North Dakota
In Touch With Prairie Living
Tradition | January seventh, 2023
By Michael M. Miller
michael.miller@ndsu.edu
My October column includes a heartwarming interview with Christina (Gross) Jundt on October 14, 1998, at Rugby, ND, performed by her first cousin, Brother Placid Gross, Assumption Abbey, Richardton, ND. Entry the entire transcription right here: https://hdl.deal with.web/10365/31673.
Christina was born on November 10, 1909, and died on April 18, 2006. Her mother and father had been Clemens and Catherine (Leier) Gross. She attended Brazil Faculty #3 in Pierce County and accomplished her training at St. James Academy in Grand Forks. When Christina got here residence to the Gross farm, she labored in a cook dinner automotive for the native farmers and did farm chores at residence. Christina married Thomas P. Jundt in Balta, ND. For 22 years, she cooked on the Little Flower Catholic Faculty at Rugby, ND.
Christina’s mom, Catherine, was 12 years previous when the household emigrated from South Russia to North Dakota. Christina recalled, “I keep in mind one factor that bothered my mom essentially the most that we didn’t have a pleasant place for swimming. She stated in Russia when she grew up it was virtually a sin if the kids couldn’t go swimming, and she or he missed that rather a lot.”
“Grandpa John talked about how they’d every kind of fruit timber at residence in Russia. They didn’t can or freeze in these days. It wasn’t enjoyable to go and decide by yourself timber, so that they go to the neighbors and snatch the fruit. Sure, they’d quite a lot of fruit timber. Then once they come to North Dakota they’d nothing.”
Christina shared an expertise of the ship which carried the household over the Atlantic Ocean, “The ship obtained into an iceberg. It had an enormous gap in it. So, they only form of floated alongside, and everyone who might maintain a pail had to assist bail out water. They’d all obtained the final rites and so they sang and prayed. They had been all ready to die. After about ten days, a small fishing vessel got here by and stated, ‘We are able to’t pull you except you throw overboard all the pieces you possibly can probably spare. Make the ship as mild as you possibly can.’ The passengers needed to unload many invaluable objects of their baggage and throw into the Atlantic Ocean. The ship arrived at New York Metropolis, and so they had been protected.”
Christina remembers talking German as a baby. “We spoke half German and half English. We didn’t speak an excessive amount of German as a result of most of our neighbors had been Norwegian. My mom couldn’t converse Norwegian and the neighbor woman couldn’t speak German, however the two might sit down and have an enormous dialog collectively. The neighbors had been well-to-do. They didn’t need to have their ladies to have something higher than what we had. So, earlier than faculty began, the mom would come to our home with the catalogs. My mom would inform her what she was going to order us to go to highschool in, after which the neighbor woman would get the identical garments. They ordered from Montgomery Wards and Sears Roebuck catalogs.”
Whereas attending St. James Academy boarding faculty at Grand Forks, ND, Christina shared this reminiscence. “Within the spring we obtained rhubarb morning, midday, and supper. We obtained uninterested in it. So, sooner or later when the nuns had been within the prayer hour, we snuck out and we tore out all of the rhubarb and threw it over the fence. Just a bit bit on the opposite facet on the Lutheran sister’s faculty. They wore grey. So, once they noticed the rhubarb destroyed, we needed to go to the chapel and pray with the Lutheran youngsters as a result of we had been so imply and ruined the rhubarb.”
Christina reminisced about constructing the Catholic church at Balta, ND, “I keep in mind once they had been constructing the church at Balta, my of us took down the kerosene range. They took virtually all of the dishes and kettles. They fed the employees there. It was all volunteer work. That weekend we obtained two carloads of individuals from Napoleon to assist. We needed to go to the neighbors and borrow kettles and dishes.”
“When Grandma Gross died, anyone made the coffin and it value $9. Grandpa Gross stated, ‘Don’t you dare give me something higher than what Grandma had.’ When Grandpa died, I believe it was $400. He would have seemed humorous within the $9 coffin.”
The Gross household saved in contact with the households left behind in Russia and would ship a lot wanted garments. “We despatched them coats and sweaters. Tom had a go well with he had for a few years, the go well with he obtained married in, and stated, ‘Ship them my go well with too.’ So, we obtained a pleasant letter again, and so they stated the oldest son was the speak of the group as a result of he obtained married within the go well with we despatched over. The opposite boys had all been getting married in patched overalls.”
Christina remembers sending an enormous field to the kinfolk in Russia for Christmas. “Tom stated, ‘Why don’t we splurge and get of packing containers of Hershey bars and a few walnuts and stick them in between the towels and garments.’ The kinfolk in Russia had a 12-year-old woman. Later the woman came around Gross kinfolk in Napoleon. I went over and requested her if she remembers that her of us as soon as obtained a bundle from North Dakota that had walnuts and chocolate sweet. She stated, ‘Sure, the chocolate!’ I stated we had been the kinfolk who despatched the bundle. She hugged me. She stated, ‘That’s the biggest factor you may have performed. We would have liked garments and we wanted meals, however after we noticed the chocolate, we had been simply thrilled.’”
“We had a creamery in Silva the place they purchased chickens and butchered them and shipped them out. The primary 12 months we farmed, we had a reasonably good crop. In the future we obtained utterly worn out – hailstorm. So, all we had was about 1,000 chickens. We charged all the pieces, the chickens, gas, and gasoline from the shop in Silva. Tom advised the shop proprietor, ‘I’m sorry we’re not going to pay our invoice. However we’ve about 1,000 chickens. We need to preserve a minimum of 100 for wintering and butchering, and we’ll provide the relaxation, or else 5 cows. We gives you each different cream examine and pay you that manner.’ The Silva retailer proprietor stated, ‘No I’ve a special thought, you invite my spouse and me out for Sunday night time supper.’ Tom replied, ‘You’ll be able to come out for supper greater than as soon as. You simply come out to the farm everytime you really feel prefer it.’ We paid for what he had charged throughout the summer season with the chickens.”
Christina was a shining star in Prairie Public’s award-winning 2012 documentary, At Residence in Russia, At Residence on the Prairie.
YOU SHOULD KNOW
Germans from Russia Heritage Assortment, NDSU Libraries: For extra details about donating household histories and images, or the way to financially assist the GRHC, contact Michael M. Miller, NDSU Libraries, Dept. 2080, PO Field 6050, Fargo, ND 58108-6050, (Tel: 701-231-8416); michael.miller@ndsu.edu; or go to library.ndsu.edu/grhc.
FARGO — The North Dakota Health and Human Services Department said two measles cases have been reported in Cass County, the first to be recorded in eastern North Dakota.
Human services said both cases are unvaccinated individuals who contracted the disease through international travel. One of them is hospitalized.
The health and human services department said members of the public who were at two Essentia Health locations in West Fargo and Fargo may have been exposed. Exposure may have occurred at the Essentia Health Clinic, 3150 Sheyenne St., Ste. 240, West Fargo, between 2:30 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, or between 5:30 and 6 p.m., Friday, May 9, at the Essentia Health Walk-in Care, 52nd Avenue, 4110 51st Ave. S, Fargo.
The two new cases bring the total cases reported in the state to 11. The Cass County cases are not believed to be related to the nine cases recently reported near Williston, in Williams County.
The first case was reported Friday,
May 2, when the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services said an unvaccinated child from Williams County contracted the virus, likely during an out-of-state visit. The number jumped to nine by Friday, May 9. Four of the individuals were contagious while inside three different Williston schools.
Individuals who have not received a dose of the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine should quarantine, or stay home, and monitor for symptoms for 21 days.
Those who have been exposed but are vaccinated do not need to quarantine. However, the department of health and human services said they should still monitor for symptoms for 21 days after exposure.
Measles is a highly contagious, viral illness that can be fatal, particularly for young children and those with compromised immune systems. Measles spreads through the air and can remain in a room and on surfaces for up to two hours, sometimes even traveling between floors through ventilation systems.
Measles symptoms often include a fever, cough, runny nose or eye irritation followed by a body-wide rash. Measles spreads easily through the air and remains contagious for several days before and after symptoms appear.
There is no specific medical treatment for measles, though antibiotics may be used in cases with a developed secondary bacterial infection.
According to the state health department, most North Dakotans are vaccinated against measles, and the risk to the general public is low. People who were vaccinated as children and adults born before 1957 are considered protected due to previous infection.
“The MMR vaccine is 93% effective after one dose and 97% effective after two doses,” Molly Howell, state immunization director, said in a statement. “People who are vaccinated and exposed to measles are not likely to develop the disease. MMR vaccination is critical to preventing the spread of measles in the community.”
The MMR vaccine is recommended starting at 12 to 15 months of age, with a second dose at 4 to 6 years of age. Children who have already received two post-12-month doses of MMR are considered fully vaccinated.
For information about measles, vaccination, or local clinic availability, contact the HHS Immunization Unit at 701-328-2378 or 711 (TTY), or visit hhs.nd.gov/measles.
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.
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – The North Dakota Crisis Chaplains are ensuring the state’s first responders are being taken care of.
Its focus is on bringing chaplains and support to law enforcement and first responders in small, rural communities. The organization is already serving in 17 counties, and its goal is to serve in every county in the state.
“We thought everyone had what Bismarck had, and they didn’t. There were just a couple of pockets of active, trained, engaged chaplains serving first responder agencies, primarily in the cities,” said lead chaplain, Bryan Holchhalter. “There were maybe one or two small chaplain-served agencies in the state out of 53 counties, and some of those weren’t trained, some of those weren’t active, they weren’t during ride-alongs, they weren’t engaged with their departments, and there was basically a canyon of need.“
You can donate to the cause at ndcrisischaplains.com.
Copyright 2025 KFYR. All rights reserved.
North Dakota
Forum editorial: North Dakota is failing its teachers, and it’s time to do something about it
People don’t pursue a teaching career in the hopes of getting rich. While the profession offers many rewards, excellent pay is typically not among them.
That said, we should not resign ourselves to the assumption that competitive pay doesn’t matter when it comes to attracting people to teach or retaining the best teachers.
So it’s frankly embarrassing and shameful that
North Dakota has fallen to 40th in average teacher pay
among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The National Education Association recently released its annual report of teacher pay by state.
Last year, North Dakota teachers earned an average annual salary of $58,581. The average annual starting salary was $43,734.
Average teacher pay has climbed in North Dakota by nearly 7% since 2020-21, when the state ranked 34th in the nation, but that hasn’t kept pace with nationwide growth of around 10% over the same period.
Last year alone, average salaries in North Dakota grew by 3.2% compared to 3.8% nationwide.
Salaries for starting teachers in North Dakota have also dropped from 26th nationwide in 2021-22 to 34th last year.
Meanwhile, the average teacher salary in Minnesota is $72,430, or about $14,000 more than in North Dakota. That puts Minnesota 15th in teacher pay nationwide.
Starting teachers in Minnesota earn an average salary of $44,995, only about $1,261 more than in North Dakota. Minnesota ranks 26th in that benchmark compared to North Dakota’s ranking at 34th.
So while North Dakota has tried to slowly increase teacher pay in recent years, it hasn’t kept pace with the value other states have placed upon teachers.
As a result, North Dakota is struggling to attract and retain teachers, especially in rural areas. The problem is getting more acute by the year as the core of longtime educators retire and fewer young people pursue the profession known for poor pay and challenging work conditions made worse by poor parenting and a growing distrust of education.
This also comes at a time when North Dakota’s Legacy Fund hovers around $12 billion. The 15-year-old growing pile of money gleaned from the state’s taxes on the oil and gas industry is meant as a reserve fund for when those natural resources are depleted.
The intent of the Legacy Fund, created by taxpayers, was to use the state’s natural riches for transformative change. The recently adjourned Legislature did just that when it joined the governor’s push to tap a small portion of the Legacy Fund to lower property taxes, an issue that has plagued North Dakotans for decades.
Between now and the conclusion of the next legislative session in two years, lawmakers must make it a priority to increase teacher salaries. A good goal is to get North Dakota to at least the middle ranks of teacher pay in the country. It’s hard to be happy with average, but a “C” is better than the “F” we have today.
If we truly want to leave a legacy, there is no better investment in the future of North Dakota.
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