North Dakota History
History relating specifically to the state of North Dakota
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Alexander McKenzie: An honorable, yet corrupt man who helped shape North Dakota
This is the first in a series of stories in the Cowboy Chronicle about pioneer lawmen and law enforcement He fell from grace almost as far as any lawman could. Alexander McKenzie was arrested in 1901 for fraud and contempt of court and sentenced to a year in jail. Newspapers said that he was “high handed and greedy”, yet even though the “Boss of North Dakota” was left with a tarnished reputation and diminished power, 21 years later he received a state funeral with honor guards. He was the only person who ever lay in state in the old state capitol, even though the only elected office he ever held…
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Staking Their Claim: Women Homesteaders in North Dakota
Published in the June 2024 edition of The Cowboy Chronicle We have read the books and seen the movies about the pioneer families making their way across the prairies hoping to make a new life. We have heard of the grizzled lone pioneer arriving in uncivilized territory to stake his claim. These adventurers faced dangers and hardships but ultimately settled the west. The Homestead Act spurred settlement like never before. As with all important moments in history we learn the overarching concept, but there are many details and nuances we may not know. When we think about the Homestead Act, most do not realize that a significant percentage of American…
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The Letter
As we began to take stock of all that was in there, I came across an unopened letter postmarked 1918. At first I was spinning tales in my head as to why he would have not opened and read this letter. With a closer look I saw that it had been addressed to Pvt. Sam Dagg and was stamped “returned to writer.” Martell didn’t open the letter because he knew what was inside, he had written it. There were many other letters and papers in the trunk pertaining to Samuel John Dagg.
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Western Artists: Preserving our History
Published in The Cowboy Chronicle December 2022. Following is a more detailed version that was not published. Stories and art have always been part of human history. The written word evokes powerful images and emotions. The visualization of a story brings new clarity and a sense of reality. When Theodore Roosevelt chronicled his life in North Dakota with the book Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail, Frederick Remington was commissioned to do illustrations for the book. Roosevelt wanted the artwork to bring his experiences to life. The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame has recognized North Dakota artists since its inception with the Arts and Entertainment category. Since then, five…
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Historic Homesteads – Minot Daily News
2021 – 2022 Edition Photos from the Martell Family archives Information provided to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame by Mary Pat Martell Jones Charles Martell was inducted into the NDCHF in 2019
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Lewis and Clark in North Dakota
Published in the Cowboy Chronicle, Publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, June 2022 Captain William Clark wrote in his journal on August 3, 1806: “Last night the Musquetors were so troublesom that no one of the party slept half the night. For my part I did not sleep one hour. Those tormenting insects found their way into my beare and tormented me the whole night. They are not less noumerous or troublesom this morning at two miles passed the entranance of Jo. Fields Creek. “ The Lewis and Clark Expedition was on its way home. On the morning of August 2, 1806, Clark and his detachment from…
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Murderer Lynched: A Frontier Community’s Wrath
She wasn’t even born when it happened, but like for so many in this community tucked away in western North Dakota, the story had a profound effect on her. She remembers as a young child hearing her parents quietly but earnestly talking in the kitchen about it. Even though the incident occurred almost a decade before this conversation, the little girl felt like it had just happened. A family of six, including four children, had been murdered and buried in their own farmyard by a young man who lived and worked in their community. She had bristled at the mention of murdered children. When they saw her peeking in and…
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The Cowboy Doctor
Printed in North Dakota Horizons Magazine Winter 2020 https://www.ndhorizons.com/articles/88/the-cowboy-doctor.aspx Another version of this story was published in the Cowboy Chronicle in 2021 https://northdakotacowboy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/CowboyChronicle_2021_May.pdf On a warm day in late July 1927, all of Dickinson shut down. Stores and businesses were empty, their doors closed. There was no heart to carry on business as usual. Crowding the cemetery people were saying goodbye to their beloved “Cowboy Doctor.” He didn’t just heal and console, he was a friend to almost every family in the region. He was remembered with overwhelming gratitude for his gift of love and 44 years of dedicated service to the people he came to cherish. The “Cowboy Doctor,”…
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“Little Misery”: The Rise and Fall of a Forgotten Badlands Town
Published in the Cowboy Chronicle Publication of the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Volume 24 Issue 5 Newspapers from New York to Paris and London in the late 1870’s and early 1880’s were abuzz about the Dakota cattle boom on the northern plains of America. Books, such as James Brisbin’s The Beef Bonanza or How to get Rich on the Plains (1871) and Trans Missouri Stock Raising; the Pasture Lands of North America by Hiram Latham ( 1881), fueled the excitement for the expanding cattle industry. In 1879 The Bismarck Tribune proclaimed that that western North Dakota possessed “the best grazing lands in the world”. A writer for the…
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North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame Celebrates Twenty-five Years
The North Dakota Horizons magazine published a shorter version of “Sentinel on the Prairie” in their Summer 2020 edition and online. https://www.ndhorizons.com/articles/86/north-dakota-cowboy-hall-of-fame-celebrates-25-years.aspx The North Dakota Cowboy Hall of fame is celebrating its 25th anniversary. One man’s dream of preserving the stories and character of the state’s forebears has become a renowned center of western culture. Phil Baird thought about this for a long time. So many stories and moments were passing through time, drifting like the wind across the prairies. Countless hours were spent embracing all the memories and history he could. He hated the thought these stories would be lost to time. Those moments wove together the fabric of…
