July 4, 1942

A plaque was unveiled at Whitestone Hill Battlefield State Park, near Monango, to commemorate the Indians killed in a three-day battle, September 3-5, 1863, by forces under General Alfred H. Sully.

July 4, 1883

The first train arrived at the site of Devils Lake and was met by the steamboat Minnie H.

July 4, 1919

The Grand Forks post of the American Legion was organized.

July 5, 1966

Raymond C. Dobson, publisher of The Minot Daily News, was elected grand exalted ruler of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

July 5, 1889

Fredrick B. Fancher, a Republican and Farmers Alliance member, was elected chairman of the North Dakota Constitutional Convention at Bismarck.

July 6, 1910

The Abbey Church at Richardton was dedicated.

July 5, 1876

The steamer Far West reached Bismarck with news of the Custer Massacre and the wounded from Reno's force.

July 6, 1873

Colonel C.A. Lounsberry publishes first issue of The Bismarck Tribune, the state's oldest newspaper in existence today, although it carried the date of July 11. Delays in setting type and fear that legal advertising would be invalidated if dated on a holiday prevented first issue from being published on July 4.

July 6, 1881

The first service of the Mayville Congregational Church, the first church established in Mayville, was held in the open air.

July 6, 1910

Burke County was organized. Carved out of the northwestern townships of Ward County, it was named in honor of Governor John R. Burke.

July 5, 1876

Clement A. Lounsberry, editor-founder of The Bismarck Tribune, scored one of journalism's biggest scoops -- filing 50,000 words by telegraph on the Custer Massacre to The New York Herald.

July 6, 1910

Formation of Renville County, named for pioneer trader Gabriel Renville, was recognized by executive proclamation. It had been separated from Ward County at an election on Nov. 30, 1908.

July 6, 1918

During World War I, William Jennings Bryan, three-time Democratic candidate for president, delivered a patriotic address at Grand Forks.

July 5, 1888

The plat for the townsite of Rolla, seat of Rolette County, was filed.

July 6, 1944

Alfred G. Arvold of Fargo was elected Imperial Potentate of the Shrine at the order's 70th annual convention in Milwaukee.

July 7, 1934

The North Dakota Supreme Court disqualified Governor William Langer from Office. Lieutenant Govenror Ole H. Olson became governor.

July 6, 1936

Less than five months after the coldest temperature in North Dakota history (-60 degrees at Parshall) had been recorded on February 15, the hottest temperature (121 degrees at Steele) in the state's official weather records was reported.

July 7, 1862

The first of four wagon trains led by Capt. James L. Fisk, and including 117 men and 13 women in 53 wagons, left Fort Abercrombie for the west.

July 7, 1929

Wight S. "Barney" Zimmerley of Cogswell flew a light plane from Brownsville, Texas, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, a distance of 1,725 miles in 16 hours to set a new non-stop flight record.

July 6, 1964

The Grand Forks City Council approved naming a new inter-city bridge John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Bridge.

July 6, 1876

A special edition of The Bismarck Tribune announced the Custer massacre. News of the disaster had been brought down the Missouri by Captain Grant Marsh, piloting the steamship Far West, which carried the wounded from the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

July 6, 1884

Langdon was designated as the seat of Cavalier County.

July 7, 1893

Six members of the D.S. Krieder family near Cando were slain by Albert Bomberger in one of early North Dakota's celebrated murder cases.

July 8, 1878

The cabin of John Hallson, first Icelandic settler at Mountain, was completed, thus beginning what was to become the largest Icelandic settlement in the United States.

July 8, 1942

The North Dakota Association of Rural Electric Cooperatives was organized at Carrington by representatives of five co-ops, with P.J. Donnelly of Grafton elected as its first president.

July 7, 1864

Fort Rice was officially established 20 miles southeast of the present site of Bismarck. It was named for Brigadier General Clay Rice, killed in the Battle of the Wilderness in May, 1864. The fort was abandoned May 8, 1878.

July 8, 1870

Fort Pembina was established about 1.25 miles from the present site of Pembina, with quarters for 200 men. The name first suggested for the post, Fort George H. Thomas, was disapproved by General Sherman on the grounds that the historic town name of Pembina should be retained.

July 8, 1883

The first meeting of the Cavalier County Commission was held with P. McHugh, W.H. Matthews and L.0. Norcong as commissioners.

July 9, 1883

Minnewaukan, the seat of Benson County, was incorporated.

July 8, 1884

The town of McHugh in Cavalier County was renamed Langdon.

July 9, 1851

The Swiss artist Rudolph Kurz accepted employment with the American Fur Company at Fort Clark. He was to remain in North Dakota for almost a year, sketching pioneer subjects.

July 9, 1870

At the site of the state's first settlement, Fort Pembina was started. The Army abandoned the post in 1895.

July 8, 1968

A mild earthquake centered in the vicinity of Ashley shook the Bismarck area. It was reported to be the first known earthquake in North Dakota.

July 9, 1891

C. Norman Brunsdale, 24th governor of North Dakota from 1951-56 and U.S. senator from 1959-60, was born at Sherbrooke.

July 10, 1917

John M. Baer, a cartoonist for the Nonpartisan League, was elected to Congress at a special First District election to fill the unexpired term of the late H.T. Helgesen.

July 10, 1910

Frank V. Kent, Grand Forks postmaster, became the first person to travel as a passenger in an airplane in North Dakota at the Grand Forks Fairgrounds when he accompanied a barnstorming pilot on a nine-minute flight.

July 10, 1853

Gen. Isaac J. Stevens, surveying for a northern rail line, camped at Lake Jessie in Griggs County.

July 11, 1873

Colonel C.A. Lounsberry published the first issue of the Bismarck Tribune, the state's oldest newspaper in existence.

July 11, 1922

Dr. V.H. Stickney of Dickinson was the speaker for the dedication of the foundation of Theodore Roosevelt Memorial at Medora, as that community honored its most distinguished former citizen.

July 11, 1895

The secretary of war directed the abandonment of Fort Pembina, established in 1870.

July 11, 1944

Fire destroyed the three-story Montgomery Ward Co. store in Grand Forks.

July 11, 1864

General Alfred Sully established Fort Rice on the west bank of the Missouri below Mandan. It was the site of a great Indian parley in 1868.

July 12, 1930

The most destructive North Dakota windstorm on record destroyed 1,847 buildings and damaged another 5,678 over a wide area.

July 14, 1873

Bismarck came into being, honoring the "Iron Chancellor" of Germany. Formerly the community had been known as Edwinton.

July 12, 1911

Tom McGoey flew his home-made flying machine for the first time at Grand Forks.

July 12, 1936

The highest temperature in Grand Forks' history, 109 degrees, was recorded.

July 13, 1925

The Greater North Dakota Association and the North Dakota Automobile Association amalgamated at a meeting In Grand Forks, with J.R. Carley of Grand Forks as its president.

July 13, 1917

About nine years after its establishment 20 miles south of Medora, the Dakota National Forest was disestablished.

July 14, 1867

The Rev. Abel B. Conger became the first settler in the Devils Lake area.

July 14, 1913

The last "Glidden Tour," made up of 26 automobiles and a special train, visited Grand Forks en route from Minneapolis to Glacier Park.