(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

By Barbara Handy-Marchello Sarah Sand of Grand Forks was one of nearly 300 nurses from North Dakota who volunteered for Army service during World War I.  She had been recruited by the North Dakota Red Cross at the Bismarck hospital where she worked. Sand was an experienced nurse, but received more than four months additional … Continue reading North Dakota Nurses In The Great War

Fifth in a series commemorating the Centennial of the end of World War I By Joseph T. Stuart It de-secularized the state and, instead of religion, made politics the highest expression of human values. The mobilization of entire societies during the Great War dramatically increased expectations for state involvement in the lives of people. Powerful … Continue reading Great War Witnesses Startling Birth Of New Deities

You might have seen, or heard reference to, a goofy little ad North Dakota Democrats ran on Facebook the other day about hunters. I think it was only up on Facebook a few hours, because the wording was a little unclear, and it was generally misunderstood by those who read it, and the party got … Continue reading Here’s What The Democrats Meant To Say. I Think.

Fourth in a series commemorating the Centennial of the end of World War I By Tracy Potter North Dakota’s sixth Rhodes Scholar was David Nelson of Mayville, who went off to Oxford in September 1914. The world the 23-year-old Nelson was entering was changed forever the previous June as Otto Von Bismarck had predicted, “out … Continue reading ND Rhodes Scholar was an eyewitness to history

Third in a series commemorating the Centennial of World War I By Albert I. Berger Europe in 1914 had been at peace, more or less, for most of a century. That was remarkable. Europe had been an arena of war since the destruction of the Roman Empire. It had begun exporting its wars around the … Continue reading The War that No One Wanted and Everyone Started: The Origins of World War I