DAKOTA DATEBOOK: Newspaper Feud for Linda Slaughter
August 10, 2026 – At the end of July 1877, Steamboat Captain and Missouri River pilot, John Harris of Missouri, passed away in Bismarck. At his death, the author of his obituary acknowledged his fondness for drinking, commenting that the passed soul “was master of a very lucrative profession,” and that he “might have enjoyed a happy home” and that he “might have been able to breathe out his last moments surrounded by loving, sympathizing friends,” if he hadn’t given in to “intemperance.”
The author ended this article by stating, “Truly, virtue brings its own reward.”
Linda Slaughter, prominent early citizen of the state who was very involved in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and who often had writing featured in the newspaper, felt compelled to write her own, different version of the article for the next issue, adding that Harris was of “sunshiney spirit and cheerful, childlike disposition,” with many friends, and was a favorite everywhere. She ended the note, “Peace to his ashes; and since the dear, old man has gone to his rest, the mantle of charity should have been drawn over his faults. They harmed no one but himself.”
This began a public feud between “B,” who eventually admitted to authoring the first obituary; and “LWS,” which is how they published their articles. The feud was public, splashy, and ongoing on this date. “B” felt Slaughter’s obituary skimmed over the damage done by the deceased man’s drinking. Slaughter rebutted that there was no need to highlight the faults of one fallen person, nor to tear apart or use an obituary for this purpose. B took more umbrage at this, and the two continued to collide through competing columns, with most articles linked together across the days under the heading of “intemperance vs. charity.”
B called Slaughter “the literary war pony of the prairies,” while Slaughter brought comparisons to B’s actions as that of “wolves and hyenas [that] dig down into the graves of the dead,” as she called for more charity. The two used each other’s words against the other, taking copious amounts of column space to prove their point.
Newspapers then were the social media of the times. And like present-day social media, it seems the feud had many followers.
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
DAKOTA DATEBOOK: A Presidential Visit
August 11, 2026 – By 1916, the United States had managed to stay out of the war in Europe, but there was growing uneasiness about the country’s future. Inflation was beginning to creep up, and as the labor market tightened, business was disrupted by strikes. Workers demanded higher pay and better working conditions. Farmers, on the other hand, benefited from increased demand and higher prices for agricultural products. Americans anxiously awaited the outcome of the 1916 presidential election.
Democrat Woodrow Wilson had been elected president in 1912 and was now hoping to win a second term. Republicans nominated Charles Evans Hughes on the third ballot. Theodore Roosevelt flirted with running again and still had strong backing in the party. But he realized that doing so would split the vote, weaken the Republicans, and most likely hand the victory to the Democrats, so he stepped aside.
At the time, political candidates gave interviews to newspapers, but real campaigning was done in person. William Henry Harrison is credited as the first presidential candidate to campaign by train. And by 1916, candidates were expected to take to the rails. Campaign stops were made even in the smallest towns. These became known as “whistle stop tours,” because railroads signaled a train’s approach to a small town with a blast of the steam whistle.
On this date in 1916, Charles Evans Hughes made a campaign stop in Beach. People swarmed in from the countryside for the event. It was estimated that over one thousand gathered at the railroad station to hear him speak. The newspaper described his short speech as “logical, clear, and as sufficient as possible considering the short amount of time.”
Hughes focused on what he saw as the shortcomings of the Wilson Administration. He expressed his desire to stay out of the war in Europe. He also spoke against pork barrel spending, a remark that drew a round of applause. He closed by wishing the people of Beach peace and prosperity.
After a five-minute stay, Hughes waved from the rear platform as the train pulled out toward Glendive, his next stop.
The Wilson campaign focused on states with larger populations and did not visit North Dakota. But the state went with the Democrats in the end. North Dakotans voted for Wilson, 54 percent to 41 percent for Hughes.
Dakota Datebook written by Dr. Carole Butcher
DAKOTA DATEBOOK: Paul Fjelde
August 12, 2026 – The son of a well-known Norwegian sculptor, Paul Fjelde was born on this date in 1892. Five years prior, his father, Jacob Fjelde, had moved the family to Minnesota. Opening one of the first studios in Minneapolis, Jacob enjoyed a brief but highly successful career in the city. Following his death in 1896, Paul’s mother moved the Fjelde family to a small homestead 45 miles northeast of Bismarck near Wing, North Dakota.
Fjelde followed in his father’s footsteps and his considerable talent earned Paul many sculpting commissions around the country. His busts and statues are located in parks throughout the Twin Cities, at the Federal Street Building in Boston, and his bust of Charles Lindbergh sits in the airport terminal at Lindbergh Field in San Diego. Although Fjelde attended some of the most prestigious art schools in the world and achieved international fame as a sculptor his art career first blossomed in North Dakota.
In 1911, the Fjelde family moved to Valley City for Paul’s sisters, Margaret and Astrid, to study music at the Normal School. Paul enrolled at Valley City State as well, and his abilities as a sculptor soon caught the attention of the school’s supervisor of art, Miss Mary G. Deem. Miss Deem saw great potential in Fjelde’s crude work. Believing that the young artist would excel with further study, she encouraged Fjelde to move to Chicago and study under the famous sculptor Lorado Taft. Fjelde’s sculpting ability improved dramatically in Chicago, where he assisted Taft in the creation of Chicago’s famous “Fountain of Time.” After leaving Chicago, Fjelde continued to perfect his craft, studying at respected art schools in Minneapolis, New York City, Copenhagen and Paris.
Perhaps fittingly, Paul Fjelde’s first major commission came from the state in which he first began sculpting. In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Norwegian Constitution in 1914, a group of Norwegian North Dakotan’s, led by Governor Louis B. Hanna, made plans to present a bust of Abraham Lincoln to the people of Norway, and commissioned Paul Fjelde to sculpt the work. Dedicated on July 4, 1914, the bust still stands to this day in Oslo’s Frogner Park. Fjelde donated the original plaster cast from which the bronze bust was made to Valley City State Normal School in 1919, in recognition of the great impact the school had in launching his career.
Paul Fjelde passed away on May 3, 1984 at the age of 91; a world renowned artist, who first made his start on the windswept plains of North Dakota.
Dakota Datebook written by Lane Sunwall
DAKOTA DATEBOOK: Fortuna
August 13, 2026 – On this date in 1995, the Bismarck Tribune reported about the decay of the Fortuna Air Force Station. From 1951 to 1979, the station was an active radar station in the Air Defense Command that protected the United States from attack.
The station was six miles from Canada and eight miles from Montana. The nearest town was Fortuna. A 70-ton radar dish sat on top of a five-story tower. The facility monitored the sky for an attack from Russia. The station sat on 124 acres of land and had 118 buildings. The 150 employees were a boon for Fortuna’s economy and school enrollment, pushing the town population to 216 in 1970. Unfortunately for the town, the station closed in 1979. As of 2010, there were only 22 residents left. The once-mighty Cold War Defense Station was left to the elements.
The Bismarck Tribune reported that vandals tore through every building, rendering them worthless. In 1990, a $1 million cleanup removed underground fuel tanks and asbestos. In 1995, the General Services Administration was ready to unload the property to anyone who would take it. Federal, state, and local governments had shown no interest. Deer and coyotes roamed the property. All that was left were the memories of the soldiers once stationed there.
According to retired Technical Sergeant Don Erstad, “the duty was pretty good as far as being a remote site like that. I worked with a lot of good people.” Ronald Dahl echoed this sentiment. “It was a good place to work. Everybody knew everybody.” The station was eventually purchased, but nothing was done with the property.
Divide County ended up acquiring the property in a tax foreclosure. There was an attempt to add the site to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012, but that effort failed. The buildings were scrapped of anything valuable and torn down between 2013 and 2015. All that remains is the five-story radar tower. It no longer has the once impressive radar dish, replaced now by antennas for cell phone reception.
Dakota Datebook written by Trista Raezer-Stursa
DAKOTA DATEBOOK: Chippewa-Sioux Peace Conference at Fort Abercrombie
August 14, 2026 – On this date in 1870, the Chippewa-Sioux Peace Agreement was signed at Fort Abercrombie by leaders of the two rival tribes. The three-day event, sometimes called a treaty, was arranged by missionary priest Father Genin and attended by 900 people.
Though not a formal government treaty, the conference had lasting consequences. Chippewa families living in Clay County, Minnesota, following the 1863 Old Crossing Treaty, were eventually displaced. They had been farming near Father Genin’s Holy Cross Mission using plots provided by treaty script.
Father Genin organized the peace event to end hostilities between the tribes, which had discouraged settlers. With the arrival of the railroad, immigrants flooded in and filed land claims. The Chippewa families of Holy Cross moved north to Turtle Mountain or west to Montana, where they became known as the “Landless Natives.”
Linda Slaughter, wife of a U.S. Army officer in Bismarck, described Father Genin in glowing terms. Trusted by Native tribes, he often accompanied Chippewa hunting expeditions. After hearing about a Chippewa warrior who died defending twelve others from the Sioux near the Wild Rice River, Father Genin erected a 12-foot wooden cross at the site, a symbol of peace visible for miles. He later built his Holy Cross mission and log church there.
Mrs. Slaughter wrote that wherever he went, Father Genin was accompanied by a “little orphan Native boy” carrying a white peace flag with a red cross, inspired by the Geneva Convention. But the boy wasn’t an orphan.
A century later, Turtle Mountain elder Pat Gourneau visited the Fort Abercrombie Museum. He was stunned to see a photo from the peace conference: Chippewa on the right, Sioux on the left, and in the center, his grandfather, his father, and Father Genin. He recognized the boy in the white gown as his father, standing beside the priest in black. Pat’s grandfather held a long-stemmed peace pipe used at major treaties and passed down to Pat.
Pat used the pipe in many ceremonies, even for dignitaries like General Omar Bradley and Patricia Nixon. Before his death, he donated it to the Turtle Mountain Ordnance Plant. A relative later retrieved it and it was soon stolen. Its whereabouts remain unknown, perhaps now in the hands of a collector unaware of its true significance.
Dakota Datebook by Lise Erdrich
“Dakota Datebook” is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from The Study ND. See all the Dakota Datebooks at prairiepublic.org, subscribe to the “Dakota Datebook” podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at shopprairiepublic.org.