On a February day in 1908, the Ward County Independent touted the joys of a North Dakota winter, noting it was a time to relax and enjoy life. The newspaper went so far as to declare: “The farmer who has not had a good time this winter will not be happy in heaven.” A few years later the Oakes Times named North Dakota “the Sunshine State.” The newspaper declared that sunshine was the greatest factor in making North Dakota the most prosperous state in the union. This was not just the warm sunshine of summer. The newspaper said that the sunshine of winter “makes the zero atmosphere sparkle like myriads of diamonds.”