Trending
Yankton Loses Capital
By MERRY HELM
April 5 -- By the 1880s, Dakota Territory's population was concentrated in very separate regions.
In south-central Dakota, Pierre was outfitting thousands of miners who were illegally flooding into the Indian-held Black Hills and populating around Deadwood. Farther north, Bismarck was the main supply point for military posts, Indian agencies and the lucrative Montana trade.
Yankton, the capital, was in the far southeast corner. With its lawyers and legislators, it was the most aristocratic. The town's commerce was suffering from a number of floods, and trans-shipment trade was shifting away from Yankton to Sioux Falls and Bismarck.
Meanwhile, the Northern Pacific railroad wanted the capital moved onto their line at Bismarck, where it would benefit from land-grant sales. The general population also thought the capital should be more centrally located, but Yankton had no intentions of letting that happen.
In 1883, a capital removal bill was finally pushed through under the corrupt governorship of Nehemiah Ordway. Nine men had to organize in Yankton within 30 days to select a new site. They would each be paid $10 a day for their services, and they had absolute authority in choosing the new location. The appointed commissioners came from all over the territory. McKenzie had a tight network, called the McKenzie gang, who were firmly in the pockets of railroad interests.
The people of Yankton were furious when they learned of the bill. They had been able to stop previous attempts to move the capital, and they were ready to do it again - by force if necessary.
They organized to keep the nine men from convening in Yankton, including posting guards around the edges of town and locking any buildings where a meeting could take place.
It became rumored that the nine men were going to meet in Yankton on March 30, and the editor of the Dakota Herald urged citizens to "place your hen roosts under lock and key, and clear your clothes lines before dark" to rid the town of any potential meeting places. But March 30 came and went, and the nine-man commission didn't materialize.
On April 3, all was quiet through the night. Then, as the sun was coming up, a locomotive pulling a coach eased slowly into Yankton. Inside, the nine commissioners quickly chose its officers. Then, having legally organized for business, the train rolled back out of town. As it passed the pickets on the edge of town, the engineer blew his whistle, and the town's guards knew they'd been outsmarted.
Over the next three months, commissioners visited the towns that had submitted formal bids. In southern Dakota, they considered Aberdeen, Huron, Mitchell, Ordway, Pierre and Redfield. In northern Dakota, they considered Bismarck, Odessa and Steele. On June 1, the commission cast their ballots in Fargo. After 13 ballots, Bismarck was finally chosen. Yankton put up a fight, but Governor Ordway and his son promptly relocated to Bismarck… and that was that.
New Jerusalem/Wamduska
By MERRY HELM
April 6 -- North Dakota has had several Jewish settlements in its history, but they weren't long-lived.
Beginning in the 1870s, rising nationalism in Russia led to persecution of Germans, Ukrainians, Jews and Crimean-Czechs, and thousands emigrated to North Dakota. Between 1882 and the advent of World War I, more than 800 Jewish individuals filed land claims here.
In St. Paul, Rabbi Judah Wechsler's congregation was overwhelmed with Jewish refugees, and he sought means for helping them start over. In 1882, he obtained a land grant and began an experiment with 11 immigrant families at Painted Woods, 35 miles north of Bismarck.
With no other avenues open to them, the settlers tried valiantly to make the abrupt adjustment from village life in the Ukraine to the harsh conditions in their new home.
Unfortunately, Wechsler chose land that would prove disastrous. While it had trees and water from the adjoining Missouri River, the terrain and soil proved difficult, even for experienced farmers.
The settlers named their settlement New Jerusalem, but trouble arose when neighbors complained that they had settled on school land. The disputes were resolved, but the colony was in for further troubles. Historian Gunther Plaut wrote, "The Jewish settlers had many children and seemed old at thirty-five… they felt they were objects of charity. This proved a disastrous deterrent to their independence and initiative."
Meanwhile, Jewish newspapers were still alerting Russian and German Jews that North Dakota was providing free land, and more families arrived. In its most prosperous year, the settlement had 55 families and 1,400 acres under cultivation, along with 53 horses, 56 oxen, 61 cows, and 86 calves. Jewish residents from St. Paul contributed more than $30,000 to help finance the colony, but crop failures in '84, '85, and '86, along with prairie fires, crippled the venture. In 1888, the settlers tried to start their own town, named Nudelman, but by 1901, the 20-year experiment had failed; only three families remained at New Jerusalem.
Near Devils Lake, another attempt to establish a Jewish settlement was taking place at Stump Lake, which the Indians called Wamduska. Here, in 1881, a number of Jewish visionaries were gambling that if they built it, the railroad would come.
In the winter of 1881-82, about 15 Jewish men staked adjoining claims and reported to the Grand Forks Daily Herald that they were developing a new town called Adler that summer. Charles Adler said, "We shall break up at least 1500 acres and push the opening of good farms at once."
One of Adler's partners, M. J. Mendelson, said he was setting up a thousand-acre farm near the lake. The articles states, "He proposes to engage in farming operations on the same gigantic scale that characterizes all his undertakings… nothing short of a full grain bonanza farm."
Within months, Adler built a three-story, 46-room hotel and tavern beside the lake named the Wamduska House. Stores, houses, saloons and a school also sprung up. Unfortunately, the railroad chose a different route, and within a year, the fledgling town was abandoned. The impressive Wamduska House remained a lasting testament to the failed vision. For some time, it was used as a hunting lodge, but in 1954, it was unfortunately demolished.
Andy Hampsten, Cyclist
By MERRY HELM
April 7 -- Today is the birthday of cycling great, Andy Hampsten, who was born in 1962. Andy grew up in Grand Forks, where his parents taught English at UND. They gave him his first road bike when he turned 12, and he was smitten for life.
In 1977, he started competing and was soon discovered by the American Cycling Federation.
In 1985, Andy turned pro, signing his first contract with the newly founded American team, 7-Eleven. When they went to the Tour de Italia that year, the Europeans didn't take them seriously. But Andy and his team silenced them with wins in two stages of the race, one of which was a solo victory by Andy at a mountaintop finish.
The following year, Andy won the Tour de Suisse; he was the first American to ever do it. His next major race took place that same year… the Tour de France. He walked away with the Best Rookie Jersey and shared a 1st place team award for his role in helping teammate Greg LeMond win the race. The following year, Andy won the Tour of Switzerland once more - the only American to ever win it twice.
Hampsten's career highlight came in 1988 during the Tour de Italia "on a day," as one cyclist put it, "when strong men cry." During a legendary stage over the Passo de Gavia in the Dolomite Mountains, Hampsten got caught in a blizzard. Later, he said, "I gave up on asking God for any help; I was blessed already having the privilege of racing. Instead, I speculated on what I would bargain for if the devil showed up."
Followed by a long line of cars that were also struggling to make it through the mountain pass, Andy wouldn't give up. With bare legs and arms, he pushed on in what has now become one of the most legendary cycling stages of all time. Overcoming all odds, Hampsten persevered and took home the coveted prize, the Maglia Rosa. Although he was the first cyclist from the North American continent to ever win the Tour of Italy, U.S. television still wasn't interested.
Hampsten's next goal was to go back and win the Tour de France. By then, he had twice placed in the top-four. Now, he wanted a lead jersey - for you non-cyclists, lead jersey means first place.
Hampsten's great strength was climbing, but in time trials, he didn't do as well, so he tried to improve this weakness by changing his training-program. Unfortunately, the change caused him to lose some of his climbing ability, and the Tour de France victory never materialized. The disappointment was partially overcome when he retrained himself for climbing and won many other victories before finally retiring in 1996.
When asked by an interviewer what his worst moment in cycling was, Andy replied, "eight years old and hitting that parked car in front of my house at five mph that I KNEW was there."
Now that's a true champion. Happy birthday, Andy.
"Dakota Datebook" is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota.