Notable figures have left their mark in North Dakota history.
According to the North Dakota Tourism website, visitors can tour where Sacagawea lived with her village, walk inside Theodore Roosevelt’s cabin in the Badlands, canoe the same waters as Lewis and Clark, and see where Sitting Bull surrendered at Fort Buford. While they were not always from North Dakota, their history was defined here. Those legends are now joined by modern-day celebrities that include athletes, musicians, models, actors and writers.
In the lower level of the North Dakota Capitol, visitors can see some of the more famous North Dakotans in portraits as the honored recipients of the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, recognizing present or former North Dakotans influenced by the state. Other attractions across the state also feature more about North Dakota legends. At the Frontier Village in Jamestown, there’s a “writer’s shack” dedicated to western author Louis L’Amour, while Fargo has a Roger Maris Museum housed in the West Acres Shopping Center.
Legendary bandleader and television personality Lawrence Welk was born and raised in the German-speaking community of Strasburg, N.D., leaving the family homestead at age 21 to pursue a career in music. Singer-songwriter Peggy Lee grew up with her family in several towns along the Midland Continental Railroad, where her father worked as a station agent. The North Dakota sister duo Tigirlily Gold received their first-ever American Country Music Award as Duo of the Year in 2024, while Bismarck native Cara Mund made history in 2017 as the first and only woman from North Dakota to become Miss America.
Angie Dickinson is best known for her work on the TV cop drama “Police Woman” as well as classic films like “Point Blank” and the original “Ocean’s 11” in 1960 with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. Dickinson fell in love with cinema at an early age, as her newspaperman father also served as the projectionist at the only movie theater in Kulm, N.D., where she spent her early childhood. Actor Josh Duhamel from Minot, N.D., is best known for his work in TV shows like “Las Vegas” and movies like the Transformers franchise.
Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers fame, who attended high school in Williston, is considered by many as one of the greatest coaches in league history. World champion boxer and 2013 International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee Virgil Hill hails from Grand Forks. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Carson Wentz, who grew up in Bismarck, once played college football for the North Dakota State Bison, while Olympic gold-medal hockey-playing sisters Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando of Grand Forks are recent honorees of the North Dakota Rough Rider Hall of Fame.