Lucid Thomas

Ron Erhardt was born February 27th, 1931, in Mandan, North Dakota. He graduated from Jamestown College in 1953 and then spent two years serving in the military before leaving and getting hired as an assistant football coach for Williston High School. The following year he became head coach at St Mary’s in New England, North Dakota, where he started his winning reputation.

The Links of North Dakota is a golf course on Red Mike Hill. It is a gorgeous area, but this idyllic landscape was once rife with controversy. It began with Stan Weeks. Weeks wanted to build a golf course and asked Stephen Kay, a course designer, to help. Once they found Red Mike Hill, Kay said, “...I could work until I was 95 and never get a better site.” Weeks needed help buying it so he recruited Mike Ames, a water irrigation expert. They tried to raise $1 million but only raised $300,000. They went forward anyway, saving money by building a very natural course.

When we think about alcohol and vehicles, we typically think of drunk driving and the dangers that it poses. We rarely think of flying. That’s probably because flying while drunk is a much less common problem. Professional pilots also have a very strong program to help them address alcohol addiction. But in 1990, the nation’s first drunken pilot scandal involved a flight from North Dakota.

The phrase “pulp fiction” makes most people think of the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film. But the phrase actually comes from magazines of explicit content that used to be printed on wood pulp paper. The first example dates back to 1896, and the format's height of popularity came in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.

Nowadays we take for granted the vast railroad system that transports food, materials, and people all over our country. It can sometimes seem like it was always there. But it wasn’t until the mid 1800s, after the country had expanded from coast to coast, that the United States started considering a rail system for the now massive country.

The 1950s are remembered fondly by most US history textbooks. Known as the Eisenhower era, the postwar years were considered a new height of prosperity, with median family purchasing power increasing as much as 30%. Unfortunately, that prosperity was not universally shared. While many Americans were celebrating the end of World War II, indigenous people on the Fort Berthold reservation were being forced into a settlement agreement over losses they would suffer due to the Garrison Dam. After this settlement they experienced an economic decline aggravated by drought, poor relationships with the surrounding governments, and their decreasing ownership of the land.

Edward Sheriff Curtis was born on this date in 1868, near Whitewater, Wisconsin. When he was in 6th grade he built his own camera, changing his life…

One of the biggest rights Native Americans have fought for since white settlers came to this land is a right to education. While settlers provided…

People often feel cooped up in winter, but the winter of 1880-81 was particularly challenging, with an abundance of snow. Going into the winter, people…

To err is to be human. One of the most common human mistakes is estimating time. We say we’ll be there in 20 minutes, but it actually takes twice as long.…