North Dakota Road Maps

By JIM DAVIS

July 24 — Many an older North Dakota driver may recall a glove compartment filled with maps advertising their local gas stations. These were gradually replaced by more colorful and fact-filled Official State Highway maps, and most recently by electronic versions. But in the early 1920s, as the automobile gained popularity and motorists began traveling greater distances, few road maps were available.

Railroad maps depicted the locations of the communities across the state and indicated the distances, but getting from point A to point B by car was often ill-defined and hazardous. The Good Roads Association created maps showing the routes of major trails, such as the Red Trail, and these major highways were also well marked by signs along the route to guide the adventurer, but few of the county roads were mapped. Once off the major trails, it was “traveler beware,” for few roads were maintained, and many served a single purpose, leading to a dead end.

The Federal Aid to Highway Acts of 1916 and 1921 provided the incentives for the State Highway Commission to establish a system of roads using federal funds. Plans were conceived to develop not only the major highways through the state, but also the farm-to-market roads. These arteries were necessary for commerce and also for rural postal delivery – connecting the mainly rural population.

As the system of roads developed, maps were created to show the progress of the construction and to help plan for future projects. In 1923 the State Highway Commission implemented a uniform system of numbering and of marking each road, and the following year they released the first Map of the Trunk Highway System of the State of North Dakota. Not only were the roads detailed, but the map showed whether they were paved, graveled, lightly graveled, graded or unimproved. Designed by the McGill-Warner Company of St. Paul, more than 7,000 copies were printed that first year.

But on this date in 1924, it was announced that one enterprising North Dakota business saw an additional use for these maps. Contacting the publisher, the Pegg Motor Company of Valley City requested that a smaller version of the map be published allowing for the display of the company name, a photograph of their building, and a listing of the services they provided.

It was the first business in the state to take advantage of map advertising, beginning a trend that was gratefully appreciated by North Dakota motorists who, over time, filled their glove compartments with these free handouts.

Legendary Mosquitoes

By STEVE HOFFBECK

July 25 — Touting North Dakota as “Legendary,” Tourism Division entices travelers to visit the big Badlands, fish for walleyes, or see Jamestown’s big buffalo statue. But there was a time when Dakota’s boosters minimized some regional legends, particularly the legendarily-big mosquitoes that bit arms, faces and all kinds of places.

Mosquitoes buzzed over Dakota-land since time immemorial, but an early written description of Dakota “skeeters” came from the Lewis and Clark expedition. In 1806, William Clark wrote in his journal on August 3, “Last night the Musquetors was so troublesome that no one of the party Slept half the night . . . . [and] those tormenting insects . . . tormented me the “whole night.” The biters had gotten inside Clark’s mosquito-netting.

After settlers arrived, the Missouri River bottomlands became notorious for fierce mosquitoes. On this date in 1909, the newspaper in Bismarck published a letter from riverboat captain D.C. Basey, who described the colorful Missouri River country after it had “plenty of rain,” making “everything green, except mosquitoes, and they are of a very tormenting color.”

Captain Basey said the bloodsucking mosquitoes made so he “could not sleep a wink,” so he “walked . . . and prayed . . . and tried to run away” from them.

In 1878, another commentator wrote that Dakota’s mosquitoes “came in every style and shape . . . . Some . . . pretty and some . . . ugly; some . . . big and some little; but all the same – big, little, black, brown, red or green – they all bite, and bite hard.” For protection, people could “wear a net over the face” or put gloves on their hands. It was said, “if you held your hand out” for fifteen seconds, it would be so heavily-covered with mosquitoes that it looked like you were wearing a glove.

Pioneers deterred “skeeters” with smoke from smudge-fires, but wire-screens on windows and doors worked better.

The legend of Dakota’s mosquitoes grew, even claiming that mosquito-multitudes flew “in clouds” so thickly that they darkened the sun.

Negative easterners said Dakota was “good for mosquitoes, and that [was] about all,” while others included “blizzards and mosquitoes.” To counteract detractors, Dakota’s booster-press boasted of Bonanza farms and golden wheat fields.

One writer mockingly wrote that mosquito millions actually ruled Dakota “all Summer and Fall,” until winter came, and then the monster-mosquitoes simply walked away, southward – “on snowshoes.”

Ray’s Grain Palace Festival

By TESSA SANDSTROM

July 26 — Expectations were high on July 12, 1912, when the Ray Pioneer announced the upcoming festivities to take place at the Ray Grain Palace Festival. The festival would feature a palace constructed entirely of the finest sheaves of grain, grasses, fruits and vegetables grown in the county.

The palace was something never before attempted, but, reported the Pioneer, “the prospects now assure success…It will be a standing advertisement of the great productiveness of the rich soil in this vicinity and is destined to be the pride of the community.” Decorators and trimmers worked hard to construct the palace while boosters worked hard to plan the festival.

Finally, on this day in 1912, the first day of the much-awaited festival was held. The festival included a full schedule of not only exhibits of the finest crops in the county, but also included baseball games, foot races, dances, music, water sports, barbecues and suppers. The Ray Pioneer later reported that 3,000 people showed up to the festival the first day. “It has long been understood that Ray is the most progressive place of its size in the west and we have attracted the attention of this section of the world,” bragged the newspaper.

“To go into details would take too much time and space, but let it suffice to say that nowhere can be found another city of our size that can successfully conduct such an undertaking as the last celebration.”

One of the main attractions of the festival was the debut of the city’s “Great White Way,” or street lights. This provided the Pioneer with even more bragging rights: “Ray is the smallest city in the United States to have a Great White Way. [As] the fourth city in the state to have this plan of street illumination, so we are in the rank with the three largest cities in North Dakota.

“The second day of the festival, July 27, produced even greater results. The Pioneer conservatively estimated that 4-5,000 people came to the city to take part in the festivities. It was the largest crowd that had ever gathered in the city, reported the paper. Horse races, foot races and events at the lake dominated the second day, and a greased pole stunt provided entertainment after lunch. “[It] was the cause of a great deal of merriment for the watchers who witnessed the ludicrous attempts of the contestants to climb the slippery pole,” reported the Pioneer. Later that night, the boosters roasted a 1500-pound steer for festival goers. With bellies full, it was then time for music and dancing.

The festival had indeed been a success according to the Ray Pioneer, and one that was not likely to ever be matched again. “It was certainly an event which will be one of the greatest celebrations ever held in the town and will be an historical date for the future generations to look back upon with pride,” reported the Pioneer with great optimism. “It was probably the greatest celebration of any kind ever held in this section of the state.”

Luther Sage ‘Yellowstone’ Kelly

By TESSA SANDSTROM

July 27 — On this day in 1849, a boy was born in Geneva, New York. The boy, Luther Sage Kelly, would grow up to become a great Indian scout, soldier and adventurer, living a life, said the Drake Register, “that comes to few men outside story books.”

Kelly first began his adventures as a soldier in the Union Army and it was during his service at the close of the Civil War that he first came to Fort Ransom. Kelly was honorably discharged from the Army in 1868 and then began his adventures alone.

Upon his discharge, Kelly set out on a lone hunting expedition, despite protests from others. Traveling through Sioux country alone would mean sure death, they thought, but Kelly safely made it to Fort Berthold, then Fort Buford before setting out without a horse. He explored areas of Yellowstone that had previously been unexplored. For the next several years, Kelly led a life alone, exploring, hunting and trapping in the Yellowstone and taking a variety of jobs with the U.S. Army. It was his solitude that soon caught the attention of government officials.

In 1870, Kelly was hired to carry dispatches. As the only man willing to do this without an escort, his bravery earned him the respect of whites in the area. When adventure found Kelly on his first message delivery, it also earned him the respect of the area’s Native Americans.

Kelly had successfully made it to Fort Stevenson from Fort Buford on his first trip, but during the return trip, he encountered two hostile Sioux. One of his attackers shot at him with a shotgun, while the other assailed him with arrows. He managed to kill the shooter, and then began fighting with the other. He managed to shatter his opponent’s arrow elbow. Kelly’s duel won him the respect of the Mandan, Gros Ventre and Arikara Indians, who later hailed him “The Little Man with the Big Heart.” But, it also earned him the respect of the Sioux who were impressed with the man’s “strong medicine.” It was reported that the Sioux were so impressed with the man they called “the man who never lays down his gun” that they never ambushed him again.

After acting as messenger, Kelly returned to Yellowstone and began trapping and hunting. It was his solitude during these years that Kelly became known as both “Lone Wolf” and “Yellowstone Kelly.” Kelly worked alone for several years before he was hired as a scout for expeditions of both General George Forsyth and General Miles. After service with General Miles, he then worked as a scout for federal troops in the Ute country in Colorado.

Kelly also served in Alaska, and then the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection. Upon his return and adventures in the Philippines, he then worked in the mines of Nevada and as an Indian agent for the San Carlos Apaches before retiring to a fruit ranch in Paradise, California. Kelly reminisced about his many adventures, but said, “The happiest period of my life, was being a scout and plainsman in the region of the Yellowstone.” Kelly’s adventures finally ended with his death at his California ranch in 1929.

Medicine Hole

By CHRISTINA SUNWALL

July 28 — On this day, July 28, 1864, Brigadier General Alfred Sully, leading three thousand volunteers, attacked several groups of Dakota, Nakota and Lakota in what became known as the Battle of Killdeer Mountain. Facing U.S. artillery and long-range firearms, the Native Americans were eventually forced to flee. Their escape drew widespread attention to a spot locally known as Medicine Hole; a ten-foot wide and ninety-foot-deep fissure at the top of Medicine Hole Plateau.

Medicine Hole had long been important to local Native Americans as the location where all animals and people came out of the earth at the beginning of time. But further interest was generated in Medicine Hole following the battle as one version of the events suggested some escaped through Medicine Hole and reemerged several miles away. The possibility of such an escape is debatable, but the story continues to generate interest in Medicine Hole.

“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.