Category Archives: History

History starts in Bismarck this Friday

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Click the image to visit takebackwashington.net
Forces align this Friday, and you can attend for FREE at the Ramkota. Michele Bachman, conservative spokesperson and US Representative from Minnesota, will be one keynote speaker. The audience will be the other. There will be a public comment period as well as the rest of the festivities listed on the website at takebackwashington.net.

Conservatives involved with the grass roots “Tea Party” movement are aligning with the Republican Party, since we’ve got common ideas. Don’t like something about the GOP? Bring your voice! Change things from within and hold people accountable to the conservative ideals we hold dear.

According to the site home page, there’s a star studded lineup of supporting organizations, including:

The ND Republican Party
Citizens for Responsible Government
The North Dakota Family Alliance
Concerned Women of America
The North Dakota Farm Bureau
The North Dakota Taxpayers’ Association
The National Rifleman’s Association
Campaign for Responsible Health Reform

Hopefully this event is just the beginning of Take Back Washington rallies in all of President Obama’s “57 states!” Come on out, let your voice be heard, help build the momentum, and let’s bring about some real “change we can believe in.”

You can sign up for free at the Take Back Washington website. It starts at 3pm and runs throughout the afternoon and evening with different panels and speakers – the agenda is on the main page. Let’s make history and start taking this country back from the radicals trying to ruin it forever!

Bountiful iNDeed

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I’m easing into a project of scanning some old family photos that have recently arrived from a relative who now lives far away. This one of my grandparents particularly caught my eye so far, even though I have many to look through. I don’t know when it was taken, although I know it was taken prior to 1955. It’s a particular treat to me because I’ve seen relatively few photos of my dad as a kid and can’t recall ever seeing a photo of his father, who died when my dad was a boy.

Remember a bridge blowing up or something? Watch it in detail online

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A friend of mine was on the Discovery Channel video crew for the show “The Detonators” during the demolition of the old Liberty Memorial Bridge. Their crew followed around the guys in charge of bringing down the old bridge as they sized up the job, rigged their explosives and shaped charges, and pulled the trigger on those big explosions. It may also answer a couple of questions for you as to why they dropped the spans the way they did, and whether things went according to plan.

An excerpt is available here on Discovery Channel’s website.

If you’re like me, you will want to download the full episode for $1.99 on iTunes. Here’s the link (you must have iTunes installed, which is free).

If you have visited this site for a while or watched the news, you may recall that I was the last person to drive across the old bridge before it was closed to the public. The last vehicle to cross the bridge was a motorcycle!

The demolition guys gave me a couple of strips from the shaped charges used to bring down the last part of the bridge. Oh yeah, they’re ranked highly on the list of things in my big souvenir box!

In my conversations with guys from this demolition crew, I found out that they were VERY concerned about wind, something that’s addressed in this episode. For a really neat perspective on the crew that pulled off this impressive feat of demolition, and how they did it, check out the episode! $1.99 is cheap for a souvenir about such a prominent part of Bismarck-Mandan’s history.

Forgotten stories lie south of Mandan

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It’s telling that this stone stands within sight of the capitol grounds. I’d bet only a handful of people know it’s here, or that it’s one of only a few remaining at the old Greenwood Cemetery.

I wrote before about this cemetery, located south of Mandan near my boyhood home. Now the city is expanding southward and encroaching upon it; in fact, the entry to it in my original post doesn’t even exist now. A new water tower is being constructed nearby, and it’s got a few back yards adjacent to it.

It’s pretty much abandoned, although Morton County takes care of it. A few stones from the 1800s remain, but there were some pretty big surprises outside of what would seem to be the cemetery grounds. Last year, crews working on the new water tower uncovered some unmarked graves. The news reports were written to give the impression that there were only a couple, but that’s not the case. There were over FORTY. Law enforcement personnel worked extra shifts to protect the site from grave robbers until the situation could be handled. This article gives a little bit of detail on that process.

This hill could tell a lot of stories if it could talk, to be sure. At this point there probably aren’t any more unexpected graves, at least not any more groups of forty-two. There are, however, a few remaining stones like the one pictured above. I’d like to let the markings on it tell that story for you:


JOHN S. MANN
NOV 30, 1815 TO SEPT 22, 1891

ELIZABETH D
MAR 6, 1811 TO NOV 12, 1874

ELLA
SEPT 28, 1882 TO OCT 8, 1891

OUR DARLING
DIED SEPT 14, 1883

You can find out more about the history of this cemetery in this book at the state archives at the Heritage Center.

I hope to see one of these on each side of the bridge soon

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I remember hearing a long time ago that the memorial area on each end of the new Liberty Memorial Bridge will contain a chunk of the original historic bridge in addition to the other interpretive features. This may be one of those pieces.

Each memorial area (the Bismarck one is nearing completion now) has an area that would be perfect for a piece like this, which leads me to believe that the placement of the pieces will be the “cherry on top” once the rest of the memorials are finished.

Work continues under the Bismarck side of the bridge, presumably on the park that I heard would be placed there. Just because we drive over the new bridge every day doesn’t mean that it’s finished. I can’t wait to see what the area looks like once all the features of the bridge and its ancillary features are complete!

Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile Site (updated)

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I took an amazing trip this weekend – to beautiful Cooperstown, North Dakota for a tour of the Ronald Reagan Minute Missile State Historic Site! I’d been waiting for this trip for years, since I heard there was a possibility that one of the decommissioned missile launch facilities would become a historic site. I wasn’t able to make it to the grand opening on July 31st because I was at the National Minuteman Missile park in South Dakota, but this turned out to be even better. I’ll post some pics here, but you really need to go take the tour and hear details about the site for yourself. I can’t be emphatic enough about how important this site is.

We got to tour the above-ground part of the facility first, including this security office. The guys in here determined who goes where, if anywhere, on the facility grounds.

I imagine riding out a North Dakota winter here was made a little easier with the presence of a game room! The books and magazines on the racks are from the time the facility was decommissioned.

Pretty cozy for a military chow facility, isn’t it? After this and a tour of the bunk rooms and facility commander’s office, we went down the elevator to the really cool stuff.

This gigantic steel door leads to the capsule containing the environmental control equipment which provides power, air, and water to the missileers. I say “capsule” because it really is shaped like a cold medicine capsule. Now I know how those little dots of Contac feel.

This is the doorway to the launch control capsule. Yes, that hole is small. You have to duck through it. This is a small door compared to the one leading to the equipment building, and it weighs eight tons. The other one must be four times as heavy, but they needed to be able to get big equipment in and out of that capsule.

This is one of the control panels, giving status indications of the ten missiles under Oscar Zero’s control as well as other important data. This facility can also control missiles at another facility in case those other personnel or their facility are incapacitated.

The contents of these rooms are on suspended floors, stabilized by pressurized shock absorbers. If I recall correctly, they’ve got three feet of travel available. The chairs are on rails and have five-point harnesses to hold the crew in place in case of bomb attack. This would keep the equipment and personnel in place and operational in the event of an attack.

I’m guessing artwork has been an Air Force tradition since some guy painted the nose of the first airplane. This is no exception. Here we see a painting from the inside of the launch control capsule, depicting an Oscar Zero crew. The tour guide explained that yes, everything in this painting means something.

The last guys to serve in this capsule memorialized the end of the day with this note in black marker. “In aquilae cura” means, “In the care of Eagles.”

There is a companion part of this trip, a deactivated and empty missile silo. I didn’t have the time to fly out there and check it out, even though it isn’t far away; I took time from my wife and little boys to make it to Oscar Zero at the last minute, and needed to get back to them. This photo is from the silo at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site in South Dakota. It’s an older missile than what North Dakota has (I don’t believe the November 33 site has the glass cap and “missile” in it, however).

One thing I’m curious about is whether the face of the doors at Oscar Zero are decorated in any way resembling this door in the South Dakota facility. There were railings and chains that I wasn’t about to cross, so I didn’t get the opportunity to peek on the other side of the open doors.

Naturally I bought one of the souvenir coins available at the facility. The proceeds go to help the site and I like souvenirs of stuff like this. Suitable for framing, or laying on your scanner for a blog post. Mine’s staying in the plastic and going in my prize souvenir box.

I’ve got a LOT more photos thanks to the hospitality of the site staff, who accomodated my enthusiastic geekdom for most of the afternoon. I’ll throw up a gallery and post a link here shortly. When I got done with the tour, the day was over. I was able to sit with three of the guides and converse with them for a long time until it was pretty much quitting time, and they were absolutely friendly and fantastic. Go meet ’em!

One thing you absolutely must do before visiting this site: visit the NDSHS web page for this facility and click on the MP3 link titled “SHSND Podcast: The Atomic Age in North Dakota: Interview with Mark Sundlov” to listen. I was enthralled by this podcast when it was released a long time ago, and then pleasantly surprised to find out that Mark Sundlov is the site supervisor for Oscar Zero.

You’ll also want to check out the Friends of Oscar Zero website for information about the site and the surrounding area. I’m told there’s a Cold War interpretive museum in the works in Cooperstown. Your experience at Oscar Zero will be greatly enhanced by listening to the Atomic Age podcast MP3 and doing a little bit of homework on these sites.

My wife was pleased to see how giddy I was when I got back from this trip, and you can be sure I’m going back again. I also plan a gallery of photos, and when I do there’ll be a link here.

River Road, that FMR sign, tales of a Dakota pilot…oh yeah, and lots of frogs

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If you’ve spent any significant time on River Road, and I’m not alone in saying I have, you’ve probably seen this sign with FMR on it. The sign and buildings nearby sit just north of Pioneer Park. As luck would have it, there’s a story behind it.

If you’ve been around Bismarck for twenty years or longer, you probably remember an older fella that used to drive around in these really cool little “Prince” automobiles. Actually, I think there may have been two such guys, since one lived near my south of Mandan as well. I was recently told that the other such man was none other than Fred Max Roberts, who at one time lived where the FMR sign still stands. Aha! But who was Fred Max Roberts? It turns out he had a story (or several) to tell.

Fred Max Roberts, Jr. was the first man to use the field now known as Bismarck Municipal Airport as an airfield. He started flying in the 1920s and had quite a few stories to tell. His son, Fred Marke Roberts, compiled some of those stories into the book you see above: “Tales of a Dakota Pilot: The Way It Was 1929-1937.” I have an autographed copy in front of me as I type this. In addition to stories and log book entries, the book also contains photos and scans of flyers for North Dakota air shows. Quite cool.

Fred Marke Roberts was born in 1931, and I’m not sure if he’s around any more. The book indicates it was published by “fmROBERTS Enterprises” out of Dana Point, California. It is available online if you’re an aviation enthusiast and don’t already own a copy. Its ISBN number is 0-912746-09-2. Here’s a link to more information.

Now when you drive past those brick buildings and that old FMR sign along River Road, you’ll have a little bit more background!

By the way, I was out on that old River Road last night and was amazed at how loud all the frogs were! Since I keep a handheld MP3 recorder in my camera bag, I decided to pull over and enjoy the sounds of nature. Click here for a brief MP3 of nature’s music along one of Bismarck’s finest and most scenic roads.

Hey, look what I found!

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I was looking for something else and came across this photo, which I forgot I’d taken. I was on my way back from a week-long shoot in Nevada and was able to click a few shots of the old Memorial Bridge just as they began the process of preparing the new bridge’s construction. As you can see, the barge and cranes are in place for the cofferdams used to pour the concrete of the new bridge’s pilings. If someone found a way to talk me into an airplane again (I only fly on motorcycles) I might try to get the same angle with the new bridge in place and the old one gone! Odds of that happening are very slim, however.

Farewell, Gentleman Wade (Updated with tribute)

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I got the call tonight…Gentleman Wade Westin has passed away. I still don’t know the nature of the mysterious ailment that took him so suddenly. All I know for sure is there are a LOT of people who are going to miss this great guy and who have fond memories of the times they spent with him. I had the honor of joining over six hundred Facebook folks who joined the Wade Westin Family Prayer Team overnight in seeking God’s hand in this situation. I rest assured that the Lord didn’t let those prayers go unheard. His will is beyond our understanding, especially at a time like this.

I’ve known Wade since he joined KFYR back in the 1990s; since then I’ve had many noteworthy memories, even though our opportunities to see each other grew farther and farther apart. Guys get busy, you know…that’s just how it goes. I wish it wasn’t so. It seems like just a short time ago that Wade and I met up at Taco del Mar and chatted it up about what we’ve been up to, fatherhood, and that kind of thing. In reality it was months ago. That’s the last time I got to spend time with Wade.

We did a commercial for a furniture or mattress store many years ago, one where Wade played a guy who snuggled in under the covers of a comfy new mattress. It took a while for the nickname “Snuggly” to wear off. I had a printout of that shot somewhere in my souvenir box, but in my search for it tonight I came up empty handed. Bummer.

The photo above was from the Medora Musical on my honeymoon trip with my wife. I’d booked front row center tickets of course, planning a Medora weekend on our way back from a week in the middle of nowhere back in my beloved Rocky Mountains. We drove past the turn to Wade’s home near Grenora, ND and it prompted me to call his cell phone and say hi. When he heard we were coming, he arranged the VIP treatment and a backstage tour for us, and we got to chat with him and his family briefly before he left to prepare for the night’s show. He then congratulated us during the show. That’s just the kind-hearted, generous guy that Wade’s friends will all remember.

We used to hit the China Wok restaurant in Mandan on Sunday evenings, striking a friendship with the owners over time. When their visas came up for renewal, Wade took it upon himself to get his friends from the Sunday night dinners to sign testimonials to aid in their renewals.

As a guy in my late 30s (ahem), and a new Daddy to boot, it’s a shocker to have a friend and fellow family man snatched away so suddenly and so early. Of course one tries to make sense of it, but there’s no sense to be had. What we can do is take comfort in the message from his CaringBridge page: “Thank you for your love, support and prayers. Wade is at peace with God His Father and Jesus His Savior in the healing presence of the Holy Spirit.” The Bible talks about a peace that passes all understanding…I pray for that peace for his family and everybody who misses Gentleman Wade.

Updated: I remembered that I had a copy of a TV commercial Wade did for KNDX (Channel 26) back when they first went on the air. It was a “dance contest” making fun of contestants with the numbers of other local TV channels. It features Wade being Wade. I attached a brief tribute at the end. It isn’t much, but it’s a token of my respect for a friend. The music is a portion “In the Sweet By and By” performed by my friend Sarah.

I know there are lots of people out there who are touched by Wade’s passing as they were by his personality. Hopefully this will trigger some of your best memories as well.

Souvenir from a friend whose birthday is today

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This diminutive little figurine, a Statue of Liberty, stands just shorter than the diameter of a dime (1.8cm). In this photo it stands in front of a postcard of the Manhattan Bridge in New York City. Both were given to me in 2001 by Jody Kerzman, my friend and coworker at the time, after her trip to the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers on assignment from KFYR-TV.

I have a box of souvenirs, tapes, and other stuff from my job at the TV station, including the newspaper clipping of the Help Wanted ad I answered when I applied for the job. Of all the items in that box, this little statue ranks among the most meaningful. I’d been meaning to take a picture of it for a while, but since it’s Jody’s birthday today I thought it was a good time to bump the photos I was going to post for a few days.

Jody had a link on Facebook to her KFYR-TV Blog entry today, and the story she related reminded me of what a genuine person she is. That is probably obvious even in her on-air demeanor, but I can’t tell; I’ve never seen Jody on TV without already knowing her. I’m not writing this to flatter or embarrass; however, in a business where newsrooms should have revolving doors installed for the people who come and go, certain people stand out. In my 21 years of working in the media business I have met and/or worked with a handful of TV and radio personalities who I think deserve mention. I’ve written about some of them, and this is a perfect opportunity to share this story.

Happy Birthday, Jody! I know it was a bittersweet day, according to what you’ve written. I agree with your take on what’s important, and I’m learning more every day now that I’m a Daddy. As far as reaching out to an old friend, this is how I thought I’d give it a try.