12/15/2017: One of the shortest tenures of a North Dakota Supreme Court justice came to an end after less than five months and a nasty election. Governor Elmore Y. Sarles appointed thirty-eight-year-old Stutsman County Judge John Knauf in August of 1906 after Justice Newton Young resigned after eight years on the bench.

12/14/2017: On this date in 1900, the Devils Lake Inter-Ocean reported on the Farmer’s Institute held in that community. Attendance was very good in spite of inclement weather. The institute was sponsored by the experimental farm at the North Dakota Agriculture College in Fargo. The college provided the speakers for the institute.

12/13/2017: For almost sixty thousand dollars, Dakota Territory constructed a penitentiary in Sioux Falls during 1881 and 1882. Territorial Governor Nehemiah Ordway signed the legislation to fund the prison, which was built on eighty-five acres of land. The facility was meant to house between 125 and 150 inmates.

12/12/2017: North Dakota is known as an agricultural state, a leader in the production of canola, corn, wheat, sunflowers, soybeans, and sugar beets. Beef cattle are also an important commodity, with the state home to more than 950,000 head. So, when it comes to North Dakota agriculture, chickens are not the first thing to come to mind.

12/11/2017: The War Department was ill prepared to handle the massive numbers of men and supplies required to fight the war in Europe. After leaving North Dakota, the troops saw minimal training at Camp Greene. Although they drilled eight hours a day, most combat exercises involved wooden rifles. Target practice consisted of only a few rounds of ammunition. Once the units were moved to Camp Mills in New York, almost all training stopped due to the extreme cold and lack of equipment. On this date in 1917, the 164th North Dakota and the 116 Engineers, now at Camp Merritt, New Jersey, were awaiting orders for overseas deployment – whether ready or not. Finally the orders came to transfer the sixteen miles to Hoboken to board ships and begin the journey to the front.

12/8/2017: Nowadays, we often take for granted that if there’s an emergency, we can call an ambulance. That’s often thanks to a few hard-working people who made an effort to provide the service. In the not so recent past, the people of Lidgerwood, North Dakota came together to do just that.

12/7/2017: Fargo’s history of fires is largely dominated by the Fire of 1893, which ravaged the wooden buildings that filled city’s downtown. But the city’s fire legacy goes back much further.

12/6/2017: Most of North Dakota’s National Guard were assigned to the 41st Division at Camp Greene in early October of 1917, and in November, the division began moving to Camp Mills, New York to be closer to their embarkation point for the trip to France. Smaller units of the guard went to the 116th Engineers or the 148th Field Artillery, and were sent to Newport News, Virginia.

12/5/2017: When the United States entered the war, a grand promise was made: America would “darken the skies of Germany” with a vast air armada. In 1917 the War Department asked Congress for $640 million with the assurance that the planes would arrive at the front by May 1918. Congress approved the appropriation, the largest single amount ever granted, and President Wilson signed it into law in July 1917.

12/4/2017: Almost 200 years ago in the 1800s, multiple groups of Christians came together in Dublin, Ireland to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. They didn’t want ministers or orders of service, but only the word of the Bible. From this gathering, the Plymouth Brethren was born, not an official denomination, but a network of like-minded Christian churches.