North Dakota

Historically Speaking:\u00a0North Dakota’s workhorses come to Exeter

Published

2 years ago

April 28, 2024

$Historically Speaking:\u00a0North Dakota’s workhorses come to Exeter$

Barbara Rimkunas
| Portsmouth Herald

The Great Depression started early in some parts of the country. New Hampshire had been suffering from an economic downturn since just after World War I. Things were far worse in North Dakota.

Historian Elwyn Robinson has written, “The 1920s in North Dakota were a time of readjustment. The stimulus of pioneering had vanished. Settlement of the semiarid state by people from humid regions had left a heritage of maladjustment, of institutions unsuited to the nature of the country.”

Unlike New Hampshire, which is small, North Dakota has vast territory. The rush for homesteading in the late 1800s had slowed and years of drought found many leaving the state. “Because they had anticipated a denser population and a greater production of wealth than the state has yet attained, the pioneers created too many farms too many towns, too many schools, churches, and colleges, too many counties and too much government, too much railroad mileage, too many banks and too much debt.” Robinson called this the “Too-Much Mistake.”

To improve the economic strain in the state, many North Dakota farmers joined cooperatives and the North Dakota Farm Bureau organized as part of the larger American Farm Bureau. Concerns with grain prices took precedence, but the question of raising ready cash was also at the forefront. Was there some unused resource that might pull in some quick income? It seems there were: horses.

It turns out, North Dakotans owned more autos than most states. “In 1913, North Dakotans owned only 12,075 automobiles, but by 1920 they owned 92,000, and 57% of the state’s farmers had them.” Robinson cites that by 1930, the percentage of farmers owning cars or tractors had gone up to 87% – “one for every 3.7 persons.” The national average was one for every 5.3 persons. So, if the state no longer needed horses for transportation or labor, they could be sold in other parts of the country.

Western horses had an excellent reputation back east. These weren’t wild mustangs, they were solid, well-broken-in, reliable workhorses. Local farm bureaus, primarily in New Hampshire and Vermont, began making arrangements to bring some of these well-mannered horses to auction. New England farmers were still happy to use horse labor. The region has abundant hay resources, unlike the arid plains, and is compacted into a smaller area.

The auctions began in 1922. Two years later, one of the sales came to Exeter.

“Thirty heads of horses direct from Dakota farmers will be sold at auction under a positive guarantee. The horses are accustomed to all classes of farm work and are mostly Percheron and Belgian breeding from 5 to 9 years old and weigh from 1200 to 1700 pounds,” ran an advertisement in early April of 1924 in the Exeter News-Letter. “Practically every horse sold by us in the past two years has given splendid satisfaction. Ask your County Farm Bureau about our sales.”

Finding the advertising was a tremendous help to the Exeter Historical Society. The organization received a collection of nearly two thousand slides in 2022 associated with the Tufts family of Exeter. The patriarch of the family, James Arthur Tufts, Sr., was a long-time teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy. His son, James Arthur Tufts, Jr., went into agriculture and ran the Granite State Nursery on High Street. Among the images were three that looked down on a gathering of people surrounding various horses. Taken from the second story of the farm’s house, the photos were too fuzzy to be featured in the annual Historical Society calendar but clear enough to depict some type of local event. The dates matched those of a cryptic entry in James’ sister, Betty’s diary for the year 1924: “Saturday, Apr. 12, 1924. Gave 5 lessons. Over to Jim’s on a 2 o’clock trolley with Father & Aunt Sue to see the horse auction. 30 horses from N. Dakota. Mother went to sta. to see them come.” Betty was a frequent horseback rider, but these horses would not have suited her. Percheron and Belgians are enormous working breeds – the kind you might see at a horse-pulling competition at the fair.

The auctioneer arrived from North Dakota with the horses. His name was Frank Hyland, who was not only the auctioneer (indeed he was so skillful at the art that he often taught it to aspiring students) but was also serving as sitting Lieutenant Governor for the state of North Dakota. The Exeter News-Letter described him as “efficient” after “he sold the entire 28 head in quick time at prices ranging from $100 to $300.”

The sale fulfilled two purposes: high-quality western horses came to New England while bringing in much-needed cash to the strapped counties of North Dakota. Buyers were assured that “a committee appointed by the Rockingham County Farm Bureau will inspect and hitch all the horses prior to the sale and will report on each horse at the sale.” How well the horses served after the sale is not recorded, however at least one registered its discontent: “An unfortunate incident was the injury to Mr. Lloyd Snell, of Brentwood, who was kicked by a horse he had bought, several ribs being fractured. He was taken to Exeter Hospital.”

Barbara Rimkunas is the curator of the Exeter Historical Society. Support the Exeter Historical Society by becoming a member! Join online at: www.exeterhistory.org.

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North Dakota

North Dakota man indicted for traveling to Thailand for sex with minors

Published

13 hours ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota man indicted for traveling to Thailand for sex with minors

BISMARCK, N.D. (KMOT) – A grand jury indicted a North Dakota man on charges he traveled to Thailand for sex with minors.

The grand jury indicted Sean D. Snyder on seven counts pertaining to the investigation.

According to the indictment, Snyder traveled to Phuket, Thailand, to engage in illicit sexual conduct with two separate victims.

Four of the charges pertain to the first victim, between around 2018 to late November 2024. Two of the other charges involve a second victim, between around 2023 to mid-August 2025.

Court records also show the grand jury indicted Snyder for possessing a smartphone that contained an image and video of child pornography.

Snyder is being held without bond at the Burleigh-Morton Detention Center. He has an initial court appearance and arraignment set for Monday in the U.S. District Court.

Your News Leader reached out to the office of the U.S. Attorney for North Dakota for more details on the investigation and will update as we learn more.

Here are the charges Snyder is facing:

Travel with Intent to Engage in Illicit Sexual Conduct (3 counts)
Engaging in Illicit Sexual Conduct in Foreign Places (3 counts)
Possession of Materials Containing Child Pornography (1 count)

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North Dakota

North Dakota teacher survives first duel on ‘The Floor’

Published

1 day ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

North Dakota teacher survives first duel on ‘The Floor’

MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – After eight weeks of episodes, one of the two teachers representing North Dakota on the FOX reality show ‘The Floor’ made it to a duel—and survived.

On Wednesday’s episode, Julie Johnson, who teaches at Our Redeemer’s in Minot, was called up from the floor for a duel.

She won her face-off against another contestant, in a category on famous teachers in television and film.

After winning, Johnson chose to return to the floor. Contestants have the option of returning, or continuing to challenge others.

North Dakota’s other representative, Jeremy Johnston, who teaches at Rugby Public School, has yet to be challenged for a duel.

The pair are two of the 32 remaining contestants.

New episodes air Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on FOX and streaming next day on Hulu.

Related coverage: UPDATE: Pair of teachers to represent North Dakota on this season of ‘The Floor’

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North Dakota

Guest Column: Celebrating innovation and opportunity in North Dakota on National Rural Health Day

Published

2 days ago

November 20, 2025

Press Room

Guest Column: Celebrating innovation and opportunity in North Dakota on National Rural Health Day

It is no secret that there are many challenges confronting rural health care right now, from workforce shortages and declining reimbursement rates to threats to programs like 340B that support safety-net hospitals. But this week, as we celebrate National Rural Health Day on Nov. 20, I am reminded of the many reasons to be hopeful about the future of rural health care.

Earlier this month, the state of North Dakota applied for a share of the $50 billion that will be distributed nationwide beginning next year as part of the newly established Rural Health Transformation Program. With $1 billion on the line for North Dakota, the program could be one of the single greatest investments in rural health that our state has ever seen.

The Rural Health Transformation Program was designed to spur innovative and sustainable approaches to better serve the farmers, ranchers and small business owners who call rural communities home. And in order to qualify for funding, North Dakota crafted an application that demonstrates a strong vision for improving the health of our neighbors and stabilizing rural health care delivery.

As a health system that’s proud to serve mostly rural areas, Essentia Health was grateful to share our ideas for how hospitals can stabilize essential services, such as behavioral health and emergency care, while advancing workforce development and value-based care for the rural and Tribal communities we are privileged to serve. As we wait for the funding to be awarded, I am confident that North Dakota’s application is strong because it reflects the real experience and perspectives of compassionate caregivers on the front lines of rural care.

Here’s why I’m excited by this opportunity:

Attracting and retaining a strong health care workforce remains one of the most significant challenges confronting rural care. North Dakota’s application dedicates over $162 million to train and retain a high-skilled workforce through new residencies, workforce pipelines and recruitment and retention grants.

At Essentia, we’ve had success with first-of-its-kind training programs that address critical gaps in our health care workforce. We just celebrated the first graduate of our surgical technologist apprenticeship program in Fargo. These are the kinds of innovations we must continue pursuing to help care teams like ours advance our mission to make a healthy difference in people’s lives.

If awarded this funding, North Dakota plans to deepen its work to bring high-quality health care closer to home – a mission that Essentia Health whole-heartedly stands behind. With fewer clinicians to staff brick-and-mortar facilities, we need to get creative to meet people where they are – through new methods and in new spaces. A person’s access to expert care shouldn’t be determined by their zip code.

Essentia’s mobile mammography program is one example of how we can enhance access to preventive care without relying on traditional settings. The program brings essential mammography services directly to our neighbors in rural areas and could be expanded across other specialties. Since we rolled out this service, we hear repeatedly from patients who acknowledge they likely wouldn’t have done a screening if it hadn’t been available locally. Rural Health Transformation funds could be used to deploy mobile medical units to rural, underserved communities, with specific services tailored to the greatest needs of the community.

Finally, this funding would allow us to expand scalable programs, like our community health workers and community paramedics. These programs provide tailored support to patients with the goal of diminishing the rate of chronic disease, improving the health of our rural neighbors and reducing emergency room visits and hospital admissions.

The work to transform the future of rural health care has already begun at Essentia Health. The Rural Health Transformation Program represents an opportunity to expand our efforts to bolster our health care workforce, strengthen a care model that prioritizes prevention and patient outcomes and make it easier for North Dakotans to access comprehensive health care close to home.

As we celebrate National Rural Health Day, I am hopeful for the future of rural health care and especially grateful for my talented colleagues, whose dedication to advancing rural health care strengthens the communities where they live and work.

Dr. Stefanie Gefroh is the Essentia Health West Market president.

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