Articles

Eriksmoen: Former North Dakota residents changed game of football

Football was revolutionized in the early 20th century, largely because of the efforts of two people who once lived in North Dakota.

• Eddie Cochems
• Theodore Roosevelt

Eriksmoen: ND woman was trailblazing journalist

A trailblazing female journalist was born and raised in North Dakota. It has been written that Emma “Bab” Lincoln was “the first woman reporter to cover the White House; the first American (correspondent) to cover the Paris fashion shows, and the first to develop and edit a women’s page as a regular segment of a major newspaper.”

• Emma Lincoln
• Curtis Eriksmoen

Eriksmoen: ‘World’s Fastest Man’ lost race in North Dakota in 1945

"The World’s Fastest Man" lost a race in North Dakota in 1945. Because few humans could rival Jesse Owens on the racetrack, he lost the 150-yard event in Bismarck to a racehorse.

• Jesse Owens

Eriksmoen: Revisiting stories of friends who will be missed

Since this column began almost 10 years ago, a number of the individuals profiled in it have died.

• Duane Traynor
• Ken Bartholomew
• Liz Anderson
• Robert Schoenhut Jr.
• Rudy Froeschle

Eriksmoen: Man from North Dakota pioneered audio-visual technology

Few people have participated in as many projects that pioneered the cutting edge of audio-visual technology as a man from North Dakota.

• Bill Snyder

Eriksmoen: North Dakota businessman’s help led to 140 lives saved

In 1993, Steven Spielberg directed and co-produced the movie “Schindler’s List,” making the country aware of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist credited with saving the lives of more than 1,200 Jews in the mid-1940s.

• Herman Stern

Eriksmoen: Man who rescued Jews loved prairie, people of North Dakota

A man born in Germany was possibly the greatest promoter of North Dakota during the 20th century.

• Herman Stern

Eriksmoen: Valley City man instrumental in creating greater ND chamber

A Valley City businessman was instrumental in the creation of the Greater North Dakota Association (now the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce) and the Valley City Winter Show.

• Herman Stern

Eriksmoen: Journalist organized ND Constitutional Convention in 1889

According to sources outside of North Dakota, one man was most responsible for organizing the 1889 North Dakota Constitutional Convention and providing the state with “one of the shortest and most succinct constitutions in the nation.” These sources state that John Rea not only organized the convention, he also “drafted the constitution adopted by North Dakota when it became a state in 1889.”

• John Rea
• Curtis Eriksmoen

Eriksmoen: Influential reporter in 1870s became editor in Fargo

One reporter broke the news to the nation about the two most frustrating attempts of the U.S. military during the 1870s: the efforts of the Army to capture the Indians under Sitting Bull and under Chief Joseph.

• John Rea

Columns

‘Father of forward pass’ coached football in Fargo

"The father of the forward pass," who is also credited with being the first person to put numbers on the jerseys of his football players, coached college football in Fargo.

• Eddie Cochems
• Curtis Eriksmoen

Woodcutter one of first ND lawmen to die in line of duty

George Custer’s first adversary upon arriving at Fort Abraham Lincoln in Dakota Territory was not Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse or any of the other northern Plains Indian leaders, but a woodcutter.

Eriksmoen: North Dakotan called ‘one-man army’ for WWII heroics

On Sept. 22, 1944, an Army officer from south-central North Dakota singlehandedly wiped out five German machine gun nests and captured 19 prisoners.

• Curtis Eriksmoen

Did You Know That: Composer helped establish NDSU music school

Last Sept. 26, the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education officially recognized the School of Music at North Dakota State University. This means the university is now part of a small group of accredited institutions nationwide designated as Schools of Music that offer a variety of academic programs, including the doctorate in performance and conducting.

• Curtis Eriksmoen

Brother of ND murder victim went on to study with Hemingway

The 1931 murder of 24-year-old Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson from White Earth, N.D., deeply affected her kid brother.

• Arnold Samuelson’s book
• Curtis Eriksmoen

Eriksmoen: Several people close to John F. Kennedy assassination had ties to North Dakota

The recent return of Clint Hill to his hometown of Washburn got me thinking about people with North Dakota ties who were associated with the events involving President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the controversy surrounding it.

• Clint Hill, Pierre Salinger and Robert Bahmer
• Curtis Eriksmoen

Small ND town of Sarles has ties to two state leaders

Only one organized town in North Dakota was named for a state governor. That town was also the birthplace of a future state executive.

• Curtis Eriksmoen

Eriksmoen: Businessman controlled monopoly of transportation, trade on ND river

For more than 20 years, one person’s monopoly of transportation and trade between Bismarck and Williston, N.D., was so complete that he was often referred to as “the man who owns the Missouri (River).”

• I.P. Baker
• Baker
• Curtis Eriksmoen

Eriksmoen: 121 years ago, ND baseball teams set a record that won't be broken

On July 18, 1891, two North Dakota pitchers for baseball teams in the Red River Valley League established a record that will never be broken.

• Photo

Eriksmoen: Looking for cold case clues

It is not uncommon that when I am in the process of laying out an article, I realize that critical information is missing and the article cannot be completed.

• Curtis Eriksmoen