McKenzie County

Today is another story in the life of a young Lutheran preacher called to McKenzie County from St. Louis a century ago, but a murky one shrouded in mystery – complete with a cave, skeletons and Buffalo Bill Cody!

Watford City was roiled by embezzlement charges against its town treasurer a century ago in a case that reached the governor’s office. Treasurer O.L. Cassidy was accused in February 1922 of embezzling $7,600 of Watford City funds during a period of two years. Adjusted for inflation, that would be more than $136,000 today.

Today is another story of the young preacher called from seminary in St. Louis to McKenzie County a century ago. For 10 months, the Rev. Richard C. Jahn preached in English and German, and baptized, confirmed, and buried residents. He lodged with a bachelor homesteader in a cabin east of Watford City. At age 21, Jahn attended a dying person for the first time, a man mangled by wolves.

U.S. Highway 85 crosses the rugged Badlands south of Watford City in one of the most dramatic drives in North Dakota. The roadway runs for a few miles through the Little Missouri Valley in the area of Theodore Roosevelt National Park before climbing out of the Badlands.

Today is another part of the story of a young preacher called to McKenzie County in North Dakota a century ago. The Rev. Richard C. Jahn was 20 years old, fresh from seminary in St. Louis when he arrived by train in Watford City. He lodged with a bachelor homesteader in a cabin east of Watford City, and traveled around the McKenzie County area giving sermons in English and German. Jahn lived near Schafer, the former McKenzie County seat.

Today is another part of the story of a young preacher called to McKenzie County in North Dakota a century ago. The Rev. Richard C. Jahn was 20 years old,…

The news on this date in 1914 was that S. A. Burns was being charged with the murder of a McKenzie County homesteader who had been missing from his ranch…

Today we share another story from the journals of The Rev. Richard C. Jahn, who served as a Lutheran minister at several churches in McKenzie County a…

On this date in 1967, the town of Alexander in McKenzie County was celebrating Old Settler’s Day. It originated in 1946 as a community picnic to honor…

A drizzly June made for mucky conditions for a young preacher and his neighbors in McKenzie County a century ago. The Reverend Richard C. Jahn came to…