October is Archives Month, a time when archives around the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who assess, collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value.

On July 4, 1825, the little sloop Restauration sailed out of the harbor in Stavanger, Norway, on a journey to a new land. Only fifty-four feet long, the modest vessel began a voyage to a new life for the fifty-two souls on board. The ship’s name is Norwegian and means “restoration,” reflecting the hopes of those who dreamed of a new beginning.

October is Archives Month, a time when archives across the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who assess, collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value. The North Dakota State Archives is part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

Enderlin, North Dakota, is located primarily in Ransom County, although a small portion extends into neighboring Cass County. The site was purchased from three landowners by Edward Pierce, who represented the Minnesota Land and Trust Company. He was confident it was a good location for a town, as he knew the Soo Line of the St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad planned to lay tracks there. The official plat of the town was filed on this date in 1891.

In the late 1800s, farm machinery evolved from simple tools to mechanized equipment. Horses began to disappear from the fields as tractors took their place. Mechanical twine binders and cream separators improved efficiency. New methods in irrigation and crop rotation improved yield and sustainability. The future seemed bright and exciting for the farmer.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed the Great Depression at the top of his “to-do” list when he was inaugurated in 1933. He quickly took strong measures, creating government agencies to address economic problems and put the country back on a secure financial footing.

The establishment of a university in Grand Forks was a raucous affair, full of intense political maneuvering, typical of territories on the verge of statehood. Legislators competed fiercely to secure prestigious and lucrative institutions for their communities, like schools and hospitals.

The North Dakota State Archives, part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, holds a collection of papers compiled by local WPA workers during the 1930s. These include interviews and gathered histories about people, places, customs, ghost towns, and the ethnic groups that helped shape North Dakota.

North Dakotans were crazy about aviation right from the very start. Early North Dakota aviators include Carl Ben Eielson and Bruce Peterson. The ladies of the state were not to be left out. Florence Klingensmith, known as “Tree Tops,” was the first licensed female pilot in the state. She made a name for herself on the racing circuit in a plane she christened Miss Fargo. In 1933, Evelyn Waldren became the first woman in North Dakota to earn a transport pilot’s license.

“The Threshers are coming!” is an aptly named collection of poems by North Dakotan Clarence Larson. It shares memories of harvesting crops with steam threshing machines.