Dakota Datebook

In his book about the Great Plains, Ian Frazier wrote, “A nuclear missile silo is one of the quintessential Great Plains objects: to the eye, it is almost nothing…but to the imagination, it is the end of the world.”

In 1917, there were still North Dakota veterans who remembered serving in the Civil War. Their sons had stepped up in 1898 when the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry set off to serve in the Philippines during the Spanish American War. Now, with America’s entrance into World War I, it was again time for North Dakotans to serve their country. A number of them had seen service in the Philippines and volunteered again.

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll be listening to Leander Russ McDonald, enrolled member of Spirit Lake Nation, in part two of Storytelling and Humor.

Over 250,000 Native Americans lived on the Great Plains in the 19th Century. While white settlers focused on taming the frontier, the indigenous inhabitants sought to maintain their hold on land they had lived on for centuries. In the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the United States recognized the Black Hills as the Great Sioux Reservation, promising to prosecute any “bad men” who committed wrongs against the Indians.

Twenty years after the Civil War, concerns were growing about the welfare of aging veterans. In 1887, Congress set aside land in states and territories for the construction of homes that would care for Union veterans. And in 1891, the North Dakota legislature authorized the construction of such a home. The facility opened on this date in 1893.

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll be listening to Leander Russ McDonald, an enrolled member of Spirit Lake Nation, in part one of storytelling and humor.

On a cold December day in 1990, the Bertsch family of Buchanan went to a neighbor’s farm to help clean turkeys. While the parents were busy working, the three Bertsch siblings, Waylon, Jarrett, and Andrea, played on the banks of the Pipestem River. Five-year-old Andrea walked about 10 feet onto the river ice and fell through. Quick thinking ten-year-old Waylon sent his brother Jarrett to tell their parents as he tried to help his sister.

Ponies diving from great heights into water, a log rolling contest, performances by big brass bands, and performers “leaping the fiery gap” were among the numerous attractions that drew an estimated crowd of 10,000 people to the first day of the Fargo Inter-State Fair on this date in 1907.

Hunter and fur trader Charles Bottineau ventured to the Red River Valley in 1787. His oldest child, Pierre, was born in 1817. Pierre was described as being well over six feet tall, “of manly instincts and gentlemanly deportment, polite, agreeable and of a kindly disposition, and always true to his word."

The rivalry between Grand Forks and Fargo was especially fierce in 1906. An agreement had been reached that the State Fair would alternate between Grand Forks and Fargo, with Fargo scheduled to host the fair for the first time. But there was some annoyance that Grand Forks was holding a Red River Valley Exposition just prior to Fargo’s fair.