North Dakota
The story of North Dakota's youngest 'vagrants' in 1923
Stutsman County officials faced an unusual challenge with some young vagrants wandering the area in 1923.
The problem started on a Sunday when residents of the Windsor area brought two boys to Jamestown. The boys, ages 11 and 8, were found in the area and claimed they had been traveling alone for a “fortnight,” according to newspaper reports.
A fortnight is two weeks, in case you are not familiar with the time reference.
The children said they had been sleeping in hay and straw stacks in the fields and eating food begged at farmhouses along their route or snitched from vegetable garden plots.
Officials brought them to juvenile court, where Judge Coffey asked them how they had come to be traveling on their own.
According to the boys, they were traveling with their parents and five siblings by wagon across North Dakota headed toward Dickinson. Somewhere along the way, they had grown tired and stopped for a little nap. When they awoke, the wagon and their family were nowhere to be seen.
I suppose a family of seven children is difficult to keep track of, but it is no excuse to lose two of them along the way.
The children claimed they had tried to track the wagon but were never able to gain sight of their family.
According to newspaper articles, the children were placed under the Stutsman County sheriff’s authority while officials made attempts to locate their parents.
The newspaper coverage referred to the children as “North Dakota’s youngest vagrants” but also included some skepticism about their story. The article used the term “they said” often and presented no other information about the story.
It appears there were no follow-up articles about the children in any of the regional newspapers.
They may have been runaways, or they might have gotten lost by inattentive parents on a wagon trip across North Dakota
No matter how they came to be traveling along across North Dakota, they managed to spend a fortnight living off the land and surviving.
Author Keith Norman can be reached at
www.KeithNormanBooks.com
Submitted Photo
U.S. soldiers with the Nebraska and North Dakota National Guards, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, pose for a group photo at a hotel in Alexandria, Virginia, April 28. N.D. National Guard 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, front row, far left, served as the officer in charge of the mission when soldiers assigned to JTF-DC responded to the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner April 25. About 2,500 National Guard members are supporting the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, providing critical assistance to the Metropolitan Police Department to help ensure the safety of residents, commuters and visitors throughout the District. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Thomas Norris.
WASHINGTON – U.S. soldiers with the North Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska Army National Guard, assigned to Joint Task Force-District of Columbia in support of the DC Safe and Beautiful mission, responded to a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner (WHCAD) at the Washington Hilton in Northwest Washington April 25.
The Guardsmen were at the WHCAD at the request of the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) as an additional patrol unit created specifically for the event, which celebrates the contribution of news organizations and independent journalists alike who provide notable coverage relating to the presidential administration.
“Our mission was to assist the U.S. Secret Service with crowd control,” said Capt. Kevin Peatrowsky, an operations officer with the Nebraska National Guard (NENG) assigned to JTF-DC.
As the Guardsmen were monitoring their area of operations, they saw USSS agents sprint toward the hotel entrance.
“They were running full speed with their weapons drawn,” said Sgt. 1st. Class Allen Haney, a team member with the Arkansas National Guard. “We immediately followed suit.”
Staff Sgt. Kirsten Confer, a NENG combat medic and battle captain, recalled her response to the incident: “We fell back on our basic training. You run toward danger and move in a way that makes sense for the situation.”
According to Confer, the Guardsmen entered the hotel and immediately began securing the scene and ensured that the guests evacuated safely. At the direction of a federal agent, Confer began a rapid trauma assessment on the suspect which resulted in finding knives and ammunition on the shooter. Simultaneously, the Arkansas soldiers moved outside to provide crowd control at a pedestrian barricade outside the hotel.
“From there, we assisted wherever we could,” said 2nd Lt. Caleb Hill, a National Guardsman from North Dakota who served as the officer in charge for the mission. “We were initially helping with crowd control. After that, we realized that the USSS had begun rerouting everyone in the hotel, so we moved to the doors. We were controlling entry into the venue, so we had moved a couple more people outside, so we had five inside, eight outside.” Both Arkansas and Nebraska worked well alongside one another and, alongside the federal agencies. Hill also noted that relying on his soldiers allowed him to move to different teams, which helped allow him to plan and coordinate with different agencies.
According to 1st Lt. Jonathan Goins, a platoon leader with the Arkansas National Guard, Arkansas soldiers also helped establish a security perimeter for the staging of the presidential motorcade. Later, the team assisted federal agencies and MPD with crowd control, which helped clear the way for the president and administration officials, he said.
“Guardsmen on this mission represent the very best of the nation,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leland Blanchard II, the interim commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard. “The world got a brief glimpse, but I see them each day serving and doing amazing things across the District.”
FARGO, N.D. (KELO) — The Sioux Falls Stampede staved off elimination with a 2-1 overtime win over the Fargo Force in game four of the USHL Western Conference Finals Saturday night.
Thomas Zocco scored the game-winner 12 minutes into the extra period. Arseni Marchenko put Fargo on the board first in the first period. Noah Mannausau tied the game for the Herd in the second period.
Sioux Falls outshot Fargo 53-49, including 9-5 in overtime. Linards Feldbergs made 48 saves.
Three of the four games of the series have gone to overtime. The winner-take-all game five is Tuesday at the Premier Center.
New ballot measure guide to be mailed to North Dakota voters ahead of election
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