On this date in 1918 The Fargo Forum was full of articles about the progress of World War I. Germany was advancing through Russia, another draft was possible, and folks in North Dakota and elsewhere were busy raising funds for the war effort. Tucked away on page eight of the paper was the news that 1,500 former residents of North Dakota held a picnic near Los Angeles.

On June 25 and 26, 1876, the Battle of Little Big Horn took place along the Little Big Horn River in Montana Territory. Known to the Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, it is widely remembered as Custer’s Last Stand. The 7th Cavalry Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer faced the combined forces of several tribes including Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho. The only survivor of regiment on Last Stand Hill was Captain Keogh’s horse Commanche, but 7th Cavalry troops in other portions of the battlefield did survive.

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll listen to Vincent Grant, enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa talk about contemporary rendezvous reenacters.

On this date in 1910, the Bismarck Tribune reported on the expansion of the Bismarck Bottling Works, a popular bottling company. The company’s sodas had grown in popularity, allowing the company to open another factory in Mandan by early Spring. This was not, however, the first Bismarck bottling company.

This week in 1956, prominent Democrat Bill Lanier sent a letter by air mail to Senator William “Wild Bill” Langer. He wrote: “Just a short note to straighten out some of the habitual garbled reporting of the Fargo Forum.

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll listen to Vincent Grant, enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa, talk about how the Michif came to be.

On this date in 1977 the Bahá’i congregation of Minot announced that they would hold an informational meeting to inform the public of their views and beliefs. In the 1960s and ‘70s the religion of Bahá’i made its way from Iran to North Dakota. This spread is exactly what the faith’s founder Baháʼu'lláh wanted. He saw what his followers called, “utmost importance of oneness in the international community,” at a time when advances in technology brought people ever closer together. Part of this oneness, in the mind of Baháʼu'lláh, was unity of religion.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a sampling of how North Dakotans have celebrated the day in the past.

During World War I, anti-German sentiment swept across the United States. This was reflected in the Espionage and Sedition laws passed to protect the home front. In North Dakota, the Reverend John Fontana was arrested and charged for violating this act.

On this evening in 1925, the Men's Conference at the University of North Dakota held a long stormy session. The topic was cigarette smoking. Despite UND's official ban on smoking, there had been a laissez-faire attitude toward enforcement.