North Dakota
North Dakota man once created the world's largest trunk and turned it into a garage
FARGO — When it came to promotion and publicity, P.T. Barnum himself had nothing on Fargo businessman John Monson.
He was a seller of luggage, trunks, and valises, but showmanship and illusion were also his game, most notably creating the world’s largest trunk and eventually turning it into a garage.
But that is just one chapter in a very interesting life.
John Monson was born near Neenah, Wisconsin, Feb. 4, 1853. As a young man, he worked in logging camps in the white pine forests along the Wolf and Wisconsin rivers, according to his obituary.
Later he rafted the logs down the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers to the city ports and sawmill cities downstream. After stops in San Francisco and Portland, Oregon he found his way to what was then Dakota Territory to make a name for himself.
Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo / Contributed
In March 1882, he came to Fargo to open a men’s furnishings store on Broadway. In 1886, he married Mattie Judd, who was a school teacher in Wisconsin before the couple married.
By 1900, John established the Monson Trunk Factory setting up shop at 614 Front Street (the current location of The Front Street Taproom). It later moved to 606 Main Avenue where it became Monson’s Luggage.
Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo / Contributed
By 1910, the Fargo Census shows Monson living at 1024 University Drive South with Mattie and sons Leigh, 23; Lloyd, 21; and Fern, 15.
That was also the year Monson and his business achieved international fame by constructing what he purported to be the “largest trunk in the world.” It was 18 feet in length, 10 ½ feet high, and 10 feet long.
Monson had the image placed on promotional postcards that seemingly invited people to come see his shop.
Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo / Contributed
The trunk was on display for a time at the Fairgrounds in Fargo.
It’s unclear when Monson’s trunk lost its promotional appeal. But when it did Monson had a plan. He moved the trunk to the backyard of his home and converted it into a garage.
Three years later, Monson must have figured he was due for another promotional stunt.
In an advertisement (which reads more like a newspaper story) from June 6, 1913, people were encouraged to come to downtown Fargo for “one of the most unique features of the entire week.”
At 2 p.m. Saturday, June 7th, Monson planned to throw one of his trunks off the top of the 5-story Waldorf Hotel, not far from his shop.
The high dive stunt was meant to show the durability of Monson’s trunks. The ad goes on to say, “Moving pictures of this act will be taken and all who wish to get into the ‘movies’ should be on hand at that time.”
So far, we haven’t been able to find the film or any reports about the success of Monson’s stunt. However, the company continued to operate in downtown Fargo.
Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo / Contributed
In 1919, John Monson turned over his business to his son who changed the name to the Monson Luggage Company and in the late 1930s to Monson’s Luggage. Eventually the store relocated to the West Acres Mall. It appears that both sons Lloyd and Fern worked for the company, while oldest son Leigh was listed in the census as working in police management and later as an attorney.
In the meantime, John and Mattie Monson weren’t content to just sit around. For the next few years they traveled around the country in their car. They eventually returned to Fargo in 1924, having logged over 42,000 miles.
Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo / Contributed
According to his obituary, “They remained in Fargo only a very short time, as Monson had opened an elaborate tourist camp in the grapefruit area of Lake Alfred, Florida.”
He worked almost to the day of his death at his home at Lake Alfred in May 1945.
Mrs. Monson died January 6, 1943 at Lake Alfred.
Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo / Contributed
What happened to the trunk/garage?
Perhaps one of the most surprising elements of this story is just how long that trunk-turned-garage lasted.
According to Dana Cook, the current owner of the former Monson home, the garage stood until 2005, shortly before she and her husband bought the property from her coworker.
“My coworker still parked her car in it until she was told it would have to be removed. She drove a (Honda) Odyssey and it just barely fit,” said Cook.
Dana Cook / Contributed
Cook said the financing wouldn’t go through for the property unless the old structure was taken down. So the former owner and her husband spent a weekend with a chainsaw tearing it down and putting the remains into a dumpster.
It was hardly a glorious end to an internationally acclaimed trunk. But it survived for 95 years through snowstorms, hailstorms and all that Fargo’s weather had to dish out. Old John Monson would have been proud.
STEP BACK IN TIME WITH TRACY BRIGGS
The Forum
Hi, I’m Tracy Briggs. Thanks for reading my column! I love going “Back Then” every week with stories about interesting people, places and things from our past. Check out a few below. If you have an idea for a story, email me at tracy.briggs@forumcomm.com.
Tracy Briggs has more than 35 years of experience, in broadcast, print, and digital journalism.
DICKINSON — With the grand opening of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library happening this week, notable politicians and figures are expected to visit.
In an
interview
with the North Dakota Monitor, TRPL Executive Director Robbie Lauf said Members of Theodore Roosevelt’s family and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are among those expected to make their appearance. On June 20, the White House’s Freedom 250 made an
announcement
that President Donald Trump will also visit July 1.
There have been visits to the TRPL from the Trump administration in the past. In July of 2025, Vice President JD Vance
visited the construction site
with his family where they had lunch catered by The Farmhouse Cafe in Medora. To visit Medora, Vance
flew into the Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport
, according to KFYR-TV. A
post
made on a Dickinson-based Facebook group inquired on June 6 whether President Trump would also land in Dickinson for a possible visit to Medora.
REUTERS / Kevin Lamarque
“Air Force One”
is the call sign used for any aircraft when the president is aboard, meaning the president could use a smaller aircraft capable of landing in Dickinson. However, according to the United States Air Force, the president often uses the VC-25A aircraft as Air Force One. The VC-25A is a specialized version of a Boeing 747.
When President Obama departed on an
international trip
in 2009, CBS News reported that Air Force One needed at least 10,800 feet of runway for its takeoff. The Dickinson Theodore Roosevelt Regional Airport has only 7,301 feet on its main runway according to its
website
.
The Dawson Community Airport in Glendive, Montana, is another airport nearby Medora. Yet, it faces the same limitations as the airport in Dickinson. According to airport manager Craig Hostetler, the Dawson Community Airport’s main runway only has a length of about 5,400 feet and would not be able to handle the weight of a Boeing 747. Hostetler suggested that President Trump would probably fly into either the Billings-Logan International Airport or Bismarck Municipal Airport.
“Air Force One cannot land here,” he said. “Most airports in eastern Montana and western North Dakota probably would not handle it.”
Matthew Remynse, the airport director in Bismarck, confirmed that the Bismarck Airport is capable of handling a Boeing 747 and that Air Force One had landed there in the past. He noted that while President Trump visited the airport in 2017, a runway reconstruction project caused the airfield to be a little shorter than needed. So instead of the specialized Boeing 747, the president flew into the airport aboard a smaller Boeing 757.
“There are only a handful of airports in North Dakota that can handle the 747, so a lot of planning goes into where to land,” Remynse said. “Past presidents have flown into Fargo and Bismarck because those are the airports with the infrastructure.”
With the airport in Bismarck being about 140 miles away from the TRPL, it could take close to two hours for the president to be driven to Medora. Remynse explained that former President Barack Obama used a helicopter to travel from the airport to Fort Yates when he visited in 2014. Although Remynse said he can’t speculate on what the President will do when he visits Medora, he said flying on a helicopter was an option.
Whether or not President Trump will use Bismarck Airport in July, Remynse said he’s always “beaming with pride” whenever a president lands on his runway.
“It’s always an exciting time when the president flies in,” he said. “If we’re the airport of choice, we’re happy to support the Secret Service and the Air Force in their mission.”
Mike McCleary / Bismarck Tribune
North Dakota
Today in History, 1930: North Dakota marks 8 bank robberies in a year, stealing a total of $13,555
On this day in 1930, North Dakota bankers reported that nine bank robbers had been sent to prison after a year of holdups and burglaries across the state.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Bandits Loot North Dakota Banks of $13,555 in Year
NINE ROBBERS ARE IN TOILS
Six Daylight Holdups, Two Night Jobs In Macfadden Report
The bank bandit business in North Dakota since July 1, 1929, has paid out about $13,555.08 to its tradesmen, but has sent nine of them away for long visits at the state penitentiary in Bismarck.
From July 1, 1929 to June 15, 1930, close of the fiscal year for the North Dakota Bankers association, there were six daylight holdups and two night burglaries in the state, the annual report of W. C. Macfadden, Fargo, secretary, shows. Mr. Macfadden released his report for publication Saturday.
Up to June 15, the holdups had resulted in a total money loss of $12,356.08, but Friday two men held up the Commercial State bank at Sarles and escaped with about $1,200, bringing the grand total to $13,556.08.
The total loss resulting from daylight holdups in 1929 was $5,619.50 exclusive of damage losses. Attempts to obtain money in two night burglary attacks failed. So far in 1930 the loss amounted to $6,735.58, taken from the Citizens National bank at Wahpeton, May 29, plus $1,200 lifted at Sarles Friday.
Everyone Loses At Denhoff
The first bank case in the 1929 fiscal year of the association was at the First State bank of Denhoff Aug. 2, when $800 in currency was burned and the vault damaged beyond repair in a night time attack. Nobody profited by that deal—not even the bandits, for though they escaped, they couldn’t take the charred money with them.
Then came the Gwinner affair when four men broke into the Gwinner State bank under cover of night, cut open the vault, and then were forced to flee down a road ahead of an impromptu, but indignant posse which sprinkled them liberally with shot. All four of the bandits were captured and all of the money recovered. The four men, Thomas Kerwin, John Mitchell, George Smith and John Grant, each of whom won a plentiful aliases were sent away to Bismarck and will be there for some time to come.
Sept. 10, 1929, the First State bank of Alamo lost $4,000 in a daylight holdup. Oct. 2, the Security National bank of Taylor was visited, and robbed of $1,619.50. None of the money has ever been recovered.
Three men held up the bank of Garske Oct. 7, 1929, were chased by townsfolk and ended up in Bismarck. The three convicted were Nicholas Schneider, Jimmy Russell and Louise Vivier.
John Peters was the next man to be sent away on a bank bandit charge. He entered the penitentiary convicted of having held up the Douglas State bank on Nov. 22. The full amount of money was recovered from Peters as it was from the Garske bandit trio.
March 19, 1930, Nicholas Mead shot and killed the cashier of the First National bank of Courtenay and for several days was in possession of illicit funds obtained by the process. Mead, however, was caught, convicted, and sent away for life on a first degree murder charge.
The Citizens National bank of Wahpeton is still loser by $6,735.58, the result of a daring daylight attack May 29 when three young men held up the bank employees, the board of directors and certain patrons, scooped up the money, walked out the door and to their car, escaping across the South Dakota border.
The two recent bank attacks, neither of which is included in Mr. Macfadden’s report because they will fall in next year’s tally, are the Hurdsfield affair and the attack at Sarles Saturday. Ernest Swandlow, youthful bandit, who attempted to hold up the Farmers and Merchants bank at Hurdsfield last week, was caught the same day, has confessed.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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