DICKINSON — Just before noon today, law enforcement responded to reports of a man being shot in the vicinity of the 3600 block of the East Business Loop in Dickinson. The public was notified of likely travel delays and posted detours due to an ongoing investigation.

The Stark County Sheriff’s Office is now reporting that a 45-year-old man has died from a gunshot wound after being transported to CHI St. Alexius Hospital. The location of the incident is noted by the Sheriff’s Office as 3634 Interstate 94 Business Loop East.

Public records indicate that Old 10 Defense, a shooting range with simulators, is located at the address mentioned by law enforcement.

The name of the man who has died has not been released yet.

At the time, law enforcement said that there was no anticipated danger to the public. However, the Stark County Sheriff’s Office is now saying a 46-year-old male suspect was detained after “a short pursuit ensued.”

Highway 10 is currently closed, according to reports, and travel detours are in place to allow for further investigation of the incident. Several area agencies, including the Dickinson Police Department, Dickinson Fire & EMS, North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Stark County Sheriff’s Office and North Dakota Highway Patrol responded to the call.

This is a developing story. More information will be available in further coverage in The Dickinson Press.

By: Michael Achterling

BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – Events, concerts, community initiatives and educational opportunities will headline a year of celebration in North Dakota for the 250th birthday of the United States.

The ND250 Commission has awarded about $142,000 through two rounds of its Community Initiatives Grant program for events and projects around the state, said Melissa Klocke-Joyce, program coordinator. The programs and events will tell the story of North Dakota’s role in the country’s early history, she said. 

“It gives communities an opportunity to get creative,” Klocke-Joyce said.

The ND250 Commission made awards to 15 initiatives on Wednesday, in addition to five grants awarded in November. About $32,000 remains for the final round of grants, with applications accepted through April 1.

Bill Peterson, director of the State Historical Society of North Dakota chair of the ND250 Commission, said the grants represent more than funding. 

“They’re an investment in how communities across North Dakota share their piece of the American story,” Peterson said in a statement. “From murals and musical theater to lectures and living history, these projects help connect people to the past in ways that are meaningful, engaging, and rooted in local pride.”

The program also awards participating North Dakota schools up to $1,000 to be used as field trip grants to bring students to the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck to see two exhibits dedicated to the anniversary – the Founders Museum exhibit and the Heritage Center’s own ND250 exhibit that will be installed by July 4, Klocke-Joyce said.

A national Founders Museum exhibit will feature content provided by the White House, including portraits of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and their insights on what independence meant to them, said Kara Haff, public information officer for the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

The content will be available through a large touch screen at the Heritage Center that will show the portraits and play videos. A second kiosk will be installed at the Capitol.

“They are also featuring some of the females that were involved as well … Martha Washington will be featured and a number of other females in addition to the men,” Haff said.

The Heritage Center will add an ND250 display in the Governor’s Gallery titled ND250 Roadtrip: Our American Story that will feature the history of the territory and an envisioned future of the next 250 years.

One grant was awarded to the Pembina Historical Society in November and will commission a colonial-style cider press for their community orchard.

“We really want to try to tie in celebrating the 250th, and what better way to do it than demonstrating how people lived back in that time,” Klocke-Joyce said. 

Woodworker Talon Stammen, designer of the Pembina cider press said he hopes the portable press will be used across the region because that’s how colonists lived, through shared infrastructure and equipment.

Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation received a $10,000 ND250 grant to create lesson plans for North Dakota students about the history and ideals behind the Declaration of Independence.

Matt Briney, spokesperson for the library foundation, said the money will be used to provide a stipend for North Dakota teachers to design the lesson plans.

He said studies, like one released in 2023 by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, identified that only two-thirds of U.S. adults could name the three branches of government.

Briney added the lessons will be free for other teachers to use.

Other grants awarded include $10,000 for a project in Sheyenne to record oral histories from regional residents; $5,000 for the city of Beach for a community art sculpture; and $9,000 for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa for a public historical exhibit interpreting treaty-making, land negotiations, federal policy shifts and cultural traditions;.

Klocke-Joyce said she expects events to celebrate America’s milestone birthday will continue to be announced, and the ND250 website will update its calendar as more plans are finalized.

Haff encouraged organizers of any of the 250th birthday events across the state to take photos, video and document as much as they can because the State Archives wants their content to create an in-depth catalog of America’s milestone birthday. 

“One hundred years from now, when they are reflecting back on what we’ve accomplished, they can pull this out and say, ‘oh my gosh, look at how amazing ND250 was,’” Haff said.

The brutal blizzard of 1966 hit many U.S. states, but North Dakota was arguably struck the hardest — with wind gusts exceeding 70 miles per hour, snowfall totaling over 30 inches, and severely limited visibility that remained near-zero for about 30 hours.

People living in North Dakota are used to extreme weather. In the summer, thunderstorms are common and temperatures can spike to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In the winter, residents habitually face bitterly cold winds and temperatures that plunge far below freezing. But the North Dakota blizzard of 1966 stands out as one of the worst in U.S. history.

It began in March, a time when much of the country is starting to think about spring. On March 2nd, it began to snow heavily in North Dakota, and wind gusts of up to 70 miles an hour created mountainous snow drifts across the state. Visibility was close to zero in some areas, and certain places even suffered through 30 straight hours of near-zero visibility.

The North Dakota blizzard of 1966 lasted through March 4th, and killed at least 18 people in North Dakota and the surrounding states, as well as thousands of livestock. It stands as a harrowing reminder of the power of nature — even in places used to extreme weather — and the deadliness of winter storms.

How A “Colorado Low” Brought An Intense Winter Storm To The Great Plains

By 1966, North Dakota had endured several intense blizzards. In January 1888, a violent blizzard killed 112 people and decimated the state’s open range cattle industry. Then, in March 1941, another blizzard whipped up with little warning, killing 39 people, many of whom were trapped in their cars. But the North Dakota blizzard of 1966, while less deadly, brought some of the worst conditions to the state in March 1966.

National Weather ServiceThe North Dakota blizzard of 1966 was part of a “Colorado Low” weather system.

Then, the National Weather Service reports that a weather system known as a “Colorado Low” started moving north up through South Dakota. This kind of weather system, a low-pressure system that usually occurs in the winter, forms around the southwest portion of the U.S. and then makes its way east. It can bring very intense precipitation, which is exactly what it did in North Dakota.

On March 2nd, heavy snow began to fall. But even though temperatures were relatively mild at first — in the 20s — and though people had plenty of warning about the coming storm, the blizzard would be one of the worst in the state’s history.

Wind, Snow, And Low Visibility: Inside The North Dakota Blizzard Of 1966

As the State Historical Society of North Dakota recounts, the North Dakota blizzard of 1966 came with plenty of warning, but most people had never experienced a snowstorm so powerful before. Though travelers were instructed to stay off the highway, and city residents were advised to stay indoors, some still became trapped in the storm, and others were killed as the blizzard unfurled across the state.

North Dakota Department of Transportation/FacebookA train buried in the snow during the North Dakota blizzard of 1966.

Between March 2nd and March 4th, the state was pummeled by heavy snowfall, with some locations receiving 20 to 30 inches of snow. Meanwhile, icy winds with gusts as high as 70 miles per hour howled through the air, creating massive snow drifts. Some of these snow drifts grew to be 30 or even 40 feet tall, practically burying power lines and road signs. But one of the worst parts of the North Dakota blizzard of 1966 was the near-zero level of visibility.

Places like Fargo had little or no visibility for 30 straight hours. The outside world was practically blind white, and this was extremely dangerous.

The Peril Of The North Dakota Blizzard Of 1966

In the end, at least 18 people died due to the North Dakota blizzard of 1966 (five in North Dakota itself, and others in nearby states like Minnesota and South Dakota). The conditions proved to be deadly in different ways.

State Historical Society of North DakotaHere, a North Dakota resident escapes from his house. Because of high snow drifts, he escaped via the attic window.

Advertisement

In Strasburg, a six-year-old girl got separated from her brothers while trying to make it to a barn 60 feet from their house. Tragically, she was found frozen to death two days later. In Woodworth, a 12-year-old girl stepped outside to close up a chicken coop, and apparently got lost trying to make her way back to the house, 100 feet away. She too was found frozen to death.

Lost children were not the only victims — several men had heart attacks during the North Dakota blizzard of 1966, either while trying to shovel snow or make their way through the storm. And tens of thousands of livestock perished, including at least 18,500 cattle, 7,500 sheep, 7,000 turkeys, and 600 hogs. Some died in the storm itself, some were killed by collapsing barns, and others suffocated after becoming trapped in barns because of the high snow drifts.

State Historical Society of North DakotaA cow that froze to death during the North Dakota blizzard of 1966. Thousands of livestock died during the storm, costing the state millions of dollars.

But some people managed to escape extremely dangerous situations.

Near New Salem, three trains, including one carrying 500 passengers, became stuck in the snow. The trains had to be dug up with shovels, because the snow drifts were too deep for local snowplows. Meanwhile, at least two couples became trapped while trying to make their way to a hospital for their children’s births. One woman ended up giving birth in a farmhouse; the other in a car. And scores of people became stuck in their vehicles when the conditions grew too dangerous, and couldn’t be rescued until the storm started to let up.

Indeed, the storm all but shut the state down for several days. Schools closed, newspapers weren’t able to publish the news, phone service was knocked out, and traffic was largely halted. Even once conditions began to clear, the effects of the blizzard were still acutely felt.

The Damage Caused By The Winter Storm

When the storm cleared, North Dakotans and other residents of the Great Plains took account of the aftermath, and found that they’d lived through one of the worst winter storms in U.S. history. Snowfall records were set at Devils Lake (which got 30.5 inches of snow), as well as Grand Forks (which got 27.8 inches of snow). This, the wind, and the duration of the storm made it an “all-time record blizzard” for the state of North Dakota.

North Dakota Department of Transportation/FacebookA man next to a towering snow drift in the aftermath of the North Dakota blizzard of 1966.

It was also an expensive storm. The loss of livestock alone cost the state millions of dollars. But the storm had also shut down businesses and schools, stopped the movement of goods, and damaged infrastructure.

Thus, while people living in the Great Plains are used to intense weather, the North Dakota blizzard of 1966 certainly stands out in the region’s history. Immensely powerful and destructive, it hung over the northern states for days. Its mammoth snow drifts, high winds, and low visibility made it an especially treacherous storm, and led to the tragic loss of many lives.

But the people of the Great Plains are hardy. As the State Historical Society of North Dakota stated:

“Snow is part of winter routine on the northern Great Plains. Rather than drive people away or prevent the development of towns and cities, people learn to adapt to the usual cold and snow of winter and to accept unusual storms such as that of March 1966 as part of life in the semi-arid north.”

After reading about the North Dakota blizzard of 1966, discover the wild story of the Blizzard of 1888, the “Great White Hurricane” that tore through the Eastern Seaboard. Or, learn the stories of some of the worst blizzards in history.