State Historical Society of North Dakota staff began working on content for the new Military Gallery in summer 2024. I wanted to share a few things that I learned as I dig into this ongoing project. Some of these things made me wonder, “How did I not know this already?” But if I didn’t know them, perhaps others would find them as fascinating as I do.

1) The Rough Rider State?

Many North Dakotans volunteered to serve in the 1898 Spanish-American War. But according to Theodore Roosevelt’s book, “The Rough Riders,” only three North Dakotans served with him in the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry (better known as the Rough Riders): Jesse Langdon of Fargo, William T. de Zychlinski of Bismarck, and Frank Kania of Jamestown.

The majority of the Roosevelt’s troops were men from Southwestern states and territories like Texas, Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), and New Mexico. Most North Dakota men served with either the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry (today’s North Dakota National Guard) or the 3rd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry (nicknamed Grigsby’s Cowboys). While the 1st ND Volunteers sailed to the Philippine campaign and the Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill, Grigsby’s Cowboys never made it out of the continental United States. The regiment stalled at Camp Thomas in Chickamauga, Georgia, suffering from typhoid and dysentery and never seeing combat.

Uniform of Leslie Simpson, 3rd U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (Grigsby’s Cowboys). Simpson, of Dickinson, was serving as state’s attorney for Stark County when he enlisted. SHSND 6463.1-.2

2) The Mock Battle of Manila, Aug. 13, 1898

“The battle of Manila is a matter of history,” wrote Maj. Frank White to his family about his participation in the battle. “It was rather disappointing as they only sent four vessels in and they did but little firing. I expected to see the whole fleet go at them.”

White, from Valley City, along with the rest of the 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry arrived in Manila, Philippines, 13 days earlier and participated in the battle marking the end of the Spanish-American War. Unknown to White, and nearly all the American soldiers, the battle was carefully staged between U.S. and Spanish commanders. Spanish troops were under siege in Manila with Filipino forces surrounding the city and the U.S. Navy blockading Manila Bay. Rather than surrender to Filipinos, who had been under Spanish rule for some 300 years, Spain wanted to save face and entered secret negotiations with the U.S. commanders. On the morning of Aug. 13, 1898, the staged bombardment of Manila commenced and lasted a matter of a few hours with minor casualties. That December, Spain would cede the Philippines to the U.S, directly leading to the Philippine-American War the following year. The 1st North Dakota Volunteers returned to the U.S. in August 1899, and White went on to serve as governor of North Dakota. The Philippine-American War finally concluded in 1902, but the Philippines remained a U.S. territory until 1946.

Artillery shell fragment collected by Capt. William P. Moffet at the Battle of Manila. The inscription reads: “Part of an Exploded Shell. Presented by Capt. W.P.M. Fired by [the USS] Monterey at City of Manila, Aug. 13, 1898.” SHSND 2886

3) Dec. 7 … and Dec. 8, 1941

Radioman 3rd Class Don Sjoblom of Bismarck stood on the gangway of the USS Dobbin when the air raid on Pearl Harbor started. At the time, Hawaii was still a U.S. territory. Ten hours later, but across the international date line, another North Dakotan, Staff Sgt. Walter F. Wheeling of Plaza, stationed at Nichols Field near Manila, learned about the bombing of the U.S. air base at Clark Field, 65 miles north of the capital city. Most Americans will never forget Pearl Harbor, but perhaps many do not realize multiple other U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean besides Hawaii suffered the same fate. Japan targeted Guam, Midway Island, Wake Island, and the Philippines in the same 12-hour period.

What I never knew is the number of lives lost in the Philippines during World War II. Wheeling survived the Bataan Death March following Japan’s invasion of the Philippines, but thousands of soldiers—American and Filipino—perished. Throughout the course of the war, it is estimated between 500,000 and one million civilians lost their lives in the Philippines. While civilians born in Hawaii were considered U.S. citizens, Filipino civilians were not. An explanation of this is a dive into American imperialism we don’t have time for here, but the loss of life in an American territory during World War II is staggering.

A page from Staff Sgt. Walter F. Wheeling’s World War II reminiscences. Read more at FiNDhistory. SHSND SA 10873-01382

There is always something more to learn about history. I am grateful to the North Dakotans who have entrusted us with the stories of their service. Knowing about these events is one thing, but learning about them through the letters, reminiscences, and physical mementos of North Dakotans creates a deeper connection to our shared past.

This past May, I graduated from Bemidji State University in Minnesota with a bachelor's in social studies. I began my internship at the State Archives with very little knowledge of North Dakota, as I am a Minnesota native and have rarely traveled farther west than Fargo. Over the summer, however, I gained a crash course in North Dakota history while developing valuable skills that will benefit me throughout my career. 

Most of my time was spent assisting visitors at the reference desk in the State Archives. One of the most common requests I received was related to genealogical research, with visitors often seeking information about their ancestors. The reference desk has access to a variety of resources available to the public. I regularly helped patrons find death records, locate obituaries and birth announcements, and use our newspaper collection on microfilm to find specific information. 

Microfilm drawers at the State Archives’ Reading Room.

When I was not assisting visitors in the Reading Room, I spent my time researching and writing for Prairie Public’s “Dakota Datebook.” I wrote seven entries during my time at the State Archives. I also worked on a project to categorize and label naturalization papers from Morton County ranging from the late 1800s through to the early 1900s. For each document, I verified names, dates, and countries of origin to ensure the information was correct in our system.

Naturalization record from Cavalier County, 1885.

Overall, this internship was an incredible experience. It provided me with meaningful, hands-on archival and reference work while exposing me to many different aspects of the profession. This opportunity has strengthened my understanding of the field and given me a clearer picture of the career I hope to pursue.

How would I describe this summer? Hot! Days like these make me wonder how people in the past stayed cool without air conditioning or enjoyed the outdoors when it was sweltering. After searching through the museum collections, I selected a few items that help explain how they did it and often how we still do it today.

It’s fair to say that women’s bathing suits have gone through a major transformation over the last 100 years. The first swimsuits were made of wool and more like slimmed-down dresses or jumpers with shorts.

A navy-and-white wool swimsuit from about 1900. SHSND 14773.1 

Wearing wool, and so much of it, doesn’t sound like it would provide much relief from the heat. Plus, it would be heavy when wet. It’s no surprise then that coverage rapidly decreased as the century wore on. In the 1970s, Signe Snortland made her own bikini out of stretch synthetic fabric, which dried much quicker than the wool swimsuit from decades before. Her family also enjoyed a refreshing pool in their Bismarck backyard.

Signe Snortland cleans the family inground pool in the 1970s. Her groovy bikini is part of the museum collections. SHSND 2007.13.53 

Can’t fit a permanent pool in your backyard? Consider an inflatable kiddie pool, like the one the Snortland family had in their yard in the 1950s. This plastic wading pool, also in the museum collections, has a green bottom and yellow sides featuring red fish. It is a perfect size and depth to cool down the tiny humans in your family. 

Signe and Kristi Snortland sit in an inflatable kiddie pool in the 1950s. SHSND 2007.13.26

Another refreshing backyard activity is running through the sprinkler. I remember precisely timing my jumps over the sprinkler to be sprayed with the desired amount of water. 

The Nelson Turbo-Heart sprinkler was a staple of 1980s summer days. SHSND 1985.62.1

If you don’t have a yard or don’t want to mess with any sort of pool in your yard, public pools are a great option. Bismarck Parks & Recreation District once sold pool membership patches that attached to your swimsuit. A person could then go to a Bismarck public pool as many times as they wanted for the summer.

Bismarck Pools annual pass patches for 1975, 1981, and 1982 used by the children of Joseph F. Schneider and Vera Wahlman. SHSND 2018.86.1-3

Another way to cool down is to eat cold food such as ice cream. The best place to get ice cream is an ice cream shop. When it is hot outside, one might want an ice cream sandwich. Have you ever wondered how they get the slices of ice cream so even? Well, clearly you need an ice cream sandwich maker in your life. After it slices the ice cream, you press the lever and the ice cream is pushed out, right onto a waiting sandwich. 

Ice cream sandwich maker. SHSND 17880

Ice cream sandwiches can melt quickly though and make a mess. A good way to contain all that mess is to have a shake or malt. This malted milk machine was made by Hamilton Beach and dates to about the 1920s. 

Ice Cream malted milk machine. SHSND 17880

I hope this has given you some ideas to cool down this summer. I might make myself a malt and sit in an inflatable wading pool in my backyard.

While up to my elbows in weeds working in the gardens at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, my mind has ample opportunity to wander. The rhythmic action of dislodging a weed to grapple the land back from the wildness of nature creates a flow state. My conscious mind quiets, allowing my unconscious mind to tap into the past, and for a moment the professional and the personal intersect.

Great northern beans in the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center’s Oscar H. Will garden. Our gardens provide a tactile way to share more of our historical content with visitors. The Mandans and Hidatsas were agricultural civilizations; this is an example of what they grew.

The history of many North Dakotans is held in the soil. My German Russian ancestors came to this area with the hope of building a future—a hope carried in seeds and a future held in the crops and produce these seeds would become. They looked to the harvest to sustain themselves and future generations. 

Four-year-old me makes Christmas cookies with my grandmother. Christmas never saw an empty cookie plate.

I could not help but connect my weeding at the Interpretive Center with my grandmothers in their huge gardens and kitchens—saving, storing, canning, and putting by for the coming winters—and my grandfathers out in the fields growing wheat that would be milled for bread. They would gaze at the sky to read the weather, touch the soil to diagnose the conditions. 

You can take the farmer off the farm, but you can’t keep him away from tractors. My grandfather loved “cutting hay” even in his later career working for Dickinson’s park board.

I found myself scanning the skies and crumbling the dirt between my fingertips. I found myself whispering words of encouragement to the seedlings and sprouts I was defending from the thistles and creeping Jenny. I found myself echoing generations of the last 150 years. 

The North Dakota sky draws you in and transports you through time. Notice the vistas and clouds forming on the horizon beyond the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center: pure magic.

North Dakota may have a reputation of harshness, but it forges within all who grow here a hardiness that can weather every extreme. I often joked with my grandparents that despite all the places they could have chosen to make their lives, they picked, or chose to stay in, North Dakota. But they grew where they were planted, and their resilience in the face of uncertainty was passed down through the generations like my grandfather’s blue eyes.

The lives my grandparents lived wove a thread into the tapestry of my history, my present, and my future. Their endurance, resilience, patience, and love resonate through all their descendants. Theirs was a legacy of stewardship, and we will carry that legacy through every generation that follows. 

We’ve all been shaped and sustained by the land on which we live. We’re all building our lives and our futures from the ground up. The challenges we face year after year are a testament to the abundance of potential here. Facing the weeds and finding the future happening in real time each time I pick up my trowel at the Interpretive Center brings a definite feeling of humbling satisfaction. It transports me back to the hope of my ancestors breaking ground for the first time, the sweetness of the jams canned through the years, and the taste of the fresh bread. The weeds make the bounty more significant and the flavors of success all the richer.

I had only attended Minot’s Norsk Høstfest festival twice, in 2024 and 2025, before the Norsk Høstfest Association announced that 2025 had been its last event. But as the photo intern this summer at the State Archives, I have had the opportunity to work with photos from the festival that were donated by the association after the event’s conclusion. The photos date to 1978 when Norsk Høstfest was created to celebrate and honor Scandinavian traditions, bringing in attendees from across the world. I have learned so much about Norsk Høstfest through these photos, which provide a fascinating glimpse into the festival’s past. These are just a few of my favorites.

Over the years, crowds flocked to the North Dakota State Fair Center in Minot to celebrate Norsk Høstfest, as seen in this 1993 picture. SHSND SA 11762

I was surprised to see that in 1983, Princess Astrid of Norway visited Minot to attend Norsk Høstfest. Minot is a sister city to Skien, Norway. Princess Astrid, second daughter of King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha of Sweden, was able to attend Norsk Høstfest again in 2007, highlighting its importance internationally. 

Princess Astrid is escorted by then-Gov. John Hoeven to the Norsk Høstfest Governor’s Reception, 2007. SHSND SA 11762

In 1984, Yvonne Ryding from Sweden was crowned Miss Universe. That fall, she made a special appearance at Norsk Høstfest, the only reigning Miss Universe ever recorded to visit North Dakota.

Miss Universe 1984 poses with a Norsk Høstfest vendor holding a commemorative plate with a Scandinavian design. SHSND SA 11762

The International Peace Garden is not the only place to commemorate North Dakota’s relationship with Canada. In 1985, Miss Canada, Karen Elizabeth Tilley from Alberta, attended Norsk Høstfest. Earlier that year, she had placed in the top 10 of the Miss Universe competition.

Attendees and festival staff dressed in traditional Scandinavian outfits jumped at the chance to take photographs with Miss Canada, 1985. SHSND SA 11762

A special exhibit at the Scandinavian festival in 2013 showcased a remarkable toy that was introduced in 1949 from a company founded by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a Danish man. This famous toy, called LEGO bricks, was proudly built into Scandinavian designs for Norsk Høstfest attendees to view and admire. Children also had the opportunity to play with LEGOs on tables in front of the display.

Children show off their creations, 2013. An elaborate Scandinavian LEGO display is visible in the background. SHSND SA 11762

Finally, a large red Dala horse was a fixture at Norsk Høstfest for years. A Dala horse is a traditional Swedish wooden horse painted with decorative patterns. After the closure of Norsk Høstfest, this Dala horse was moved to the ND Heritage Center & State Museum in Bismarck, where it appears in our new exhibit marking the nation’s semiquincentennial: ND250 Road Trip: Our American Story.

This man, dressed as Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, poses with two children in front of the beloved Norsk Høstfest Dala horse, 2001. SHSND SA 11762

The Bicentennial flag is displayed at the groundbreaking ceremony of the North Dakota Heritage Center, October 1976. SHSND SA 10909-00003

I love a good celebration! It’s so fun to create memories, see friends and family, and feel those party vibes—whether for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, or festivals. A celebration on a national level, such as America’s 250th, adds an extra layer. It’s a mile marker!

Working at the State Historical Society during this auspicious birthday means we not only get to look toward the future, but we get to look back at the past in a very special way, viewing and sharing our North Dakota heritage through the collections we hold and remembering how similar milestones have been recognized. Most recently for us, that means looking at the nation’s Bicentennial celebration in July 1976. The State Archives holds many collections that document this celebration, and we continue to take in related items.

Without further ado, here is a roundup of some of our collections linked to the U.S. Bicentennial.

10157 North Dakota Oral History Project
“Old-timers” in every North Dakota county were interviewed over several years in the 1970s for this project. Photographs were also collected from those willing to share, and each person interviewed was photographed. This collection highlights famous North Dakotans as well as everyday people. For example, within this collection (consisting of approximately 1,200 audiocassettes), we have an interview with North Dakota musician and band leader Lawrence Welk; with Olaus Abelseth, a man who came to America on the Titanic and settled here; and with the wife of the doctor who happened to deliver my mother. It’s eclectic, beautiful, and a great snapshot of North Dakotans living in the state.

Sam Krause of Zap poses outside for a photo on the day of his oral history interview, Sept. 30, 1975. SHSND SA 00032-ME-03-Intv002

1976 Dakota Photo Documentary Project
This photo project sent photographers to each community to record it as it was at that time. Pictures of main streets, businesses, and other beauty shots document these communities, whether vibrant and alive or abandoned. Residents, landmarks, and events are captured in some of these images.

These two images, depicting Nome, left, and Woburn, show some of the community photos included in our collections, circa 1976. SHSND SA 1976-00016, 1976-00103

North Dakota American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Collections
In North Dakota, a commission was formed to manage, create, designate, and assist as communities became involved in the celebrations. It designed logos, collected stories about the celebrations, assigned designations, and more. We have multiple collections relating to these aspects, documenting what happened around the state through written correspondence, audiovisual materials, and newspaper clippings.

Newspapers
Speaking of newspaper clippings, did you know that the State Archives is a repository for all official county newspapers in North Dakota? A law in effect since 1905 helps us collect these important sources of community news. The newspapers cover a lot of local happenings from the 1970s, including the Bicentennial, and we have these resources. Some are even digitized and can be searched and viewed on our website.

This article highlights Bicentennial events in the southeastern town of Kulm. The Kulm Messenger, July 1, 1976

County History Books
Some communities chose to pour their heritage into book form. Various North Dakota communities created county and town histories that documented the history of their area and shared biographical material about the people living there.

21723 Bicentennial Wagon Train Oral History
In 1976, a wagon train path was established that took participants across the country to Pennsylvania. They camped, rode horses, pulled wagons, and traveled as the pioneers did. I was lucky enough to interview twins Sharan and Sherry Bethke, who participated in this event. This oral history relates their memories of this event—and was only conducted a couple of years ago!

On July 4, 1976, North Dakotans Sharan and Sherry Bethke rode into Valley Forge as part of the commemorative Wagon Train. Sherry is pictured here on her horse Red Feather. SHSND SA 21723-00002

Sharan and her horse Dakota on the same day. SHSND SA 21723-00003

As you can see, we place great emphasis on North Dakota’s heritage at the State Archives. We also were thrilled to contribute a section on exploring your roots to ND250 Road Trip: Our American Story, a new exhibit celebrating the semiquincentennial at the ND Heritage Center & State Museum.  

For more information on our Bicentennial holdings or how we can help you trace your heritage, try searching our website, and check out this “Our Heritage: Bicentennial Records” video.

Happy 250th birthday, America!