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 HS Boys | Girls Basketball Scoreboard from Jan 10, 2026

Published

2 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

High School Basketball logo. Courtesy Midwest Communications.

North Dakota High School Boys | Girls Basketball Scoreboard from Jan 10, 2026

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL=

Alexander-Trinity Christian 81, Divide County 58

Beulah 55, Des Lacs-Burlington 26

Harvey-Wells County 61, Nedrose 51

Killdeer 54, Dunseith 52

Linton 75, Sargent County 32

Milbank, S.D. 64, Hillsboro-Central Valley 61

New Salem-Almont 71, Mandaree 32

Our Redeemer’s 89, Kenmare 32

Parshall 71, Trenton 70

Richey-Lambert, Mont. 57, Beach 55

Rothsay, Minn. 71, Richland 38

Shiloh 70, Oak Grove 59

Watford City 77, South Prairie/Max 64

Westby-Grenora 49, Savage, Mont. 40

White Shield 72, Strasburg 55

Dickinson Trinity Shootout=

Central McLean 70, Bowman County 54

Dickinson Trinity 63, Stanley 22

Wilton-Wing 70, South Heart 51

Ramsey County Tournament=

Championship=

North Star 65, Lakota/Adams-Edmore/Dakota Prairie 57

7th Place=

Warwick 72, Benson County 61

5th Place=

Carrington 53, Griggs-Midkota 45

3rd Place=

Devils Lake 73, Larimore 63

Stutsman County Shootout=

Drake-Anamoose 54, South Border 49

Glen Ullin 47, EKM 44

MPB 63, Washburn 59

Midway-Minto 61, Ellendale 53

Napoleon/G-S 53, Kindred 44

Oakes 69, Kidder County 39

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL=

Ashby, Minn. 65, Tri-State 49

Benson County 47, Hatton-Northwood 38

Dunseith 46, Killdeer 39

Ellendale 54, South Border 36

Flasher 42, New England 16

Garrison 54, Grant County/Mott-Regent 51

Kenmare 55, Our Redeemer’s 43

Kindred 70, Bottineau 21

Lambert, Mont. 52, Beach 50

Maple River 53, LaMoure 52

Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 57, TGU 54

New Salem-Almont 67, Mandaree 44

North Prairie 67, Westhope 49

Park River 42, Griggs-Midkota 37

Richey-Lambert, Mont. 52, Beach 50

Rothsay, Minn. 65, Richland 32

Sargent County 55, Linton 48

Savage, Mont. 40, Westby-Grenora 33

Shiloh 56, Oak Grove 47

Sisseton, S.D. 66, Oakes 17

Strasburg 39, White Shield 30

Surrey 67, Larimore 38

Trenton 58, Parshall 40

Dickinson Trinity Shootout=

Central McLean 55, Bowman County 41

South Heart 45, Stanley 41

Sanford Pentagon Classic=

West Fargo Horace 70, Tea, S.D. 41

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North Dakota

Bankruptcies for North Dakota and western Minnesota published Jan. 10, 2026

Published

14 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court

North Dakota

Kaitlyn Grace Lucier, Fargo, Chapter 7

Samuel Todd Hicks, formerly known as Thomas Samuel Hicks, Fargo, Chapter 7

Teresa and Dominik Renwick, Fargo, Chapter 13

Susan Renee Fuller, formerly known as Susan R. Schaffer, doing business as Susie’s Sparkling Cleaning Service, Fargo, Chapter 7

Shannon Lynn Taylor, Fargo, Chapter 7

Jesse Patrick and Jaime Elizabeth Brown, Williston, Chapter 7

Kerri Lee Weishaar, Minot, Chapter 7

Terry Marie Moritz, Valley City, Chapter 7

Joshua Allen Sewill, Hatton, Chapter 7

Bryan Eugene Flecker, Minot, Chapter 7

Anna Marie Rahm, formerly known as Anna Marie Tanner, and Joshua Edward Rahm, Bismarck, Chapter 13

Sherri Rae Fisher, Baldwin, Chapter 13

Heather Lynn McElroy, formerly known as Heather Anderson, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Kaitlyn Autrey, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Michelle Lynn Miller, Fargo, Chapter 13

Kimberly Georgeann Callahan, Fargo, Chapter 13

Erin Elaine and Jose Luiz Murphy, Bismarck, Chapter 7

Shelly and Kieth Quimby, St. Thomas, Chapter 7

Minnesota

Bankruptcy filings from the following counties: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Polk, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.

David Howard Gilpin, Osakis, Chapter 7

Timothy Virgil Hoag, Moorhead, Chapter 7

Jason Darryl Dykhoff, Ottertail, Chapter 7

Zachary Nicholas Hodgson and Jolynn Beth Warnes, formerly known as Jolynn Beth Hodgson, Kensington, Chapter 7

Riley Matthew Hinman, Alexandria, Chapter 7

Layne Christopher Condiff, Park Rapids, Chapter 13

Thomas Beecher Hoyer, Menahga, Chapter 13

Christine Karen Jakubek, also known as Cristine Anderson, Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts.

Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize.

Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize.

Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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North Dakota

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.

They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.

The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.

“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.

Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.

In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.

A KFYR+ exclusive

Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.

“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.

Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.

The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.

Politicians outline plans for ND Rural Health Transformation Program

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