Fortuna

North Dakota holds a number of remnants of once-active radar and missile sites established during the Cold War. One of these sites was near Fortuna. The Fortuna Air Base was already active by 1951, but in the summer of 1961, local interest in the site abounded as construction of a radar tower began.

On this date in 1995, The Bismarck Tribune reported about the decay of the Fortuna Air Force Station. From 1951 to 1979 the station was an active radar station in the Air Defense Command that protected the United States from attack. The station was six miles from Canada and eight miles from Montana. The nearest town was Fortuna.

The 1918 influenza pandemic emerged in North Dakota weeks before the holiday season. Communities locked down, closing schools, churches, theaters and…