Month: November 2018

Here's an article I wrote for the December issue of Dakota Country magazine, which should be on the newsstands this week. If you're not already a subscriber, you should be. Here's the place to go to sign up. They've got a Christmas sale going on right now, and the price is right. A year and … Continue reading Fracking and Flaring at Van Hook

A couple final (?) thoughts on the November 6 election in North Dakota. * * * * Did racism play a role in the 2018 North Dakota election? As I’ve said repeatedly over the past few months, North Dakota Democrats needed to focus ALL their messaging opportunities on two topics: Trump’s trade wars and Republicans … Continue reading Election 2018: Racists 1, Potheads 0

Paging through an old book of poetry this afternoon, I came across this poem by North Dakota poet Paul Southworth Bliss, from “Poems of Places.” The poems in the book were written as Bliss traveled the country in 1937. This one came from a stop in Oklahoma, which got oil a long time before North … Continue reading A Thanksgiving Day Poem

Pretty much every political pundit (including me) has declared the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party dead after this year’s election, and the debate continues to rage (well, maybe not rage, but to be discussed) among Democrats about what caused the demise of the party after so many years as a major political force in our state. … Continue reading Why The Republicans Control North Dakota Government

(As many of you know, Lillian and I have a fascination with a North Dakota poet named Paul Southworth Bliss and we are writing his biography. Here, in our final entry in this series, on the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day, is an accounting of his military service, from Lillian’s research.) By Lillian Crook and … Continue reading Homage To Colonel Paul Southworth Bliss, On The Occasion Of The 100th Anniversary Of Armistice Day

(A tenth article in our series commemorating the Centennial of the end of World War I.) By Gordon Iseminger Known first as the Great War, World War I broke out in 1914.  Then, as now, the United States was a nation of immigrants.  Because many had only recently arrived, their loyalty was questioned.  When the … Continue reading John Wishek, “Father of McIntosh County” Charged with Espionage

(A ninth article in our series commemorating the Centennial of the end of World War I.)  By Joseph T. Stuart Although the U.S. did not enter the Great War until 1917, a number of Bismarck residents left to serve in the conflict before then, fighting alongside British troops or as nurses with Canadian forces.  The … Continue reading Dr. Quain: A Hero To Nurses And Savior Of Soldiers

Random thoughts on Tuesday’s election. I might have more later. I think the shell-shock is fading, but it may not be gone yet. …………………………. As the Beatles sang in their 1964 hit, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love,” Senator Heidi Heitkamp’s millions of dollars collected in the wake of her vote against Trump Supreme Court Justice … Continue reading ‘Money Can’t Buy Me Love’

(An eighth article in our series commemorating the Centennial of the end of World War I)  By Joseph Jastrzembski When the great powers of Europe went to war in 1914, they drew not only on their own populations but those of their subject colonies around the globe. This meant that the armies of Europe represented … Continue reading ND Soldiers Were First Generation Americans

By Carole Barrett and Calvin Grinnell  (Seventh in our series commemorating the Centennial of the end of World War I)   Thomas Rogers was born into a prominent Arikara family in 1890 or 1891.  As a youth, he was also known by his Arikara name, Katanuta.  After distinguished service in World War I, Arikara elders gave … Continue reading “The Specter” Doughboy: Thomas Rogers