Dakota Datebook Archive
Sitting Bull to Phil Jackson, cattle to prairie dogs, knoefla to lefse.
This is our Dakota Datebook archive of Datebooks aired from 2003-2017. Find all newer Dakota Datebook essays here.
In partnership with the Historical Society of North Dakota, and funded by the North Dakota Humanities Council, a nonprofit, independent state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in the program do not necessarily reflect those of the North Dakota Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
-
12/1/2017: In 1864, the Northern Pacific railroad was first chartered, and granted land extending out 40 miles each way from the proposed route. But this encroached upon the territory of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes. Rather rerouting the railroad, Northern Pacific drew up a resolution requesting a reduction in reservation lands.
-
11/30/2017: If you’ve ever been around the Fort Berthold Reservation, you may have driven across the Four Bear Bridge, although you were probably not aware of its long and rich history.
-
11/29/2017: On this date in 1967, the McIntosh County Historical Society was formed. The first ten years were difficult as the founders struggled to gain broad membership. But the tide turned in 1977 when the county received a grant of $143,000 to construct a Heritage Center.
-
11/28/2017: Early in September of 1917, as the units of the North Dakota National Guard awaited orders, the Fargo Forum published an editorial cautioning the citizens of North Dakota that now was the time to address the feelings toward friends and neighbors who were German immigrants.
-
11/27/2017: On this date in 1908, the Bottineau Courant announced that Ole Vinje had died. Ole was one of the interesting early immigrants from Europe who came to Dakota Territory. He was born in Norway in 1858. He grew up in Snaasen where he lived with his parents and four brothers. After his father died in 1885, Ole’s mother and brothers immigrated to the United States, but Ole stayed behind. He joined his family in 1892, and in 1900 was issued a certificate on a piece of land southeast of Bottineau.
-
11/24/2017: The most important animal in North America in the 1700s was not the mighty grizzly-bear, nor was it the stampeding buffalo. Instead, the most-important animal in colonial America was the lowly beaver.
-
11/23/2017: Today is Thanksgiving. On this date in 1917, the people of North Dakota were planning for the first major holiday with many loved ones away, awaiting transportation to the battlefields of Europe. Although it was a more subdued and solemn occasion than past Thanksgivings, with most of North Dakota’s servicemen still stateside, it was not a grim occasion.
-
11/22/2017: In 1920 on this date, women of the Bismarck area were "doing their part," as the Bismarck Tribune requested, to advertise a new women's rest room.
-
11/21/2017: When people think of rustling in North Dakota, they usually think of cattle. That crime has a long history in the state, although it is not entirely in the past. As recently as May 2017, a man was charged with stealing four head of cattle. And cattle aren’t the only target. A crime much less familiar is grain rustling!
-
11/20/2017: On this date in 1912, 10-year-old Belle Goldschlager was preparing for a recital in Williston’s Library Auditorium. Belle was born in Chicago in 1902; but grew up on her grandparent’s farm, outside Williston. Belle showed a love for music, dance, and drawing, passions she would eventually pursue further by attending the Minneapolis School of Art, graduating in 1925. Although Belle continued to love music and dance, it was visual art that became her career.