Dakota Datebook

Several renowned artists of the 19th century visited what is now North Dakota. Their portraits and paintings depict Native Americans, wildlife and scenery. One such artist was Paul Kane.

North Dakota Native American Essential Understandings Number Four is about sense of humor. It states, "Native people have a rich history of shared sense of humor that includes teaching stories involving Iktomi, Maymaygwisi and Nanabozhoo. These stories and this unique sense of humor continue to support our resiliency and cohesiveness”.

The Red River along the eastern edge of North Dakota was a vital trade route for Native Americans, Metis, fur traders, and then Americans and Canadians. However, by the 1910s, the need for river transportation had been firmly supplanted by trains and automobiles. On this date in 1913, the Fargo Forum announced that one of the last links to the heyday of the river trade was broken. Charles B. Thimens, a former steamboat captain, had died.

What happened in Lisbon, North Dakota, on June 14 in 1944, was almost like the script of a Hollywood movie. The townspeople celebrated what they called “Dr. Patterson Day.”

In the spring of 1873, the Reverend D. C. Lyon arrived by train at the newly established townsite of Bismarck. His purpose was missionary work, to “look after the interest of the Presbyterian Church” at the “end of the track.”

Mrs. E.M. Pierce was a big-hearted woman living outside of Stanley, North Dakota in 1914. She learned of a baby boy who had been abandoned in Grand Forks and made arrangements to adopt him. The question was how to get him to Stanley. But Mrs. Pierce had a solution for that.

North Dakota Native American Essential Understanding Number Seven states, "Individual and communal identity is defined and supported by shared native languages, kinship systems, Tiospaye, clan structures, traditional teachings, values, sacred laws, and ceremonies. A continuum of tribal identity unique to each individual, ranges from assimilated to traditional lifestyle. There is no generic American Indian."

Presidential visits to North Dakota have inspired all sorts of welcomes and preparations, great and small. Here’s a sampling.

As the Homestead Act of 1860 began to draw new settlers to the frontier with the promise of free land, politicians and businessmen portrayed Dakota Territory as a farming utopia. Homesteading attracted people who wanted to settle down to a life of farming or ranching. The American West quickly became associated with the cowboy life and vast herds of beef cattle. There were also the Bonanza farms, with huge expanses of wheat.

The first game and fish laws in what would become the state of North Dakota were enacted in 1861. In 1875, the Territorial Legislature placed limits on hunting quail and some water birds.