Category Archives: History

They missed a piece when they tore down Meriwether’s

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Despite the efforts of my friend and Burleigh County commissioner Mark Armstrong, the city tore down the former Wilton train depot, known for the past twenty-plus years as the Meriwether’s building. It also doubled as the ticket office and souvenir for the various incarnations of riverboat which docked thereby. One interesting feature in the area was the sign you see above, which the Big Muddy decided to relocate far south during its flooding rampage last year.

It was Mark, in fact, who tipped me off to this sign last year already. Obviously it’s taken me quite a while to find the time to get down there and see it up close for myself. I finally did, however, while taking my little boys on a sandy walk to throw rocks into the water and enjoy a warm sunset. Someone apparently found this sign, which had been washed from the vicinity of the Grant Marsh bridge to a sandy stretch well south of the Memorial Bridge, and decided it to stick it into the ground. It’s stayed there ever since, a testament to its resilience.

As far as the plight of the Meriwether’s building goes, I can’t say I have any feelings one way or the other about it. The last restaurant I remember in the building was driven out of business by the closure of River Road when a section slid, and I can’t remember anything ever taking its place. The building is a pretty remote location for a business in all but the warmest few months, so I’m not sure it would have been a good candidate for business even if it had been restored.

I was on board one hundred percent when Phil and Mark were the super-duo on KFYR AM 550 radio and they set about preserving the Provident Life Weather Beacon. That’s a piece of history well known to thousands of people, one which many of us still consult when we want a snapshot of what the weather forecast holds in store. The old depot down by the river? I’m not sorry to say that I doubt many people held the same attachment to it. Sure, there were parts of it that were pretty cool…but one of the best of those has found itself a home about a mile down the river.

Farewell to a familiar sight along Highway 1806…the House of Brides

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In a controlled burn last night the House of Brides, a local feature for as long as I can remember, was taken down in spectacular fashion. I was among the dozens of spectators who observed from a distance, mostly because I wanted to demonstrate to my little boys how fire can consume a house and give a little fire-safety pep talk.

It wasn’t just that, however. I lived south of Mandan for many years and remember this home well. In fact, it’s just east and downhill from Greenwood Cemetery, one of Mandan’s better kept secrets. I think the property has sat unoccupied for quite some time, and it met its demise last night. The brick silo is still intact at this time, the property’s most attractive feature.

Thanks to my friend Tad for the close-up photos. I, of course, didn’t have a camera with me. I always see things like this when I leave the cameras at home…you’d think I would have learned my lesson by now!

Peace Officers’ Memorial Ceremony 2012

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Yesterday marked the date of the Peace Officers Memorial ceremony here in North Dakota. It’s held annually at the monument on the capitol grounds in honor of law enforcement officers who have perished in the line of duty. Most years it is a solemn look back at distant history…this year it was a reflection on the tragic losses of two officers within the past year. I can’t say anything that hasn’t already been said, so I’m just going to share a few photos and let them do the speaking.


Standing at attention


Heartfelt thanks and condolences by Attorney General Stenehjem and others


Wreath presentation before the memorial


21 gun salute


Two names added


I’ll gladly admit that I’m a tireless cheerleader for law enforcement personnel here and all across our great nation. Some of them give it all in the line of duty, and this memorial honors that sacrifice. The national memorial ceremony is next week, and since there are two North Dakota families traveling to attend that ceremony, the North Dakota commemoration was moved to this week. Next week is Law Enforcement Week here in North Dakota and all across the USA, so please take any opportunity you get to thank them for their service on our behalf.

Blast from the (spelling) past

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I had the opportunity to pore over some boxes in the garage last night which my mom brought to me a year or so ago. I knew they contained old Peanuts paperback books and even some Archie comics, but they contained a lot of other cool stuff as well. Among those items was an envelope of State Spelling Bee memorabilia from 1983, the year I was a semi-finalist. I was the Mandan & Morton County champion that year, which is what got me the trip across the river to eat Beef Stroganoff, play Centipede in the arcade between rounds, and make some new friends as geeky as I.

Not with a bang, but a whimper

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Well, I guess that’s that. I just got done working the video crew for the last Dakota Wizards game ever. It was a little surreal, given the team’s long and proud history in the Bismarck-Mandan area. They lost a close one today to the Bakersfield Jam with a score of 93-91, and just like that – it was over.

The game play was good, so don’t let the title of this post lead you to believe that the Wizards went quietly. Once the last buzzer sounded, though, it didn’t take long for the lights to go down and the place to empty for the last time as home to an NBA game.

Many sports franchises have come and gone here in Bismarck. Anyone remember the Dakota Rattlers baseball team? The Bismarck Blaze or Roughriders indoor football squads? For a small town with seemingly fickle interests, the Dakota Wizards have been a unique success story in professional sports here in North Dakota. They succeeded where teams in other cities slowly faded away. The crowd involvement activities during breaks in game play were fun and energetic, sponsors seemed to be always present, and the Wizards managed to rack up a few league championship titles as well.

That’s what made it so odd when, once today’s game concluded, things just shut down as usual. While Kevin Rice’s number was retired during a brief ceremony at halftime, there wasn’t any sort of fanfare celebrating the history of Dakota Wizards basketball here in the capital city. Bummer. It was a great run while it lasted.

We still have Bobcats hockey to ease our craving for local sporting events, of course. Otherwise I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the next big thing is, and if it can enjoy the success and longevity of the Dakota Wizards.

Didn’t get a blizzard…disappointed? Take a look at these

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Since we got cheated out of the blizzard that everyone was anticipating last night, I thought I’d share a few pictures I took of the nasty spring storm we received in Bismarck-Mandan back in 1997. This was a particularly wicked storm, as the snow was very fine and icy. It packed in so tightly that the roads had to be cut open with snowblower-equipped payloaders, instead of simply plowed.

At the time I lived north of Century in the vicinity of Montreal Street. Since only the major roads were cut open, I had to hike around six blocks down to Century Avenue, where the big KFYR-TV 4×4 engineering truck was waiting to transport me to work. As you can imagine, we were pretty busy in a news capacity at that point.

It was a surreal walk down to Century Avenue. The snow was taller than even full size pickups parked along Montreal Street, and as I walked down the road I noticed that I wasn’t leaving any footprints. The snow was made of such fine snow crystals and packed so tightly that I wasn’t breaking through the surface. Every now and then I’d see part of a pickup cab poking up through the snow, but for the most part I couldn’t even tell where the street was, much less where cars were parked.

After the roads were beginning to clear, a crazy friend picked me up in his Escort GT and we went out to document the whole thing. At this time I had merely a little Canon point-and-shoot film camera, but I think it tells the story:

The perspective on this one is slightly misleading, since I was sitting in a compact car. But you get the idea.

As you can see from the walls of snow lining Century Avenue, these roads were literally cut open, as plowing would do no good. Not only was the snow too deep, but it was fine, compacted “sugar snow” composed of tiny little crystals. It was rock hard.

Since we were already into Spring, the sun started to work on the snowbanks right away. They’re melting down pretty quickly. We weren’t in a particularly low-riding car, but even along the Expressway the snow was taller than we were.

The fence along the Expressway was almost completely hidden by snow. Lots of places were packed in completely as the snow settled in and froze solid.

It was a Saturday storm, and I remember being quite put out at having some of my motorcycles stranded at the Hall of Ports for the annual Freedom Riders Motorcycle Show! At least I got to bring home some trophy hardware later.

Anyway…if you’re feeling slighted by the lack of blizzard conditions (especially after all the hype over the last few days), maybe this will help get you through it!

Somewhere in Bismarck-Mandan a Trans Am is missing a piece of its soul

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Perusing the Antique Mall on west Main Avenue in Bismarck (yes, that’s right – we have no “Main Street”) I came across this box of 8 track tapes. I wonder how many people reading this never experienced the “joy” of this playback system and its associated idiosyncrasies.

For instance, when an 8 track tape deck “changed tracks” it was so cool, almost like random access (in a seventies kind of way) – unless it had to do so in the middle of your favorite song. Then of course was the fact that the tape heads didn’t always align themselves properly with the tape, leading people to wedge a matchbook or something under the tape to “shim it” into position.

While the 8 track collection in our family consisted of smash hits from Johnny Cash, Charley Pride, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Horton, and the like, this bin contains albums from a slightly different genre. I couldn’t help but dive straight for a big ol’ batch of stereotypical humor as a result.

As a photographer, I’m intrigued by the Antique Mall – and perhaps you will be too, if you haven’t visited already. There are old cameras, old toys, and a ton of vintage postcards as well. Some of them reveal some very intriguing and little-known facts about North Dakota! I invite you to pay them a visit. In some cases you’ll find things that are jaw-droppingly cool, and in others you’ll get a little chuckle like I did.

Weather Beacon glitch prompting a quick Beacon history refresher

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Driving around with my little boys tonight, we happened to drive through central Bismarck. It wasn’t long before someon noticed that the Weather Beacon was not lit. My little guys’ eyes frequently check for the Beacon no matter where we happen to be.

I reminded the boys that Daddy used to be responsible for updating the Weather Beacon five nights a week. There are a lot of cool things I’ve been able to do over the years, and this is one of them. As a result, I have a little bit more Beacon background than the average Bismarck-Mandan resident. That’s why I occasionally shift into Weather Beacon History Mode. here’s the lesson material:

The staff of KFYR 500 AM radio are in charge of switching it these days, but I don’t think they have any way of verifying that the relays on top of the building actually switch as they’ve been instructed. Sometimes they don’t. That’s typically the issue when the weather beacon isn’t up there indicating (or, as some surmise, generating) the next day’s weather.

So…that thing doesn’t really make the weather…does it?

It was fun to joke about that during my KFYR days. The TV station control operator (me, five nights a week) was in charge of changing the weather beacon to reflect the updated forecast throughout the broadcast day. On our program log in the control room, in between entries for commercials and programs, were occasional reminders to update the weather beacon.

There was a panel in the weather room with six buttons on it: red, white, green, flashing red, flashing white, and flashing green. These switches are still in a rack at the TV station, even though they are have not been connected to the Beacon for quite some time. Last I remember, the KFYR Radio control guys switched it by dialing a phone number (no, I’m not posting that here).

The poor Beacon almost faded into history in 1997. It was showing its wear, and the cost of modernizing it was prohibitive. That was, however, until KFYR Radio rode to the rescue. Phil Parker and Mark Armstrong of the “PMS in the Morning” show headed an effort to Save the Beacon!

At this time, Meyer Broadcasting was still intact. While I was hard at work on the TV side of the building, I also freelanced the website for KFYR-AM Radio. As part of the campaign to save the Weather Beacon, we had a couple of pages on the website urging people to help donate.

You can click here to see the original Save the Beacon page from my archives. Yeah, the Web has come a long way.

The campaign was a success in that it raised money toward the Beacon’s restoration, increased public awareness of its plight, and served as a rallying cry to its rescue. While the entire cost of the Beacon’s renovation was not raised, its importance to the community was indisputably proven. Through a matching grant from local government and plenty of donations, the project was underway.

As part of the KFYR website, we were happy to post that the Beacon would be saved. Cliff Naylor did a report on the Beacon that aired as part of a live telecast from the roof of the Provident Building, atop which the Beacon still sits.

You can click here to see the post-campaign page from my archives and watch the video.

As I recall, and the details in my head are quite murky, the Beacon was restored but still had some gremlins. I believe it was then refitted one more time and has functioned ever since. None of it would have been possible without Phil and Mark. To this day, the controls reside with KFYR Radio instead of the television station. In fact, why don’t you call the Phil Parker Show on KFYR some morning and ask Phil about it?

Oh yeah…the t-shirt. We had t-shirts made, and I still have mine. It has caricatures of Phil Parker and Mark Armstrong on the front, and a key to understanding the Beacon on the back:

Weather Beacon white as snow, down the temperature will go.
Weather Beacon red as fire, temperature is going higher.
Weather Beacon an emerald green, no change foreseen.
When colors blink in agitation, there’s going to be precipitation.

Provident Life used to sponsor TV spots featuring the Beacon and its rhymes, voiced by the dulcet tones of the late Ron Franke. Since they’re no longer doing business there, the ads don’t run. That means that the weather beacon itself is somewhat obscure now, with newer Bismarck-Mandan residents unaware of its history. For those of us who have lived here a long time, it’s good to see the weather beacon standing tall. No matter what the forecast, there’s something great about seeing it red in the spring, green when things are just right, and white when Thanksgiving and Christmas approach. Thanks to everyone who helped keep it up and running!

It just seems more like Christmas once the capitol’s windows are decorated

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If there’s a beacon of Christmas decorum in Bismarck-Mandan, it’s gotta be this one: the state capitol. Coinciding with Monday’s lighting of the official Christmas tree, these windows keep an annual tradition that seems as much a part of Christmas as snow and caroling!

Bit of trivia: the stars on top of the capitol are too large to get up to the roof via conventional means, so they were dropped off by National Guard helicopter way, way back when. My friend’s dad flew that important mission, as I recall.

Have you ever wondered how those windows get decorated with color for Christmas, or blacked out to form numbers on New Year’s Day and Independence Day? If you haven’t read it before, please click to view this post on the guy who leads the crew in charge of that duty: Bill Jundt.

Return to Solberg Butte

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Recently I took a return trip, with the landowner’s permission, to Solberg Butte. As its name suggests, it’s a parcel of high ground that sits near Bismarck, and it’s got a couple of very unique features. I had a window of one afternoon before cattle returned to this land, and I presume the electric fence was turned back on, so I had to make it count…starting with the fascinating features in the rocks you see above.

In addition to being a neat little overhang and shelter from the elements, this area also boasts some interesting carvings. As you can see, many of them date back to the early 1900s. The sandstone has weathered over time, so many of them have been obscured…but several remain with their dates abundantly clear.

I imagine this area was even more remote in 1903 than it is today; with our statehood beginning in 1889, this carving took place with North Dakota itself was only around fourteen years old! It isn’t exactly cuneiform, but it does give one a little bit of perspective. But there’s another interesting feature of this butte that I hadn’t expected when I first stumbled upon it (literally):

This is a marker from the US Geodetic Survey. You can find out more about what this means and the project’s history by clicking here for its website. These markers are an important part of our nation’s first detailed mapping of its terrain. The odds of me stepping on one of these are infinitesimal, so I was particularly pleased with the find.

Once again I’d like to state that, as always, I had explicit permission to be here on that day… and that this land is now occupied by cattle. Please use these photos to enjoy its remarkable features. There are some other interesting and photogenic subjects nearby, but I think I’ll leave them for a future post or posts!