Sioux

One might wonder how such a beautiful place came to be known as the Badlands. That name came about before the marked hiking trails, onsite bathrooms, and water pumps. For white settlers and soldiers going west, the landscape was dry and difficult for travel. Looking back on records from General Alfred Sully’s expeditions, we can hear firsthand why they hated this land.

Last month we heard about the Irish-Canadian artist Paul Kane and the Métis bison hunt he witnessed in 1846 in what is now North Dakota. While the hunt sounded thrilling, Kane’s journey back to Upper Fort Garry near present-day Winnipeg was horrific, with terrible mosquitoes, runaway horses and a gooey trail!

Five thousand Indians of the Sioux nation gathered in 1888 for discussions on a treaty that would open up land in the Standing Rock reservation for non-native settlement. The government was represented by three commissioners who needed three-quarters of all adult Lakota males to approve the treaty. Today marked the eleventh day of discussions, and the commissioners had yet to gather a single signature.

Life was not easy at the Fort Clark fur trading post back in the 1830s. The fort was located on the Missouri river near present-day Washburn and it was a major economic center. The post manager, Francis Chardon, kept a journal, describing the cold weather, the fur trade, tribal activities, and the devastating smallpox epidemic. He also kept a regular tally of how many rats he had killed!

North Dakota has welcomed several royal visitors over the years. On this date in 1926, Queen Marie of Romania and her children -- Princess Ileana and Prince Nicholas -- made their way west by train through North Dakota, on a tour of the United States. Queen Marie was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Herbert Fish had an interesting job. In 1907, he was hired as the first curator for the State Historical Society of North Dakota. He had training in U.S.…

What began as a desperate late night ride to warn of an attack ended poorly for a young military man in Dakota Territory. Sam Brown lost the use of his…

On this date in 1913 a story on a ceremony at the Standing Rock reservation hailed the event as “The Most Magnificent History Pageant in the History of…

It was this week in 1825 when Sioux Chief Waneta signed the Treaty of Prairie du Chien. It preserved all lands now in Central Wisconsin, Minnesota, North…

School Hill marked the end of John Christiansen’s journey west.He was a 21-year-old German immigrant riding a freight train withthree horses, lumber,…