Lise Erdrich

On this date in 1966, the Wahpeton newspaper editor got a lesson in local history. Pioneer resident Mrs. Kachelhoffer paid a visit and politely provided information for his next "Sky Ride" column.

Dr. Crucial came to Fargo, Dakota Territory, in 1877 to begin his medical practice. The remote frontier and booming town suited his energetic mind. He saved lives, delivered thousands of babies, and invented an artesian well device to provide clean drinking water.

Mabel Schuler was born in Wisconsin in 1886. She came to Wahpeton in 1895 to join her father, Gustav, a widower who was getting established in Dakota Territory. Gustav and his brother Eugene operated a farm-implement business and became prominent pioneer architects, attorneys, and construction entrepreneurs. Their homes still stand side-by-side on Sixth Street in what was once Wahpeton’s silk-stocking district, and the Schuler Brothers Building remains a fixture on Main Street downtown.

The colorful days of newspaper reportage often featured unfettered character descriptions, opinion, and editorial acrobatics. On this date in 1904, the Emmons County Record reported in amusing prose that “the law mill was a-grinding” on four men recently arrested in different cases. Lawmen were also connecting the dots between three or four stooges.

In today's Dakota Datebook, Lise Erdrich writes about a shocking crime, a high-profile trial, and the tensions of a fast-growing Wahpeton in 1883.

An old postcard of the Wahpeton Indian School shows a line of buildings and a cow minding her own business. She was Beauty Colantha Fresian Tidy No. 1083302, a retired dairy champion whose celebrity status entitled her to graze along Seventh Street in view of the public.

On this date in 1937, The Foster County Independent reported that 15-year-old Robert Kuntz of Harvey had accidentally shot himself but not fatally. Just weeks earlier, he had fallen through an ice pocket on the Sheyenne River and somehow survived that, too.

Wahpeton Indian School was established as a government institution by an Act of Congress in 1904 and was a source of civic pride and regular news coverage early in its history. After construction was completed, many public events were held in the new facilities, which were considered the best in town.

On this date in 1973, a happy puppy tale warmed the heart of winter. The lucky puppy owners were interviewed by the Wahpeton Daily News for an “authentic, believe-it-or-not” feel-good story.

On this date in 1798, Pembina fur trader Chaboillez of the North West Company noted that “the Old Coutre Oreille” and her son set off for her cache. He gave her incentive gifts “to encourage her to return.” He likely identified the Odawa leader Net-No-Kwa and her adopted son, John Tanner, “The White Indian,” who was abducted in Kentucky as a child by Ojibwe men from Michigan.