North Dakota
Lost gold at the mouth of Heart River?
The year was 1863 and the Civil War raged, far away in the East. The Sibley and Sully military expeditions had driven Dakota tribespeople westward out of Minnesota in a number of battles following the
U.S.-Dakota War of 1862
. And in Dakota Territory there was a day when the Missouri River, near present-day Bismarck, ran red with blood.
On Sept. 13, 1863,
the New York Times reported
that “a party of thirty miners” traveling down the Missouri River was “supposed to have been killed by the Indians.” More information came from the St. Paul Daily Press: these miners, returning home from Idaho gold fields, were all murdered by Dakota warriors.
The miners’ demise was wrapped in mystery, but the details became known months later when Native Americans told another group of returning miners what had happened.
The ill-fated party, consisted of 18 men, one woman, and three children in a large, flat-bottomed mackinaw boat. Anticipating trouble, they were well armed with rifles and a small cannon. Each miner carried a pouch filled with gold dust, and the boat allegedly had a false bottom that concealed more gold. They stopped at Fort Berthold, where
fur trader Fred Gerard
sold them supplies and advised them not to go further into danger. One miner did elect to stay at Fort Berthold. The others knew the potential hazards, but continued on.
On Aug. 10, 1863, at the mouth of the Heart River, a group of Yanktonai Dakota came along the Missouri riverbank, beckoning the miners to come ashore, but the miners “responded by firing the cannon three times.” The warriors vigorously returned fire.
Unfortunate for the miners, the firing of the cannon caused the boat to spring a leak. It sank, running aground in shallow water. Sensing an opening, the Dakota attacked. Nearly 200 Dakota launched an onslaught upon the miners who fought desperately to save their lives and the gold, killing 36 warriors. However, with limited ammunition, the miners were overpowered and killed. The Yanktonai reportedly used the gold from the pouches to buy ammunition.
Courtesy / The New York Public Library Digital Collections
Fort Berthold’s Fred Gerard, hearing of the disaster, sent several of his Arikara friends to the site to scrape up spilt gold. But the gold nuggets hidden in the sunken boat’s false-bottom supposedly remained.
Many people later hunted for this legendary Heart River gold, searching riverbanks several miles south of Bismarck. This raises the question: “Is the fabled Heart River gold still there?”
“Dakota Datebook” is a radio series from Prairie Public in partnership with the State Historical Society of North Dakota and with funding from Humanities North Dakota. It is edited for presentation on Forum Communication Co. sites by Jeremy Fugleberg, editor of The Vault. See all the Dakota Datebooks at
prairiepublic.org,
subscribe to the “Dakota Datebook” podcast, or buy the Dakota Datebook book at
shopprairiepublic.org.
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – It is sweet, sweet revenge in 2024 for the North Dakota State Bison. A year after UND blew out NDSU in Grand Forks, the Bison do the same to the Fighting Hawks in Fargo, winning 41-17 Saturday.
The rivalry win is a meaningful one for North Dakota St., but it came at a cost in the second half, when star QB Cam Miller suffered an ankle injury and left the game in the third quarter.
Head Coach Tim Polasek said postgame Miller was not severely injured.
“It’s a just an ankle,” Polasek said. “We’ll know more later. He could’ve come back and he would’ve went into the game and played.”
Aside from the injury, Miller had a milestone day, scoring his 100th career touchdown in the second quarter, then tallying his 42nd career rushing touchdown in the third quarter, breaking Bison legend Easton Stick’s MVFC record for rush TDs by a QB.
”Everything this kid’s going to get, in my opinion, is because he stayed here and played in a system that’s his,” Polasek said. “The system is now his.
“What another great story to deflect the portal. Just stay and be coached and work and finish what you start. I’m so freaking happy for that guy, he means everything to me.”
As for UND, it was obviously a rough day with the 24-point loss, but for the Fighting Hawks, it’s onward to a bye week and a matchup with Northern Iowa Oct. 19.
”How we respond to this is really important,” UND Head Coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We talk to our guys about, we go through events, and our response is our thing that we can control, and we’ve got to do a good job of how we respond to this.”
As North Dakota begins a bye week, North Dakota St. heads to Carbondale Oct. 12 for their next contest, a 2:00 p.m. battle with Southern Illinois.
Copyright 2024 KVLY. All rights reserved.
WILLIAMS COUNTY, N.D. (KFYR) – The Williams County Sheriff’s Office says there are two large, active fires in the Ray area as of 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
They say one fire began northwest of Ray and the other began south of Highway 2 near the area of 102nd Road NW and 62nd Street NW. The fires are traveling southeast and are burning south of Highway 2 as of Saturday evening.
As of 9 p.m. Saturday, Highway 2 is closed from County Road 9 (133rd Avenue NW) eastbound to 105th Avenue NW. Westbound Highway 2 traffic is recommended to travel north on Highway 40, past Tioga, then west on Highway 50.
They say traffic is still able to travel from Highway 2 south on Highway 85 to get to Williston.
There is not currently an evacuation order in place, but if you require assistance, or there is an emergency, Williams County Sheriff’s Office says to dial 911.
Many local and regional firefighters are actively responding.
Your News Leader will continue to provide updates as we learn more.
Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.
FARGO — The 117th meeting between North Dakota and North Dakota State will take place Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Fargodome.
Recaps of scoring plays as they happen will be posted below.
NDSU 7, UND 0, 10:39 left: The Bison move quickly on their first drive. After a questionable 15-yard pass interference on Antonio Bluiett, NDSU’s CharMar Brown scores from 2 yards out.
NDSU 14, UND 0, 2:18 left: After picking up a third-and-7, Cam Miller goes deep for Bryce Lance. Lance beats Clayton Bishop deep for a 36-yard touchdown connection.
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