Dakota Datebook

On this date in 1971, a mysterious, hopping, hairless creature was loose on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. Armed with a rake and a burlap sack, Morris Baker spotted and captured the creature on Halloween at his farm near Belcourt. Dubbed “Whatsit,” the unknown animal was taken to the jail in Belcourt in poor health, where he was vaccinated against rabies and nursed back to health.

There was a ghost haunting the streets of Bismarck in 1892. At least, that's what the Bismarck Tribune reported as Halloween neared, stating: "Bismarck does not claim for itself anything out of the ordinary, but it does, just at present, rejoice at the possession of something which does not fall to the lot of every city; it owns a real, live ghost, with the white robe and all other appendages of d...

For Vincent Baltulis of Fargo, the hiccups started on a December day in 1936, and they wouldn’t go away. Vincent tried every home remedy he knew. First, he tried holding his breath. Then he tried taking “nine swallows of water in rapid succession.” Nothing worked for the 74-year-old, who had worked as a highly skilled tailor for many years.

The mail-order business began when Montgomery Ward launched the first mail-order company in 1872.

In December 1930, when the original Capitol building burned, many people turned out to watch. Some, however, came to save what they could. Secretary of State Robert Byrne was one of those who joined in the heroics. He broke a window into his office, cutting his hand on the glass and singeing his hat. Inside, he opened the storage vault and rescued the original state constitution, which luckily suf...

Fort Abercrombie was built in 1857 along the heavily wooded Red River, 15 miles north of the present-day towns of Wahpeton, North Dakota, and Breckenridge, Minnesota. Both towns were founded at the “Head of the Red” in 1858 by Pierre Bottineau, a French-Chippewa frontiersman and railroad surveyor. He led a team of men from St. Paul who spent the winter there to hold the claim.

October is Archives Month, when archives around the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value. The North Dakota State Archives is part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

A shaggy dog tale was told about a sighting of Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy at Wahpeton long ago. Any evidence? Doggoned right there is!

October is Archives Month, when archives around the country celebrate the records in their holdings and recognize the archivists who assess, collect, organize, preserve, and provide access to information of lasting value. The North Dakota State Archives is part of the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

In the early 1990s Bro Halff saw an exhibit of Karl Bodmer’s watercolors from the 1830s. Bodmer was a Swiss painter who accompanied German Prince Maximilian zu Wied-Neuwied to the American west. Bodmer documented what they saw during their yearlong expedition along the Missouri River. Bro Halff was inspired to travel to North Dakota to follow in Bodmer’s footsteps.

South Minneapolis native Alexander Heine, born in 1885, worked for the Milwaukee Railroad. But the railroad wasn’t his first love. Alexander became enchanted by the magic of powered flight and caught the flying bug at an early age. He ventured to California, where he attended the Curtiss School in San Diego. When he returned to Minnesota, he couldn’t afford to buy an airplane, so he built one.

On this date in 1900, Clarence Bates was born in Albany, New York. Bates enlisted in the Navy during World War I and served as a wireless radio operator. In the 1920s, Clarence decided to learn to fly and took pilot training at Hamilton Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After Bates got his pilot’s license, he got a job flying the mail route to Chicago, Fargo, and Winnipeg, with a plane equipped wit...

Adams County was created in 1907 with land that was broken off from Hettinger County. It is located in southwestern North Dakota and encompasses 987 square miles. The county was named for John Quincy Adams, a Milwaukee Railroad official who was a distant relative of President John Quincy Adams.

Direct global disaster costs reach about $200 billion annually, but the overall economic impact goes as high as $2 trillion as the economy suffers disruption. Wealthier countries suffer the most when it comes to economic costs, but developing countries suffer more in terms of human suffering.

We're saddened to share the news that longtime Dakota Datebook writer Jim Davis has passed away. To honor his many contributions to this program, we're re-airing a favorite Datebook: Traveling Jenny — the tale of a super cow in the Killdeer Mountains.

In August 1939, a group of concerned scientists drafted a letter warning of the potential development of powerful bombs of a type never seen before. They urged the United States to begin acquiring stockpiles of uranium ore and to support Enrico Fermi’s research into nuclear chain reactions. The letter was signed by Albert Einstein and delivered in person to President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1889, men met at the Constitutional Convention in North Dakota to work on framing the state’s foundational document. They met from July 4, 1889, until August 17. There were various topics of interest under discussion, and while they debated, the public watched and voiced their own opinions and concerns—such as in the case of the establishment and location of public buildings, including governme...

Railroad tracks finally began creeping west from Duluth, Minnesota, in 1870. On a cold New Year’s Eve in 1871, the railroad finally reached the Red River at Moorhead. Construction on a railroad bridge across the river continued through the winter. The residents of Fargo eagerly watched a locomotive sitting on the tracks, waiting for the completion of the bridge. On June 6, 1872, a group of women b...

At one time, the stagecoach was a tempting target for outlaws. They could stop a coach far from the prying eyes of the law, stealing the cargo and robbing the passengers. As trains began moving across the country, they replaced the stagecoach for long-distance transportation. They also became the new target for outlaws. Train robbery was common in the United States and is associated with outlaw ga...

World War I broke out on July 28, 1914. At first, airplanes were used only for reconnaissance, but it didn’t take long for the shooting to break out in the air. On August 25, two French aviators shot at and damaged a German plane, which managed to escape. In September, a Russian pilot destroyed an enemy airplane, but instead of shooting it down, he rammed it with his own plane. The crews of both p...

On this date in 1908, newspapers reported on the arrest and seasonal enterprise of a serial thief pursuing his third hitch in the state penitentiary. Mr. Malloy, alias Kennedy and Murphy, allegedly stole men’s overcoats in autumn in order to secure food and shelter for the winter. The Grand Forks Evening Times said, “Malloy who stole the overcoat and who has been sent to the Penitentiary three tim...

For years, many residents in Dakota Territory wanted to split it into two halves, but it wasn’t until the Enabling Act, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Grover Cleveland in February of 1889, that Dakota Territory was allowed to split into the separate states of North and South Dakota.

Iowa schoolteacher Walter L. Carter came to Dakota in 1888 with the Patterson brothers. They organized the Wahpeton National Bank with $50,000 in capital. On this date in 1889, the bank opened for business.

The Vietnam War was a divisive issue in the United States, sparking protests across the country. North Dakota was no exception. On this day in 1969, a peaceful anti-war demonstration was held in Fargo.

North Dakotans were not overly enthusiastic about America’s entry into World War I, but they were resigned to the reality of it. At the time of the declaration of war, the economy was functioning at full capacity. Diverting the necessary supplies to the war effort required decreasing what was available for civilians. Like the rest of the country, North Dakotans were expected to conserve everything...