When I was a kid in Slope County, North Dakota, the rattlesnakes on our place were abundant. The snakes slithered their way from the den on the rocky hills surrounding our place to Deep Creek, back and forth, on a route that frequently took them through our yard. My late mother could kill rattlesnakes with the best of them. Mother …
Book banning is on the rise in America. According to PEN America, from July 2021 to June 2022, there were 2,532 instances of individual books being banned, involving 1,648 titles by 1,261 different authors. PEN America is a free expression advocacy group headquartered in New York. In the period from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, Texas had the most …
“Of course, I’m just a wild-eyed liberal,” I said sarcastically during a conversation with a conservative friend one day. “No, you’re a moderate,” she said. “You just seem liberal in McIntosh County.” Perhaps so. On social issues, I think government ought to stay out of the bedroom, doctor’s offices and out of our personal lives in general. I don’t believe …
Everybody’s talking about term limits this week, in the leadup to Tuesday’s election. Well, not everybody, but it certainly is the topic of discussion at coffee klatches and business lunches. Even one of my lawyer buddies walked up beside me on the track at the Y this morning and asked “What do you think is going to happen with the …
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” ― Elie Wiesel Elie Wiesel knew what he was talking about. The indifference of the German people, who elected the Nazi Party to …
This article first appeared in the November, 2022 issue of Dakota Country magazine. Long ago, way back in the 1970s, I lived in Dickinson, in western North Dakota, and was a writer and editor for The Dickinson Press. My regular working hours were 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. I was a recently returned Vietnam veteran who needed …
There’s an election coming. It’s a pretty boring one. In North Dakota, all the Republicans will win, except in Fargo and a few other places in the Red River Valley. And maybe one Democrat in Bismarck. District 35 Sen. Tracy Potter. I think District 35 is the only district west of U.S. Highway 281 represented by a Democrat except for …
I don’t even need a map. Just point me west. It wasn’t until the next day, after I was home again, that I realized that — serendipitously — my retreat had taken place on President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday. What I knew was that I needed to go. Go. Go. Go. Away to the Badlands. So I went. To the northern …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team jumped out to a 2-0 in the first nine minutes of its game with Arizona State University on Saturday night but the Sun Devils (5-4-0) rallied for with goals from Matthew Kopperud, Lukas Sillinger and Robert Mastrosimone to claim a 3-2 win over the Fighting Hawks (3-3-1) in the 2022 U.S. Hockey …
Amtrak’s Wink and Nod to the Great Northern I boarded the Amtrak’s Empire Builder train in Minot not long ago, en route to the railroad’s terminus in Seattle. A journey of 1,178 miles, 27 hours, starting at 9 a.m. CDT on a Friday and ending at 10:15 PDT Saturday morning, a day later. That meant we rode in daylight (in late …
The following from “Prairie Mosaic: An Ethnic Atlas of Rural North Dakota,” William C. Sherman, 2nd edition: “A number of Jewish individuals, at least fifteen, filed on homestead lands about ten miles north of Flasher between 1902 and 1906. Assisted by a Jewish ‘back to the land’ organization, these early settlers located in DeVault Township in Morton County. … Within …
The University of North Dakota football team held South Dakota State University in check for one half but stumbled the final two quarters as the Jackrabbits (7-1, 5-0 Missouri Valley Conference) handed the Fighting Hawks (4-3, 3-2 MVC) a 49-35 Missouri Valley Conference loss Saturday in the Alerus Center. No. 20 North Dakota led 21-14 at halftime but was outscored …
I flew to Paris a few days ago from Bismarck. A distance of 4,397 miles. I left my house at 11 a.m. CDT and arrived at my hotel in the center of Paris, with layovers, just 18 hours later. On the plane (I was in steerage) I was given two pretty good meals, an unlimited supply of alcohol, five bottles …
(Posted with the permission of my sister-in-law, Jill, a mostly Norwegian North Dakotan.) No recipe. Hutterite chicken first and foremost. Cook for hours to create chicken stock. Remove chicken. Add chopped celery, onion and carrots. I then add cubes of raw potatoes … then cream. Lots of it. After the potatoes have cooked. Mix knoephla noodle recipe as follows: 6 …
A controversial pipeline to transport toxic waste across McIntosh County is inching closer to reality. Representatives of Summit Carbon Solutions, the pipeline developer, updated the McIntosh County Commission on their progress earlier this month during the commission’s regular monthly meeting. The $4.5 billion carbon-capture pipeline, if it can overcome significant opposition, would transport liquid CO2 from 32 ethanol plants across …
Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner was down in his home country in southwestern North Dakota this past week doing some pheasant hunting and, of course, took his camera along to do some scenic landscapes. He was fortunate to have some great skies both mornings and found some interesting landscapes to photograph.
Having been inspired by Laura Anhalt a few years ago, I have slowly been acquiring old metal coolers for outside storage of seeds for my bird feeders. This in my attempt to foil the squirrels who have for all the years we’ve lived at Red Oak House busily chewed through every other container, mostly tubs made of thick rubber. Yes, …
Today was the official publication date of “Man Overboard: A Medical Lifeline for the Aging Male.” Published by Mayo Clinic Press, it is the literary debut of my good friend, Dr. Craig Bowron, who lives around the corner from my sister, Terri, in St. Paul. I know from some experience that when you are working on a book, the “pub …
The University of North Dakota men’s hockey team surrendered a five-goal lead to fall 6-2 to Quinnipiac University on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. The No. 3 Fighting Hawks (2-1-1) led 2-1 after one period on goals by Riese Gaber and Jackson Blake, but the Bobcats (2-0-2) scored three goals in just over four minutes in the second period …
This is the second of a two-part feature about the intersection of agriculture, business and culture at a place called the Corn Palace in the southeast corner of South Dakota. It is a long way from a roadside attraction dedicated to corn in southeast South Dakota to the mucilage of a $47 billion corn industrial complex that makes maize barely …
I like dark chocolate. I played basketball in high school. Mostly I warmed the bench. Once I “made” a basket for the opposing team, Hettinger. At the time, I wondered why lots of people were cheering. Late in his life, my father, in a conversation with me, ruefully admitted, “Yeah, my kids were never great athletes.” My mother played basketball, …
ON Wednesday night at Texas Christian University, I will be inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame. I know. Go figure. I was happy to learn that the master or ceremonies of the Hall of Fame banquet will be June Naylor Harris, a close friend since the 1980s, when we were both cubs at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. To …
Although the Corn Palace began its long run with geometric designs, it soon took a thematic approach. The most frequent themes have celebrated the frontier, the homestead period, intrepid pioneers, the American West, plains flora and fauna, the coming of the railroad, and Native Americans, but there have also been years dedicated to Egyptian (1911), Dutch (1914) and even Turkish …
The change of season from summer to fall brings about an explosion of colors in the Northland as these Russ Hons images from Itasca State Park in northern Minnesota bear out. (Check out more photos from Russ Hons here.)
This is the first part of a two-part feature about the intersection of agriculture, business and culture at a place called the Corn Palace in the southeast corner of South Dakota. Plenty of people happen upon the World’s Only Corn Palace while traveling through South Dakota, perhaps on their way to Badlands National Park or Mount Rushmore. Or the annual Sturgis megamotorcycle rally. Not so many …
Gavin Hain has been a roll for the University of North Dakota men’s hockey team. The fifth-year senior scored twice and Ethan Frisch and Carson Albrecht each scored once as the Fighting Hawks defeated the College of the Holy Cross 4-1 to complete a weekend sweep of the Crusaders on Saturday night in Ralph Engelstad Arena. Hain has scored six …
“Fall Colors on the Red River” Sheila and I went out one evening this weekend and went along the Red River for a walk and to photograph the fall colors. It was a perfectly calm evening so the reflections were nice in the water, and with an interesting sky near sunset. We also had time to shoot this portrait along …
The University of North Dakota football team capped Homecoming Week with an impressive 48-31 win over Missouri State University in a Missouri Valley Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in the Alerus Center. The Fighting Hawks (3-2 overall, 2-1 MVFC) trailed 21-20 after the first half but outscored the No. 7-ranked Bears (2-3 overall, 0-2 MVFC) 38-10 in the second half to …
An evening stroll along the Red River provided Grand Forks photographer Michael Bogert an opportunity to capture the beauty of the night sky recently.
This article is reprinted from the October 2022 issue of Dakota Country magazine.) OK, I know, I know, I’m not supposed to speak ill of the dead. But I’m going to a little, this month, and then I’m going to offer some praise for the living. And no, it’s not dead critters or fish like you’ll read about elsewhere in …
President and first lady Biden attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. More than 500 heads of state and foreign dignitaries from all over the planet made their way to London to attend the funeral. Representatives from 167 countries of the 193 United Nations member states, including 18 monarchs, 55 presidents and 25 prime ministers were in …
Friends have been notified that Hal Simons, 73, died at his home this past week, after a long battle with cancer. A memorial service is being planned for late October. Hal was a longtime friend, dating back to our newspaper days in the 1970s. He was a member of a loose-knit group of friends who occasionally sat around a table …
A pilgrimage to Nashville, an intersection of culture, education, and craziness, such as it ever has been and ever shall be, where Jim and I attended Americanafest 2022 and reacquainted ourselves with A Big City. https:/Nashville Skyline was one of our many earworms We left City Winery to walk the neighborhood now called The Gulch (the railroad area of town) …
Stuffed cabbage rolls are likely a favorite of many who are fans of the cruciferous vegetable of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes cauliflower, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli and Brussels sprouts. (The veggies get their name because their four-petaled flowers look like a crucifer, or cross.) The importance of the Brassica family of foods to our diet cannot be …
A few days ago, I was reading Alexander Keyssar’s outstanding “The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States.” In his introduction, Keyssar writes, “Americans do place a high value on democratic institutions, and white Americans, at least, have long thought of themselves as citizens of a democratic nation — indeed, not just any democratic nation, …
Queen Elizabeth’s death Sept. 8 hit me harder than I expected. As an American small “r” republican, I usually find America’s obsession with the British royals perplexing. But Elizabeth was much more than a monarch. She was the embodiment of Britain’s unique place in the world through a tumultuous century. The queen’s death after the longest reign in British history, …
There will be some chit-chat about Roger Maris this month at North Dakota coffee shops and saloons because Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees is chasing the slugger’s single-season home run record. North Dakotans still claim that Maris’ 61 homers in 1961 remain the legitimate, nonsteroid record. North Dakotans still claim Roger Maris as their own, even though he …
The last half century has been a period of great disillusionment. In the 1950s, the American people overwhelmingly trusted their government, their president, news sources, educational systems and basic American institutions from the Justice Department to the Department of Defense. Today, the American people are largely disaffected and cynical about those same institutions. A recent NBC News poll indicated that 74 percent of the American people believe …
Tommy Schuster completed 20 of 23 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns to lead the University of North Dakota to a 29-27 Potato Bowl win over the No.-24 ranked University of Northern Iowa in Missouri Valley Conference football Saturday in the Alerus Center. The Fighting Hawks (1-1 overall, 1-0 MVC) clinched the seesaw game on Schuster’s 6-yard touchdown run …
There’s something almost magical about stepping onto the prairie and knowing that it’s possible — even likely — that you’re the first person who has ever put their foot down on that spot. Ever. One of the places you can do that is on the Long X Divide, near the extreme north end of the North Dakota Badlands. Long X …
On a warm summer evening in late August 1947, young Phyllis Maxine Boehmer Fuglie stood on the platform of a Chicago train station and kissed her husband, Whitey Fuglie, goodbye. Just 22 years old and heavy with child, she boarded a train for North Dakota, where her mother and his mother waited to help her with the birth of her …
Photographer Russ Hons traveled to Lincoln, Neb., this past weekend for the University of North Dakota football team’s season opener against the University of Nebraska. The Fighting Hawks gave the Cornhuskers a scare before falling 38-17 in a nonconference game. UND quarterback Tommy Schuster was 24-37 for 137 yards and one touchdown, a 1-yard strike to Adam Zavalney. Isaiah Smith …
“The earth belongs … to the living,” Thomas Jefferson famously wrote to James Madison in 1787, and “the dead have neither power nor rights over it.” Jefferson offered these words in support of his belief that succeeding generations of Americans had the right to develop their own constitutions. But Madison shot down Jefferson’s idea, arguing that “improvement made by the dead … form a debt …
On Wednesday, I wrote an article about Gary Berube, the fella who writes the right-wing stink letters to the editor to all our state’s papers pretty frequently. I wrote about the hypocrisy of him criticizing the proposal to forgive college loans in a recent letter to The Forum when he had taken a free $20,000 PPP loan forgiveness from the …