Dakota Datebook

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll listen to Dr. Twyla Baker, enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, in part two of "We Laugh So We Don't Cry."

North Dakota is home to over 400 bird species, but the honor of being the state bird goes to only one. On this date in 1947, the North Dakota legislature chose the western meadowlark, which actually isn’t a lark. It is a songbird in the same family as blackbirds and orioles.

By the turn the 20th century, recognizing the valuable social work women offered, civic groups and municipalities began considering them as police officers. Initially, they worked with delinquent women and to enhance community morality.

It’s a long way from Norway to Kindred, ND, yet deep connections between the two locations still remain. The key link involved the Hertsgaard family.

Today marks the anniversary of one of the most memorable basketball games in North Dakota history as the Hillsboro Burros took on the Epping Eagles for the 1977 State Class B championship.

In this episode of Dakota Datebook, we'll listen to Dr. Twyla Baker, enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, in part one of "We Laugh So We Don't Cry."

Mid-March brings two things to North Dakota: blizzards and basketball tournaments. Tournament time brings both happiness and heartache, as teams from across the state vie to be crowned champions.

Dakota Territory began the work of organizing counties in 1861. Pembina was the first official county, established in 1867. Some North Dakota counties remain in their original form. Others were carved up. The southern portion of Hettinger County, for example, became Adams County. And the Bowman County story is interesting. Created in 1883, it was eliminated in 1903 due to a lack of settlement, then reestablished 1907.

On this date in 1993, the Bismarck Tribune reported that Agnes Geelan had died three days earlier in a Fargo nursing home. One biographer called her “one of North Dakota's grand ladies.” Another called her “debater extraordinary.” Another called her “a North Dakota legend.”

Anna Ingulsrud was 18 years old when she worked as a waitress in a Fairdale, North Dakota. Otto Weberg, 24, courted her, determined to marry. Anna, however, did not return his affection. Weberg became distraught upon learning Anna was seeing another man.