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The real story behind North Dakota's most famous ghost: The Gray Lady of Sims

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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.

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Bertha Dordal trained to become a nurse at the Lutheran Deaconess School of Nursing in Chicago and later worked at an orphanage in Lake Park, Minnesota. While in nursing school, she met Anna Dordal, who introduced Bertha to her brother Lars, whom Bertha would marry in 1908.

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.

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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.

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The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sims and its parsonage were built in 1884 and are the only remaining inhabitable buildings in Sims. First Lady Laura Bush once visited on a tour of historic churches in 2008. It remains an active and vibrant church community serving neighboring towns with services every other Sunday.

Tammy Swift/The Forum

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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.”

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Rev. Dr. Lars Dordal with a confirmation class at Sims Scandinavian Lutheran Church.

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.)

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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.

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Bertha Dordal’s funeral in Sims, North Dakota. She left behind her husband and three children: Raymond, 6; Adeline, 4; and Harald, 2. Kari Dordal Christianson, Harald’s daughter, believes he is the young boy in the white collar at the bottom right of the photo.

Contributed / Kari Dordal Christianson

In the years after the family left, parishioners suspected Bertha hadn’t gone anywhere.

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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.

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Sims Scandinavian Lutheran Church, built in 1884, is believed to be the oldest Lutheran church west of the Missouri River. Reports of the former pastor’s wife, Bertha Dordal, walking the halls and playing the organ have been heard for years.

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.

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By 1946, Sims had lost most of its population. Today, the remains of a few old homes can be seen on the landscape. But the only inhabitable buildings are the church and parsonage.

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.

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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.

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Rev. Dr. Harald Dordal worked at Concordia College from 1947 to 1977. After he retired, his daughter said he gave presentations to his Kiwanis club about his mother Bertha Dordal being one of North Dakota’s most famous ghosts.

Contributed / Concordia College archives

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“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!”

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Kari said after her father retired from Concordia in 1977, he spoke more about his mother, the ghost.

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People report seeing windows open and shut in the parsonage and seeing a gray shape walk up the stairs at the Sims Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

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.

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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.

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H. Mark Dordal and Kari Dordal Christianson visited Sims in 2014 to learn more about The Gray Lady of Sims.

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.

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“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.

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The Northern Lights shine over the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sims in the early morning hours of Oct. 11, 2024.

Contributed / J. Campbell

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“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.

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A view from the Sims cemetery to the church and parsonage below.

Tammy Swift / The Forum

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“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.





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North Dakota

Burgum proposes $96 million housing initiative for North Dakota • North Dakota Monitor

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Burgum proposes  million housing initiative for North Dakota • North Dakota Monitor


Gov. Doug Burgum outlined Tuesday a $96 million housing initiative that aims to provide financing assistance to developers for building new single and multi-family homes and take advantage of existing infrastructure to help limit costs.

“We’re growing and our economy is growing,” Burgum said during a news conference at Bismarck’s Custer Park. “We can’t grow unless we’ve got workforce, and we know we’re having challenges with workforce coming to our state because housing in certain markets, in certain places in the state, has gotten very tight.”

The recommendations will be part of Burgum’s state budget proposal he’ll announce during the first week of December.

The plan calls for nearly $39 million to be put toward “financing innovations” to provide gap funding for developers to construct single and multi-family homes through the North Dakota Housing Incentive Fund, which is managed by the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency.

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Group gathering input on North Dakota housing needs

It would also provide low interest construction loans for projects relating to entry-level homes and aging-in-place home designs within established neighborhoods.

“None of the programs we are talking about today are going to be directed toward greenfield, or new infrastructure,” Burgum said. “We have to invest in places where we’ve got existing infrastructure.”

Burgum emphasized that focusing the projects in areas with existing streets, utilities and fire and police coverage will not increase the property tax burden for the community.

The plan would also incentivize partnerships at the local level through low interest loan programs to improve existing houses with repairs so people can stay in their homes longer and keep those homes in a sellable condition, if the homeowner decides to move.

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Almost $23 million would be used to fund innovation grants to spur additional housing projects in urban and rural areas. 

Burgum said clearing some of the permitting and zoning “red tape” would also help promote the next generation of manufactured housing, which is modular home designs.

“As the manufactured home moves from what we might traditionally think about with mobile homes, which people think is substandard, there’s a whole new industry coming and we’ve got to attract it to North Dakota,” Burgum said. “There’s a way to lower the cost of homebuilding with modular, manufactured housing as a key part of that, that hasn’t really arrived here … and we’ve got to make sure our code allows that to happen.”

The ideas are the result of the North Dakota Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, which has been working to develop a comprehensive housing strategy. The committee held five listening sessions with stakeholders in Bismarck, Fargo, Harvey, Williston and at the Strengthening Government to Government Conference with tribal nations.

Kim Settel, vice president of retail banking and lending for Gate City Bank and a member of the state’s Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, speaks during a news conference about a new housing initiative in the state at Custer Park in Bismarck on Nov. 12, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Committee member Kim Settel, vice president of retail banking and lending for Gate City Bank, said clearing regulatory burdens for new construction would go a long way toward incentivizing new home construction.  She also emphasized finding ways to decrease mortgage rates. 

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Burgum highlighted that some homeowners with grown children may want to downsize and sell their home to a new family, but high interest rates are a deterrent.

“If we can get them into a rate that is more amenable to what it was, then you can open that house up for another family,” Settel said. 

She also said no two housing markets are the same and what may work to increase housing in a city like Fargo may not be the same approach needed in Bowman.

The plan also provides $10 million to address ongoing homelessness through emergency shelter operating funds and re-housing assistance.

Burgum said homelessness can occur rapidly for families, based on circumstances. He added about a third of all homelessness involves families with children.

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“It’s not just about individuals, it’s about families,” Burgum said. 

State Rep. Mike Beltz, R-Hillsboro, a member of the Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, said the best thing you can do for a homeless person is to put a roof over their head.

“It provides them stability and exponentially increases the opportunities for positive outcomes on that front,” Beltz said.

State Rep. Mike Beltz, R-Hillsboro, and a member of the state’s Housing Initiative Advisory Committee, speaks during a news conference about a new housing initiative at Custer Park in Bismarck on Nov. 12, 2024. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Burgum said about $16 million of the new initiative will provide eviction prevention resources and housing assistance for those deemed high-risk for housing instability. To receive housing assistance, the recipient must take part in a financial coaching program, he said.

“We just want to make sure people understand, on the financial side of things, both the responsibilities and the opportunities within home ownership,” Burgum said.

Beltz said the housing initiative proposal will fall across multiple state agencies that will administer the programs.

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To assist the construction workforce, $6 million from the program would be made available through grants to local schools for continuing to promote construction careers.

Lawmakers will consider Burgum’s budget proposal, as well as budget recommendations from Gov.-elect Kelly Armstrong, when the legislative session begins Jan. 7.

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A North Dakota Pheasant Spotted In A Very Unusual Place

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A North Dakota Pheasant Spotted In A Very Unusual Place


I’ve seen North Dakota pheasants in a lot of unusual spots over the years.

As somebody who spends many days each year chasing these birds all over the North Dakota countryside, you never know where you might run into them.

Sometimes, you will see them right here in town. I know I’ve had them right in my backyard before. I’ve even seen pheasants in a graveyard before. Pheasants will sometimes perch in trees, haybales, and shrubs, especially in the morning. I think they do this to get a bird’ s-eye view of possible predators.

I’m a big pheasant hunter and I truly admire these birds. Not only are they delicious table fare but trying to outsmart a late-season rooster can be very challenging, which I enjoy.

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A pheasant was filmed in North Dakota recently in a rather interesting spot. 

Here’s that video courtesy of ND Wildlife & Landscapes Facebook page. Check it out.

Now, I’ve certainly seen other species of birds on powerlines before, such as Morning Doves, Meadow Larks, Blackbirds, Robins, raptors, etc., but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Ringneck Pheasant on a powerline. It’s not a common occurrence in the North Dakota countryside that’s for sure.

Talk about walking a tightrope. Pheasants have rather large feet, and this bird must have been channeling its inner circus act. Somebody call the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey.

A true treasure in North Dakota. I almost enjoy watching them as much as I do hunting them. Next time you are out on the North Dakota prairie, take a second to look and admire the Ringneck Pheasant. You NEVER know where you might see one.

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Top 11 Most Stunning Waterfowl in North Dakota

LOOK: Here are the states where you are most likely to hit an animal

Hitting an animal while driving is a frightening experience, and this list ranks all 50 states in order of the likelihood of such incidents happening, in addition to providing tips on how to avoid them.

Gallery Credit: Dom DiFurio & Jacob Osborn

 





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Hope Blooms teams with Top Rank Network to deliver flowers to North Dakota Veterans

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Hope Blooms teams with Top Rank Network to deliver flowers to North Dakota Veterans


FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) -Local veteran business owners and active members of the North Dakota Army National Guard collaborate to celebrate Veterans Day at the North Dakota Veterans center in Lisbon, North Dakota.

Residents of the North Dakota Veterans Home celebrated the day with a pancake breakfast and flag ceremony with the Lisbon American Legion, a visit from the Jamestown Drum and Bugle Core, and were hand delivered by Hope Blooms and members of Top Rank Networking, a Fargo based network of veteran business owners. For the active service members and members of Top Rank networking todays events provided an opportunity to express their gratitude to the servicemen and women who came before them.

“At Top Rank networking we really have two main missions and those are tow support veterans who own business and those business professionals in the community but we also look to give back to our community so today working with hope blooms really was a perfect marriage of those two things,” said Sergeant Casey Drege, North Dakota Army National Guard.

“Having conversations with some of these people special especially on you today it’s an important day for me. It’s an important day for them and being able to come together partner with Hope Bloom and hopefully bring a little bit of joy to their day has been very special for me,” said Drill Sergeant Brandon Wendland.

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North Dakota Veterans Home’s Susie Schlecht expressed her gratitude saying, “I think it validates especially for Vietnam veterans that maybe didn’t get a very warm homecoming or actually a horrible homecoming we want to make every day an honor or them and show them how thankful we are for them especially today.”

Hope Blooms founder, Kelly Krenzel worked with Top Rank to organize and plan the event. Her nonprofit takes donated flowers from weddings, funerals, and spread joy and goodwill throughout the community. Today, Hope Blooms focused on those who have served.

“Today we brought a whole host of volunteers along with active service members and just came out to knock on people’s doors and just say, Hey thank you so much for your service and just remind them that their community cares about them,” said Krenzel.



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