Lise Erdrich

Among the long-running traditions at Wahpeton Indian School was the annual Valentine’s Dance and King and Queen of Hearts coronation. Sponsored by the Student Government Association, the event served as a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Beginning in 1965, students used their weekly spending-money allowances to cast votes for a king and queen. The gymnasium was decorated in festive Valentine style, including two thrones on the stage.

Peshawbestown, Michigan, is named for an Ottawa chief. On this date in 1797, he came to the Red River fur trade with his relative Net-no-kwa and her adoptive son, John Tanner. Net-no-kwa had rescued Tanner from the Shawnee, who abducted him in Kentucky at age nine.

On this date in 1798, Flat Mouth arrived at the North West Company Pembina post.

The last wolverine recorded in North Dakota was “M56,” identified in 2016 after it was killed by a McKenzie County rancher. M56 had been radio-collared in Wyoming, detected in Colorado, and then its signal was lost. Wolverines had not been verified in the state for 150 years.

On this date in 1797, fur trader J. B. Chaboillez of the Northwest Company noted the arrival of Net-no-kwa and her sons at the Pembina post.

Elders who were children in the 1930s at Turtle Mountain remembered Midnight Mass as the main celebration of Christmas.

In 1893, Clint Nickells, a Kansas City druggist, came to Wahpeton and rented a house with Mrs. Maude Graham and her three children. The pair intended to establish Dakota residency so they could divorce their spouses. Mr. Graham soon arrived from Minneapolis; he had hired detectives to trace his wife after learning of several large trunks she’d checked into the baggage car.

In November 1896, Reverend Schemerhorn arrived in Wahpeton, leaving his pastorate in New Jersey. After correspondence with eastern contacts who praised his work, local leaders secured his services. He came highly recommended by well-known Baptists and was offered the pastorate of the local Baptist church. The congregation was pleased with him.

On this date in 1911, the Wahpeton–Breckenridge community was still reeling from the events of the previous week. Word-of-mouth versions of the story circulated until the weekly newspapers came out.

Old Wild Rice is the “George Washington” of the Pembina Band of Chippewa. He was frequently mentioned in the Northwest Company fur trade journals of Charles Jean-Baptiste Chaboillez and his successor, Alexander Henry.