In today's episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll hear about the importance of the circle of life from Spirit Lake Dakota Elder Catherine Howard.

True simplicity in fishing consists of a bamboo cane pole, about 10 feet long, attached to a fishing line of about the same length, with a bobber, sinker, hook, and a wriggling worm. Sitting on a dock, riverbank, or the shore of a lake, pond, or stream, all you have to do is wait for your bobber to go down, and fun begins.

By the early 1900s, amateur mechanics in North Dakota were building their own motor cars and whizzing down dirt roads at the mind-boggling speed of 8 miles per hour. The other rage of the time was aviation. North Dakotans were in on that, too. In 1910, Archie Hoekse created a sensation with the first successful North Dakota flight at Grand Forks. And there was Frances Klingensmith, the first woman in the state to get a pilot's license.

On this date in 2000, sculptor Tom Neary installed a 14-foot-tall stainless steel sign at the intersection of highways 83 and 200 in Washburn. The sign, which weighs almost a ton, reads “Historic Washburn” above a scene of Lewis, Clark, and Sakakawea. The giant sign was commissioned by the Washburn Civic Club and gave Tom Neary a chance to put his mark on the town he lived in and loved.

North Dakota has a rich baseball history. Legends of the game, including Roger Maris and Satchel Paige, have a connection to the state.

On this date in 1946, alumni of the University of North Dakota's secret society called “Iron Mask” held a reunion.

On this date in 1914, The Devils Lake World reported another sighting of “the much talked about sea serpent” near the Chautauqua grounds on Graham’s Island.

The fur traders who ventured to the American west relied on unpowered keelboats to haul furs back to civilization, where they could be sold. The boats had to be physically hauled up the Missouri River, then loaded and sailed back downriver with the current. The arrival of a powered steamboat would dramatically open the upper Missouri to trade and travel.

On this date in 1889, the Bismarck Tribune reported that "Wahpeton has a large and juicy scandal for the delectation of gossip." A Fargo divorcée got off the train in Wahpeton to meet a prominent man for a romantic rendezvous. She had written a letter indicating the time and date.

North Dakota Agricultural College was established in 1890 and opened for classes in 1892. The school’s emphasis was on agricultural science and mechanical engineering. John Worst was appointed president of NDAC in 1895. Although he didn’t have a college degree himself, he made lasting changes, not only to the school, but to farming techniques. As a successful farmer, he overcame the skepticism of North Dakota farmers who believed they couldn’t learn anything from “college boys.”