231,134 – Number of people who visited the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum in 2015. What an amazing response!

65,000+ - Number of square feet of exhibit space managed by the State Historical Society of North Dakota across the state. How many of our interpretive centers and historic sites have you visited?

In 2008 Fort Abercrombie State Historic Site opened a new interpretive center and permanent exhibit.

8,000+ - Weight in pounds of Dakota the Dinomummy, which staff has moved five times. Prior to the last move, however, preparation work by the North Dakota Geological Survey removed 3,000 pounds of stone matrix, for which our backs are eternally grateful.

925 – Number of objects on display in the Inspiration Gallery. The tallest, at more than 23 feet, is the 1942 wind generator. The International Boundary Marker, acquired in 1905, has been in the State Museum collections longer than any other item.

The tallest object on display is often overshadowed by one the most popular – the interactive tractor!

128 – Number of plastic potatoes that were found when moving offices in 2015. Those with especially good memories may recall a dozen or so of these potatoes being on display next to the John Deere tractor in the ND Heritage Center before the Expansion. Apparently there were some left over…

5 – Words per second that an average museum visitor reads. Exhibit writing aims to hit that sweet spot where all the essential information is conveyed, but done quickly enough that visitors stay engaged and do not walk away.

5 – Number of national awards the State Historical Society has won since 1999 for the exhibits: Early Peoples, Encountering Fort Totten; How Does Your Garden Grow? Gardening in North Dakota; No Two Horns: A Gallery of Art and Exploits; and Scared Beauty: Quillwork of Plains Women

3  –  Number of full-time staff in the Exhibits Department for the State Historical Society of North Dakota

The Exhibits Department bravely faces all exhibit-related challenges; even dinosaurs.

Crowdfunding is a not a new concept. This practice has become more popular lately since the advent of the internet and social media but has been around in various forms for centuries. The idea is to fund a project with small donations from a large number of people, rather than fund it from large donations from a small number of people. The concept is used to raise money for virtually any product or idea that can garner support, including scientific research.

Mosasaur skeletons within the North Dakota State Fossil Collection.

Recently the North Dakota Geological Survey has partnered with a researcher from Texas to study the mosasaurs in the North Dakota State Fossil Collection. Mosasaurs are not dinosaurs but a type of swimming reptile closely related to the Komodo Dragon found in Indonesia today. Mosasaurs lived at the same time as dinosaurs, ruling the oceans while dinosaurs ruled the land. The mosasaur specimens found in the ND State Fossil Collection are all from rocks called the Pierre Formation and are approximately 80 million years old. These rocks were deposited in North Dakota at a time when a shallow sea called the Western Interior Seaway connected the Gulf of Mexico to the Hudson Bay. Currently there are six partial skeletons of mosasaurs in the ND State Fossil Collection and some other unassociated fragments of bones. Study of these specimens would help shed light on the kinds of mosasaurs living in ND at this time as well as putting North Dakota’s underwater world into a more regional context. Our paleontologists with the North Dakota Geological Survey are not specialists with these types of animals, so outsourcing the research is the best way to get the work accomplished.

We hope that you are as excited as we are to learn what the mosasaurs in our collection have to tell us. When this crowdfunded study is complete, we plan to share that information with you through an online open-access journal and our website. Stay tuned!

1. The kitty litter was purchased at a Bismarck store by Jenny Yearous. When Jenny emptied the bag she noticed that it was made from a woven-like plastic material. Jenny had previously used this style of bag to make tote bags. This tote bag is scheduled to be displayed in the Governors Gallery of the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum this summer as a representation of “green” recycling. Jenny has also made colorful tote bags using recycled bird seed bags and cat food bags.

2015.00068.00001, donated by Jenny Yearous

2. The Etch-A-Sketch was introduced in 1960 and was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame at The Strong in Rochester, NY, in 1998. In 2003 the Toy Industry Association named Etch-A-Sketch to its Century of Toys List.

This Etch-A-Sketch was given to Linda Norderhaug of Bowman, ND, as a child. She kept it in the original box. Linda was Miss North Dakota Teenager in 1973 and Miss North Dakota USA Universe in 1976.

2016.00004, donated by Linda Norderhaug

3. The flight suit was worn by Glenn Thoreson and was used on flight combat strikes during the Vietnam War. Dr. Thoreson was a US Air Force physician, flight surgeon, and fighter pilot from 1967-1969. According to a letter accompanying his medal, he received the Airman’s Medal after “rushing to an area where an aircraft crashed upon takeoff. With complete disregard for his own personal safety, Captain Thoreson, despite hazard of exploding fuel cells and high explosives, unhesitatingly entered the area near the flaming aircraft and persevered in his humanitarian efforts until he succeeded in removing one of the injured firemen to a place of safety.” He grew up in Mayville and eventually returned home to practice primary care medicine at Mayville Clinic for 36 years.

Along with this museum artifact, State Archives has photographs, oral history, and scans of a scrapbook documenting his life. The archives also have footage from a WDAY-TV (Fargo) video about Dr. Thoreson receiving the Airman’s Medal.

So many projects have been going on all at once that it was too hard to pick just one for the blog. So instead, let’s look at a variety of projects.

One of the projects that I am working on involves processing (labeling, rebagging, photographing as needed, and cataloging) a federally-owned archaeology collection stored here.

Work in progress.

This project involves many different sites. It also includes many types of objects--ranging from historic artifacts like glass bottles to bone tools, flaking debris, and projectile points.

Projectile points from the U.S. Forest Service collections (2012A.166.13, 2012A.166.7, and 2012A.116.1)

We are also still working on the cataloging project for artifacts from Like-A-Fishhook village (32ML2).  My favorite object that we have seen recently is probably this little toy canoe.

Left: Metal toy canoe from Like-A-Fishhook village, a view from the top (12003.1719).
Right: Metal toy canoe from Like-A-Fishhook village, a view from the side (12003.1719).

It is so perfectly shaped. We also recently found a dragon! Well, a metal dragon, at any rate. It is a sideplate from a gun. Another dragon sideplate can be seen on a percussion rifle on display in the Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples at the State Museum.

Left: A metal dragon side plate from a gun from Like-A-Fishhook village (12003.1908).
Right: A .625 caliber Northwest trade gun made by Isaac Hollis & Sons with a dragon sideplate on display at the State Museum (1982.93).

My supervisor and I also made a poster for a national archaeology conference this past month.  The conference was too far away to attend in person (it was in Orlando), but at least the poster could go to sunny Florida! It was for a session that gave museums an opportunity to share what kind of collections they have available for study. Archaeology collections are meant to be researched, so this was a great opportunity to share with students and archaeologists what North Dakota has to offer. North Dakota really does have amazing archaeology, so it was fun to find pictures of objects for the poster—from Paleoindian projectiles to Woodland pottery to seeds from village sites to gun parts and glass beads from trading and military forts. A lot of work from many people went into this poster. We used photos of artifacts from the Like-A-Fishhook project as well as photos taken by volunteer David Nix (see Wendi’s blog about Dave and his work at http://blog.statemuseum.nd.gov/blog/mission-possible).  We also coordinated with Brian Austin who works on graphic design for the agency—he finalized and printed the final product for us.

A small preview of what our poster for the Society for American Archaeology conference looked like.

Speaking of researchers, it has been fun having a researcher working in the archaeology lab for a few weeks. This researcher is an archaeologist who is examining historic bottles from Fort Rice (32MO102) as part of her master’s thesis.

A researcher studying glass bottles from Fort Rice.

We have a sizeable collection of glass and ceramic bottles and bottle fragments from this site. It will be exciting to see what her final project looks like and interesting to learn more about life at Fort Rice.

Mold in paleontology can mean two things. The first (bad kind) happens when you get water trapped in your field jackets (plastered specimens), it sits for ages, and grows a nice layer of Becky-breathing-impairing mold. The second (good kind) is when we need to make a copy of a fossil. Not just any copy, but an exact copy. This could be because a fossil is one-of-a-kind, and we need to show it to other researchers without fear of damaging the original. Or maybe it’s a really neat specimen we want to give away as a souvenir or include as a hands-on demonstration, allowing people to touch the copy.

A mold could be a simple one-sided “dump” mold, where only half of a fossil is copied. This is good for a display mount, perhaps a nice shelf specimen, or giveaways to kids. If the whole fossil is needed, we could need a two-, three-, five-, or even ten-sided mold (depending on the complexity of the fossil). No matter what size mold is created, we make sure the fossil can take the stress. Generally a very thin sealer is put on the fossil to make sure the silicone (our mold material of choice) doesn’t sneak into cracks. Then, we figure out where the pour spout will be and any vents. Anything projecting to the side above the spout or vents can trap air bubbles – so we make sure everything leads up and out. In metal casting, this is called your “sprue” system.

Walls keep the silicone in a mold while it sets. Some people use wood or clay – We use LEGOs! They can make any shape, the clay doesn’t stick to them, the silicone doesn’t stick to them, plaster doesn’t stick to them – they’re perfect to use and reuse. If you notice an odd brick pattern on the sides of all my molds, that’s why.

Sometimes part of the fossil being molded will be embedded in clay (sulfur-free, or my silicone won’t set). As the clay is sculpted around the fossil, I have to imagine it as future silicone. No undercuts or thin spots, or else the silicone will be very difficult to remove and put back together again. The initial silicone is poured on top of the clay/fossil combo and left to cure. Once cured, a mother-mold may be added – this is a stiff backing, which could be plaster or fiberglass to add support later. The mold is flipped over, the clay removed, and a release agent placed on the now-visible silicone we just let cure. Silicone likes to stick to itself, so we need to put a thin barrier in place. Vaseline works great and is inexpensive. We repeat the silicone/mother mold process on the other side, or sides, depending on how many pieces a mold needs to be. Ta da! After everything is cured, the fossil is removed, and the mold is ready to go!

Multi-fossil mold, to reduce the amount of LEGOs used. Clay backing is visible.

Clay backing has been removed, and the first pour (opposite side) of silicone can be seen surrounding the fossil. Clay pour-spout and vent (bottom) left in during the second silicone pour.

A thin coat of silicone poured over fossils, and then a thicker coat. This helps to reduce any bubbles our vacuum chamber misses.

A small mother mold consisting of plaster and cheesecloth helps add rigidity to the end mold. The LEGOs and fossil will be removed next, when the mold is split apart.

Fort Totten, pictured in 1878. The hospital, with its unique dome, can be seen in the center of the photo. SHSND B0037

Work continues on the restoration of the historic hospital/cafeteria building at Fort Totten State Historic Site. One of the largest buildings at Fort Totten, it operated as a hospital and chapel during the time the site functioned as a military post. After the military abandoned the site in 1890, it became a boarding school for Indian children, and the hospital was converted into the cafeteria and kitchen. Today, the hospital/cafeteria is home to the Lake Region Pioneer Daughters who have housed their museum and collection at the site for over 50 years. In preparation for contractors, SHSND staff worked with the Pioneer Daughters and volunteers from the Lake Region Heritage Center to carefully pack and relocate the extensive collections in the building. Once the collections were moved, contractors from RDA Inc. (Fargo) began rebuilding a central load-bearing wall that was in desperate need of repair. Over several years, the wall had begun to shift and bow precariously and was, at that point, structurally unsafe. The wall was completed in November 2015, making room for mechanical and electrical contractors who are currently installing a new HVAC system and updating electrical systems throughout the building.

In October 2015, the central load-bearing wall in the hospital/cafeteria was completely rebuilt.

With a $500,000 appropriation from the 2015 North Dakota Legislative Session and a commitment of $100,000 from the Fort Totten Foundation, the work on the building will progress much further than the State Historical Society had previously anticipated. Designs for a new exhibit space, which will interpret the hospital, cafeteria and the Pioneer Daughters collection, is underway. The State Historical Society is also working closely with the North Dakota State Information Technology Department to best determine the technology needs for the building and how to best anticipate the long term needs for the site.

The hospital/cafeteria at Fort Totten State Historic Site pictured present day.

The summer of 2016 will likely see the completion of the electrical work, first story window restoration, interior painting, floor refinishing, installation of the HVAC system, and exhibit development. We also anticipate the restoration of the historic dome that sat atop the building if funding allows. Recent research suggests the dome (pictured in historic photographs) was used as an ether dome for surgeries during the military post era at the fort—providing much needed light in an era before electricity. The addition of the dome structure will be a unique feature to Fort Totten State Historic Site. SHSND is excited about the progress of construction.