Future President Theodore Roosevelt’s brief time in North Dakota shaped him and our state in numerous ways. The area where he established his ranching operation is now home to the state’s premier tourist destination, Medora, site of the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library opening this summer and the gateway to the national park that bears his name. A research request for his cattle brand registrations helped State Archives staff locate a piece of Roosevelt’s legacy in North Dakota and better understand and navigate a collection that is popular with researchers.

We have two state Department of Agriculture series related to the registration of cattle brands in our collections. The first contains brand designs and indexes (State Series 30005) and the second the brand registration books themselves (State Series 30003). State Series 30005 covers 1890-1935; State Series 30003 spans 1890-1986.

To navigate the brand designs and indexes, it is important to know that the earlier indexes chronologically are not in the first volumes of the series but are found in Volumes 7 and 8. The first two volumes are large ledgers of brand designs, not registration certificates, but do have an index-like quality to them. Roosevelt’s listing appeared in Volume 7. While the listing is a little hard to see in the image below, his registrations were in Book A (now known as Volume 1 in the series) on pages 35, 36, and 40.

Theodore Roosevelt’s index listing in Volume 7, State Series 30005

The first brand, found on page 35 of Volume 1, State Series 30003, is for Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross Ranch. Roosevelt registered the brand in Billings County for horses and cattle in that county as well as in Stark and Morton counties. The cross design was applied to the left hip on horses and the left hip and right sides of cattle. Registration was made Oct. 11, 1890, but was ultimately canceled due to abandonment of the registration Nov. 1, 1913.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross brand registration in Volume 1, State Series 30003

The second brand he registered was for the Elkhorn Ranch. Found on page 36 of Volume 1, State Series 30003, Roosevelt registered this brand the same day (Oct. 11, 1890) as the Maltese Cross brand. The Elkhorn brand mark was for both horses and stock, with the branding location on the left shoulder for horses and either side for cattle. The registration was canceled Nov. 1, 1913, with the stamp marking it “Abandoned.”

Theodore Roosevelt’s Elkhorn brand registration in Volume 1, State Series 30003

His third registered brand is a simple triangle. Registered the same day as his other brands, this brand appears to be affiliated with his Elkhorn Ranch based on information included in a National Park Service Historical Handbook on Roosevelt’s time in the Badlands. It, too, was later canceled Nov. 1, 1913 and considered abandoned based on the stamp.

Theodore Roosevelt’s triangle brand registration in Volume 1, State Series 30003

It is important to note that Roosevelt had been out of the cattle business for several years by 1913 and his large-scale operations had ceased before these brands were registered with the state. He was still engaged in the cattle business in the early 1890s, so registering the marks made sense. At the time, he was attempting to recoup losses from the brutal 1886-87 winter that decimated herds and brought an end to many of the open range cattle operations in the Badlands.

Finding Roosevelt’s brand registrations was exciting as they allow researchers and curious visitors a chance to connect an ordinary series to an American icon, providing a better understanding of how the series is organized and enhancing accessibility for individuals researching ancestors who raised stock in North Dakota.

Whether you are a TR aficionado or someone looking for your family’s brand, come to the State Archives and arrange to view the brand books. Your journey into North Dakota’s past awaits!

What if your next economics lesson didn’t start with a textbook, but with a dice roll? When a local teacher reached out asking if I had any lessons related to economics for a class of high school students, I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make history relevant and engaging for young people. Thus was born a project combining state history, economic theory, and game-based learning into a hands-on classroom experience. The result was a game exploring the agriculture and oil booms and busts of northwestern North Dakota between 1975 and 1985.

Why then? The late 1970s and early 1980s were a time of dramatic economic swings in our region. High oil prices and strong wheat markets brought prosperity to many communities, followed by sharp downturns that left lasting impacts. These cycles of boom and bust offer a powerful lens for teaching key economic concepts like supply and demand, market speculation, and resource dependency.

Career cards describe each community member’s job role and salary. Play money is used for transactions in the game.

In this economics game, students assume jobs in the community such as teacher, rancher, or oil worker. Then they roll the dice to advance the game and determine the fate of that group. Each game square represents an event inspired by real newspaper clippings from McKenzie County. Each round is a year between 1975 and 1985. Players must make decisions about investing in oil rigs, expanding farms, buying insurance, and building infrastructure, while navigating unpredictable market shifts, weather events, and policy changes.

Game squares contain a newspaper clipping and detail the impact the report has on careers in the game.

By the end of the game, students have gained an understanding of how history and economics intersect in their own backyard and grappled with the challenges of economic decision-making under uncertainty.

Through this game, students don’t just learn about economics, they live it. By stepping into the shoes of real community members and navigating the volatility of boom-and-bust economies, they gain a deeper appreciation for how market forces shape lives, towns, and futures. It’s a powerful reminder that history isn’t just something we read about, it’s something we can simulate, question, and learn from. In doing so, we help students connect classroom concepts to real-world stories rooted right here in North Dakota.

Many North Dakotans will soon be ringing in the New Year with a toast. Here are some conversation starters from the state collections for your New Year’s parties.

1. Turtle Mountain Brewery Barrel Branding Iron

Local breweries were a thriving business in northern Dakota Territory. The Turtle Mountain Brewery served the Rolette County area from around 1886 until 1889 when North Dakota joined the union as a dry state. Carl Stofft, a German immigrant, founded the Dunseith-based business. Stofft worked with Francis Higgins, a cooper who constructed the vats and barrels likely marked with this brand.

The “TURTLE MT. BR.Y” brand. SHSND 2018.95.1

2. Prohibition Beer

When the 18th Amendment took effect in 1920, not much changed for North Dakotans. Many had been ignoring the dry state’s prohibition laws since 1889. On Oct. 8, 1930, undercover Prohibition agent Leo St. Martin bought this bottle of homemade beer for 45 cents from Lance Zimmer at a Bismarck residence. The bottle was labeled as evidence in the liquor trafficking case against Zimmer. Zimmer pled guilty to the charge.

Beer bottle with evidence label from the U.S. Prohibition Service. SHSND 14227

3. Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Ruler

Here’s one for the teetotalers. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) promoted social reform by encouraging abstinence from alcohol. Members were loud proponents of both Prohibition and woman suffrage. Viola Leissman, a member of Bismarck’s WCTU chapter, collected this ruler.

WCTU ruler (front and back). The initials “EL” on the back are from Viola’s son, Emerson. SHSND 2011.30.19

4. Dakota Beer Six-Pack

In 1932, North Dakotans voted to repeal the state’s ban on alcohol with federal Prohibition ending the following year. Around this same time, the state also legalized the manufacture, sale, and distribution of beer. But it took decades for the brewing industry in North Dakota to revive. Dakota Malting and Brewing Company was North Dakota’s first post-Prohibition brewery. The Bismarck-based company produced its first batch of Dakota Beer in 1961 but closed its doors a few years later in 1965.

“Dakota Beer: Brewed in the heart of barley country.” SHSND 1978.41.1

5. Bismarck Distillery Canned Cocktail

While beer regained its legal status in the state in 1933, liquor had to wait three more years. Nowadays, craft breweries and distilleries are successful businesses. A North Dakotan bought this Bismarck Distillery apple pie-flavored vodka cocktail while visiting Send It! 24/7 Cornhole in Mandan.

A ready-to-drink cocktail from Bismarck Distillery. SHSND 2024.1.1

I hope your New Year’s is made brighter by these fun facts from the past. Cheers!

The State Historical Society of North Dakota’s new searchable database—fiNDhistory—allows the public to view, browse, and search holdings as they are added, scanned, and edited in real time. Here are three tips to search for State Archives collections on the site:

1. Search within a specific directory

The State Archives holdings include local and state government, manuscript, photograph, and library collections. These unique collection types are stored and managed separately on-site and appear as distinct searchable directories on fiNDhistory. In addition to these directories, there are indexes for State Historical Society publications (titles are listed on the landing page) and Foundation tributes managed by the State Archives. More indexes will likely to be added in the future.

As an alternative to a global search, which includes all directories (at all levels), you can search within a specific directory to quickly return a manageable list of results. On the home page, click on the desired collection type/directory to search within it. There, you will find a search box where you can type your term.

Archival directories and indexes (highlighted) may be searched globally or individually.

Data within fiNDhistory is set up to mirror how collections and materials within them are physically organized. The library collection is keyword search only, but searches within the other collection types include the option to narrow the search by archival level (found below the search box). Collection level records describe each collection as a whole, providing an overview and selected terms that apply to all boxes and materials within. The archival level “collection” filter searches this broad collection-level information. Series is an intellectual level of description used by archivists that is great for physical organization of collections but the least useful for searching. File unit records include titles and dates of the contents of each folder in every collection. This level is probably the best for searching because most collections have file descriptions. Additionally, a file unit search may pull results that a collection level search would not. Finally, the archival level item searches all item records that have been created within each collection. Note that this will not search for every single item in the archives, only the items that have been described. The quantity of item records vary widely across directories: Photograph and manuscript collections often include item records, while local and state government collections rarely do. The archival level dropdown also allows for a search of all levels.

Drop-down option to select the level of the archival record to be searched.

It should be noted that all collection types contain photographs, but photograph collections consist of only photographs. Audiovisual recordings are primarily found in manuscript collections (but are also in local and state government records).

2. How to find scanned items

To determine if something is digitized, begin your search. A global search will include results from State Archives and museum collections and indexes and will order results first by directory, then by archival level.

If scanned images are available, they will appear alongside records in the results. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.

Thumbnails of scanned images appear next to item records in the search results.

Find available document scans or other media files by clicking into the records.

Then, if documents or other resources have been digitized (into nonimage formats), there will be a file under related media. Click the file name (not the icon) to access the file.

Select the appropriate program to open the file if needed.

Note that a search may be restricted to “online only,” revealing only those results with records or adjacent records (such as collections with at least one digitized item within).

3. View a collection as a whole

To view an entire collection, conduct a global or directory-specific search. You can narrow a search to “collection” for archival level or select a collection level record from global search results by clicking on the collection number. At the bottom of the page, after the collection-level description, there is a section listing the materials in the collection. These might include series, file unit, and item records.

Click on the title of the record for more information.

The right side of the page will describe the selected record. Related records will appear to the left and are searchable.

These three tips for searching fiNDhistory are a great starting point. Additional tips for navigating the site can be found on this YouTube video. If you have any questions or need assistance, we are happy to help! Contact us at archives@nd.gov or 701.328.2091.

What does an archaeologist do?

First hint: We do not look for dinosaurs.

Paleontologists study dinosaurs and other fossils. (We regularly ask the paleontologists who work for the North Dakota Geological Survey questions about fossils.)

Archaeologists do not dig for dinosaurs! Paleontologists do that.

Second hint: We do not hunt for treasure.

This is often how archaeologists are depicted in movies, television shows, and books. They are usually searching for rare treasures that will make them rich and famous (think Indiana Jones). And when they find the treasure, they grab it and run. A real archaeologist doesn’t do that.

So what does an archaeologist do?

Archaeology is about people and the study of the human past. Archaeologists are scientists interested in learning more about people and how they lived—whether 50 years ago, hundreds of years ago, or thousands of years ago.

Bottom Left: a detail from artist Greg Harlin’s painting of bison hunters at Beacon Island thousands of years ago. SHSND
Bottom Right: a detail from Rob Evans’ cyclorama of Mandan people living at Double Ditch Indian Village hundreds of years ago. See it in the ND Heritage Center & State Museum’s Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples. SHSND
Top: detail of a group of people from an undated photo taken in the late 1800s-early 1900s. SHSND SA 11636-00041

One of the ways we learn about how people lived in the past is by studying artifacts. Artifacts are anything made, used, touched, carried, or modified by people. Artifacts are little clues that help archaeologists understand how people lived and interacted with the world around them.

An Agate Basin projectile point—similar to the cast on the far left—is an artifact. But so are the fire-cracked rocks, charcoal, and ash in the center. The pull tab and piece of concrete on the right are examples of recent artifacts. SHSND AHP educational collection

Besides artifacts, we also learn from features. Like artifacts, features were made or used by people. But unlike artifacts they can’t easily be removed. Foundations from old buildings, post holes, and hearths or fire pits are all examples of features.

Top: a hearth (left) and three post holes (right) at Fort Clark State Historic Site.
Bottom: an historical house foundation built on top of the Hidatsa village at Molander Indian Village State Historic Site.
Both images show examples of features.

Two of the most important aspects of archaeology are provenience and context. Provenience is where something is found. Context is what is found around it. This is important for both artifacts and features. Provenience and context give us even more clues as to how people lived in the past. An artifact without provenience or context lacks the clues that help tell the story of the people who used it.

These artifacts are unprovenienced objects (we do not know where they were found). Most likely none of these objects even came from the same place. They are fun to look at. But we can only say a few things about them—that they are “old” and mostly from the mid-to-late 1800s to early 1900s.

Unprovenienced artifacts from the Archaeology & Historic Preservation Department’s educational collection. We do not know where these were found. Top: wagon wheel hub wrench; middle row: a horseshoe, a suspender buckle, and flat window glass shards; bottom row: glass and shell buttons, nails, and watermelon seeds. SHSND AHP educational collection

It is major part of an archaeologist’s job to make sure the provenience and context are recorded. When an artifact is removed from a site or a feature is destroyed, the context is gone. We can never get it back. Because this information is so important, archaeologists record data in many ways. They keep notes about what they do, what they see, and where things are found. They record measurements of features and objects. They take a lot of photographs and keep photologs. They create sketches. They record locations by making maps and using tools like GPS.

All this information is usually compiled in a report. The end goal of archaeology is to preserve information about the past and to share it with others in the future. Sometimes this is done with a book or publication. Other times it is done with exhibits, posters, or even blog posts.

Let’s pretend an archaeologist excavated the artifacts in the previous photograph. They recorded everything in their field journal, took photos, and recorded measurements of the features and artifacts. They also recorded information on a simple sketch map like this.

Recording the location of artifacts and features in a sketch map is a key part of what archaeologists do.

With the information from the scenario above, we could be looking at artifacts and features that tell a story like the one in this photograph. Knowing where artifacts and features were found in relationship to each other helps tell the story of what people were doing in a specific place and time.

A watermelon party near Larimore around 1905. SHSND SA 00032-GF-22-0002

One of the best parts of my job is sharing it with my kids—even if they don’t fully understand it. They know that I travel to state historic sites, but they think that means I work at a different place each day and have offices all around North Dakota. They often ask to come with me to help. This past spring, both my son, Calvin, and my oldest daughter, Auri, traveled with me to explore the sites I manage, and in Auri’s case, helped lead Victorian-era games on the Chateau de Morès State Historic Site’s lawn.

Calvin hangs out with Buford the Baby Bison at the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence State Historic Site near Willison.

Auri and I in front of the Chateau after teaching Victorian games at the Chateau de Morès State Historic Site.

Recently, they had the opportunity to experience a different aspect of my work by donating items to the State Historical Society of North Dakota’s collections. 

If you are like our family and have kids the same age as mine (5 and 3 years old and 6 months), then I am sure you are fully aware of good2grow juice. Incredibly popular with kids and parents, these bottles have distinctive colorful toppers featuring well-known cartoon characters.

As parents, we appreciate that the juice is not full of sugar, and the bottle is spill-proof. (Well, almost as my wife recently found out. Pro tip: Don’t throw a full bottle down a flight of stairs.) This makes them great for car trips and road trips. The bottles are reusable, so we can refill them with water if we want. When out running errands or on road trips, our kids often pick a bottle of this juice with a character they love as their treat for that trip or for being good.

Our topper drawer at home. Do you recognize any of these characters?

If you are aware of this phenomenon, then you may also, like us, have a massive collection of bottle toppers. We are nearing 100 of these character toppers. And believe me when I say, you can’t just throw them away! My wife has seen numerous videos where parents turn these bottles and toppers into games, such as bowling, cut off the character to make a toy, or even reuse them on a straw for a different cup—basically, try to find any use that keeps kids happy about not losing a potential toy or their favorite character. So what does this have to do with my work for the State Historical Society?

One of the highlights of my job is serving on the museum collections committee. I get to see all the great things people offer us for our collections. We can’t take all of it, as sometimes the item does not have a North Dakota story or maybe we already have a similar item in our collection and do not need another. We try to collect things in the moment, so we don’t have to hope that somebody donates them to us in the future. These bottles and toppers seemed like a good candidate. They are wildly popular now, but they may not be in the future. They are the kind of item the State Historical Society could put on display someday, and parents could explain to their kids how they loved these bottles as children and tell them about the characters they collected. The biggest trick here was convincing my kids to part with a pair of precious bottles.

When I told Calvin and Auri about my idea of donating a pair of bottles and toppers to the museum collections, they were excited. We spent an hour digging through our topper drawer (yes, I know), looking at all possible options. At first, Calvin wanted to donate one that he did not care about—a character from Cocomelon he had initially selected because it was a cartoon head. I told him it should be a character that holds meaning for him. So he selected a Mickey Mouse one, and Auri chose a Minnie Mouse one. Great selections, in my view, as they once went as Mickey and Minnie for Halloween and love those characters. 

Calvin and Auri as Mickey and Minnie for Halloween 2022.

The more we discussed it, the more concerned Calvin became that he would never get to use the Mickey topper or see it again. He was also worried it might break or that the State Museum might get rid of it. It was an opportunity to explain to him how our museum’s curatorial staff collects and preserves items for future generations. I told him one day it might even be on exhibit. 

Calvin opted to switch to a character he had a duplicate of instead of his one-of-a-kind Mickey with a green hat. He chose Sonic the Hedgehog. He has been a big fan of Sonic since the second movie came out. He even has a placemat with characters from one of the animated Sonic TV shows, each assigned to a member of our family (Sonic = Dad; Tails = Calvin; Amy Rose = Auri; Knuckles = Mom). Auri changed her selection to MerCat from “Gabby’s Dollhouse.” This popular children’s show on Netflix features a girl who shrinks down to the size of a toy and embarks on adventures with imaginary cats inside her dollhouse. Auri and Calvin like the show and have their own version of the dollhouse, along with many toys to accompany it. Both Sonic and MerCat are characters who mean a lot to them.

The final bottle and topper selections earmarked for the state collections.

With the bottles chosen, the next step was to submit the paperwork for potential acquisitions. I handled this part. It is a pretty simple form to fill out. The most crucial part was sharing the history and why I thought these items should be added to the collection. While these bottles do not have a strong North Dakota story, they are items that kids all over the state will remember after they grow up. 

At the meeting, the bottles were received with great enthusiasm and quickly accepted. Our department’s Administrative Assistant Kiri Stone wrote a great note to the kids, telling them that their bottles had been accepted into the collection. For most people who wish to donate items to the State Historical Society, getting such a notification would be a thing of joy. But my kids were sad—their bottles were going away. To ease the pain, I told them we would take photos of them with the bottles so they would never forget them.

Calvin and Auri pose with their bottles before handing them over to the State Historical Society.

My silly and wonderful kids with their prized juice bottles.

Throughout this process, I constantly explained to them the reasons why we collect items and why these remain at the ND Heritage Center & State Museum. Nobody would use their bottles, I promised. Another challenge was that the bottles would not be going on display right away, and I could not tell them if or when they ever would be. To them, it might seem like they would never see their bottles again. But good old dad had one more trick up his sleeve.

Before I could put my plan into motion, I had to give the collections team time to process the bottles. When an item arrives, it does not go straight back onto a shelf. It must be labeled, a condition report created, photos taken, and data entered into our records management system. A proper home for it also needs to be found. Once this was finished, I could enact my plan. I arranged for the kids to come and inspect the new home of their bottles as well as see some of the other cool things we keep in our collections.

This October, Research Historian Lori Nohner agreed to give Calvin and Auri a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum collections area. The kids were ecstatic about the opportunity to visit Dad’s work and also be reunited with their bottles. Lori did a great job of showing the kids around the collections. Seeing their bottles was a highlight but so was seeing a pair of nursing scrubs that belonged to their mom and their dad’s name badge from his teaching days. They also got to see some historical toys. They loved that Lori let them use her badge to buzz into collections and help her move shelves. Overall, it was the perfect way to cap off this whole experience.

Research Historian Lori Nohner takes Calvin and Auri to see their bottles’ new home.

Calvin and Auri are excited to see Mom's scrubs that she donated after finishing nursing school. My wife was also excited to see them. Baby Zelda was ready for a nap.

Lori shows my kids a nurse’s outfit that was over 100 years old so they could compare it to their mom’s donated scrubs.

Auri helps Lori move the collection shelves.

The whole experience was great. I know my wife and kids got a kick out donating to the museum and going behind the scenes. We don’t often think the items we use every day and take for granted have historical value. Or we feel the need to hold on to them until they are old enough to warrant donating. Now my kids can claim to have items in a museum and may continue to share items in the future. And for readers of this post, perhaps you have something we need to better tell the story of North Dakota and its people, even if it is not 100 years old.

Auri says, "All this history stuff is hard work."