North Dakota

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

Published

7 months 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

Ten area players land on North Dakota all-state 9-man football team

Published

5 hours ago

November 19, 2024

Press Room

Ten area players land on North Dakota all-state 9-man football team

GRAND FORKS — Three area teams landed a pair of players on the North Dakota all-state 9-man football team, which was released Monday by the North Dakota High School Coaches Association.

North Border, Cavalier and Four Winds all saw two players named to the all-state team, leading area squads.

North Border’s picks included quarterback Grant Cosley on the first-team offense and second-team pick Brody Berg.

Cosley, a senior, threw for more than 1,000 yards and rushed for more than 1,000 yards during the regular season.

Berg finished the regular season with 50 carries for 499 yards and five touchdowns.

Cavalier’s selections included Kayden Rose on the first-team defense and second-team choice Logan Werner.

Werner, a 5-foot-8 and 160-pound senior, ran for more than 1,500 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns. He also had 15 catches for 132 yards, while passing for 507 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively, he had 51 tackles and two interceptions as a third-year starter.

Rose, a 6-foot-1 and 215-pound senior, was the offensive guard for a team that averaged more than 250 yards per game. Defensively, he had 56 tackles, 19.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks. He was named the Region 4 Defensive Player of the Year.

Four Winds landed second-team picks Francis Belille and Kashton Keja Jr.

Keja, a 5-foot-9 and 190-pound senior, ran for 895 yards and threw for 755. He had 24 combined touchdowns. Defensively, he had 70 tackles and 9.0 tackles for loss.

Belille, a 6-foot-3 and 290-pound junior, led the line of scrimmage for Four Winds, which hosted a playoff game for the first time in school history.

Four Winds quarterback Kashton Keja Jr. runs the ball for the Indians.

Noah Clooten / Devils Lake Journal

North Prairie’s Brett Tastad, a North Dakota State commit, was also a first-team offensive choice.

Tastad, a 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior, was a three-year starting guard and blocked for an offense that gained more than 2,800 yards rushing. Tastad, who was a second-team pick last year, had 8.0 tackles for loss this year.

Griggs-Midkota’s Levi Kautzman was a first-team defensive pick.

Kautzman, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior, had 54 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss and 8.0 sacks. The three-time all-region player was the Region 2 Defensive Player of the Year.

May-Port-C-G’s Bohdi Peterson and Nelson County’s Axel Anderson rounded out the area selections as second-team choices.

Peterson, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound defensive end, had 30 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss and 10.0 sacks. He holds the school records for sacks in a season and career.

Westhope-Newburg-Glenburn’s Walker Braaten, a North Dakota State commitment, was named the division’s Senior Athlete of the Year, while New Rockford-Sheyenne-Maddock’s Elliott Belquist, the dad of UND All-American wide receiver Bo Belquist, was named Coach of the Year.

Miller has covered sports at the Grand Forks Herald since 2004 and was the state sportswriter of the year in 2019 and 2022.

His primary beat is UND football but also reports on a variety of UND sports and local preps.

He can be reached at (701) 780-1121, tmiller@gfherald.com or on Twitter at @tommillergf.

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North Dakota

North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor inducts new members • North Dakota Monitor

Published

13 hours ago

November 18, 2024

Press Room

North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor inducts new members • North Dakota Monitor

The North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor welcomed several new inductees Friday — including a superintendent, a former Bureau of Indian Affairs attorney, two accomplished athletes and the 1997-98 United Tribes Technical College basketball team.

The four individuals who were inducted are all members of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. The basketball team included players from the Cheyenne River, Fort Berthold, Turtle Mountain, Crow and Omaha reservations.

Two inductees received the Hall of Honor’s leadership award: Marc Bluestone Sr., former superintendent of New Town Public Schools, and tribal law attorney Thomas Fredericks.

Bluestone, who is now retired, worked for the school district for more than three decades. Student attendance, graduation rates and test scores all improved under his tenure.

Bluestone advocated for a law passed by the 2021 Legislature requiring all North Dakota primary middle schools to teach Native history, and he has helped develop numerous educational resources on the subject.

Fredericks received a leadership award for his work as a Native American rights lawyer.

He said he first developed an interest in tribal law when he became the director of Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s Community Action Agency in the 1960s. The agencies were established as part of former President Lydon Johnson’s Administration’s War on Poverty in the 1960s.

“It was a very, very eye-opening time,” Fredericks said.

In 1970, Fredericks helped start the University of Boulder School of Law’s American Indian Law Program.

He later served as associate solicitor for Indian Affairs — the first Native American to hold the position — and assistant secretary of Indian Affairs under President Jimmy Carter.

Fredericks also helped start the National Native American Bar Association and is a founder and former executive director of the Native American Rights Fund. He retired in 2020.

Terry Kraft received a sports award for winning state titles in high school football, basketball and track.

Marc Bluestone Sr., former superintendent of New Town Public Schools, receives a leadership award during the North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor induction ceremony on Nov. 15, 2024. Bluestone is a member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

MHA Chairman Mark Fox, who grew up with Kraft in Parshall, described him as a “natural athlete.”

Both reminisced about playing sports outside regardless of the weather.

“In a small town on a reservation, that’s all you did was play,” Kraft said.

Kraft served as a caretaker for Minot High School for nearly four decades, according to his nomination. He also coached junior high and tackle football for Minot Middle School and flag football for the Minot YMCA.

Rusty Gillette of Bismarck earned a sports award for his success as a high school basketball player, coach and powwow dancer.

His former coach at Bismarck High School, Steve Miller, described him not only as a star athlete, but someone of “great character.”

“Rusty took great pride in being a team player,” Miller said.

Gillette is also an accomplished graphic artist and business owner, his nomination notes.

The 12 members of the United Tribes Technical College basketball team were also recognized Friday night: Lonny White Eyes, Joe Howe, Dusty Traversie, Robert Webster, Galen Eberhard, Jon Derby, Travis Albers, Tanner Albers, Lee Logg, Jason Logg, Erik Abbey and Aron Abbey.

It was the first UTTC team to qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association finals. The team is also remembered for achieving the program’s first 20-win season.

“That team, at that time — what they did was unheard of,” said former coach Kevin Finley. Gillette also coached the team.

The North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor is a collaboration between the North Dakota Indian Affairs Commission, the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the State Historical Society Foundation. In addition to leadership and sports, the Hall of Honor also recognizes individuals for military service and arts and culture. An exhibit honoring inductees is on display at the North Dakota Heritage Center.

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North Dakota

Everything you need to know when Notre Dame men’s basketball hosts North Dakota

Published

20 hours ago

November 18, 2024

Press Room

NOTRE DAME MEN’S BASKETBALL

Fire up that flat top. Throw some more cherry-flavored wood on the smoker. Make sure there’s plenty of propane available for the gas grill.

It’s time for Notre Dame men’s basketball to enjoy some home cooking.

The Irish are out of the gate at 3-0 after three games in 11 days. They have a chance to get to 5-0 with two winnable home games this week. That precedes four straight games away from home, starting next week in Las Vegas. That means win this week and win at home.

Notre Dame is a together group. Notre Dame is a confident group. Notre Dame believes that it can be even better than it’s shown three games in.

Time to continue to cook.

When does Tuesday’s game between Notre Dame and North Dakota begin? Is it on TV? Are tickets available?

☘ WHO: Notre Dame (3-0) vs North Dakota (2-1)

☘ WHERE: Purcell Pavilion (9,149).

☘ WHEN: Tuesday at 7 p.m.

☘ TV: None. The game can be seen on-line at ACC Network Extra (ESPN+).

☘ RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).

☘ TICKETS: Available.

☘ ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at X (formerly Twitter) at twitter.com/tnoieNDI.

Three pressing questions for Notre Dame

☘ Is scoring 80-plus points now the norm for these Irish?

☘ How about junior forward Tae Davis?

☘ Can power forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi bottle that eight-point, eight-rebound effort he offered at Georgetown?

Scouting the Hawks

In a game that featured seven ties and a staggering 23 lead changes, North Dakota scored 44 points in the second half Thursday at home to beat Utah Valley, 77-71. The Hawks have been idle since that win. … A school of 15,000, North Dakota is located in Grand Forks. … The Hawks returned two starters and 10 players off last year’s team that finished 18-14 overall, 10-6 and tied for second place in the Summit League. North Dakota was picked in a preseason coaches’ vote to finish sixth in the nine-team Summit League this season. It received one first-place vote. … North Dakota had a game at UTSA postponed on Saturday, Nov. 9 (rescheduled for Dec. 13) because of flight issues/weather in Texas. That means the teams (originally scheduled to play on Dec. 15) will play a unique hone-and-home series in Grand Forks and then San Antonio on Dec. 13 and 15. … The Hawks are in a stretch of seven of eight games away from home.

By the Numbers

0.68: North Dakota ranks 335^th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (0.68).

1: In its lone NCAA tournament game in program history in 2017, No. 15 North Dakota lost to No. 2 Arizona 100-82, in a West Regional first-round game.

4: North Dakota ranks fourth in the country for 3-point field goal percentage defense (.190 percent). Opponents are a combined 12-of-63 from 3 against the Hawks in the first three games.

2008: Year that North Dakota elevated all of its athletic programs to Division I.

2016-17: The Hawks’ 18 victories last season were their most since 2016-17 when they finished 22-10 as a member of the Big Sky conference.

Keep an eye on …

Treysen Eaglestaff, a 6-foot-6, 190-pound junior guard from Bismarck, North Dakota. Eaglestaff is averaging a team-high 20 points with 2.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 27.0 minutes per game. He scored a game-high 31 points in 34 minutes Thursday against Utah Valley. A first-team All-Summit League preseason pick, Eaglestaff can play point guard, shooting guard, wing guard and small forward. As a senior in high school in 2021-22, he was named Mr. Basketball in North Dakota.

Quoting the Hawks

“We have so much growth in front of us, and our goal is to be the best team we can be. We don’t want to just be satisfied by getting a win. Winning’s nice, but we have a lot to learn and a lot to improve on. If we stay with that truth, then we can get those things done.”

— North Dakota coach Paul Sather.

Series history

The teams have met once – on Feb. 2, 1941 – in the old Fieldhouse. Notre Dame won 46-38.

Scouting the Irish

Graduate student Matt Allocco scored 17 points with five rebounds and seven assists and Tae Davis added 13 points and eight rebounds in Saturday’s 84-63 win at Georgetown. Notre Dame led for the final 35:18 and by as many as 25. … Davis is averaging a career-high 16.3 points through three games while Allocco has 11 assists to one turnover in 90:21 minutes through three games. … Opponents are averaging only 68.45 ppg., against Notre Dame’s defense, which ranks eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring defense (66.6 ppg.) and third in field goal percentage defense (.352). … After ranking 86^th nationally last season in field goal percentage defense (.422), tied for 289^th in 3-point field goal percentage (.318) and 330^th in field goal percentage (.407), the Irish are at 30^th (.352), 58^th (.391) and 14^th (.534) nationally. … Notre Dame looks to start 4-0 for the first time since opening 5-0 in 2022-23.

By the Numbers

1: Notre Dame leads the ACC in rebounding margin through three games (+13.00).

20: Notre Dame finished with 20 assists against Georgetown, its most under Micah Shrewsberry.

14:24: Amount of time that Notre Dame has trailed through 120 minutes over three games. That doesn’t include the exhibition win at Fort Wayne when the Irish never trailed.

86.3: Average points for Notre Dame through three games. The Irish averaged 64.0 ppg., last season.

4,626: Average attendance after two home games for the Irish.

Keep an eye on …

Graduate student forward Burke Chebuhar, who went from DNP-CD (did not play, coach’s decision) against Buffalo to nine points and three assists in 10 minutes against Georgetown. Despite averaging only 7.7 minutes per game, Chebuhar is averaging 6.0 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 80 percent from the field and from 3 this season.

Quoting the Irish

“As we’ve gotten better offensively, our defense hasn’t shifted at all. We want to play in the 80s. We want to hold you in the 60s. That’s the kind of effort it takes. There’s no drop-off when we sub defensively.”

— Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry