Fanny Quain, were themselves pioneers in Dakota Territory.
Within a few years, the groundwork accomplished by this association was instrumental in helping develop the state park system. They identified historic sites threatened with destruction, including earthworks, buildings and other remains. Outdoor “museums” such as the Bad Lands, the western grasslands or features like the Turtle Mountains and the Pembina Gorge were noted, along with their rich assortments of native plants and animals. And along with these historic and scenic locations, additional areas, especially within communities, were identified for the establishment of local parks and community centers.
A special committee comprised of O. G. Libby, Howard Simpson, Dana Wright, George Will and A. M. Christianson had already selected nine state parks and six historic sites, and they were in the process of acquiring two additional parks and three more historic sites by April of 1925. Parks were established at Fort Rice, Fort Abraham Lincoln, Pembina, Streeter, among many others, as well as a number of sites from the Sibley and Sully expeditions. Other proposed sites included Arrowwood, Hawks Nest, Hunting Lodge Butte in Dunn County, Stanton State Park and even Chokecherry Island in Sargent County. Because of the diversity of the sites and their proposed uses, some would eventually become federal parks or historic sites and some became wildlife refuges. Of the remaining sites, some remained state parks with an emphasis on recreation, and others were developed with an emphasis on retaining their history.
But more importantly, the statewide historical association established in 1922 would provide the basic groundwork for the significant research and preservation efforts of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps projects that followed a decade later.
Dakota Datebook written by Jim Davis
Sources:
The Fargo Forum April 28, 1922
The Bismarck Tribune February 4, 1922
The Bismarck Tribune April 9, 1925