Dr. Steve Hoffbeck

On this date, in 1920, a newspaper advertisement touted the virtues of Huiskamp’s “Barn Yard Shoe” and Huiskamp’s Barnyard Shoe Oil. These work-shoes, according to a 1913 advertisement in Valley City, were manure-proof and ammonia proof; guaranteed “not to rot or crack-through from barnyard service.”

In our state, as elsewhere, there are internationalists who believe the U.S. should be deeply involved in foreign affairs; and isolationists, who do not believe the U.S. should be heavily involved with nations that don’t want anyone telling them what to do. In the 1930s, the prevailing mood was isolationist – that the U.S. should not intervene as the winds of war swept over Europe and Asia.

June is arguably the best month of summer for fishing and for “going to the lake.” Many North Dakotans flock to home-state lakes – Sakakawea, Lake Darling, Spiritwood, Stump, Metigoshe. Folks near the Red River often head into Minnesota. It was on this date, in 1889, that the Bismarck Tribune related some of the happenings on Big Detroit Lake, when North Dakotans were in a whirl of lakeshore fun, jam-packed with boating, relaxation, bathing and angling.

Anyone who has ever played trombone or saxophone or tuba in a high school concert band knows the worth of making beautiful music in harmony with their band-mates. In Devils Lake, about 100 years ago, a “famous band” arose. This band, known as the Devils Lake Boy Concert Band, played throughout the region, from Bismarck to Bemidji; northward to Winnipeg, and westward to Montana.

How many times have you seen the Northern Lights in the nighttime sky? It has been reported that it was more common to see the them in North Dakota back in the 1880s. For example, on this date in 1887, the Griggs County [Cooperstown] Courier reported: “The aurora borealis or northern lights were beautifully visible in the northern skies on Monday night.”

When motorists drive along U.S. Highway 2 in Grand Forks, they may see flowing clouds of steam rising from a factory. The steamy clouds carry an aroma of cooked potatoes. What magic is happening behind those factory walls?

Modern-day people usually 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 oxcarts or maybe Babe the Blue Ox’s statue in Bemidji.

In the deep past, a bamboo cane pole was every kid’s “starter” rod, an introduction to the lifetime sport of fishing. Little line-tangling, lots of panfish nibbling, much bobber-watching – all the delights of angling. On this date, in 1903, an article in the Cooperstown Courier compared the qualities of a cane-pole made of bamboo, imported from Japan, to those of an old-fashioned wooden pole made of hickory, ash, hazel or willow.

If you drop a silver quarter onto a hard tabletop, a pure metallic ringing will arise, pleasant to the ear, a brilliant tone. Where have all the silver…

The Cannonball River got its name from the stones found in its waters and along its banks that are so round and smooth that they “greatly resemble cannon…