Dakota Datebook

W. H. Horton, owner of the Horton Motor Co., sold Cadillacs at his dealerships in Devils Lake and Fargo, distributing the cars all across the state and into eastern Montana. He was such a believer in the superiority of Cadillacs that he made an unusual offer in the spring of 1913. Horton challenged any owner or dealer of six-cylinder cars to race him from Fargo to Minot and back, with the winner getting $100. Horton would drive a four-cylinder stock Cadillac.

School cafeterias have become legendary, both for good and for bad. The lunches can be legendarily good. For instance, what could be better than pizza or spaghetti?

In this episode of Dakota Datebook. We'll listen to Dr. Twyla Baker, enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, talk about building a better society.

For many years, Dakota tribes honed their practices of hunting bison. Besides being a food source, the tribes used bison for clothing, shelter, and tools. White settlers and soldiers were attracted to the bison as well, but possessed none of the knowledge the Dakota people had accumulated over millennia.

On this date in 1916, citizens of Fargo were reading about an attempted escape from the Cass County jail. According to the local papers, "Only the eternal vigilance of Sheriff John Ross and his force of deputies" prevented the escape from happening.

If you were a North Dakota farmer in 1912, you were having a pretty good year. The harvest promised to be good, especially if you were growing wheat. And if you had one of those newfangled binding machines, the harvest would be a snap. The machines bound the wheat into bundles as soon as it was cut. Labor costs were cut dramatically, and it was just be a matter of taking the money to the bank.

Can you imagine being the only person living in town? No traffic on your way to work or loud neighbors late at night? On this date in 1970, the readers of the Minot Daily News read a story of one such man in Lincoln Valley in Sheridan County.

On today's Dakota Datebook, we'll be admonished to wake up with your hero every day by Pam Belgarde, enrolled member of Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

On this date in 1930, the body of Vernon Squires, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, laid in state at the University of North Dakota.

It was 2:00am on Sunday, March 11, 1951, and LeRoy Earl Githens, of Minot, was running in the crisp spring air carrying 30 freshly-stolen dollars from the Cut Rate grocery store. It wasn’t long before police captain Morris B. Nelson caught up with him. Morris fired 3 warning shots, but the suspect continued to flee.