On this date in 1823, the New York American published a scorching editorial critical of a United States military expedition to punish the Arikara for ambushing fur traders. It said in part, “... our reflections … lead to the conclusion that the wrongs of this quarrel are on our side; that we were the original aggressors; and that in affecting to avenge what has been called an unprovoked outrage upon American citizens, we have only followed up more systematically the first aggression.

Beaver pelts were in high demand in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Entire companies revolved around fur trading. The North West Company was such business. It was headquartered in Montreal, but had extensive operations in what is now North Dakota. Some other significant companies were the Hudson Bay Company and the American Fur Company. In their fervor, these businesses didn’t care about overtrapping. In fact, they would often purposefully do so in certain areas to create “beaver deserts” to avert other companies from moving in.

In 1881, the Episcopal Church of the Bread of Life was established in Bismarck. The church was built on land donated by the railroad. The following year, riverboat captain I.P. Baker donated a bell for the church. The bell came from the steamboat Red Cloud, which had wrecked on the Missouri River. In 1890, the name of the church was changed to St. George’s Episcopal Church.

One of the first people reported hospitalized during the terrible flu pandemic that struck North Dakota in 1918 was also one of the most well-known. “Wild Bill” Langer was the state attorney general during the early years of his tumultuous political career.

In April 1917, the United States entered World War I. High school boys and older soon enrolled in the military. Community members of all ages grew gardens and gathered scraps. Some dissented.

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll listen to Debbie Poitra, enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa Nation, speak about respect for all things.

Prairie fires were a harsh reality of life in Dakota Territory. The blazes were often fast-moving and deadly. On this date in 1886, residents of the Bottineau area were dealing with the aftermath of a recent three-day prairie fire that burned about 500 square miles. A local history book recounts the fire as “probably the greatest forest and range fire in the history of the area.”

North Dakotans were not overly enthusiastic about America’s entry into World War I, but they were resigned to the reality of it. At the time of the declaration of war, the economy was functioning at full capacity. Diverting the necessary supplies to the war effort required decreasing what was available for civilians.

Thousands of Union veterans of the Civil War settled in North Dakota after the war, some becoming the prominent leaders in their communities. Their military service entitled them to money from the federal government in the form of a pension that paid a monthly stipend if they were rendered “totally disabled” and unable to perform manual labor. But this benefit had evolved in the years following the war.

Friendship with a lawyer from Bismarck led to famed actor Jessica Lange receiving an Oscar nomination in 1985. While she did not win, Lange went on to testify before Congress about the plight of farmers. How did a Bismarck lawyer inspire such a chain of events?