Category: Law, Government, Politics

OIL TO THE RESCUE A pair of Bismarck oil men, new to North Dakota and chasing the state’s first small oil boom, likely made the deal of their life in early 1952, acquiring almost the entire 127 acre tract of Highland Acres, complete with partially constructed streets, water mains, a couple dozen good residents, and … Continue reading THE HISTORY of HIGHLAND ACRES–CONCLUSION

MOVING IN Here are the first 21 residents of Highland Acres, gleaned from the files of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Notice they are all just men’s names, the “heads of households.” We assume they all had wives as well. And probably children. I don’t have the dates of the purchase of each … Continue reading THE HISTORY of HIGHLAND ACRES–PART FIVE

1948: BUILDING HIGHLAND ACRES BEGINS The Bismarck Tribune reported in April 1948 that “Twelve houses are under construction in Highland Acres, the addition on the western edge of the city owned by the Bismarck Veterans Homeowners Cooperative Association.” The paper said that the housing co-op had also contracted for construction of nine additional homes. Looking … Continue reading THE HISTORY of HIGHLAND ACRES–PART FOUR

WALLACE STEGNER: IN PRAISE OF COOPERATIVES In early 1947, the Association’s management committee developed a mimeographed newsletter for mailing to co-op members, and in one of its first issues included excerpts from an article written by the noted author Wallace Stegner in the April 1947 issue of the magazine “47,” noted by some as The … Continue reading THE HISTORY of HIGHLAND ACRES: PART THREE

  FINDING A NAME: HOW WE BECAME HIGHLAND ACRES The new development needed a name. Bismarck Tribune editor Ken Simons wrote a story for his paper announcing a contest would be held to name the subdivision and the streets within it. Entries were to be submitted to the committee, with an entry deadline of August … Continue reading THE HISTORY of HIGHLAND ACRES—PART TWO:

 HIGHLAND ACRES AND THE BISMARCK VETERANS HOMEOWNERS COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION – PRODUCTS OF A PERFECT STORM Highland Acres Addition to the City of Bismarck, North Dakota, was a housing subdivision developed cooperatively by a group of returning World War II veterans in the 1940s and 1950s. Its success led to the subsequent development of nearby Highland … Continue reading THE HISTORY of HIGHLAND ACRES—PART ONE:

If you look up at the top of your screen, you will see that the website address for this blog is theprairieblog.areavoices.com. That’s been home to my writings for a little more than seven years. AreaVoices.com is the blog portal for a whole bunch of writers, all of us unpaid, who like to think we … Continue reading History

Did you see that big old moon setting in the southwest this morning? Me too. And then I thought this is really cool, a full moon, Easter and April Fool's Day, all at once. Except that’s not possible. It’s not possible to have a full moon on Easter Sunday. Because the rule is, Easter is … Continue reading A Full Moon? Easter? April Fool’s Day? Well, Kind Of.

  North Dakota has more than a million acres of public land, most of it in western North Dakota, our Little Missouri National Grasslands, managed by the United States Forest Service.            Most of it is grazing land, although it’s grazed by more than cattle and sheep. Pretty much every creature that lives in North Dakota … Continue reading Another Set of Eyes on Our Wild Bad Lands

Yesterday I attended the funeral for one of the greatest men I have ever known, George Sinner, Governor of the state of North Dakota from 1985 to 1993. I worked for him those years, and came to know him and love him, much like a son might love his father. He was just 20 years … Continue reading Remembering Two Great Men