North Dakota
The real story behind North Dakota's most famous ghost: The Gray Lady of Sims
FARGO — When she was a child, Kari Dordal Christianson, of Elk River, Minnesota, remembers hearing stories of how her grandmother Bertha died young and was buried in a remote cemetery in western North Dakota. The rest of Bertha’s family — her husband and three young children — moved east following her death.
“I used to think how lonely it must be that Bertha was alone in that cemetery with no one visiting or caring for her grave,” Kari said.
Although Bertha’s grave marker — inscribed with “Mrs. L. Dordal, May 19, 1880 – May 8, 1917” — was rarely adorned with flowers lovingly placed by family, the nearby town of Sims never forgot her, and for some, it felt as though she never really left.
To them, Bertha is “The Gray Lady of Sims,” a ghost who still walks the church and parsonage in the dark of night.
Contributed / Kari Dordal Christianson
As another Halloween rolls around and eerie tales are spun of vengeful spirits, shadowy figures and restless souls crossing over from the great beyond, please understand that this is not one of them.
This ghost story is more sweet than scary. But one that still attracts visitors to this once-thriving town 47 miles southwest of Bismarck. The story has been told for more than 100 years, but not always accurately.
Bertha’s granddaughter, Kari, and grandson, Mark, visited Sims years ago and uncovered some of the truth about their mysterious grandmother and the legacy she left behind.
Sims, North Dakota, was founded in 1883 off the Northern Pacific train route. Coal mining and the town’s brickyard helped the population swell to more than 1,000 people within a couple years.
In 1884, Scandinavian immigrants — 35 men and eight women— built the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church and parsonage to house the minister who would lead the thriving congregation.
Tammy Swift/The Forum
From 1916 to 1918, Rev. Dr. Lars Dordal, his wife Bertha, and their three young children, Raymond, Adeline and Harald, lived here.
The Dordals had answered the call to Sims (and nearby Almont) from Madison, Wisconsin, where Lars was serving as a pastor for a congregation. While there, Bertha contracted tuberculosis. They figured a change of climate in western North Dakota might help restore her health.
They moved to North Dakota in the fall of 1916. Lars’ brother, Rev. Jacob Dordal, wrote of them: “Joyous and happy, they undertook their work there. The congregations were also happy and thankful for the young and active minister and family God had sent to them.”
Contributed / Kari Dordal Christianson
However, the disease slowly took its toll on the beloved pastor’s wife. Bertha soon was too weak to play the church organ or head Ladies’ Aid.
In 1917, just shy of her 37th birthday, she died.
Less than a year later, Lars remarried a woman named Clara, who had been hired to care for the Dordal children. (Over the years, several newspaper stories, magazine articles and books have reported that Clara was Bertha’s sister. She was not. Kari believes the confusion came because, for a time, Lars’ sister Anna cared for the children. The stories have also incorrectly reported dates the family was in Sims, as well as the age at which Bertha died.)
The Dordals left Sims in 1918. Lars eventually became a long-serving pastor in Larimore, North Dakota, where he and Clara added two more children to their family.
Contributed / Kari Dordal Christianson
In the years after the family left, parishioners suspected Bertha hadn’t gone anywhere.
They heard footsteps when no one was there, and the organ played, even years after it had been removed from the church.
Was Bertha, once again, playing beautiful hymns for her congregation?
Olga Nelson lived in the parsonage with her pastor husband in the 1930s. She said she used to see “a gray shape upstairs.” Tuberculosis victims often have a gray pallor to their skin.
The term “gray lady” was born.
Contributed / Kari Dordal Christianson
While the name “gray lady” might sound ominous, the reports of Bertha’s hauntings tell a different story. She is described as a warm-hearted and gentle spirit, known for covering guests with blankets on chilly nights, opening windows when the air was stuffy, and gently opening and closing cupboards to show where things belong.
As the years passed, the sightings of Bertha’s ghost continued, as Sims became a ghost town.
Tammy Swift / The Forum
The boom was over, the railroad moved, the post office closed and Sims was all but deserted, except for the beloved church and parsonage, which still served people in the neighboring area. It continues to serve the region today as an active church community with services held every other Sunday.
The church is also frequently visited by curiosity seekers, paranormal investigators and others who have heard the legend of the Gray Lady of Sims. It is even listed on
North Dakota’s Official Tourism Department website.
While tourists come to Sims to see the Gray Lady, the Gray Lady’s granddaughter hadn’t even heard about Bertha until 1988, when she read an Associated Press story about her in The Forum.
Kari said her father, Harald, knew the story but didn’t talk about it much.
Contributed / Concordia College archives
“The only mother he knew was his stepmother, Clara. So, I think he was protective of Clara’s role in the family,” Kari said. “Clara absolutely was our grandma.”
Harald, like his father, became a pastor and reverend doctor, serving congregations and later working in Concordia College’s education department.
Through his job, Kari believes Harald traveled to Lutheran congregations in the area, including Sims. Her assumption is backed up in William Jackson’s book “More Dakota Mysteries and Oddities.”
In it, Sims historian Sig Peterson said that, around 1960, he went out for coffee with Harald Dordal and a few other pastors in Sims.
“One of them told us about his first call in western North Dakota when he had to leave on account of a ghost,” Jackson wrote. “That’s when Harald told him the ghost was his mother!”
Kari said after her father retired from Concordia in 1977, he spoke more about his mother, the ghost.
Tammy Swift / The Forum
“He became very active in Kiwanis, and that was one of the stories he did for one of their meetings — ’I’m the son of the Gray Lady of Sims,’” she said, laughing.
She said her father had a sense of humor about the ghost stories; however, he and others in Bertha’s family were sometimes frustrated by inaccuracies and misinterpretations of Lars and Bertha’s life together.
“He liked ghost stories, but I’m not sure he necessarily believed in ghosts,” Kari said.
In 2014, Kari and her brother Mark, who lives in Moorhead, decided to visit Sims to learn about their grandmother Bertha, the famous Gray Lady of Sims.
“The stories we heard when we were in Sims was that this was a very kind person. She loved to hear children sing, and because she was a nurse, she would bring blankets to people at night when they were cold. Those were the kinds of things we heard, that she was a kind, benevolent kind of ghost,” Kari said.
Contributed / Kari Dordal Christianson
Two of the people Mark and Kari met in Sims had seen or experienced Bertha’s ghost in some way. But they didn’t have the same luck.
“Unfortunately, Bertha did not choose to come and greet her grandchildren. We tried!” Kari said with a laugh.
Even so, the trip to Sims, which she recorded in dozens of photos, was a win.
“We heard all kinds of loving stories about Bertha,” she said. “There was a lot of love.”
Not everyone will believe ghost stories — scary ones or sweet ones like Bertha’s. But for the Gray Lady’s granddaughter, that’s OK.
Contributed / J. Campbell
“I would say that there’s a part of that end of existence, or existence in a different realm, that I absolutely do believe,” she said. “I think there are things that I don’t understand.”
While she didn’t meet her grandmother, it was comforting to see that Bertha wasn’t alone in that cemetery in Sims, after all.
Tammy Swift / The Forum
“I saw that it is well cared for and well-loved, and it’s the most gorgeous, peaceful, beautiful cemetery that I’ve ever seen,” she said.
Bertha’s meticulously kept grave rests on a hill overlooking the church where, on this Halloween, 106 years after her death, she could still linger. A lucky few might see or feel her presence. The luckiest few — those who spend a chilly night in Sims — might even feel the warmth of an extra blanket.
North Dakota
Wintering Well Series Back For Another Season At McKenzie Co. Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum
For those who are looking for community interaction, interested in learning an old-fashioned skill, or just simply looking for a way to offset those winter blues, join McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum, 904 2nd Ave. SW, Watford City, for another season of Wintering Well: Slow Down & Savor. Classes begin Jan. 2, 2026, and will continue the first Friday of each month through the winter, 5-7 p.m. CT..
The holiday season is a time where many remember and honor past traditions, though it can also be a time where the usual business of life gets ramped up. In this modern word, we are heavily inundated with outside pressures that tell us to “keep busy and work harder”. Technology can be a constant pull, drawing us away from quiet connection.
But, for many of the people who settled and lived in this region before us, life, the holidays and winter in general carried a different feeling altogether. The winter season was often a time that was looked forward to and folks seemed more willing to go along with nature rather than struggling against it. Winter is a time of rest and renewal. A time for life to slow, and strength and energy to be gathered for spring, summer and fall. With the cold winter outside their doors, people were content to sit by the fire, catch up with friends and family, and engage in pastimes that were both fun and functional.
These Hygge style Wintering Well evenings offer an opportunity to slow down and savor this time of year. Bring a crocheting, knitting or embroidery project or start a new one. Even if you have no experience with these skills, bring a crochet hook and some yarn and other participants can help you get started. In addition to learning new skills and practicing existing ones, there is good conversation to share, new relationships to foster and snacks will be served.
These classes are intended for adults, but tweens who want to learn are welcome to come along with their parents. There is no charge to join, but donations are always welcome.
Take a step back from technology and busy schedules to reconnect with the old-fashioned life at these cozy, creative sessions, and Winter Well this season.
For more information, visit McKenzie County Heritage Park & North Dakota Oil Museum’s Facebook page or call them at 701-842-6434.
EDITOR’S NOTE: For help with substance abuse or addiction, North Dakota residents can contact the All of Us In Recovery program at
allofusinrecovery.com
or the North Dakota Department of Human Services at
hhs.nd.gov/behavioral-health
. National help is also available at 1-800-662-4357.
FARGO — A special program for those battling addiction in North Dakota is finding huge successes with a state program called “All of Us In Recovery,” or AIR.
The proof can be found in the lives now changed because of the team approach.
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BISMARCK — Despite stubborn inflation, higher daily costs and
a dip in holiday spending,
most North Dakotans are as committed to charitable giving, according to the latest North Dakota Poll, commissioned by the North Dakota News Cooperative.
A total of 78% of
North Dakota
residents say charitable giving is important to them personally, with 31% indicating it is very important and 47% somewhat important.
Damon Gleave, interim executive director of the Dakota Medical Foundation, which spearheads the 24-hour charity event
Giving Hearts Day
each year, said the results of the poll were consistent with what the foundation has seen with the success of the event.
“Regardless of age or gender or what part of the state people are from, North Dakotans are givers,” he said.
Looking further at the data, however, shows a split in how much people feel they can afford to give.
Asked to describe how much they give each year, 58% gave between $100-$999 annually, while 32% gave between $1,000-$5,000 or more per year. Another 10% declined to answer.
“The fact that folks are still interested in supporting
charitable organizations
during these interesting financial times is certainly encouraging,” said Shawn McKenna, executive director of the North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations.
McKenna said some of the rhetoric coming out of President Donald Trump’s administration has impacted nonprofits and NGOs, though that includes increased giving to some and less to others.
Some smaller nonprofits that saw grant funding dry up because of government efficiency efforts are having a harder time since they lack the staff to solicit contributions, McKenna said.
In another data point from the poll, nearly half of respondents said generosity should be “homegrown,” with 46% saying support for local organizations is their top reason to give.
“It does look like folks are really interested in helping out in their own backyard versus sending it off to whatever the big national type organization is,” McKenna said.
Among the other factors considered most important, 16% said support for faith-based groups was highest on their list of reasons, while another 16% more said giving to causes they have a personal connection to was most important.
A total of 60% of respondents said they give throughout the year, while 23% said they usually give at the end of the year.
“There’s a preference to support local organizations — whose work tends to more directly impact people in a given community — as well as a shift toward donors making larger gifts to a smaller number of charities,” Gleave said. “We think this is a direct result of charities cultivating better relationships with their donors over time, which ultimately leads to more impactful, sustained giving.”
Kim Hocking, board president of the Bismarck Mandan Unitarian Universalist congregation, said the poll data was in line with what he sees in giving habits.
Hocking said one thing that comes out in the poll, and something he sees on a daily basis, is that people are looking for a sense of community. That desire often matches giving habits.
“As a group, we want to be a part of something, and if we know about it, and we see, oh, we could help with that, then we want to be a part of that,” Hocking said. “That goes along with supporting local organizations, supporting causes you have a personal connection to.”
Most respondents do not give a certain percentage of their annual income to charitable causes, according to the poll.
Only 22% say they practice a form of tithing, long a traditional practice in Christian, Islamic and Judaic faiths.
The low number of people who budget a certain percentage of income, as well as the high number of people that only give up to $1,000 annually, is concerning to some.
Bishop Craig Schweitzer of the Western North Dakota Synod-ELCA, said giving has been “pretty flat” over the past decade, but he was surprised that over half of people gave so little each year.
“That’s shocking to me a little bit because that’s obviously less than 1% of average income in North Dakota,” Schweitzer said.
“I mean, I look at it as a person of faith, the entry level to be a follower of Jesus is 10%, and then my offering is above and beyond that 10%,” he said. “If we’re spending money on things that aren’t a reflection of our faith, how does that reflect who we are as people of faith?”
Schweitzer brought up how important local organizations like churches are in times of need and stress, giving the example of the wildfires in northwest North Dakota in the fall of 2024.
“The church was huge,” he said. “It stepped up and made sure people were cared for and probably gave beyond anything they imagined they would give to something like that before, financially and physically.”
The North Dakota Poll was conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Strategy Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, from Dec. 10-13 2025. A total of 625 North Dakota adult residents were interviewed statewide by telephone. The poll has an error margin of + or – 4%.
The North Dakota Poll is the only regular, nonpartisan statewide survey of eligible North Dakota voters and consumers.
The North Dakota News Cooperative is a nonprofit news organization providing reliable and independent reporting on issues and events that impact the lives of North Dakotans. The organization increases the public’s access to quality journalism and advances news literacy across the state. For more information about NDNC or to make a charitable contribution, please visit newscoopnd.org.
This story was originally published on NewsCoopND.org.
____________________________________
This story was written by one of our partner news agencies. Forum Communications Company uses content from agencies such as Reuters, Kaiser Health News, Tribune News Service and others to provide a wider range of news to our readers. Learn more about the news services FCC uses here.
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