Dr. Steve Hoffbeck

It doesn’t happen very often that a large lakebed largely dries out. Yet that is what happened at Devils Lake. North Dakota’s biggest natural lake was full of water when the town of Devils Lake was founded in 1882, with the lake sitting at 1,439.08 feet above sea level. But after that, the water level dropped, decade after decade, until Devils Lake reached its lowest point in recorded history, resting at 1,401 feet in 1940. The lake had fallen 38 feet in 40 years! The always-brackish, salty water got worse and worse, and fish could no longer live in it.

If you ever see a meteor in the nighttime sky, you will likely be either speechless with wonder or poetic in awe. It is unlikely you would be indifferent. For 62-year-old William W. Barrett, words came easily as he described a summer Saturday-night meteor display in 1894.

Modern-day people don't know much about oxen, unless they refer to someone as a big ox or being strong as an ox. Some might know about Red River ox carts or maybe Babe the Blue Ox's statue in Bemidji.

Have you ever found a green dollar bill just lying there on the street? Have you ever discovered a ten-dollar bill caught along a chain-link fence, where the wind had blown it, and picked up that paper money, slipped it into your pocket, thinking, "Finders keepers, losers weepers"?

If you were standing on the riverbank in Fargo in the summer of 1882, you could watch thousands of pine logs from Minnesota forests floating north on the Red River toward sawmills in Winnipeg.

For years and years, the biggest tree in North Dakota grew along the Goose River in a pasture on the farm of Arthur Hanson.

Robert “Bob” Bain was born in Minnesota and worked as an insurance agent for 38 years. Beyond his career, he played a major role in developing Bismarck: he promoted hockey, served on the City Park Board and City Commission, and volunteered with the United Way.

When a new baby is born, there’s great anticipation about the name. For Abraham and Minnie Vaupel, the decision was clear. They chose to emphasize the “V” in their last name, Vaupel, by giving each of their children a first name that also began with “V.”

They called him “Satchmo”, or “Mr. Jazz.” His given name was Louis Armstrong, and this world-famous jazz trumpeter and singer came to Fargo in September of 1957, performing at NDSU’s fieldhouse for an “enthusiastic” audience of 3,200 fans.

There was a time when just about everyone in North Dakota knew the name and fame of Arnold Oss, the greatest athlete ever to grow up in Lidgerwood. From 1917 to 1921, Oss made sports headlines across North Dakota and Minnesota. He played football, basketball, baseball, ran track and was a star in them all.